A Comfy Corner In My Brain

I know some writers who say that when the ideas are coming they come so hard and fast they can't type quick enough. I have those experiences at times, and I'm very grateful for them when they come - except for those 2 AM diatribes. My muse could stand some Lunesta.

But my experience when I'm actually writing, or even just daydreaming (I call that plotting) is that my brain actually feels s-l-o-w-e-d d-o-w-n. I'm sure that my eyes glaze over and a little white fade-out effect takes over whatever room I happen to be in at the time, as well.

There's a literal feeling of settling in a corner of my brain, like the WIP's ass just found an awesome chair with a perfect-fit buttmark and tossed itself down. It gets settled, curls up (don't quote me on this, but it might be purring) and that's when the real act of writing starts happening.

It's typically about two pages in to that day's work, those two pages will need a lot of assistance and a Crap Removal Team when the time comes. I feel like the idea is walking around my head, testing different areas while I toss out the requisite two pages of drivel, trying out chairs and dismissing them.

But once it finds that buttmark chair... we're in business.

The Business Side of the Business Card

Every conference I've ever been to involves the "swag bag." Literally. It's a tote (with author / store / publishing house names printed all over it) that's jam-packed with business cards, bookmarks, postcards, pens, keychains, band-aid dispensers (yes), mints with personalized wrapping, and any other thing the author / pub house could think of to get the average person's attention.

And when it's all in a big fat pile like that, you learn fast what works and what doesn't. Poor quality printing and pixelated jpegs stand out like a sixth finger when we all know there's only supposed to be five.

Yes, business cards are fast, easy and cheap. Yes, pretty much everyone has them. So why do they continue to prevail? Exactly because they are fast, easy and cheap. When I want to direct someone to my blog do I want to just say the name of my blog and hope they remember it? Or take out a pen and scribble the name of my blog on a napkin and hope that 1) my writing is legible and 2) they don't mistake it for trash and throw it away later?

No, I really don't want to do that.

I want to hand them my card with the site on it and my other pertinent social media contacts (Twitter, Facebook, etc). Later they can find the site, bookmark it (or hey - follow me!) and then toss the card. Not a loss to me - I spent .08 on it and I already got my return if they visited the site. And if they couldn't give less of a crap about me or my blog? They throw it away, and that's .08 I'll never see again. Not a huge loss.

Big swag items are fun - printed shirts, hats, totes, teddy bears, underwear (you know I want that for Writer,Writer Pants on Fire, right?), but in the end they're serving the same purpose as the card - drawing attention to me or my blog. And after the person has gone to the blog, they might be thinking, "Well, that's great and all, but now I've got this shirt / hat / underwear I'm never going to wear again..." Yet because they've met you, or perhaps because they are keenly aware that you went that extra mile and spent real money on your swag they feel guilty throwing it away... so they keep it.

And if they're anything like me, they kinda resent the teddy bear with your name on it that they can't quite bring themselves to pitch. I don't really want my name associated with resentment, or even guilt if they do indeed go ahead and toss the stuffed critter.

What are some of the most effective forms of swag you've seen? Do you think swag can have impact without being expensive?

You Can't Trust Me, I'm the Marketing Man

Too many authors think of self-promotion as the equivalent of a used car salesman. I can't tell you how often I've heard writers say they just don't feel comfortable pushing themselves - or their book - at people.

There's a neat little trick to get around that feeling of icky - give people something they already want and make the fact that it has your book, your links, or even your face on it just a useful sidebar. They get something free, you're giving away yourself without feeling pushy.

That sounds totally easy, right? Ugh.

NOT A DROP TO DRINK is fast approaching cover time, which is exciting and intimidating at the same time. I need to start thinking about innovative ways to get my book out there, without rehashing the same stuff that everyone has seen a thousand times over. In my opinion the exception to that is the business card, which I don't think will ever cease to be a staple, which I’ve mentioned before.

There are options, sure. Pens, pencils, band-aid dispensers, t-shirts, personalized mints, postcards, bookmarks... and everything else you've seen a dozen times and conditioned your mind to stop noticing. DRINK is a genre-buster; I want something new and fresh for my debut baby.

Unfortunately the rest of the world has already discovered what I had originally wanted to do for DRINK - customized water bottle labels. How perfect is that for a book built around the idea that the world has run out of fresh water? However,  I recently took an author branding class that addressed swag. One of the big rules for swag is that in order for it to be cost-effective it should be something that the recipient will use more than once, not toss away.

I don't know many people that use a water bottle more than once, but I think the simple idea of tying my book to the idea of a water bottle could have a heck of an impact. The obvious water message is an easy association, and even if they throw away the bottle I put my cover on, the next time they take a drink out of a bottle they might think... "Oh hey! That book looked pretty cool. Too bad I threw the bottle away..." But with a name like NOT A DROP TO DRINK they might be able to remember it in connection with water, and a Goodreads or Amazon search might just land them in my lap.

I don't see this working for bookmarks in the same way. Someone might think, upon seeing another bookmark, "Gee I wish I hadn't thrown away that other bookmark..." but unless the name of the advertised book was NOT A BOOKMARK LEFT I doubt their brain will be able to make the association leap for a good Google result.

And giving away water would hardly make me feel smarmy. Everyone needs it. Most people like it. It's very useful, and I have yet to meet someone allergic to it.

What do my fellow readers and writers think? Is there a magic swag item out there that you've always wished someone would put your brand on or that you've wanted to see handed out?