Has anyone ever printed promotional flyers?

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Claudia Gray

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If so, how many did you print?

What information did you include?

How much did it cost?

Are there vendors you would recommend or warn against?

Did you feel like you got good results from distributing them at librarians' conferences, etc.?

I'd appreciate any experiences people have had with this.
 

Little Red Barn

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If so, how many did you print?

What information did you include?

How much did it cost?

Are there vendors you would recommend or warn against?

Did you feel like you got good results from distributing them at librarians' conferences, etc.?

I'd appreciate any experiences people have had with this.
Hey claudia, I saw some posted at the cafes and bookstores I visited yesterday. Nothing fancy, just a pic of the author, short bio and short para about his book signing date and time... Looks like actually something one could do w/o much trouble.
 

Claudia Gray

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Thanks, Kimmi. This would be less to publicize any appearance and more to promote the book itself. Specifically, there's a librarians' conference that I absolutely can't attend, but someone helping to put the conference has offered to distribute flyers. So this would be to sell Evernight.

I was thinking that on the back page I could print the prologue, and on the front I could print the book jacket, my name and contact info and the author blurb I received. (L.J. Smith, yay!) The top border on both front and back might be similar to my web page. Thoughts?
 

Little Red Barn

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Claudia, first congrats again! I hope to have this problem one day. I was thinking, why do you want to print both sides? Would the librarians take them back home and post on boards and if so how would they see back? Do you want these to be posted at say Starbuck type cafe, etc...? I think you'd want to go for a thick stock of paper too, umm.. I like the way you are setting it up though!

Just thinking here. The ones I saw were on 11 by 14 and looked really nice with all the above info. PM Will Lavender on board here.
 

Claudia Gray

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No, these would be for the librarians themselves. (They're big purchasers of YA novels.) They'd be handed out at the convention and perhaps at similar events, and I could possibly mail some out as well.

Thanks for the good wishes!
 
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Marlys

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I printed up my own flyer on our inkjet at home--here it is, if you want to check it out.
 

flashgordon

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I use flyers extensively. I put them up wherever I can, coffee shops, grocery stores, random bulletin boards, the local University, etc. I always carry a couple around and put them out. Vista Print is great, but they are expensive for this sort of thing. I've found it is best just to print them on some eye-catching color (neon yellow for example) at Kinkos or somewhere. I print off about 50 at a time and drop them everywhere I can. There are links to examples at the Bauu Press Media Kit page if you want to look at what I've done.
 

Gigi Sahi

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I once printed 100 promo fliers on my home printer. I then posted them all around my neighborhood, at the supermarket, dry cleaners, convenience store, and other businesses that didn't mind me posting my flier. (BTW, shoutout to Walgreen's! They were so nice and even gave me free advertising in one of their windows as a local author). Anywho, it rained that night. The next morning, all the ink ran and you couldn't make out anything on the fliers posted outdoors, not even my cover image. I learned that when we print from our home printers, each document is an "original" - fresh ink - no matter how many "copies" we run off. Whereas if we print one original then go run off a stack using a copier, the resulting copies are not fresh ink so they're less likely to run when wet. There's a technical difference as well as a different mechanical process, which I know I won't be able to explain well. But this is something to keep in mind before you make the same mistake I made.

Now I have my flier on my flash drive in pdf format. Whenever I need to replenish, I go to my local Staples and have them run off needed copies. Many of my copied fliers are still around my neighborhood, and they've survived rain and snow.
 

kimmer

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I've used Vistaprint and pens.com. At vistaprint I ordered everything that was free but I found the postcards to be best for my audience. I have also made my own four-color postcards (four-up on a page) photocopied in color and then cut. They are great for handing out, fit in my small notebook or purse, cost less to mail and I can write a personal note on the back (although my most recent batch I pre-printed on the back).

Another unique idea when I speak at conferences is that I ask people to fill in their own address on the postcard and then I draw one name to win my book. Unfortunately, penmanship is awful, and many people don't write their email in the corner, and I have to type everything in. ugh...but I then mail that out to them as a reminder. My book comes out in a few months and I'm getting a lot of positive response from these reminder cards (when's it coming, Can't wait, can I buy in bulk, etc.) We'll see if if actually works.

I just ordered pens with the name of my book and the phrase buy at amazon.com. I also ordered pens with my website, too. We'll see. It was $200 for 400 pens. (including set-up, printing and shipping).

Good luck!

KS
 

robertmblevins

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Our sci-fi rag 'Escape Velocity' printed up 2,800 flyers that are going into the gift bags for Norwescon 31 this year. (Northwest Science Fiction Convention). We also did another 2,000 which will be available at the front desk for walk-ins. We actually did them on a couple of home printers, and when you do this, use good paper. We used 24lb 110 bright. Ink? Don't buy at the store. GO HERE: www.SuperMediaStore.com We've used these guys for almost three years now. Double set for our Epson printer and two extra black cartridges cost us a measly 32 bucks plus shipping. (you KNOW the black ALWAYS runs out first)

The only suggestion I have is try and target your audience if you are going to do flyers. Works better than just putting them up on telephone poles...

(We did the flyers because we are covering the convention in Issue Three.)
 
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K1P1

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When my knitting book wasn't going to be released until AFTER all the fall knitting conferences, I got my publisher to print up several thousand fliers for my book and a companion book (for the same audience) by another author. I volunteered to help a friend in her booth in the retail market, and handed out fliers to everyone who came by, telling them to look for the book in November or December (perfect for holiday presents). If people said they weren't interested, I asked them to pass it on to a friend, consider giving a copy as a present, or dropping it off at their local retail store. On the last day of the show, I walked the whole market floor (several hundred retail vendors) and gave the flier to every business that sold craft or knitting books.

The fliers had very large images of the book cover and complete distribution info (so retail or wholesale buyers could easily purchase it). The book got off to a very good start (in the six weeks it was on sale before the end of the royalty period, it more than earned out my royalty), in spite of the fact that the wholesale promotion couldn't start until the following January with the next big needlework trade show.

I had a surplus of these fliers, so for future promotions, I used my ink jet printer to print my event/appearance schedule on the back.
 
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