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There’s more to promoting your self-published book than just announcing the release of it on social media. A successful marketing campaign will help to drum up enthusiasm and interest for your readers, engaging them in not only the book itself, but your profile as an indie author and the context in which your book exists within. Read on to discover a variety of merchandise ideas to spread the word and build excitement when marketing your self-published book.
Why Branded Bookmarks Are The Perfect Book Companion
There’s probably no merchandise idea that is more apt to marketing your self-published book than a matching bookmark. Bookmarks are one of the best merch pieces to palm off to your potential readership as not only are they perfectly aligned with the reading theme, but they’re also relatively simple and cheap to print.
There are a few different directions you can go down as an indie author using a bookmark as promotional merchandise. Firstly, there’s the straight-down-the-line marketing approach - this means that your bookmark will be more of an obvious vessel of marketing your book, including key details like your book’s title and your author name, with maybe some imagery or design flourishes adapted from your book’s cover. A nifty idea to include on your bookmark is the website address where a reader can purchase your book, your author Instagram handle or website, or even a QR code graphic that will lead a reader directly to your book’s point of purchase.
You can also get creative in the design of your printed bookmark. Merchandise is a great way to flaunt your creativity beyond the pages of your book and build up your indie author and book’s brand. If you’ve written a book in a specific genre - like science fiction or fantasy - or with a specific audience in mind - like children - you can lean into these segments of readership with character illustrations, quotes from your book, or even Easter eggs taken from your story.
How Diaries and Notebooks Extend Your Author Brand
One of the key things to keep in mind when crafting paper merchandise items to elevate your author brand and awareness of your book is that these promotional items aren’t just made to promote, they’re made to be beautiful and useful.
Diaries and notebooks are a great example of promotional merchandise that you can brand with your author profile while simultaneously craft an item that your audience will want to keep and use everyday. To really get your branding across, you can construct a notebook with the same front cover as your self-published book, with your contact info on the back cover and lined pages (or blank pages) filling the space in between. A diary would be similarly designed, only the internal pages would be filled with dates and room to write alongside them.
Why Complementary and Practical Merchandise Matters
By expanding on the idea of using diaries and notebooks as merchandise ideas, another nifty vessel for spreading the word of your book and your own author brand is through complementary post-it notes, to-do lists and mini notepads.
It goes without saying, but everyone loves free stuff. The most effective complementary merchandise you can create, however, is the kind that will not only find its way into the hands of your reader, but will remind them each and every time they use it of your book and your brand.
An easy way to do this is by printing post-it notes, to-do lists or mini notepads that include your author name, your book title, and a website to purchase your self-published work on every page of the printed merchandise. The distribution of these promotional items is also just as important as the items themselves. Bring them along to any book launches, events, book stalls or fairs, or any other space you find yourself in that you can plug your book. Plus, it’s a great idea to pass on these merchandise items to other affiliates in the industry - like book sellers, stockists, other authors and agents. You’ll never know who might end up using your merchandise items (and what opportunities that could lead to)!
Another fun merchandise idea to incorporate into the marketing of your work is designing 3D paper crafts. This could be anything from chatterboxes to decorative shapes to mini versions of everyday items that connect to your book's story - like the FolioFox mini printer we made earlier this year, pictured below (which was quite popular at Book Fair Australia in Melbourne, if we might add!). Paper crafts are an effective way of engaging your audience through an entertaining activity, while also leading them to create a keepsake with your branding on it that they can treasure and hang on to.
Creative Postcards From The World of Your Story
Postcards are a key merchandise item to incorporate into the marketing of your self-published book. This versatile form of media is perfect for handing out to prospective customers, sending in the mail as invitations, or including in the sale of your book with a gratitude note.
The best thing about postcards as book merch is that you can have fun with the design of them. You can think about incorporating your book cover design into the postcard, or illustrating a scene from your story. Think of this medium as a way to extend the world of your story while also intriguing your viewer to find out more. The purpose of marketing material is to get your audience to interact with it more than once (at least three times is ideal), so that it helps to solidify your author brand and the awareness of your book. Crafting a beautiful postcard that is both fun and affordable for you to make and print is an easy way to do this.
Using postcards as book merchandise is also effective in this day and age due to an overload of information being delivered electronically. There’s no better way to stand out from the crowd and cut through the digital noise than delivering a personalised tangible piece of marketing material that your receiver can keep and look at, again and again and again. Plus, they’re super easy to hand out to bookshops, at fairs, or anywhere else keen readers may pick one up and be introduced to your writing.
When it comes to marketing your self-published book, merchandise ideas are your best friend in getting the word out about your work. These affordable, accessible and creative ways to craft merch items that align with your indie author profile and book won’t just help you sell copies - they’ll help you connect to a community of readers that are excited to read your work.
To learn more about our printing services for self-published authors and get started on your printing journey, get in touch with our team today. We're here to help you navigate the evolving world of printing with confidence.
