How Much is Enough?

Mary Sullivan

In the first week of August, I will be attending the RomCon reader’s convention in Denver. I attended last year and had a ball. This year, I’ve been invited back as a featured author, which means I'll be involved in events that require me to provide promo materials.

This is the first time in my writing career I’ve actually had promotional material printed—bookmarks with the names of my published books on the back as well as the names of July's and November's releases, so each one is a large business card with my print list on it, and postcards with one of my original recipes printed on the front, rather than a current book cover which would render the postcards obsolete too quickly. Ditto for putting a book cover image on the bookmarks. The postcards will go on the goody table for all attendees to pick up if they want.

However, neither of these is really much of a promotional item to put in the goody bags that will be handed out at certain events. Usually an author will put in any books the publisher will send along. When I started planning for this convention, though, the only stock that Harlequin would have available would be my July release, BEYOND ORDINARY. This caused a conflict with the booksigning that RomCon had planned. That would be the book that RomCon would hope readers would purchase and have signed.

So…I had to come up with promo ideas for events with large attendee lists, like 100 and 75. That’s a lot of items. Have you ever taken a look at how expensive customized note pads and sticky notes are? On VistaPrint, whose prices are fairly reasonable, they’re four and five dollars a piece. I’m afraid it’s too much for me.

I also worried about how many items would actually ever be used. I mean, how many key chains can one person use? So, are some things a waste of money and materials?

I had to become really creative…I mean REALLY creative. At a local cookie outlet, I bought boxes of small packages of these fabulous cranberry cookies then printed my own labels—Mary Sullivan, Harlequin Superromance, website URL--and stuck them to the cookies. Total cost? Sixteen cents a piece.

Then I had an idea that had me laughing. I decided to shred my very first manuscript, which was rejected everywhere, and made paper out of it in my blender. I added red tissue paper to turn the homemade paper pink then shaped it into hearts to which I added flower seeds. The recipient can break the paper heart into pieces and plant it and grow flowers. At least someone would get some use out of that old manuscript ;-)

I decided that the seeds to add would be Morning Glories, because the first romance novel I ever read was LaVyrle Spencer’s MORNING GLORY, and it inspired me to write romance. This took on sentimental significance for me because it was my mother who recommended that I should read it. At the time, I actually said to her, “I don’t read romance novels,” and she replied, “You’ll love this story,” and I did. I gobbled up the rest of LaVyrle Spencer’s novels and started writing. I've read a lot of romance ever since. My mother died last year, but I know she would have appreciated the whimsy of these hearts.

So, I have a couple of hundred hearts that I’m bringing to the convention.

Borders has since had to pull out of having a book sale and booksigning at the convention, so Harlequin might be able to provide July’s book, if there is stock available.

Even if books are available, I’ll bring along my cookies and hearts and hand them out anyway.

To all of you readers, what do you expect in the way of promotional items when you attend conferences and conventions, or author teas, or any sort of author event, and receive goody bags? Would one pen in the bottom of a goody bag be enough from one author? But the pens that are reasonably priced are…pretty cheaply made and disposable so, again, a waste of materials.

To the authors on the loop, how do you handle this situation? Both the readers and the convention expect us to provide SOMETHING. But what is the sense in spending more per item than we make on the sale of each book? First time I’ve faced this problem. It’s been interesting to solve.

I’d like to give away two copies of BEYOND ORDINARY.

MORE QUESTIONS: I'm adding questions here that I forgot to include when I wrote up this blog last night! Which type of promo item prompts you to buy an author's book? Where are promo dollars effective? ARE they effective?