Is Swag Really Worth It? #authorproblems

One of my favorite pieces of author swag: I Read YA tote and button

Yesterday I was walking on the beach with a friend whose debut novel is coming out this summer and we were brainstorming how to help market her book. While chatting, I thought about so many friends who had also pondered the question of swag, and whether or not it's worth it.

In a nutshell, after talking to tons of authors, reading blogs, etc. here are the most common comments I've found on the question:

The beach that inspired this discussion

* Swag doesn't sell books, and it is rarely worth the cost
* Making swag can be a therapeutic way to feel like you're in control of your career when everything feels out of your hands in the very stressful season after last-edits and pub date
* Most authors cut WAYYY back on swag after a debut novel when they realize the cost/benefit ratio is not in its favor
* Bookmarks are the most popular swag item, and many people actually do keep/use them. 
* Bookmarks, bookplates, and postcards are nice to have on hand for school visits because kids who don't have money to buy a book that day can meet you, get it signed, and many do go buy the book later or Instagram a picture with you.
* Many authors feel far more comfortable having swag when they visit places because it's nice to be able to hand a bookseller, school, etc. something
* The second most popular swag item is the button--especially for YA. There are several book people who collect them at conferences, and they're easy to throw out to an audience. cheapbuttons.com is a popular place to have them made.
* Popular buttons generally have a fun/funny short slogan or picture
* Stick to one image because people will want one of each & it gets expensive
* Buttons or any swag that does not have your name or your book's name fails the primary purpose of swag which is to have target audience keep it & REMEMBER YOU.
* Character trading cards, etc. that have no real-life use are quickly thrown out.
* Candy is popular, but gets eaten quickly so you are forgotten quickly
* T-shirts are expensive and often don't fit well
*  Themed-swag can be fun as long as it is cheap, something a person will actually keep/use, and has your name or book title on it.
* My personal favorite swag item I received was a recipe that came with a cookie baked by the author from a cooking-themed novel. She told the story behind the cookie in her panel discussion, and I ended up buying several of her books later because I felt like she connected to me personally.
* Everyone loves a good tote bag at conferences like ALA/BEA, but they are expensive.
* Pens seem to be popular as well, but unsharpened pencils get tossed out easily
* Sometimes you can talk a local indie bookstore into putting your swag into all of their pre-orders when it ships so you don't have to worry about shipping
* Swag is cool for hype/giveaways, but you have to be careful because shipping costs add up really really quickly.
* Bookmarks, stickers, and temporary tattoos ship the most easily. 
* Many teens think temporary tattoos are a little young for them, and they get used up/thrown out so some avoid them as swag.


Some additional reading:

http://sherryficklin.com/swag-what-to-bring-to-your-book-events/

http://www.marissameyer.com/blogtype/blog-highlights-brainstorming-book-swag-10-fun-ideas/

 https://www.pinterest.com/lorikingauthor/author-swag/

http://thehelpfulwriter.com/author-business-cards-book-cards-and-general-author-swag/

 http://jetreidliterary.blogspot.com/2015/10/some-thoughts-on-swag.html

https://dailydahlia.wordpress.com/2014/07/08/an-unauthorized-guide-to-being-a-debut-author-part-ii-arcs-swag-and-self-promotion/

https://twitter.com/brokeandbookish/status/607179818749317120

ALA San Francisco: What to Read Next

This book was the most-hyped YA

 

ALA San Francisco ended a week ago, and I'm finally getting everything sorted. Here are some pictures from the event and preview pics of the books people seemed most excited to read.

Gloria Steinam!

The lines were fierce!

Tips for Authors Who Are Signing : ALA Midwinter 2013

I’m so sad that I won’t be making it to ALA Midwinter this year. As an English teacher and amateur librarian (a few friends and I curate small collections of favorite books for libraries/schools in need around the world), I like to keep tabs on the library world and mingle with like-minded book lovers. And I tend to be an author lecture/signing junkie. That said, I thought I’d give a list of my observations/preferences  for lucky authors who will be promoting their books at ALA this year.

1.       Keep the lines moving. Or not. I’m on the fence about this one. I hate waiting in line for an hour to get an ARC signed, but it does build suspense (also good friendships with other librarians/teachers). And there is something visually exciting about a long line. It’s the “what’s that? Who has a long line? Must be good. I want in.” Phenomenon.  If ALA is a place to build buzz, a long line can do that, I suppose.

2.       Ask each person’s name and quickly try to find common ground. Look at a nametag. Talk about a place. Give a compliment specific to the person. As book advocates, we want to connect to the authors behind the books so that we feel excited to hype their books. But, as stated in #1, if you spend too much time talking to any one person we might leave the line figuring we won't get to the front of the line in time to meet you, especially if we aren't die-hard fans of your work yet.

3.       Something special in the signature. I often read the books first then give them away as prizes in my classroom (good opportunity to talk about upcoming books/authors and get kids excited to read) so I don’t get a lot of them personalized to me. That said, it’s nice to have something special in the signature. Many authors opt for taglines (often some form of pun on the title), which is fine, but my favorite generic signatures feel more alive. Recently my friends and I purchased Beck’s new sheet music “album” as signed first editions from Mc Sweeneys. When they arrived, we compared signatures and died laughing. Each version was different. Mine had a backwards “C” and my brother’s trailed off to nothing by the “k”. Even in his signature, Beck seemed “over it” (his brand). We loved it.

4.       Giveaways? I’ve seen a lot of them (bookmarks, nail polish, and the like), but my favorites were the ones that really matched with who the author is. I have a slightly creepy picture from a garage sale from Ransom Riggs that I treasure as my bookmark to Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, and one day I brought my mother to see Joanne Fluke speak on a mystery writer’s panel. She’d gone to hear one of the other authors, but Joanne Fluke made cookies for everyone from one of the recipes in her book. My mom is now a huge fan of Fluke’s series and talks about it to anyone who will listen... "and you know, the nice woman made us all cookies! Probably took her all night..."

5.       Forget about yourself/ tips one to four. It’s often said that the most charming individuals are the ones who make others feel good about themselves. Don’t think about how it will go or what people will think of you. Instead, think of connecting with a fellow human being who also happens to be a book-lover! What a great gift that is. :)

 

PS Remember: Our contest to "win" a teen beta-reader is open to both published and unpublished writers. Want to see how reluctant teen readers will react to your new work? Send it on in. Contest details are in yesterday's blog posting. :)

What to Read Fall 2012: Part 2

ALA ARCs are oh so much fun. Too bad I have to slow down my reading of them as I head back to school, but then again, I get to go back to teaching. Yay! So here's more of how I spent my summer:

Here's the scoop:

Reading over tacos at my favorite
 local taco stand.

1. Blessed by Tonya Hurley

""Agnes!' My mother wailed, clutching the pale arm of her only daughter. 'Is he really worth it? Worth this?'" Begins the chic new trilogy by the author of the Ghostgirl series (also former personal publicist to the George Michael, Prince, Morrissey, The Cure, and the Olson twins among others. Wow. BTW Her coolness level is definitely reflected in this book.) And from there, it's a fast-paced, edgy, and twisted dark adventure into the lives of three girls who are given matching bracelets by a mysterious hot guy while checked into a Catholic hospital. After that the girls are pulled deeper and deeper into the lore of ancient Catholic Saints, and into a modern world where they are the Saints. Really original idea. I loved the concept, and the thrill of the book, and recommend it for those who are comfortable in an edgy, dark YA world (I tend to be a bit of a wuss), enjoy exploring religion in a fresh way, and like a fast-paced adventure. Watch for it 9/25/12. Simon & Schuster.

2. Before You Go by James Prellier

Heading out on my sweet
beach cruiser to find a nice
spot to read.

"Jude squeezed his eyes shut, blinking away the sun's glare, and waited for the eight-fifteen-in-the-freaking-morning bus." Eight-fifteen as freaking early? I wish. Such a teenager. And he is. Jude is moody, complex, and has a right to be. He's been quietly dealing with the guilt of having been on duty when his little sis drowned years ago. Unfortunately, we know that she won't be his only tragedy. The book begins with a preface that alerts the readers that there will be another traumatic event at the end, and we spend the rest of the book building up to said tragedy. Throughout the work Jude becomes a richly complex character who falls in love with a complex real human girl, and makes good friends as he spends a summer working a crap job on the beach. But we all know something's coming, and it does. And it's sad. I recommend this one for anyone in the mood for rich complex characters facing problems for which they should be far too young. It's out now (Came out July).  Feiwel and Friends (Macmillan).

3. Colin Fischer by Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz 

At my desk 

"Colin clutched his precious, dog-eared Notebook to his chest." Is not the sort of first line I expected from the screenwriting duo behind X-Men: First Class and Thor!, and neither is this delightfully quirky mystery whose crime-solver has Aspergers and needs a collection of facial-expression notecards to tell him what people are feeling. I know that the autism narration thing has been done, and done well before (I absolutely love Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time), but this one doesn't feel derivative. The characters are well-drawn as Colin navigates freshman year without the help of his aide, and ultimately sets out to solve the mystery of who brought a gun to school. I recommend this book for anyone who wants to re-experience high school from a naively logical perspective, loved Encyclopedia Brown, or just wants a sweet and engaging mystery. Look for it November 2012. Razorbill. (Penguin).

Happy Fall (into) Reading Everyone!!!

What to Read Fall 2012

AKA What I'm Doing With My Summer Vacation: Part 1

I'm digging my way through all the ARCs I collected from ALA, and I'm having a blast. Here's my first trio of previews for what will be hitting the shelves soon:

Unwinding after a beach day

1.    Time Between Us by  Tamara Ireland Stone

At ALA I was promised that this book would be romantic. The marketing guy was nice and used a hushed knowing smile when he said “ro-man-tic.” He said it was definitely a “must-read.” And so I did. And then I threw the book against a wall. That said, it’s actually a good book, but there are books one should read at certain points in one’s life and others that might compel them to throw a book against the wall (hint: if you're single and having a down day, you may not want to read about people in love).
 So let me break it down for you. Who should read this? People who love that Notebook-esque romance, music junkies who want a written soundtrack to the grunge movement of the 90’s, those who want to escape to a reality where time travel is possible so you can go back and change the past, hop over to Italy for a date, or just want to feel the rush of what first love is like all over again.

2. Freaks Like Us by Susan Vaught

On the porch

For a crime-show junkie like me, this one sucked me right in. Vaught goes inside the head of a very lovable schizophrenic teenage boy who has to fight through voices in his head, terrifying imagery, etc. to try to figure out what happened to his best friend/ girl of his dreams, a selectively mute girl from his Severely Emotionally Disabled class who has disappeared. He's praying that the voices who tell him it's his fault are wrong as his medication begins to wear off and the 24 hour mark of her disappearance draws closer.

Who should read this? Anyone who is as addicted to Criminal Minds as I am, but also those who like psychological thrillers, quirky love stories, or those who want a better understanding of what it's like to have mental illness. I will NEVER look at those who ride the short bus the same way again. Thank you, Susan Vaught.

3. A Girl Named Mister by Nikki Grimes

My favorite chocolate shop/ cafe

This one isn't new, but when I was at the booth, the woman working took me through a number of the new titles, and then ended by putting this book in my hands and said "it isn't new for fall, but every teenage girl should read this." She's right. There are so many times in my teaching career where I wish I had this book on hand to give to a girl who's sitting outside my classroom on the verge of tears confessing that she or a friend might be pregnant. It's a novel in verse split between two Marys. One is the Mary of the Bible, the other is "Mister", whose given name is Mary. The poems parallel the two girls as they discover they're pregnant, the rumors that swirl, and track Mister's crushing sadness that she has broken a promise to God and gotten pregnant by a guy who doesn't love her. It's deceptively simple, beautifully-written, and ultimately hopeful.

Out now
Zondervan

Who should read this? Every religious teenager who is considering having sex (though having attempted to teach "girl" books to the guys before, I'm not optimistic on boys reading it), the parents/teachers of teenagers, those who have forgotten that there are real and high stakes in normal teenage life, and those who want to explore what it really means to be Christian.

Due out Oct. 2012
Disney Hyperion

Due out Sept. 2012
Bloomsbury

 

ALA Anaheim. Saturday. In Pictures.

Ally Condie

Arthur Levine

With Sherman Alexie!!! 

Ransom Riggs

Libba Bray

 Dante Fried Chicken. So tasty.

Creepy picture Riggs gave me with book.  Love.

An end to The Giver?.!.

One very flirtatious robot.

Bloomsbury booth was talking this up

Ridiculously long lines.

Maggie Stiefvater signs Raven Boys

Thinking to Inking Pens. Kinda love 'em.