ULTRA SWAG
Over the years I’ve seen a lot of book swag. Mostly at conventions, piled deep on freebie tables: catalogs, postcards, bookmarks, magnets, book plates, samplers.
Some of this stuff is given out at book signings, or it’s used for giveaways. I’ve seen a lot of promotion going on. Trading cards. Pens and pencils. Little LED lights. Stress balls. Buttons. Rubber wrist bands. Stickers. Keychains. Calendars. Chapsticks. (Yes, I’ve seen chapsticks!) Miniature book charms. One romance author I saw online gave out nail polish in the same shade as her book cover.
Honestly. How much of this stuff do readers keep? How much does it help the author by giving it away to people? Authors new and old have passed me those postcards and trading cards. At the end of a busy convention, at the end of a signing, I often find myself recycling most of these things. Even business cards. I keep only those I know I’ll want to contact, or remember to search for something online. Now, bookmarks, at least, have a somewhat related purpose. I’m more likely to keep a promotional bookmark, particularly if I have a book I’ve been reading and my place is being kept by a pen, or my own business card.
I ask again: How much of this stuff do you keep?
Next month, The Ultra Thin Man comes out. What to do about swag? I’ve had business cards for a few months now. And in last week’s mail I received bookmarks that I designed. Anything else? I doubt I will. I did design and order a decent-sized vinyl banner of the book cover that looks great. But I’m not giving it away. Because of my own small press, I’ve got several stands that will fit the banner. A nice extra to take to a reading when appropriate, and later I’ll probably find a good wall to put it on.
For my release party on the 12th after my first signing, there will be cake swag. Um. That’s right, win them over with food.
But seriously, maybe I should create some plush Helk aliens with T-shirts bearing my book cover. Or miniature black Conduit tower erasers. Or how about drink coasters featuring the eight planets of the Union of Worlds?
Okay. Well. I’ve got my bookmarks ready.
I have also wondered about some of the book swag I have received over the years. Is this really helping the author sell books? I have a couple of file cabinet drawers where I keep notes on the different authors I have set up signings for, met at conventions or just read one of their books and wrote down some notes about. I have post cards, book marks, flyers and hand written notes. Most of the things I keep are flat and easily filed for later reference. Pens are nice, I use them and then they get discarded when they run out of ink. Some things that can’t be filed end up on my book cases near the related authors books, but space is at a premium, so it needs to be something really cool. Some of the cool things include a wooden fan, hats, coffee mugs and a frisbee. I have two Rolodex’s filled with buisness cards and trading cards. I will probably go through those before I buy a third one. These days, more things get recycled then filed.
I still have a Rhiannon Held “Silver” bookmark, that I have no idea where I got, but I use it for almost every book I read. Then again, I don’t own any of her books (sorry!).
I would think signing a book and then inserting a bookmark would be helpful for the reader to remember you for book 2, but other than that…
I do like the banner tho… may have to talk with you on that one.
db
Hallo!
I never take swag anymore, much less keep it. I used to enjoy it more but don’t like carrying things around at cons and I don’t have space to store it all. The bookmark idea is a good one. And the cake. . .