Promotion: A subject that draws arguments over what is effective and what isn’t. Bookmarks are always a hot topic. Some authors say they’re a waste of money, others buy them for every book.
As a published author, I’ve had the opportunity to try out marketing/promotional strategies for only the last couple of years, and bookmarks are something I’ve enjoyed having. It’s nice to stick them in the books I mail out as prizes and inside books at bookstores when I do drive-by signings.
But do they actually sell books, or are they just a nice extra?
One person says they work, and that they’re cheap and easy to give. Another person says they’re a waste of money.
From an author’s standpoint, I’m not sure what to think. So I’m thinking back on my experience as a reader…after all, I’ve been a reader for a LOT longer than I’ve been a published author. And when I look at my bookmark experience as a reader, I realize that for the most part, bookmarks have made absolutely no impact on my buying decisions.
With one exception.
Back in 1990, while purchasing my very first computer game (Dungeons and Dragons: Curse of the Azure Bonds), I picked up a bookmark at the store sales counter. I mean, I always need bookmarks, and this one caught my eye. It was a gorgeous blue, high quality, with a nice, shiny plastic coating on the front. I have this weird habit of tapping my nails on shiny book surfaces while I read (my Air Force roommate used to have to wear earplugs when I read certain books,) and this bookmark had the same neat surface that drew my tappy fingers.
So anyway, to make a short story long, I fell in love with this bookmark. I used it all the time. I was so fascinated by the picture that I had to buy the book it was advertising: Robert Jordan’s Eye of the World, which turned out to be one of my all-time favorite novels.
I went on to buy the entire series (though the last book isn’t out yet, since he passed away recently – I’m still devastated.)
I’ve bought Eye of the World and its sequel, The Great Hunt, about ten times each because I keep giving them away. I’ve bought every book in paperback and hardcover. I’ve introduced dozens of people to these books, and they have introduced even more. So that one little bookmark has easily sold over a hundred books. Many of those in hardcover.
So do I think bookmarks are an effective promotional tool? They obviously can be. I’ve picked up hundreds of promotional bookmarks, but only one affected my buying decision. But boy, it really affected my buying. I still miss that bookmark (hey, TOR, if you just happen to find some spares lying around, I’d kill to have one!) 
So what about you? Has a bookmark ever affected your buying decision? If you haven’t bought a book because of a bookmark, do you think it affected you on a subconscious level, as in, did it make you more aware of the author’s name? Has any promotional item affected your buying? I’d love to know!
[...] I’m at Romancing The Blog, discussing promotional items — specifically, bookmarks. Pop by and let me know what you [...]
by Larissa Ione - Blog July 3rd, 2008 at 7:13 amI love bookmarks but I don’t think it has ever influenced if I’ll buy a book. At times when the bookmark has upcoming books it helps tigger my memory to buy the next book.
by Ann M. July 3rd, 2008 at 7:20 amI don’t like bookmarks.
I follow the Steven Spielberg line of thinking…
“Why pay a dollar for a bookmark?
Why not use the dollar for a bookmark?”
However, I DO like pens
and that is what I like to give out
as promo pieces.
I figure if I’m going to lose pens,
I might as well lose my own.
Do I think readers are going to buy books based on my pens?
by Kimber Chin July 3rd, 2008 at 8:33 amNope.
It’d be nice if they visited my website
once in a while though.
I love bookmarks, I’m always grabbing bookmarks. For the most part, bookmarks don’t influence my book buying a great deal, with one exception, several of the author’s whose bookmarks I picked up at RT are now on my to be bought list.
by Ann July 3rd, 2008 at 9:21 amBookmarks have not affected my buying habits. However, having them around serves as a reminder; “hey, does he/she have a new book out?” I figure it’s one more thing that can bring a book/author to mind.
I also put my backlist titles and ISBNs on the backside of bookmarks so it serves as a shopping list if anybody wants more. And the website URL for anybody who’s curious.
I haven’t done them for every book, but I do them. They’re relatively inexpensive, and it’s like handing out a business card.
by Charlene Teglia July 3rd, 2008 at 9:33 amI love bookmarks. I have a ton of them, use them regularly when I’m reading and always look at them. The catchy ones especially will make me read them.
And I really hope they work because I just had some made and am giving them away! Heh.
by Jaci Burton July 3rd, 2008 at 9:34 amI don’t think that I’ve bought a new book because of a bookmark, but I have recognized an author’s name from a bookmark.
If you are going to a conference, don’t bother putting them in the goody bags. There are a million in there.
The ones I do tend to keep, use, and notice have been placed in the books during booksignings. I bought a Hoyt book, but she had bookmarks from a friend that she was giving out with her books. I thought that was a very nice, effective, and generous thing to do.
I’m sure her friend had Hoyt bookmarks to give out. It seemed more effective than giving me the bookmark to the book I’m already holding. It was a good move for a little backscratching and cross promotion.
The things I love in goody bags are post-it notes, magnets, and pens.
by Chessie July 3rd, 2008 at 9:39 amOh gosh… my son is all about the Wheel of Time series! He started it at 12 and kept reading it, with the occasional Clive Cussler to break it up, LOL.
As for promos, I’m all about the pens and the sticky notes. I’m always needing them. But authors, please make the sticky notes respectable, if you get my drift…
I do also like bookmarks, but for me, even a piece of paper works as a bookmark.
A promo in and of itself won’t make me buy a book. It’s usually the interaction I’ve had with the author who gave me the promo that will make me try her book (as well as - is the book in a genre I like, does it sound appealing to me, etc).
by Lori July 3rd, 2008 at 10:11 amKimber…LOL @ the dollar remark! The thing is, I’m not gonna buy a bookmark. I want you (the author) to spend the dollar and give me the bookmark!
I love bookmarks, simply because I hate to ‘dog-ear’ book pages. I like postcards for the same reason.
But the simple truth of the matter is: I have never purchased a book based on a bookmark. To me, the best advertisement is ‘word of mouth’.
And I guess by that I mean website promos, reader opinions, excerpts, and newsletters.
Don’t get me wrong, I lurrrve to get pens, notepads, and the occasional little lagniappe. But truly, they have little influence in the books I actually buy. Although, if it for an author I’ve not read before and it is an interesting bookmark I will look for their website and check them out.
And Larissa, as a side note…your nail tapping while reading thing? When I read a paperback I hold it in my left hand and turn pages with my right. I have a tendency to ruffle the unread pages from the top right corner of the book with my thumb every so often. It sounds like I am shuffling cards! I started doing that to judge how many more pages until the book was finished and now I just kinda do it all the time!
by Angie-la July 3rd, 2008 at 10:26 amKimber…LOL @ the dollar remark! The thing is, I’m not gonna buy a bookmark. I want you (the author) to spend the dollar and give me the bookmark!
I love bookmarks, simply because I hate to ‘dog-ear’ book pages. I like postcards for the same reason.
But the simple truth of the matter is: I have never purchased a book based on a bookmark. To me, the best advertisement is ‘word of mouth’.
And I guess by that I mean website promos, reader opinions, excerpts, and newsletters.
Don’t get me wrong, I lurrrve to get pens, notepads, and the occasional little lagniappe. But truly, they have little influence in the books I actually buy. Although, if it for an author I’ve not read before and it is an interesting bookmark I will look for their website and check them out.
And Larissa, as a side note…your nail tapping while reading thing? When I read a paperback I hold it in my left hand and turn pages with my right. I have a tendency to ruffle the unread pages from the top right corner of the book with my thumb every so often. It sounds like I am shuffling cards! I started doing that to judge how many more pages until the book was finished and now I just kinda do it all the time!
by Angie-la July 3rd, 2008 at 10:27 amOoops! Sorry about the double post. Stupid computer hiccuped….
by Angie-la July 3rd, 2008 at 10:28 amAs a new published author, I’ve been wondering the same thing. Since I have releases with three different publishers, I decided to just have my name, tag line and website info (as well as a hot graphic)
on my bookmarks. All I can hope is that it gets my name out there and readers will at least take a second look because they recognize the name.
by Natasha Moore July 3rd, 2008 at 10:48 amFiguring that it takes someone who’s never heard of your book before at least 10 to 15 “hits” of seeing the name/title before they’ll consider making a buying decision–whether it’s online ads, reviews, blurbs, blog mentions, recommendations from amazon and other bookstores (online and bricks and mortar), noticing the book on the shelf, etc. The bookmark can significantly add to that awareness. Whether readers see it at the cash register, it’s in their purse/bag and they come across it from time to time–all those “sightings” add up and eventually, it’s likely the reader will either seek out the book or at least pick it up the next time they come across it in the store or library.
The short version: Don’t expect to sell a book because of the bookmark in and of itself. Expect it to contribute to the overall awareness campaign for a book/author. (Pens, postcards, post-its, are the same.)
by Susan July 3rd, 2008 at 11:39 amI love bookmarks. I’ve been an avid collector of bookmarks since I was in 5th grade…yes I’m a dork! For me bookmarks work because it will get me to at least check out the authors website if their bookmark interest me enough. The bookmark itself doesn’t cause me to buy the book but it’ll get me to look at least at what the author has to offer me. If something about the excerpt or synopsis catches my eye then I’ll buy a book. So the bookmark could get things rolling for me.
But I think word of mouth is the best promotion.
by Ing July 3rd, 2008 at 11:53 amThis was perfect timing for me. My first book will be out in November. I’m not quite sure what to do about promotion yet
, but I have thought about bookmarks in recent days.
As it stands, I’ve never needed a bookmark. When I start reading, it’s cover to cover–nonstop. And, a bookmark has never made a difference in my book-buying habits.
by Delta Dupree July 3rd, 2008 at 12:17 pmI’ve never bought a book because of a bookmark. I see bookmarks as part of a larger “ear worm” campaign.
Bookmarks succeed in putting the author’s name in front of my face. Then if that same author happens to turn up on one of my favorite blogs? I see a review for the book somewhere? I walk into a bookstore and see the book on the shelf? I start thinking to myself, “Gee, I’ve seen this author’s name EVERYWHERE! Maybe I should read the book?”
And I buy it.
Mission accomplished.
by Wendy July 3rd, 2008 at 12:19 pmI’ve bought books because of a bookmark. I like to buy the book and team it with the bookmark for gifts for people.
by Nell Dixon July 3rd, 2008 at 1:28 pmI give away book markers. I don’t know if they influence purchases, but I think they remind readers of your name. I reuse and reuse the free bookmarkers I get here and there. Constantly seeing an author’s name may strike some sparks across the electrical wiring so a reader thinks, hey, I’ve heard of that writer and they pick up my book and read the blurb. Bookmarkers are not that expensive. Pens are another excellent idea for all the same reasons.
by Susan Kelley July 3rd, 2008 at 2:15 pmI think the most a bookmark has ever done for me is make me look a book up. I didn’t buy it, but I did look for more information on it.
by Jordan July 3rd, 2008 at 3:00 pmI have just a handful of bookmarks and they are usually in books that I reference (grammar, guides etc)
If I am reading a paperback they just seem to get in my way.
They have never influenced a buy, however like someone else said, they do keep the author in the forefront.
The shiner the bookmark the better.
by Lorraine July 3rd, 2008 at 3:19 pmI have had bookmarks made for 3 of my books. I use them for name recognition more than anything.
I have to confess dumping most of the ‘goody bag’ bookmarks before leaving conferences, but I do keep any that look interesting. I guess I hope mine might make someone’s keeper pile, too.
I did learn one lesson — had no clue the ISBNs changed with formatting, so I included the release ISBN on my bookmarks, which is for the digital version, not the print. However, I do put the publisher’s website and my own website on the bookmarks, so I hope people will look me up if the blurb on the bookmark sounds interesting.
I use bookmarks all the time when I read print books–I’m not a dog-earer. My ebook reader remembers where I was.
Will I do them for my next release. Yep.
by Terry Odell July 3rd, 2008 at 4:13 pmI personally love bookmarks. I particularly love two sided ones where the backside lists the entire backlist of the author and year of publication (the year signals to me whether they are likely to be in store or not).
by Jane July 3rd, 2008 at 4:39 pmI love book marks and in the past couple of months. I’ve actually bought some books because I like the book mark so much.
by Greta July 3rd, 2008 at 7:54 pmI LOVE bookmarks and pens. I have a pretty good collection of them going now. LOL Just can’t have enough of those suckers.
by Cindy July 3rd, 2008 at 8:14 pmI have a number of bookmarks, but I never use them. I will use a post-it note, an old bill, even a pen as a bookmark, but never an actual *bookmark*. That goes double for author bookmarks, which I don’t use because I just don’t use bookmarks, but which I also don’t have much interest in, because, well, probably because they’re bookmarks and I know I won’t use them. It seems a shame to toss them into recycling, but that’s generally what I do, nonetheless.
by Robin July 3rd, 2008 at 8:22 pmWow–lots of different answers! Looks like everyone likes pens, though!
I really do love bookmarks, but I only like really NICE bookmarks. I tend to hold onto those, where the less attractive ones end up in drawers, and eventually get tossed.
And darn it, I really want my Robert Jordan bookmark back!
by Larissa Ione July 3rd, 2008 at 9:41 pmI mostly use my bookmarks as business cards — they’re something I can hand to people if I get into a conversation, mention I’m a writer and get the inevitable “what do you write?” question. I figure it’s more likely to stay top of mind than a business card because it might get used as a bookmark, while business cards tend to get lost.
I have one that lists my whole series, so when I do booksignings and hook new
victimsreaders who buy the first book in the series, I can stick a bookmark in to remind them of the rest of the books.As a reader, I don’t know for sure if I’ve bought a book from a bookmark, but it’s definitely part of that name recognition formula. At conferences, I tend to pick up the ones for books that sound interesting, and that reminds me of the book when I’m browsing later, even if I never end up using the bookmark. It takes more than just a bookmark to get me to buy a book, but the bookmark helps raise awareness.
by Shanna Swendson July 3rd, 2008 at 10:52 pmYes, yes, it works sometimes with me. Especially the really pretty ones cause then I will be bothered to read whatever is ON the bookmark as it’s pretty. Shallow I know. Will read pretty shiny things. Having said that the one that comes to mind I have had for a while is a leather/pleather one from Mary Balogh that I’ve had for years as it is durable and that counts too. The other that survives and I remember the name of the author is from Sherrilyn Kenyon as she sent me one in a little plastic bookmark sheath that I can put other stuff in too.
by Chez July 4th, 2008 at 5:35 amBookmarks do not directly influence me when buying a new book. They could persuade me to visit your website though…if I like an excerpt or storyline that could lead to a sale.
Maybe try bringing readers to your blog via a bookmark. Try asking a question that will hook your readers interest. “Over at my blog called XXXX we are voting on our top 10 male actors, whose your pick?” Then they can sign up to your rss or find out more about your books.
by Anna Yeaman July 4th, 2008 at 12:40 pm