We CAN! promote our books

Sharon's Swag Hiatus

Sharon here!
It's been a joy and privilege to share some of my fun ideas for creating gifts around the theme of your book. Some of you use these for your publishers, editors, and sales teams, some for book table give-aways, some for your volunteer influencers, some for prizes at book-signings and speaking engagements. I've loved hearing from many of you about how you've used these ideas!

One of the great recurring themes of the talented bloggers here has been finding the balance in the peripheral work that comes with being a published author.

As a new author, I've been eager to try every idea and serve my readers and publishers in every way I can, with speaking, signings, interviews, mailings, e-zines, and blogs. It's all fun, and it's an honor to have the opportunities.

But God has gently nudged me in the past months to take a look at how little energy is left to focus on quiet spiritual growth, time with family, and writing and editing the books that I've been busy yapping about. Because I throw myself into things with vigor, and then assume I'm meant to keep going ad infinitum, He's had to pry my fingers off of several things and whisper, "Time to let this go."

The CAN blog is one of those committments. Beginning in January, Karen Whiting will replace me as a Wednesday blogger. She won't be sharing "Swag" ideas, but will have other terrific insights on promoting your books. I'm delighted to pass this service on to her, and I know that you'll enjoy her wisdom.

So much of the Christian walk is sorting out the "great" from the many "good" things we could be doing. We can read a million good ideas here, but only God knows which will be a GREAT fit for our unique calling, spiritual gifts, and situation. My prayer in the this New Year is that God will help us all examine which tasks we have taken on because He has called us to them and they fit the specific and unique way that He's called us to serve...and which we've taken on because they sounded good and seemed to be a great choice for others, so why not for us? (Or worse, because of our fears of failure, or anxiety of comparisons). I confess that in my enthusiasm, I treat life like a smorgasboard and fill my plate with nibbles of everything--not wanting to miss anything. But that approach can lead to a stomach ache. :-)

Thanks to our wonderful Lord who fills our lives with so many good things. May He direct our hands toward which pleasures and tasks to pick up, and which to lay down.

Blessed Christmas and a Joyous New Year!
Sharon Hinck

The Secret Life of Becky Miller (Bethany House 6/2006)
Renovating Becky Miller (Bethany House 2/2007)
The Restorer (NavPress 5/2007)
The Restorer's Son (NavPress 9/2007)
The Restorer's Jounrey (NavPress 12/2007)
The Key of Mom (Bethany House 2/2008)
Penny's Project (Bethany House 9/2008)

Sharon's Swag - Holiday Bonus

By Sharon Hinck

As a pre-Christmas perk to Book Buddies and visitors to my website, I've been offering some bonus gifts. If a reader orders my book to give a friend, I'll autograph it to the recipient, and also give the buyer a gift card and envelope, and a book mark. I use the "Signed By the Author" program--although I've given the same perk to folks at recent book signings and speaking events. Customers were delighted to get the gift along with the gift card and envelope.

When I explained this offer in my customer e-zine, I included ideas for people on their gift list who might enjoy the book:

Friends in Bible study groups.
A Secret Santa gift exchange.
Your daughter’s dance teacher.
Your son’s piano teacher.
Your child’s classroom teacher.
A neighbor expecting her third child.
A new mom.
Church youth group leader.
Your pastor’s wife.
Your sister or sister-in-law.
Your church’s Women’s Ministry co-ordinator.

Several folks told me they hadn't thought of how much one of the people on their gift-giving list would enjoy the book, until I shared this list.

Blessings!
Sharon Hinck
coming in February: Renovating Becky Miller (Bethany House, 2007)

Sharon's Swag - Water Bottle

Sharon's Swag by Sharon Hinck

Today's swag idea comes from CAN member Jeanette Hanscome:

"I went to a breakfast for Focus on the Family authors and they gave all of us a neat promo goodie. Focus is promoting their new book on health, so at our places, each of us had a couple of granola bars, a bottle of water, and one of those rubber wrist bands. When I looked at the waterbottle I noticed that it had Focus's logo on it, plus a health-related photo and verse. It was just an ordinary Aquafina bottle that they had wrapped with their own picture. I thought, authors could do that! Such a thing would be great for an event like ICRS, where everyone is doing a lot of running around and needs water throughout the day."

Thanks for the super idea, Jeanette!
Blessings!
Sharon Hinck
(Book Group Leaders - stop by my website for info on a free book for you!)

Sharon's Swag - Hershey Bars

Greetings!
Today, with her gracious permission, I'm sharing a terrific swag idea from suspense writer Brandilyn Collins:

"When I presented Violet Dawn before the sales/marketing folks at Zondervan (about 60 people), I gave them each a custom-printed full-size Hersheys candy bar. Looked way cool with the regular inner foil wrapping around the chocolate bar. The outer custom-printed wrapper had the cover of Violet Dawn (full color) on the front. On the back was my Seatbelt Suspense™ logo--and a warning:

DON'T go in the hot tub...

They got a real kick out 'em.

Custom candy bars is at: www.customcandybars.com

Each bar is about $1.10. The best news is there's no minimum number you have to order.


~ BRANDILYN
Seatbelt Suspense™
www.brandilyncollins.com "

Sharon here again:
For a budget version of this great idea, you can get Hershey bars in bulk at Sams or Costco and create your own wrap-over labels with your book cover or info.

Sharon Hinck
The Secret Life of Becky Miller (BHP 6/2006)
Renovating Becky Miller (BHP 2/2007)
The Restorer (NavPress 5/2007)
Book Group Leaders - get a free book as a Thanksgiving Gift. See my website for details.
www.sharonhinck.com

Sharon's Swag - Postcard Bundles

Greetings, book fans!
I was impressed by this simple idea from Kim Sawyer. She took a bundle of her promotional postcards and tied them with a cute country ribbon (a perfect match for her gentle historicals) to give out to friends, those readers who want to help promote the book, or folks who visit her book table at a signing. You can bundle the postcards into whatever size you like. Five, ten, a dozen, or twenty. Be sure and thank the recipient for sharing the news about your book with their friends. Adapt the ribbon to fit your style of book. Metallic cord, raffia, tulle, flourescent rubberbands, shoelaces, twine, decorative yarn--the ideas are endless! If you have an idea for ways to bundle your postcards or bookmarks, post a comment and tell us about your book, it's theme, and which kind of ribbon or tie fits that theme.

Blessings!
Sharon Hinck
The Secret Life of Becky Miller (Bethany House, 6/2006)
Renovating Becky Miller (Bethany House, 2/2007)
The Restorer (NavPress, 5/2007)

Sharon's Swag - Popcorn

Today's super swag idea comes from Diann Mills. She printed out a large label with her recent book cover, her contact information, and the wonderful saying, "Better Than A Movie!!!" Then she attached the label to small-sized, individually wrapped, microwave popcorn bags. What a super gift! Fans can read her book while munching popcorn.

You could also put together a gift bag for special drawings or for store managers that would include popcorn like this, along with a can of soda and a copy of the book.

Blessings!
Sharon Hinck
The Secret Life of Becky Miller (Bethany House, 6/2006)
Renovating Becky Miller (Bethany House, 2/2007)
The Restorer (NavPress, 5/2007)

Sharon's Swag - Clothespin

Today's clever idea comes from Judy Braddy who turned a simple business card into a clever and memorable swag to share for her book, It All Comes Out in the Wash. She gave this lovely hand-painted wooden clothespin at ICRS last summer. Click on the photo to see a larger version.

You don't have to write a book with a laundry metaphor to take advantage of this idea. Think of a simple gift you can attach to your business card that will make your card stand out. A charm? A rubberband bracelet? A balloon? A seashell? Brainstorm with friends, and then post a comment with some of the ideas you came up with!

Blessings!
Sharon Hinck
The Secret Life of Becky Miller (Bethany House, 6/2006)
Renovating Becky Miller (Bethany House, 2/2007)
The Restorer (NavPress, 5/2007)

Sharon's Swag - Snowman Soup

Greetings dear book enthusiasts!
Most of my swag ideas have focused on using your book cover, or promotional postcard or book mark to create inexpensive gifts and prizes. Today's idea is non-specific to your book's cover or theme, and is simply an easy holiday gift for store managers, friends at your publishing house, book group leaders, etc.

Thanks to Cyndy Salzman who reminded me of this fun project!

Snowman Soup
1 pkg. hot chocolate mix
3 Hershey Kisses
15 (or so) mini-marshmallows
1 miniature candy cane
Put these in a clear cellophane bag
Attach bag topper

I've seen various poems that go with this gift. You can include the poem inside the bag, or printed on the back of the topper. Here's one example:

Sharon's Swag - Notebook

Cover-art Note book

Most publishers are willing to order extra cover-flats for you when your book is printed, at little or no charge. These cover-flats can be used for a variety of projects that make terrific gifts for book-store managers, prizes at speaking engagements, or thank-you gifts for influencers.

Buy packs of 5 by 8 inch legal pads (Office Max, Sams Club, WalMart, and other stores have good prices). Trim your cover flat to fit and adhere it to the top of the legal pad. (I use double-stick tape on the four edges).

To give it a finished look, cut a small piece of cardstock, about 5 by 3 inches. Wrap it over the top of the notebook to create a binding. Add raffia, ribbon, or cording as an embellishment.

In the example shown, I used a crimper to corrugate the cardstock – adding extra texture to the binding. In this sample, inexpensive gold cord is tied in a bow to embellish the notebook.

Note: If your book cover is a different size, you can still create these notebooks. Layer a smaller cover onto colored cardstock to create the notebook cover. Or for a large cover, cut or collage a segment to create the notebook cover art.

Blessings!
Sharon Hinck

Sharon's Swag - Post-it Note pad

Post-It Pad

A few weeks ago, I showed a way to create a cellophane bag of goodies with a post-card topper. The example shown had a mini note-pad, golf pencil, and candy. This week’s project will show you how to create the mini-notepad.

Print your book information in three columns on cardstock. Cut the cardstock into three strips approximately 8.5 by 3.5 inches each.

Decorate to coordinate with your book theme. In my example, I rubberstamped flowers in the colors of my cover.

Fold the strip around a Post-It note pad and crease. Adhere the back of the post-it pad to the middle of the strip. Use a brad to create a spot for the top to “tuck in” to the bottom flap and hold the top flap in place.

The photo shows three views: the completed, closed notepad, the inside of the project when it’s opened up, and the outside of the project.

TIPS: Instead of a brad, you can also use Velcro as a closer, or small adhesive magnet strips.

Blessings!
Sharon Hinck