Book Marketing Tips and Author Success Podcast

Make Your Book Unforgettable: Creative Ways to Wow Reviewers

• Penny C. Sansevieri and Amy Cornell Author Marketing Experts • Season 4 • Episode 44

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A reviewer gets thousands of books a month—so why did one plain-looking title jump to the top of the pile? The packaging signaled a story worth opening. We break down the art and strategy of creative mailers and author swag that make reviewers, influencers, and readers pay attention, share photos, and prioritize your book.

We start with the first impression: simple upgrades like colored bubble mailers, clever on-theme stickers, or parchment-style wraps that create instant curiosity without custom-box budgets. Then we get practical about what goes inside. You’ll hear how consumables turn a pitch into a memorable experience, and why handwritten notes still win in a digital age.

Not everyone wants print, and that’s okay. We share a hybrid approach, too.

 We also profile three investment tiers: Budget ideas, mid-range boosters, and deluxe - when you really want to get creative! Beyond the book, we show how to reflect your author identity and causes you care about so your package feels human, not corporate.

You’ll walk away with a sourcing list (printers, Etsy makers), a QR strategy that routes to a clean landing page with buy links and bonus content, and a checklist to keep shipping costs low and breakage near zero. Ready to turn your next book review request into an experience people keep and share? Be sure to tune in! 

Subscribe, text us your favorite swag ideas at 888-402-8940, and leave a quick review to help more authors find the show.

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SPEAKER_02:

Hello and welcome back to the Bookmarketing Tips and Author Success Podcast. This is Kenny Sansbury and Amy Cornell. And um we've had so many people sign up for our uh podcast. Podcast updates. So if you haven't done it yet, then it's really fun because you can get show updates and um let us know what you think about a show or some show ideas. It's a direct way to communicate with us. Text the word podcast to 888-402-8940. So text the word podcast and you'll be in. And uh you can communicate with us directly because we both get these texts. It's really, really, really funny. And we've had a bunch of people sign up for it. So it's very exciting. I'm really excited about the show, and I'm excited because we actually have never done a show on this before, which, you know, every once in a while, Amy, you and I like, oh my gosh, why have we not done a show on that? Right. Like, mm-hmm. Yeah. Um, and it's really it's something that was really inspired. I I got inspired on this show when I was on a panel for the Los Angeles Festival of Books, and it was a pre-record that we were recording the panel early, and there was a there was a post-publication national review guy on there that we worked with for years. And he mentioned, he's like, Yeah, you know, I got this package in the mail last week, and it wasn't like you could tell that it wasn't just a book, like there was something else in it. And they must get like thousands of books every month sent to them because they're they've been around forever and they get, you know, they're very well regarded. And he said he was like, you know, and I paid attention to that packet because it looked like there was something else in it, and it was also like the packaging was different, and it really it wasn't just a regular, you know, mail or envelope, it really helped us stand out from the crowd. So that's what we're gonna break down because I I mean, Amy, you and I deal with a lot of pitching and influencers and things like that. And a lot of people do want digital copies, and I'm gonna talk, I'll talk about what to do in those instances. But the things that like we always remember the authors who do things to stand out from the crowd, right?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, always, because that's the biggest thing because we talk about it on so many shows. It's that next level thoughtful behavior that shows that you care about the experience of the person that's on the receiving end of your book, whether it's a a media person, a reviewer, an influencer, or just an everyday genre fan, or you know, topic enthusiast, that shows that you are thinking about how they are engaging with your brand in your book. And it's amazing how few authors have taken that next step to think to that next level.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, exactly. And you know, it's not about um, it's not about it's not a gimmick. It's not it is about standing out from the crowd. So, like I alluded to the the creative mailer. So we've actually had authors. In fact, I had an author that we hadn't even we hadn't even signed yet to work with. And she sent me not only her book, but she also sent me some plushies. It was a children's book. And she sent that in a very creative mailer box. And I gotta tell you, I can imagine as a reviewer, and obviously hers had to be in a box because she had a plushie in there and books and all some other kinds of swags, swag, but as a reviewer, that pay you pay attention to that, right? Because it's a cool, I mean, even if you get a colored mailer, like I'm not necessarily suggesting that you have to have, you know, a special branded mailer that's printed up and is going to cost you more than it costs you to buy and mail your book.

unknown:

Right.

SPEAKER_02:

Even, you know, like we've had authors who just do um colored, you know, colored mailers and things like that to stand out from the crowd. I mean, I think if you do nothing else other than just a creative envelope, it it helps to up level your presentation to the you know to the reviewer.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. And I appreciate that you said that, Penny, that it's not about spending a ton of money. Uh-uh.

SPEAKER_02:

No, not.

SPEAKER_01:

You know, thoughtfulness does not equal a ton of extra cash. Like you don't have to have a huge budget to come up with something thoughtful that makes you stand out. That again, and not just their experience, but it shows how engaged you are with your own brand too. You know, I want to, I like it's you can't help but think that that author really values their work, their effort, what they've put together because they've gone that extra step to create something additional above and beyond the book. So it shows their dedication to their own brand as well, in addition to the recipient's experience.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, exactly. That that that's exactly right. And I know that we have some examples, some some actual author examples, but I really want to jump into the because now I feel I feel like everybody is ready. I want to jump into some of the creative ideas and then maybe we can come back to some of the author, some of the actual live author examples. What do you think? Sure, yeah. Let's do it. Okay. Um so I'm gonna I I will take, I'll start with the first one. Um, themed-based mailers. So this is an example where you get like like if you have a mystery novel, a black bubble mailer, mailer with confidential case file sticker on it. I mean, that's like confidential case file sticker. Oh cool, right? You could probably get like a thousand of those printed up for, I don't know, 50 bucks or something. Or you could probably even just find them, like a fantasy novel wrapped in parchment style paper with twine like an old scroll. Like how now, obviously, you're gonna pop that in a mailer. So you know what I mean? But what a cool idea.

SPEAKER_01:

I know the first impression once they open that is incredible, right? Like I love both of those ideas, and now I want way cooler mail. Like also, right? Yeah, well, my my mail's boring.

SPEAKER_02:

I know, I know it.

SPEAKER_01:

Do you want to take the next one? The branded yeah, the next one, the branded items. I think these are things that a lot of authors are familiar with. You've seen it. So if you're not doing it, it's like, oh, head slapper, why am I not doing it? You know, it's but truly, bookmarks, people still use bookmarks. I know, and they're great for branding. And nowadays, too, with you know, now I sound old, technological advancements, but truly, you know, put your website on it, put your QR code on it too. You know what I mean? Like really utilize that space because the more valuable you make it, the more likely they are to keep it too, you know. For sure. Yeah. If you have something cool on your website, and this is next level thinking, but again, if you have something cool that you can provide on your website, you know, on an access page with a login code that you could put on your bookmark or something. You know what I mean? Just think of ways to make these next level valuable to people as well. So again, stickers also with your book title, character art, tagline, these are also great for you create the sticker that also includes a section for you to sign the book. Yes. So that's another one. If you want to do a two for one and get or get more mileage out of your stickers, you could do a custom sticker that you can put in books on the outside of books where you can sign it, things like that too, that just add a next level piece to, you know, it really makes the person receiving that feel special. It's it's a next level customization that you can do. And then also postcards. And we also, this has come up before when Penny, you've talked about local efforts. So postcards with quotes, an author note, again, QR code, a special that you're running, a cool promo. But those are also multi-use because while yes, you can include them when you do mailers, but those are also great to leave around town for a little local exposure as well.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, exactly. And don't forget your QR code, right?

SPEAKER_01:

Gotta love the QR code.

SPEAKER_02:

I love that, I love that the QR code has just had a complete resurgence.

SPEAKER_01:

I know it's so useful. You can do so much with it, and you can send people to different places too. So it's not like you have to sit there and bite your nails going, oh my gosh, where do I want to send them? Is it Amazon? Is it my website? You can set them up now to where you go to a landing page where they have access to all of your online content.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, exactly. Um, consumables. So I have a great story. So uh bunch of years ago, this is actually before Amy, I worked on a book called Cooking for Love, which is a great book, by the way. If you ever get your hands on it, it's really fun. And the author had so Cooking for Love obviously alludes to one of the, you know, folks in the book, the protagonist is actually a uh cookbook author. So in between the chat, so at the end of every chapter, she had a recipe. And one of the recipes was orgasmic cookies. They were as good as the name implies. She worked with a local bakery and they made up, they made the recipe, they got to put their branding on it, right? Now, this was obviously next level, so I'm not necessarily suggesting that you create special recipes and whatever, you know. But but let me tell you that uh when I shipped these out with mailers, because this was a long time ago, so we weren't using digital, and uh the reviews that she got was just staggering. First off, I had all these boxes, I have to tell you, I had all these boxes in my office. I'm glad that they overbaked. I'm just gonna put that out there because they were these cookies were amazing. So think of and and it people, you know, reviewers paid attention to it. They shared pictures of these cookies and the packaging, and the packaging was all pink. It was really, really cool. But you could do something as simple as tea bags, hot cocoa bags, individually wrapped candies that somehow tie into your book's theme, right? Um, you know, like I know of a cozy mystery author who sent a cup of, you know, was sending a cup of tea while you read bag. Now, it's if you're going down the route of like tea and hot cocoa packets or like coffee sampler or something like that, it's um it's easy to say, you know, oh, you know what? I'm just gonna have a brand mug, right? Like when you're thinking about things to add, like when you're thinking about swag, think about things that are easy to mail, right? Think about things that are relatively flat or easier to mail. Because when you start mailing breakables, they will break many times, and that gets to be that gets to be disappointing. So and they're heavy. Well, they're heavy, they're tougher to mail, you know, it's harder to get, yeah, it it just gets really, really uh we had an author, we actually worked with an author, and she, and this was so creative, but she did admit that it was kind of a nightmare to mail. She did shot glasses because her protagonist had this particular type of um brandy that he liked. So they were, you know, and it was mentioned in the book and whatnot. So she sent out these branded shot glasses, which were darling. And I I I want to say this was a long time ago. She actually mailed me one, but she said they were a nightmare to mail.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh.

SPEAKER_02:

You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02:

They were so think about things. If you're gonna do consumables, I love the idea of consumables, especially if you can find something that really ties into your book. Um, and we actually had another author. So, you know, if you if you're thinking about the cookie idea and you're like, oh, I don't really know, like this sounds expensive, whatever, I'll have to buy these cookies. Send recipe cards. If if if that's something that ties into your book somehow, right? Send, you know, random recipe cards. Not that like, well, here's a recipe card and do an arm, but it's a really cool idea. And I can tell you right now, from um, just kind of going back to the, you know, dovetail into what Amy was talking about about the bookmarks and stuff like that. We started doing, and I actually got this idea from the rope from the romance author market. So we started doing trading cards. You remember those old baseball trading cards, right? Oh yeah. And I saw one time I was doing a romance conference, I was speaking at a romance conference, and there were authors that had these. This is a bunch of years ago, and they had they had character, basically they were character trading cards. So each character had their own card with a character quote from the book, right? And people just love these. I mean, along with the bookmarks, people just love these. So I did them for, I started doing these for tips, so book marketing tips, and they were branded to a particular book. People love these book marketing tips. So whenever I send out a book to a reviewer or if somebody, you know, buys a copy of the book from me directly on our website or whatever, I always send these out with them. I I think it's a nice touch, it's a nice way to say thank you. It's a nice thing for the reviewer to have also when they're reviewing the book. Um, but it also, again, it's one of those things that set you apart.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. You know? And I like the next one too. So these are next level experiences with your brand, which, and again, we're back to the QR code. So if if you write down one thing from this episode, get a QR code set up clearly, because yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a link to everything. But with a QR card, you can do a link to a playlist. It can be inspired by the book, it could be a playlist that is inspiring to you in like directly as the author, which can be very cool, especially if, again, it's about you, but it's also about your market. So remember, happy medium there. You know, think of who your readers are, think of what they would like to listen to. Obviously, if it ties in directly to your book, that's amazing as well. But also downloadable bonus content. So this is something that you would want to include. Maybe it's on the postcard, whatever. So these are kind of next level ideas for that. But if there's a free novella that you can offer, a map, a behind the scenes notes, something, you know, if you're nonfiction, it can be maybe a cool checklist or something that is very actionable. You know what I mean? Like achieve this in five minutes, or something that's very much like I gotta get my hands on that, something that's very tangible.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

You know, but include that because then again, that's that next level experience with your brand. If you send that out with your book and they're able to, you know, scan the QR code and get access to this extra content, these next level elements that tie back to your brand, that's huge. Because if somebody takes the few extra moments it takes to check those out, I mean, you've got them hooked, right? Yeah. Like our time is precious. So if you put something together that is really worth their time and you present it in a way that's really engaging and interesting and speaks to, you know, what they're what they are interested in or something that's useful to them, that's an incredible way to connect them to your brand and it leaves an incredible first impression.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Yeah, it really does. And I I can tell you right now that downloadable bonus content is people love that. And you can, you know, experiment with it and start to build, you know, your creativity will build as you start to get feedback, or you maybe you go to events and it sparks some new ideas, things like that. And I mentioned this early on, but none of this stuff has to cost you a lot of money. And I'll tell you that even if I, and I know I alluded to this in the beginning that I was going to talk about this. So we all get a lot of digital requests for our books, right? So the example that I gave you was from a reviewer who actually gets them, they don't take digital copies, they just take mailers, right? So you'll have a lot of um, you know, you'll still have you still have a lot of people who just want to have actually hold a book in their hand and whatnot. But for those of you who don't, um, I actually follow up with some of the swag. Like I'll mail the swag after the fact. So I'll send the book digitally and then I'll mail the swag after the fact. Again, being budget conscious doesn't have to cost you a lot of money. I gotta tell you, sometimes I will put some of those, like I talked about those trading cards, I'll put those in a handwritten thank you note. If you've read any of my books or you've listened to me talk, I am such a big fan of handwritten thank you notes. I think it stands out in a digital age. In fact, we did, we started starting this year, we started, we sent out, we now send out thank handwritten thank you notes to every single client that signs with us. And we've gotten the feedback every single time, like somebody writes is like, oh my gosh, this is so great. Like we really love this. In the digital age, something that's like something that's thoughtful like that really does stand out. Um, but again, if that's not your jam, that's totally fine. You can still do digital. We had an author one time, she did um, and this was actually for a children's book. So she did um wallpapers and you know, little sounds that you could change on your phone. I think now it's a lot more challenging to add new ringtones and things like that to your phone. I and also the majority of us have our phones on silent. Like my phone's been silent for the last 10 years. If my phone actually started ringing, I would probably throw it through the window. But I know. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01:

But but yeah, the kids, the kids love it. I will say. Young people still love all the sounds and stuff. So if if if you've got the right market for it, go for it.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, exactly. So I'm basically just old and I don't like sounds. So, but I guess so. I guess the young people do. I feel like I should practice my my old person's voice now. But absolutely, the more that you can do in digital, and you know, just start if this has piqued your interest, just go online and start to Google like swag ideas and places like got print. So I use got print, and I think it's.net, but it may be.com, but it's just got G O T print. And I use them for the trading cards. The trading cards are stupidly cheap. I I I have so many trading cards right now, like it's insane because you buy them, you spend maybe a hundred bucks for I don't know, a thousand or something. And then for a penny more, you get you know it's always so appealing. And the next thing you know, I have like all these freaking trading cards everywhere. But yeah, so and got print does a lot of different kinds of you know, fun swag for really special things. I've actually known authors to go on to Etsy. Etsy is another really great place to find some swag. And in particular, like if you're looking for digital swag, um, there's a lot of digital swag on Etsy too.

SPEAKER_01:

And so I know I love Etsy because you can message the shop owner, designer, whatnot, and they are usually very open to collaborating too. So if you see something close to what you're looking for on Etsy, it's always worth just a side tip messaging, you know, the artist or shop owner and saying, you know, I'm looking for this. Is that something you can do? Because yep.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, exactly. I totally agree with that. The one thing that I did that I omitted from the notes quite accidentally, um, is tote bags. So I know everybody has tote bags, like, and I know every time you go to a conference, like I have so many tote bags from a from conferences. Custom tote bags, I cannot tell you, it's kind of like bookmarks, like it's weird. People love them, right? So I did a hundred canvas tote bags on Etsy, and the tote bags say, ask me about my book. And I gotta tell you, when I go to conferences, I had so for one of the sessions that I taught, it was actually a special thing where I said, okay, so the first person who gets the answer right gets a free tote bag. And so somebody else saw that person walking around with the tote bag and they came up to me. They're like, I want a tote bag like that. How can I get another? How can I get this tote bag from you? Like they were cool. I love that. So the tote bags are another really great thing, especially if you have like if you are pitching a series, for example, to an influencer, the tote bag with the series and all the books in the tote bag. I mean, uh people people love them. And you can get them, like I said. I I know Zazzle does that. I I've used Zazzle before years ago, but mostly we use Etsy Etsy for that kind of stuff. It's really, really, really cool. Um, so I so we talked about, all right, so packaging presentation, we talked about, you know, a a colorful mailer. You can certainly do a branded mailer if that's your thing, or a branded box, obviously. Um, and and even like if you want to just do a regular mailer, you can even do like there's so much that you can do with colorful printed labels now that you don't necessarily have to get custom done either.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, I love that idea too. And I love the idea of the sticker that you mentioned at the beginning, Penny. That's so inexpensive to do, but it definitely makes a basic mail mailer stand out. So if you can find a clever way to add sticker, stickers to the mailer. And I mean, don't make it look like a you know, kids' craft project, but still like if you can keep it on brand and on theme with what your book is about, that's just brilliant because you obviously that catches your eye. Yeah. And if I'm gonna open, if I have eight packages sitting on my desk that I need to go through, that is absolutely gonna be the first one I open just by default, you know, because you want to know.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. And like we said, avoid breakables. Try to avoid breakables whenever you can. Flat is better, bookmarks, postcards, tea bags, stickers, uh anything that really, anything that aligns with your, you know, your book's theme, right? Um and yeah, I mean, I just think, and you know, it's funny because when we were on the panel and he said that I'm like, oh my gosh, it is it's such a great idea. It just really, really helps. It helps you, you know, the other piece of the two, it doesn't just help you stand out from um the crowd when you're mailing your books to like a review place and they get thousands of them a month or whatever. But I have no, so when I do, when I mail my books, and even when I send the swag after, if I've sent them a digital copy, a lot of times Instagram, you know, you know, bookstagrammers and bloggers, they'll use the swag in their posts. So they'll be like, oh my gosh, I got in fact, um uh we have a reviewer who does um uh her reviews on both on Instagram and on YouTube. And she when she would she did this unpacking video and I mailed her some swag after the fact and she showed it all on like I was so excited. Like she's got all the swag and a tote bag and all this other, you know, author-centric things, because obviously that matches by brand. Um it's really it's a fun way not just to stand out from the crowd, but to give reviewers something else to kind of showcase visually when they're posting your review too.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02:

You know? Um and I mean and also like the author brand, right? I mean, it also it's it's something that really helps you to people to align with your author brand, right?

SPEAKER_01:

Right. It tells you more about it tells them, excuse me, more about who you are, what your intentions are. And again, it goes back to the thoughtfulness. It shows that you are actively engaged in building your brand, in building an experience. And if if anybody listening thinks that that doesn't matter, it absolutely does. You know, that is a psychological thing that anybody receiving your book, whether it's a reviewer, a media person, an influencer, they immediately feel like you are connected to the success of your own brand. And people want to be a part of something positive, you know. It's like like breeds like, so it's huge. And, you know, every this is another thing too. We we say it all the time. Everything you put out there is your resume. So this is just one more extension of how you want to be perceived in the industry. Yeah. And it's it's and this this kind of stuff is fun. You know what I mean? At least I think it's fun of all the things that you really should be doing as an author to build your author brand, to build your business as an author, these kind of things, like latch onto them because it's it's creative, it's fun, it's relatively inexpensive, and it makes such a huge difference.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, it does make a huge difference. And it does, you know, it it also just, I mean, it sends a message to whoever is receiving it that you you're taking your success seriously because you're you're also and and you're thoughtful about your success, right? You're thoughtful about your about the details of your brand and your book that make you unique. So there's also that subtle message. So think about, you know, think about different things that you can do. And if this feels a little bit overwhelming, start small. Start like Amy said, the bookmarks, people love bookmarks. It's the weirdest thing, right? I mean, I read a mixture of print and digital. And when I read print, I'm absolutely using bookmarks that I've gotten. I mean, you know, bookmarks that I have, but bookmarks that I've gotten at events and things like that that I've picked up because I too, like I I always I always pick up some bookmarks at events, right? Yes. Right. Because I love them the more creative. But don't forget about the QR code. You can put that on everything, right? Um and just keep it keep it lightweight, keep it mail-friendly. Um still love the idea of the the shot glasses, but you know, it it was it was a little bit, it was a little bit harder to mail. Um do we want to go through? I know we still have the author examples, but I really like because we because you and I both broke this down into budget friendly, mid-range, and deluxe. Do you want to plow through that list?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I think that list is going. I mean, the author stuff is fun, but honestly, they are, you know, the examples for what it's worth, folks, they're doing things that we've already covered. So yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you want to start?

SPEAKER_02:

Do you want to take the budget?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Absolutely. So flat, easy to mail, budget friendly. That's the goal. Here's some examples, custom bookmarks. We covered that. Stickers, decals. These can either be branded specifically to your book or and or maybe is a better version, and or just on theme with your book. So I love, you know, confidential file. That was such a cool example. So if you write a mystery, postcards, you know, we already said those are multi-use. So those are definitely worth your time and effort to get some postcards printed because they can go out with your books, but they can also go around town. Uh, tea bags, cocoa packets, the kind of sip while you read, if that fits the theme of your book, that's brilliant because it's also an experience. You know, they're not throwing those out, right?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01:

Those are being kept. And honestly, put your sticker on that too, you know. But packets of seeds.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, I love that.

SPEAKER_01:

I know it's such a cool idea. And again, get creative. These don't always, I mean, they should make sense, but they don't always have to be super on the nose. And I think including a, you know, a handwritten note, this comes in with all these other things. It doesn't hurt to have a compelling, concise, engaging kind of reasoning for why you included what you did. You know what I mean? Just to make sure that you are telling them exactly that is added to the thoughtfulness. So include the note, sign it, but that's a perfect place to say why you included what you did, also, because they may not make the connection right away until they start digging into your book. So why not tell them why you included this extra special element in your packet? Uh, if you write for kids or young adults, uh, coloring pages, activities, anything like printables, those are so easy to do nowadays. And again, it's just one more thing that they have around now that has your branding on it that connects them to your book. And then we've said it a billion times, but it's worth saying a billion and one, the QR codes. You definitely want to set one of those up. And like I said, nowadays, most of them you can set up to where it's like a landing page of multiple different elements of your brand. So you don't have to pick one thing. You know, you could have a playlist, link to bonus chapters, um, trailers, free downloads, all that kind of stuff. So you can kind of have everything live on one page where QR code takes them to, you know, kind of dig in and further engage with your brand.

SPEAKER_02:

Right, exactly. And, you know, something that's not so we talked a lot about, um, and I'm gonna dig into the mid-range ideas in just a minute, but uh we talked a lot about finding things that are on brand with your book. But what about finding things that are on brand with who you are as an author? Right. So things that you things that you love. So for example, you know, we have for the last, I don't know, 20 years, we've supported senior dog rescues, right? So that's something that is really that we are really passionate about. You might have something else. And that there might be, and you know, and a lot of times these organizations, they have this fun swag that you can purchase that doesn't tie into your book, unless obviously your book is about, for example, senior dog rescues, but it does speak to who you are as an author, right? And what you are, the things that you are passionate about. Or it could be something that is just from your regional area, right? Really fun from your like um, like if you are around, like if you're in New Orleans or something, right? Like that's the first thing that comes to mind. Because I talked to an author this morning who's from New Orleans. So much like a little spices from New Orleans or something doesn't necessarily always have to be on brand with your book, but it can it should be on brand with either your book or you as an author. So the things that you're passionate about. Because here's the thing though, too, is that these are also ways to build relationships with the reviewers, right? And having getting having reviewers get to know you, who you are as an author, right? This is these are things I'm passionate about, or this is where I'm from, or whatever, right? Um, like the seed packet. Like maybe seeds don't have nothing to do with your book, but you could like have like plant a tree because I'm really passionate about forests and trees and things like that. These are the things that really set you apart, right? Um, so we talked about so the mid-range ideas, we talked about custom, you know, envelopes, mailers, character art cards. Obviously, that's kind of next level, but this would work really well if you let's for a say, for example, have an ongoing series too, right? Where you have multiple different people kind of being showcased in each, you know, in each book of your series, right? Magnets, okay. Magnets are it's really funny. Like I love magnets, you know. Um I've you know, some of my fridge or I collect them from places that I've gone to, things like that. Also very affordable. I mentioned recipe cards. We've had a number of authors that have done recipe cards. Um, this really works only if food plays into your story, right? So anything that is, and so I know I gave the example of cooking for love, but we also worked with an author. And she set her, so these this was a series of small town romances. And so what she did is she had recipes from the various um, like the Irish pub and the, you know, the coffee shop and the bakery, and that's what she included in her recipe cards. So her book didn't necessarily reflect that, but it reflected the town that the town that the series was set in, if that makes sense. That's sometimes where you have to get kind of your tangible, you know what I mean? Yes. Um, it's like if you've ever seen that meme with the guy at the string board, like with all the strings. Sometimes I know that these ideas kind of feel like that, but just find something that relates to the book, you as the author, the setting of the book, something like that is a really great idea for swag.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, a hundred percent. I love that idea.

SPEAKER_02:

And I can't believe you're taking the last one because this one is actually so perfect for me, but go for it. You want it, honey? No, you take it, but I'm so all about all these things.

SPEAKER_01:

So go ahead. I know. I'll like the very, very last one for you because that is definitely the enamel pins, like these are huge. Um I was listening to a podcast recently. It's a true crime podcast for what it's worth. If there are any other true crime lovers, you might this may, you know, sound familiar, but they just did crime con and one of the podcasters was was saying how she was just blown away by the enamel pin craze at these events and how enamel pins, collectible enamel pins for your, you know, to represent different lifestyle uh segments, you know, book genres, like all these things have become enamel pins have be really taken off, which I love because I feel like that's quite a throwback, but fantastic. And again, this doesn't have to be your author name on a pin because you know, let's be realistic about what people actually will probably use, but but it could be something that makes sense for your book, your series, your brand, your topic. And so it's still linked to that without being super on the nose, but then it will definitely be used as well. So I think for some of these things, you also have to remember you want people to keep them, you want people to use them, you want that touch point or that reminder of your book and your brand to be something that they actually utilize, you know. So find that sweet spot. But enamel pins, a little more costly, but you could definitely save those for sending to big name reviewers or influencers that you were so, you know, they're a bigger influence out there for sure that when they say yes, you're like, oh my gosh, you know, it's almost like meeting a celebrity because you're like, they want my book. Amazing. Uh sentence sachets and small candles, like candles again, can be hard, but if you get small ones, you could even do, you know, have custom uh like tea light size that are pretty easy to fit into a box since you're sending a book anyway. But these are also these are great for any sort of romance, cozy, you know, or if you are like Penny, like you said, if you're from a part of the country that maybe is known for, you know, Washington State has a lot of lavender fields. So if you're an author in Washington State, putting some lavender, some local lavender in a in a sachet should could be such a great way to just say, you know, from from my my home to yours type of a situation.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, exactly. And candles are so my jam. So if any of y'all want to get on my good side, meow me candles, I am scented candles. I literally I have a problem. I probably need to go to some support group or something. But yeah, love them. So I think no, I I love that idea. It's a great idea.

SPEAKER_01:

I know. And I think you should take the last one.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, why? Because I really yeah, I think you need to am one of these people that has like a billion notebooks. I love journals. So notebooks are journals with your with a book quote on the cover or your maybe if you have a logo, right? If you have an author logo, good for you. Um, put that on the cover or something like that. I, and you know what's so funny is authors love notebooks. So there's a lot of memes out there about how much authors love their notebooks. Notebooks are so my jam, that also, and journals. So, and that's something that you could do. I mean, you could even do something mini, like it doesn't have to be a big journal, right? It doesn't have to be like a full like 12-month journal or something. You could do something that would be, you know, just something, you know, something small again, something that's easy to mail. Um, but kind of like, you know, with the with the candles and the the sentence sessions, you don't want to, you want to save these for the really big guns, so to speak, right? And by the way, back to the enamel pins, I gotta tell you, Amy's so right. She actually sent me a picture of her backpack. It was just in a conversation that we were having. And she has an enamel pin. Sorry, I'm just gonna, I have to just say this because it's so cute. Ask me about my dog. I and the first thing I thought of was, oh my gosh, I want that pin because everybody needs to ask me about my dog.

unknown:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02:

But it's such a cute, like they are, I am so blown away about how they are just all of a sudden all the rage now.

SPEAKER_01:

I know it's it's super fun. It's like, let's stop putting bumper stickers on our cars because they're a pain in the ass to get off. Let's go with the enamel pins.

unknown:

Right.

SPEAKER_02:

But you could do something. And you know, the thing about it is though, too, is that there are always a lot of sayings in in different genres, right? Um, like, you know, if you have written, you know, obviously there's true Amy could probably tell give you quotes all day long for true crime. Um, but for romance, like I love boys in books, things like that. So you could do something really fun. You could do a fun quote on the enamel pin. And you could also do it on a sticker or a postcard or a bookmark or whatever. Like it doesn't have to just be a pen. But you could also pull, so you could pull quotes from the book, but you could also pull quotes that are specific to your genre too.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, absolutely. I know ask me about my book boyfriend. It's like yes, yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02:

Um, I I just I'm so glad that we did a show on this. And I gotta tell you, I love swag. Like the first thing that I do when I go to a genre conference is I go to the swag room. I know that sounds really awful, but I love looking at the creative things that people do in uh for swag. So it's a great and and to that point, like it's not just something for a mailer, it's also something that you can bring to a conference that will help to set you apart. So um set yourself apart, people. Use swag, start to brainstorm some ideas. Uh, I'm so glad that we did this show.

SPEAKER_01:

I know. And if y'all are already using some or plan to please tell us about it. Yes. Or send us a picture because I would love like we love highlighting great things that authors are doing. So send us a photo. We might put you on our social page or something like that and tag you, give you a little love. But send us your creative stuff. Never, never hesitate to send us photos, to send us things that you're doing right, because anybody that's been listening for a while knows that we love to incorporate call-outs and things like that when authors get in touch with us and give us ideas and tell us what they're up to and present. You know what I mean? We love to give you guys credit for a job well done.

SPEAKER_02:

So yeah, absolutely. No, definitely send us pictures. And as a reminder, um, we are still waiting on our 100th review as of this recording. So hopefully by the time this hits, we will already be having a big party. Um, so we love reviews wherever you listen to podcasts. And talk to us. Text the word podcast to 888-402-8940. You can send us. Show feedback, show ideas, um, just talk to us. We are, we we love we can't believe next year we're gonna start our sixth year doing the show. That is crazy. I know. It's so nice. So uh we hope that y'all, I know next week is Halloween. We hope that y'all have a really great Halloween. We have a very, very special Halloween centric show that Amy actually designing the public is really fun. So we hope that you will tune in, and we'll see you next week. Bye bye.

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Penny Sansevieri

Host
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Amy Cornell

Co-host