| (Two points, whoever is first to recognize that line!) So. One of the things I'm very excited about (at least as excited as I can be, being sick), is that I remembered the other day that I own a food processor. So I'm planning on making lots of dips in the next few weeks. I am also excited about the process of making my own mushy peas to have with fish & chips, because for some reason all the canned mushy peas I've been buying lately are more like solid peas in lots of green water. So I'm going to give the food processor a go. But the thing I'm really excited about it, I'm getting a new website. And some other stuff. Long story short, I found out an old friend of mine now runs a graphic design shop called Ironforge Press. And they do websites and flyers and posters and all kinds of merchandise, which is awesome (and look what a great job they do! That is fantastic work, isn't it?) So. We're looking at sites. We're thinking of logos etc. It's all very exciting. But it also means I have to start thinking of where I want these things to go. Is it worth it to design t-shirts? I can give some away, but would people buy them? What about those carrier bags? Calendars? Notecards? Bookmarks? Buttons? Magnets? Stickers? Patches? I know I'm definitely going to do some temporary tattoos, because tattoos are a big part of the Unholy Ghosts world. So that's a no-brainer, pretty much, to give those away at RT or whatever. But what about other stuff? Is it worth it? What kinds of gifts/merchandise do you guys like? What would you look at or buy and what would you think is lame? What would make you feel like part of a cool group of people who love (hopefully) a book, and what would just be dorky and lame? What would you look at and think "Wow, those are awesome" and what would make you think, "Geez, full of yourself much?" |
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Isn't the title from 'Clueless'?
You could always start small doing buttons, bookmarks, stickers and/or notepads and see if there are any demands for shirts or bags from those orders . . .
Great question, Stacia. I've just started thinking about this stuff for myself and I feel clueless.
I'm fond of notepads and bookmarks meself. T-shirts are a bigger expense for the consumer so I don't do those as much when I'm buying promotional bits from other people. Bags are also a happy thing cause they're both functional and can be neat looking and start a good conversation. You can never have too many bags...though my husband may protest that. Hah.
Jana S Brown
Pens. Nice ones. I love me some pens. Plus, now that I have author friends I never need to buy them again.
I love magnets!!! They travel well and I put them up at work. 'The Yezer made me do it' stares at me every day.
I mean, bookmarks are good... you are selling books. Pins are fun b/c you can put them all over (and you can use the same fronts for magnets as well!). Pens are nice b/c then you tend to 'travel' as people always steal pens.
T-shirts are good, but I think once you are more established. Perhaps the iron-ons for the t-shirts. Then all the responsibility for putting it together is taken away.
Temporary tattoos would be fun if it fits with your theme, but those are temporary... so not as cost effect for real advertising.
Postcards give you more room for data, and they also work as bookmarks. And I love it when one side is the cover art with nothing else but the picture except maybe the title. Some are pretty enough to frame, I swear! And I hang them up at work.
Something unique to your story is good. At the Romantic Times in PA, I saw someone with a little plasticized business card attached to mini fake hand cuffs. She wrote erotica. I loved it!
If your book has alot of like herbalism in it, perhaps tea bags. All natural or herbal...
If your character is a coffee or chocolate freak and constantly eating it or referring to it in the book, then something connected to that...
Mark has these awesome drink recipes in Happy Hour. I told him he should do small recipe cards with the book cover on the front and recipe on the back. Fun, useful, and can be used as a bookmark!
In your first book, the '3 stooges' :) are my favorite part... perhaps get an artist's rendering of them and put them on a post card with the cover on the front and their mini reviews on the back. Or do an interview with them on your site PLEASE!! I love them!!
Anyway... I think the best things are something that the readers will keep for whatever reason... and better yet, possibly spread around to others. So notepads are good b/c they last a while and the page will hopefully end up in multiple users hands.
Keychains have a long shelf life and they travel everywhere.
Mark had 'vials of plague/zombie's blood' which were i think red jelly beans in medical vials. Perfect b/c of his story, unique and funny as heck.
Man... I really am in the wrong line of work!! :) Well, that is if my ideas are good!!
That's a hard one. Personally, I tend to buy just books and not other items that are commonly seen as promotional. I use a lot of bookmarks so I like those. I think it might be different for men and women, though.
BTW- if you take the temporary tats with you, make sure to take something to help people put them on right away!! :) Like a bottle of water and a little cloth or wet naps or something. I think that'd be fun!
From my con weekend (where I gave away swag for a friend) bookmarks and postcards and such did not go well (I guess those are best used for like tucking into book one to advertise book two). People said yes to offerings of stickers and pen much more often. I like swag like t shirts and such, but apparently I'm not normal LOL. I like pins and magnets. I' totally go for a bag, provided it wasn't uber expensive (Cafe Press is too expensive when it comes to shirts and bags) same with shirts. Note pads and tattoos... I like that idea.
Oh, I read the comment about the chocolates. An easy way to do that is to get a bag or two of those mini chocolate bars (the kind you get for holidays) and then design and print up stickers on that home computer sticker paper. The just cut and wrap. I saw it at a birthday party and I bet it would go over real well at a signing or something.
If someone is giving me something, I'll take anything - I'm just nice that way. Seriously though, I like pens. Bookmarks and magnets are fun too. T-shirts are expensive and I personally don't wear standard cut t-shirts very often, and I'm always leary of ordering the ladies' cut ones because they are almost inevitably too small in ... certain areas for me. Plus, with something people wear, design is a lot more critical (I might carry a pen I don't love the design of, but I doubt I would wear a shirt if I didn't like the way it looks.) I would say hold off on the bigger items until people express a definite interest.
Just my two cents :D
Selestial
I love pens too. also magnets and bracelets..T-shirts ar fun but quite the expense. Notepads are cool too!
Synde
Practical items like pens, notepads, bookmarks and magnets. As much as I'd enjoy a bag, I'm not sure how cost effective that would be. I agree with the person that suggested doing miniature candies with your promo on the sleeve.
Buttons to decorate my fugly purse.
Coffee mugs to deliver the brew to my mouth.
Personalized M&Ms - tastier than chewing on drugs and better for you. Though this runs the risk of the glorifying thing.
For freebies, I lurve me some schwag. It doesn't matter what it is. I'll squee over anything if it comes with an autograph. Litter box remnants in a signed plastic Ziploc? Cha ching!
Oh, wait. I think I need a nap. And maybe a day off.
Magnets or tees would make me happy. But from my own experience designing and selling tee shirts, it's expensive to do in quantity (although you can license someone to take orders and print them online, such as Cafe Press).
Cool squishy balls/tension relievers would also work. My favorite was a squishy alien head I got someplace. Sat on the desk for years.
I was thinking it sounds very Veggie Tale'ish.
I love fridge magnets. I think the part of selling a house I hate the most is seeing my fridge all bare and magnet-less.
T-shirts are nice, but if they're the boxy men's kind and only come in L or XL, I don't want them. Friends of ours got size S girly shirts for their business. I wear mine all the time and get asked about it on a regular basis. (the logo is a red pick axe and shovel crossed...lots of people think it's a communism thing...um...yeah) I would love, love, lurve a little black t with your book cover on it. Love. Lurve. Love.
I hate book marks. I don't use them. Notepads don't really get used either. Key chains? Into the bag for the Sally Ann, or into The Boy's toybox.
I knew a woman who did custom graphic lip balms. You give her a jpg and she wraps it around a tube of all natural lip balm. That I would use. And it's your name on everyone's lips. ;) Wish I could remember her website...
"My parents won't let me use scissors."
My fave swag from Romantic Times in PA was a six inch wooden ruler printed with the authors' info on it. Yes, she wrote erotica. But that even had my mom giggling when I showed her.
What would an erotica writer need a ruler for.. oh, wait, nvmd!
Ralph Wiggum ;-)
Pens, bags, T-shirts, postcards and bookmarks are great. Other promo stuff, I'm not keen on. Not sure if I'd buy any promo items, but they'd be good for contest prizes.
Have a lovely day! :-)
Tez got it right! It's from the Valentine's Day/President's Day episode of The Simpsons. Two points to Tez!
Wow, thanks everyone! So many great ideas!
What I'm actually thinking of for the t-shirts is quotes from the book, or to be more accurate the epigrams that start each chapter, with a sigil or symbol from the book. So it's like viral marketing, if you know what I mean; really cool-looking shirts people will actually wear. I guess because I spent so much time in the whole punk DIY wrld I'm used to t-shirts and flyers as promo, if you know what I mean. You go way out of your way to find cool band shirts; they're a huge deal.
Apparently my wristband bracelets from RT went over well, too. :-)
I will definitely look into pens, too, and some of the other stuff mentioned.
But keep suggesting, please! This is great! Thanks!
Oh Stacia those shirts sound cool!!
I certainly would wear one!! Can't wait
I always love bookmarks -- I'm reading more than one book at all times due to various projects, so I always needs lots of bookmarks -- plus, if I like a book, I give them to people to recommend the book.
I carry pens. I'm a writer. Must. Have. Pens.
I was doing a photo shoot at a site location a few months back, and the only mirror in the place was the one in my purse -- the one that Jackie Kessler had made up for her books with the slogan "Love your Inner Demon" -- the mirror was passed around and everyone got excited about the books.
I like the idea of t shirts, but don't wear many.
I can never have too many tote bags or mugs, though.