i clicked to early sorry. but i think what should go in a gift bag is anything that could be used more than once. pen, maybe paper with your name or name of books u write
One of the best author promo things I've ever seen is an author that got a variety of different toys & fidgets imprinted with her name and website. So, she had squishy balls of different shapes, rubber duckies, plastic slinkys, Tangles, etc.
I really do like the thumb drive with e-books one though - that's an awesome idea!
As for a gift bag - If it's something that's coming from multiple authors, make sure that each author gives something different, so it doesn't end up being a bunch of pens and post-it pads plus one person who made up a keychain. I was at an event where one year almost everyone gave postcard coupons for the swag bags, and while those coupons were probably worth more than the little trinkets, people were visibly upset with the "lack of weight" of the bags...
If it's a gift bag that just coming from you, a pen, notepad or post-it pad, postcard, and one "bigger" gift (like a mug, or your free book/e-book idea) would work fine. Be sure to put in something that contains a bio & bibliography too (with photos). A lot of times when you come back from a big event of meeting lots of people you need a reminder of "why did I think this person/company was so cool?" as well as a reminder of "how do I find out more or locate their products?"
Something that I give away that readers seem to really like are hand made book tethers along with inexpensive jewelry. I put tags with my signature on them. I also include things like book cover magnets and my author business card. People tend to remember the things they get from me, and keep them because they're not the same stuff all the other authors give away.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2011-01-20 10:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-20 10:44 pm (UTC)I really do like the thumb drive with e-books one though - that's an awesome idea!
As for a gift bag - If it's something that's coming from multiple authors, make sure that each author gives something different, so it doesn't end up being a bunch of pens and post-it pads plus one person who made up a keychain. I was at an event where one year almost everyone gave postcard coupons for the swag bags, and while those coupons were probably worth more than the little trinkets, people were visibly upset with the "lack of weight" of the bags...
If it's a gift bag that just coming from you, a pen, notepad or post-it pad, postcard, and one "bigger" gift (like a mug, or your free book/e-book idea) would work fine. Be sure to put in something that contains a bio & bibliography too (with photos). A lot of times when you come back from a big event of meeting lots of people you need a reminder of "why did I think this person/company was so cool?" as well as a reminder of "how do I find out more or locate their products?"
no subject
Date: 2011-01-21 02:29 am (UTC)