Business Cards for Authors
Project Type: N/A
Business Cards for Authors
The New Promotional Tool
By Alice Anderson
Let’s face it, unless you’re a best selling author, you’re probably always looking for an easy and more importantly cost efficient way to promote yourself. Right? But the question of the day is, who to promote yourself to.
Most writers spend lots of time and money on bookmarks, postcards, and banner ads. They’re hoping to increase their visibility to readers. Bookmarks, postcards, and banner ads are a sure bet to increase visibility to readers, but what about to editors, agents, and other authors. Not only are they readers, they are network connections.
As an author, your in the business of writing. Treat this business as you would any other. With professionalism and the tools that will help you network and sell. Imagine this scenario… you walk into a conference. You’ve got your name tag, a bag full of goodies to give away, your two sentence pitch on the end of your tongue and a smile permanently fixed to your face. You meet with dozens of authors and even a few agents. By the end of the day, you can hardly remember all the authors you spoke with, much less the editors and agents. How do you expect them to remember you? Aside from the next New York Times Bestseller, you’ve got to make an impression. A professional impression. Make it easy on others by handing them your business card right after you shake their hand.
Giving them your card will help them to remember you. Plus it’ll provide them with all of the necessary information about you. We’ll discuss what information you should include in a moment. So they’ve got your card, they can take it home with them, use it as a bookmark, or toss it in the trash. Don’t gasp just yet. Think about it this way, while most authors are going to pocket your card, others may loose it or toss it. But each card only costs pennies and is the perfect disposable promotional tool. Give them out everywhere you go. Leave them behind at restaurants. You never know exactly who will see your card. Don’t worry if it makes the circular file, it’s worth it for the visibility.
Now, what information to include on your card? Depending on how many cards you’re planning on giving away, consider putting your photo on it. That way people can easily remember your face. Real Estate agents put their photo on everything. They want to promote themselves, their face, their image. Put your name on it! Make it visible. Underneath your name, you may want to include Romance Author. If you’re not published yet, don’t despair. Put Romance Writer or writer on there. If you write a lot of articles or do freelance work, consider putting Freelance writer on there.
If you’re published, I know that you’ve spent hours perfecting your image… colors, a tag line, a logo……. Things that are your brand. If you haven’t done that yet, read my article on branding ASAP! When you’ve figured all of that stuff out, include it on your business card. If you write for a specific line that is known by it’s color, make that the predominant color of your business card. It’s all subliminal messaging.
It’s a way to keep your current information out there. You can print up small quantities at a time for a relatively cheap price. Make sure to get new cards as soon as you move, the moment you buy your domain name, if you get married and change your name. Any time your important information changes, update your business card. There’s nothing worse than having old information out there where people cannot get into contact with you. That’s a whole other article on networking and contacts.
Include your PO Box address. A public email address. Your website address! If you don’t have any of those, read these articles now.
So, you’ve got a photo, your name, your occupation, your colors, logo, tagline, PO Box address, public email address, web address. Anything else? Well it’s up to you how you include your pen name. Some people prefer to make their pen name the bolded name that grabs attention. If you write under more than one pen name, or are considering breaking into a new genre with a new pen name, consider a small section on your card that says Writing as ______________. If you’re going to a big conference and are planning on tossing business cards to everyone one you meet(even the bus boy, in case his girlfriend reads romance) and you have one or two books out right around the conference date, consider using the back of your card as a billboard to display your covers. Or you could use the back to display your current and upcoming release titles, dates, and other information.