Several weeks ago, I was invited to attend the Southern Magic Reader’s
Luncheon hosted by the Birmingham
chapter of RWA. It sounded like a great opportunity to finally meet a few
of the Southern Magic members I chat with online, and to meet Sherrilyn Kenyon.
(Or at least stalk her from afar, since I’m kind of shy.) Then I got the news I
would be hosting a table of eight readers.
And I learned that part of the hosting gig included
supplying cool swag for my guests.
The problem was…I had no swag, cool or otherwise.
That was the start of my great promo adventure. I’m planning
to attend the RWA convention in Atlanta next year, and I had my eye on a few
promo items I thought were cool. This luncheon gave me a perfect excuse to
order a little of everything and to see just how bright my ideas were.
Today I’d like to share what I bought, what it cost, and how
I felt about the final product.
Let’s start with the basics: postcards, business cards and
my personal favorite, trading cards.
For
postcards, (pictured on the left) I used VistaPrint.
Standard size postcards run $24.99 for 100. But I paid $12.24 per 100 during
their latest clearance sale. VistaPrint has frequent sales. Wait for them, then
stockpile.
For
trading cards, I used GotPrint.
Templates are on the site, you’re emailed a proof to approve before you’re
charged, and the cards are fantastic. I love them. It costs $14.00 per 100
cards if you use the color front and back option. As an added bonus, you can
have your cards added to the Romance
Trading Cards website for a little extra boost in visibility.
Finally,
I bought business cards for the first time. (They’re the skinny cards in the
center of the picture.) Since I don’t see myself handing them out too often, I
splurged and bought Moo Minis from Moo. They’re
the same length, but half the width of a standard business card. They’re also
super cute and cost $19.99 for 100 cards.
Oh, I
almost forgot the stickers! You can see one at the bottom sporting the Araneae
logo. I ordered those from Moo as well.
They’re more plastic than paper, which I like. They cost $12.99 for 52
stickers.
Up next
we have another staple in every author’s pantry—promotional pens.
I bought
these from My
Promotional Pens. There was a slight problem when my pens showed up with
black logos (almost unreadable against the dark blue pens) instead of the white
design pictured above. Once I expressed my concerns, the company was quick to
correct the error.
They cost
$.67 per pen with a minimum order of 100 pens. There were no hidden design
fees, but it cost me $24 in shipping for a total of $91.00.
Then we
have my Box ‘O Chapstick.
I ordered
these through Lipbalm Express.
The cost was $49 per 100 tubes. As you can see, they allow customization of
your label (at no extra charge). However, they are limited in scent selections.
You have to roll with whatever the featured scent is that month, or mint. But I
love the individual packaging, and it’s a quality product. Even with the
slightly pixelated labels, I feel good about this purchase.
Now, on
to the more unique promo items I snagged. These are nifty pocket mirrors I
found on Etsy. (The dog in the background is my daughter’s dachshund, Cookie
Monster. The black rump and tail belong to my doxie, Lex.)
The shop owner, Vtg Sewing
Patterns, was great about helping me get my design just right. I paid
$60.00 for 75 pocket mirrors, and yes, the organza bags were included. I really
love these!
Last but not least are
lens cleaning cloths printed with A Hint
of Frost’s cover art.
I ordered these from Custom Mouse Pad.
They’re on the pricer side at $2.29 per 50 cloths. You save money with larger
orders, but I went with the minimum so I could inspect the quality of the
printing and the cloths themselves. I have to admit, I was impressed. As
someone who started wearing glasses only about a year ago, I still fidget with
them often. I’ve gone through several types of cleaning cloths and never found
one that banished lint and smudges to my satisfaction. These do. I’m very
pleased with them and will order more before RWA next year.
I have a few more items left
on my “to-order” list, but I’m pleased with my purchases so far. How about you?
If you’re a writer, what swag have you been meaning to try? Or what is your
most popular item? If you’re a reader, what swag is your favorite to receive? Or
what do you wish you could get?
Comment and be
entered to win a swag bag full of the goodies pictured above, plus your choice
of title from my backlist (excluding Soul Weaver), in your choice of digital
format.
1 comment:
Excellent information! You got some wonderful swag and I'll be looking into some of these items.
Thanks, Hailey!
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