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     | Monday, March 25, 2002 - 04:37 pm  Handouts... This one could require varying degrees of investment depending on your enthusiasm and/or computer skills. Every conference I've ever attended has a srategically located "Promotional" table where participants drop off their handouts. Bookmarks are by far the most popular type of handout and can be produced on your home computer if your equipment and skills are up to it. You can probably leave a stack of them at your local library too. I recently had a collector from out west write to me requesting a bookmark as a souvenir. I autographed one of my bookmarks, had it laminated and mailed it to her. She was thrilled and probably doesn't even know who I am. I have also had business cards printed with the name of the book and web address. I generally do everything in bright yellow because it really stands out among the other items on the promotion tables. Brochures and copies of reviews are other items that you can produce at home for very low cost. At Sleuthfest, a woman bought my book simply because of the reviews that I had left on the promo table. My one exotic indulgence is pencils. I had one thousand bright yellow pencils imprinted with my title and web address. A tad on the pricey side though. they weighed in at just over $400.00. I have seen keychains, letter openers, miniature chocolate candies with the book title on the wrapper, washable tattoos, post-it notes, scratch pads, and the infamous peanut butter cups. You are limited only by your imagination and your budget. Oh, and autographs on any of these items, really helps.
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| | Monday, March 25, 2002 - 05:20 pm Dennis, I do the bookmarks, business cards and reviews and ONE other thing. I have a big huge poster with my pics, the reviews, the back cover blurb and ordering info made into like a big flower (freeform) laminated and with sticky velcro so I can put it on a stick or dowel and the dowel into a flower pot that has silk flowers in it and moss. This stands on top of the table where I am doing my signings and when it is on a table it stands about as tall as 6 foot high, although it is only about 3 1/2 feet tall when it is on the floor. It is a pink flower with huge green leaves and all the info sort of like petals of the flower stuck here and there..... IT works really well at getting attention and everyone who walks by it reads it and then looks down at the table where I am. The print is all about 56 font size so it is easy to read from a distance and the title and ISBN # are larger. It looks like a flower gone out of control, but I have had several people really comment on its presence and demand for attention when they are walking around. It stands up above most of the book racks so it can be seen from many places in the store. And the store managers seem to like it, too..... Claudia
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| | Tuesday, March 26, 2002 - 06:10 am What do you put on your bookmarks? And were you able to find these already formed or did you have to cut them out? I am absolutely horrible with scissors, so I have been looking for precut or whatever bookmark paper like the business card stuff you can buy at Walmart or Office Depot or wherever. Anyway, I have had no luck. But I would like to do some bookmarks and stuff, so any hints on what to put on them and how you did yours would be great. Gloria
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| | Tuesday, March 26, 2002 - 07:04 am When marketing my book (when it was still available) I designed brochures from a template in word, using the book cover to create interest. These brochures were included in media packets, mail outs to all the bills I mailed and other correspondence necessary.
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| | Tuesday, March 26, 2002 - 08:02 am You know all those address label ads that are everywhere? I ordered some silver ones that say: GRAVEN IMAGES A Mystery Novel By Nancy Mehl www.nancymehl.com I put them on everything - bills, letters, packages... They're cheap and easy to use. Nancy
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| | Tuesday, March 26, 2002 - 08:16 am Gloria, On my bookmarks, I put, on side 1) the cover of the book, the title, order information ISBN# - phone # of PA - PA logo and place of publication; on side 2) Title, my name my searching blurb (18 words) my web address and a large pink/green flower and now available at online sources and your favorite bookstore soon. the web address is long ways on the very side of the edge going upwards. Since my book is green, I use the pink/green flower on one side and black lettering and the green book cover on the other side. Then I cut them myself or you can have someone cut them for you like an Office Depot, but it will cost you. I also use a very light green 100# card stock (very heavy paper) and punch a hole in the top and use green yarn to make tassels for each bookmark. Yes they take some time, the tassels are made from a foot long string of yarn and frizzed on the tassel ends, just like the pros do.... If you want to, you can have them laminated, like Dennis does, but I don't have the funds for that. The paper will roll through your printer slowly, but it does make it. And since it is a very heavy, stiff paper, it has the ability to last longer and be stronger than the regular card stock. If I wanted to cut the business cards myself, I would make them out of that same paper, cause it is very good and they are really pretty, but also a bear to cut. There again, everyone likes them and I have given out probably about 300 so far. I give one with each book purchased, too. The program I use is a Corel Photo House program and it has a pre-made template for bookmarks, you can either do front only or front and back. There is a handy little program in Windows also. Hope that helps...... 
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| | Tuesday, March 26, 2002 - 11:41 am Several bookstores in our area will accept my "freebie" bookmarks to put in bags when ALL books are sold. One owner said, "My customers like to think they're getting a little something for free so I'll throw one end with every purchase." Just make sure they are attractive enough for people to use, and READ! Best, Vickie
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| | Tuesday, March 26, 2002 - 02:15 pm Avery Products, the label people, carry a huge inventory of labels, business cards, post cards, etc. for the home computer. I'm not sure if they have anything in a bookmark size. I have made return address labels with my title on top in blue ink, return address in the middle in black, and then the website address in blue at the bottom. I use Avery template 8161, which is slightly larger than the standard return address size. You can check out their product line at www.avery.com
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| | Friday, March 29, 2002 - 11:15 am Avery even has a label wizard, which makes it really easy to use with ANY of their labels. I used it to make my bookplates and business cards. Another idea I'm going with is to make mousepads to place in press kits. I can find the plain mousepads for cheap at a dollar store, then use my avery wizard (lol) to put cover art onto the iron on transfer sheets and voila! Even if they only use the mousepad for a short time, or pass it on to someone else, they will see my book cover and remember me. Jenn
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| | Friday, March 29, 2002 - 11:18 am Jenn, Great idea about the mouse pad! I'd never heard that one before. Nancy
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| | Friday, March 29, 2002 - 11:22 am Gloria, My son designed my book marks on the computer. 10 to a page. I took it to the printers and had them copy it on to card stock. Then, I took the sheets home and cut them on my cutting board. I picked it up at a garage sale for 50 cents. Office supply places that sell used items sell them for pretty cheap, too. You may have to sharpen the edge once in a while, but it's worth it. Nancy www.nancymehl.com
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| | Friday, March 29, 2002 - 12:16 pm Are there bookmark templates out there? How did your son make them, Nancy? With everyone that signed around the time I did at PA getting their covers, I'm hoping mine will be along soon and I don't want to waste any time getting promo stuff done. Besides, I've got people all across Canada who are willing to drop bookmarks off in stores for me!!
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| | Friday, March 29, 2002 - 02:01 pm You can put "Bookmark Templates" in for a search term and you will get a ton of results. Then it's pick and sift until you find what you want.
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| | Friday, March 29, 2002 - 06:35 pm Thanks Kevin....now why didn't I think of that?? lol Jenn
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| | Friday, March 29, 2002 - 06:38 pm My son designed mine using my book cover, Jenn. He did Nancy Marie's, too. Using your own book cover, he only charged her $25.00. I think they look great! Nancy
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| | Friday, March 29, 2002 - 07:40 pm ditto to what Nancy Mehl said. smiles and blessings, Kitty
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| | Saturday, March 30, 2002 - 12:05 pm Collateral troll damage... I had posted this information on our PA issues board JUST prior to the troll showing up and throwing everything into turmoil. I'm sure that some folks missed it in the presence of all that worthless trash. I thought that I might re-post it here because it's just too good of a resource to let it fall victim to the rantings of some egotistical fool. This is a FREE periodic newsletter called: Dan Poynters Publishing Newsletter. It is chocked full of information, links, seminar schedules, and tons of valuable tips. They keep past issues archived so you can get at all the past info. You can sign up at: http://parapub.com/news.html
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