Using Postcards and Bookmarks As Promotional Tools

Postcards and bookmarks are a handy tool for giving people information about your book using as few words as possible. They may be used as handouts at speaking engagements and book signings, or as giveaways with the purchase of your book. You can even include one in the correspondence you have with clients, friends, or co-workers. I have even enclosed them with my bill payment. After all, someone has to open the envelope to log in your payment, which means I have connected with a potential reader.

As a marketing piece for a book, the postcard or bookmark should have these items:

• Your book cover photo
• Book title
• Author’s name
• Very brief book synopsis
• URL to purchase

If you have the space in the layout, you can add an endorsement from a celebrity (if you were fortunate enough to garner such an endorsement), or someone who is well-known as an expert in the topic of your book. If you don’t have an endorsement that carries clout, pull something from your best book review and use it as an excerpt. Be sure to give credit to the person who gave you the endorsement or wrote your book review.

Once you’ve got an idea of what you want to include on the bookmark or postcard, you’ll need to find someone to design and print them for you. If you design them yourself, you can take them to Kinko’s or your local printer. Call first to get their upload specifications. Some will accept an MS Word document, but others prefer a PDF and will charge an extra fee to open a Word document.

There are plenty of companies online that can design and print the cards at an affordable price. I’ve made a list of places to get the bookmarks or postcards printed. This came from a social networking site where several folks chimed in.

One person was very pleased with the results when they used www.48hourprint.com and stated that she found their prices to be the most reasonable; they shipped quickly and the quality was very good.

Www.EarthlyCharms.com has author-related items. They also have stickers that read Autographed Copy, Local Author, or Award Winning Author.

PS Print www.psprint.com has several promotional items as well as postcards. Even though I haven’t used this company, others in my network report they have quality service and reasonable pricing. A bulk of 500 color 4” x 6” postcard run about $0.08. This company also provides mailing services.

Www.GotPrint.com for full color, high gloss products such as bookmarks, postcards, business cards, and brochures. Their work is outstanding and the shipping price is low.

I’ve personally used www.vistaprint.com for business cards, postcards, tee-shirts, and check printing. Use their designs or upload your logo to create your own design. This company offers several other promotional items free with purchase. I’ve been pleased with the quality of their products and their customer service.

Here is a scanned copy of the front and back of one I had printed for my book.