A newly published author I know is now fine-tuning a bookmark design to bring to an upcoming fair. That reminded me of a group discussion a few years back where nearly everyone said they didn’t do bookmarks. Do the pros outweigh the cons?
I do have bookmarks for my books. We printed a small number for my first book on our home computer printer and sliced them apart with a hobby knife. The book was about 1800s settlers, so we used rough, natural-looking paper to lean into the historical theme. Since then, I’ve ordered various bookmarks online using our own designs.
Should you have bookmarks for your books? Between my own experience and in talking with other authors, I’ve come up with some pros and cons to help you decide:
Pros:
- Table decoration at author fairs
If you have a display at author fairs, craft fairs, presentations, or any other event in which you set up a table, bookmarks are a nice addition to your display. When you only have one book, you can fan out the bookmarks to fill empty space or stand them upright in a holder to create vertical interest.
- Cheap freebie to hand out
Everybody likes free stuff and author tables frequently have candy or little tchotchkes on them, as well as bookmarks, business cards, handouts, and so on. But all this stuff costs money and folks manning author fair tables usually aren’t making a ton of money on their books. When trying to control expenses, bookmarks can be a cheap giveaway.
Chocolate might attract people to your table so you can pitch them, but once they’ve eaten the treat, what do they have to remember about you and your book? Even if they only see it when they clean off their desk or empty their pockets later, that’s one more time to remind them about you!
Some authors put a QR code on their bookmarks for a special freebie such as a deleted scene or a themed game. Offering something unique encourages people to hang on to your bookmark, and to interact with it in a meaningful way.
Cons:
- Design and production costs
Yes, it does cost money to have bookmarks printed and cut. However, online printing companies are fairly inexpensive, and you can always run a few sheets of bookmarks off on your home printer (or library printer!), if necessary. If you don’t have design skills, that’s an extra expense to consider.
- Not valued, so not saved for promoting
Most people do not need dozens of bookmarks, and since it was a giveaway, they will purge the extras without hesitation. Once your bookmark is in the trash can, it is no longer promoting you and your book.
Since bookmarks tend to be too long to fit in a pocket, business cards have the advantage here. A card might be saved and pulled out at a bookstore for reference instead of being piled up with other bookmarks on someone’s desk.
If your audience is mainly those who read ebooks, they probably don’t really need bookmarks. Still, even if they don’t use your bookmark to mark their place in your digital book, they might pick up a bookmark to remember your book for downloading later.
Most folks in the discussion group I mentioned didn’t go to author fairs and had no reason to distribute bookmarks. I find them useful for closing a conversation during a fair.
For example, say someone is interested enough in your display to stop and talk to you for a few minutes. Then they start to leave. Who knows why? The book is too expensive. It wasn’t what they thought it would be. They need to visit the ladies’ room. Whatever the reason, instead of just letting them go, you can say something like “In case you change your mind” and hand them a bookmark. Very rarely will a person refuse to take it. Maybe my bookmark will dropped in the nearest trash can. But maybe whatever inspired them to stop in the first place will be rekindled when they see your bookmark again.
For a nickel per bookmark, that’s a marketing gamble I’m willing to take.
Photo by Dario Fernandez Ruz