Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Not Selling Books? Get Carded!

As an author, whether self or traditionally published, it is your responsibility to promote and market your book. I’m reminded of this because yesterday I met a wonderful lady with 9 published books (all traditionally published) who handed me not one, but three business cards; she had it covered.

When you meet someone, give them a card, When you mail a bill or letter, include a card. When you’re at the market, post one on the bulletin board. Leave your card anywhere you go. I drop at least three business cards per day somewhere!

Include on your cards, at minimum, your name and Website. DO NOT include your home address or personal phone number. For multi-published authors, I suggest, if possible, getting a separate card made for each of your books.

Think you can’t afford that many business cards? Just pay a small shipping fee and get 250 cards made FREE at Vista Print online. CLICK HERE to get started. Remember, book sales are your responsibility. No action, no sales!

Reminder:
Get your book Website or Blog seen by signing up for Blog Jog Day at http://blogjogday.blogspot.com.

5 comments:

Sheila Deeth said...

Cool! I never thought of that. I made some business cards but they have way too much information on them. I've got a website now, so I think I'll make some more. Thank you.

Mari said...

Great advice and tips!

I agree that having a business card is fundamental, and that the author should refrain from putting personal information on it.

However, in my opinion having one card for each book seems a bit expensive, yes. The site you pointed us to (thank you for that!) seems really good, but for profiting fully of it it'd be necessary to have an outstanding printer, excellent quality paper and a way of cutting it professionally (for free). Otherwise the result would be a cheap and ugly card, that in my view is worse than none.

Maybe we should stick to one type of card and make it of good quality?

Joanne Olivieri said...

VistaPrint is a Godsend. I've been using them for years and thank you, you've just reminded me I need to order more.

Carol said...

Thanks to everyone for their comments.
Just to add, I have Vista business cards and they're pretty nice-for free cards.
I previously spent over $100 for cards which, yes, were nice, but never financially paid for themselves.
I also attempted to make them at home-very expensive. Especially when there is so much waste, i.e., the printer misses the mark, jams, etc.
Cards are for information, get it out there any way you can!

Doreen Pendgracs said...

You're so right, Carol, in that writers should carry business cards EVERYWHERE. I'm always surprised at how poor many writers are at promoting themselves. We have to do it for ourselves as no one will do it for us. Not even our publishers in many instances!

You may be right in suggesting different biz cards for each book (or service) a writer provides. I've just written,"Before You Say Yes," a book about volunteerism on non-profit boards. My next book is about chocolate & travel. Very different audiences. So probably different cards is recommended. Thanks for the tip!

Doreen Pendgracs