Taking the Bookmark Plunge

After much pondering and asking people, I decided to have bookmarks made for The Duke and the Pirate Queen. I am very much not an artist, so I hired Jax Cassidy of Jaxadora Design to make pretty ones that utilized the book's cover. I chose Iconix to do the printing.

Jax completed my designs with a couple of days, tailoring them to specifications for Iconix, and Iconix sent me a quote within an hour or two of me uploading the designs; at my request, they held the invoice until I'd also uploaded postcard designs, so I could pay for both at once and have them shipped in one batch. Awesome service.

Why am I telling you all this? Because it's the first time I've ever had bookmarks made. It's an experiment. And I plan to report on my experiences.

The first thing I learned was that, yes, someone who knows about design can do a much better job than I can! You get what you pay for.

The second thing I learned was that it's handy to have some little text items to include on the bookmark: descriptive blurb, review quotes, brief summary of the book. Left to my own devices, the back wouldn't have had any information but my website URL.

The third thing I learned is that most reviews, even ones that loved a book, don't yield short, punchy quotes suitable for use on bookmarks. Unless I am doing it wrong. I sort of knew that blurbs were an art form.

I'm planning to make the bookmarks available to bookstores and librarians, so if you're affiliated with one of those, let me know and I'll send you some!

I will probably bring some to RWA Nationals, as well. I know the audience there will be mostly writers, but writers also read. And I will have plenty of bookmarks.

Related post: Online Promotion: Is It Worth It?