I am thrilled to have my new pal Aneesa Price with me today! Aneesa has written an awesome book, Coffin Girls, and has been getting terrific praise for it. Please read on and learn more about it. Heck, click that "like" button on Amazon, or buy it! You'll be glad you did. Aneesa also has an interesting little blog about the future of swag. You'll want to check it out as well.
Welcome Aneesa!
Does Bling
Bring the Swagger to Book Sales?
Indie
Thoughts by Aneesa Price
Facebook, Twitter and every social network
is inundated with ‘ebook and swag giveaways’. They started off with more
affordable prizes such as bookmarks and postcards then progressed to bling in
the form of necklaces, jewelled bookmarks and bracelets. Now the recent trend
seems to be the amazing prize of a Kindle or Nook giveaway – with the Kindle
Fire being the biggest draw card.
I resisted going the swag route – not
because I’m adverse to it but simply because as a new indie writer, just
starting out with absolutely no budget, every ebook I gave away ate into my
personal bank account. So, you can imagine that swag seemed like a dream.
To
Swag or Not to Swag?
I first gave into the lure of getting my
own swag when I observed the huge interest it drew and to be honest, my sales
went from looking hugely promising to despondently dwindling. Another thing
happened - I got a bit of disposable income, which meant that I could carve out
some of that for swag. The thing with being an indie is that you cannot
discount that indie writers mostly have day jobs, family responsibilities and
thus also financial responsibilities with the majority of their income coming
from outside of the sales of their books. But, because I was worried about my
sales and I needed to create some form of hype around my work, I bit the
bullet.
What
Swag To Choose?
The first thing I do before embarking on
any venture related to indie writing is Google. Google is the most informative
and amazing resource any writer has access to and Google gave me information on
swag. My search led me to a blog by Curiosity Quills. What resonated the most
was that the swag being given away should be functional as well as decorative
and promotional. And even better, Curiosity Quills provided the website address
of an international printing company called Vistaprint (www.vistaprint.co.uk).
I then spent hours poring over the contents
of a variety of websites and settled on Vistaprint, who was affordable even
with taking shipping into consideration. Having said that – if any indie
writers are reading this blog and mosey over to Vistaprint or any other site –
note that affordable is a relative term because what I paid still made me
grimace.
In the end I settled for calendars,
notebooks, postcards, tote bags, etc. The great thing is that you can build an
online portfolio and order as little or as much as you want whenever you want
to. So, I may not have a stock room full of swag – I have a small box – but I
do have access to an on-site, personal portfolio for future use.
The
Price of Swag?
Buying swag is one thing, shipping the swag
from the vendor to your home is another. But the hidden cost that is not always
taken into consideration pertains to shipping. Do not discount this because the
indie writing and social literary networks are internationally spread and when
you do a giveaway, what you send will be weighed and measured by your postal
service or couriers.
Some authors are limiting giveaways to
their home country. I can respect and understand why but what bothers me about
this is that the literary community is an international one and by limiting a
giveaway to a country, you exclude many from participating.
So now, I basically sit with a box of swag
in the cupboard while I save money towards the shipping! (LOL – I’ve got to
laugh at the irony of the situation.)
Has
it Worked?
I’ve only recently started giving away the
swag. Has it helped sales? Absolutely not (*grinning again*). But what it has
done, which is why I’m a swag believer, is assist me in promoting me as a
writer. The number of Author Page likes for Aneesa Price – Sugary, Spicy Reads
has increased, so have the number of friend requests I receive and I’ve also
been experiencing renewed interests from reviewers to host my work on their
blogs and to provide me with honest reviews.
So, yes – it does work. I believe that Swag
fits into the category of ‘short term (financial) pain for long term (sales and
promotional) gain’.
The
Future of Swag?
At the moment it seems to be flooding the
literary social networks and to be honest, there’s a feeling of ‘you snooze,
you lose’ if you don’t get onto the swag bandwagon. So my recommendation to
other indie authors is to get out there and do the swag thing (but save up
first – do not put yourself personally out of pocket).
What will swag look like in future and will
I reap the benefits in the form of reader reach? Well I don’t know the answer right
now but I’ll be watching.
Coffin Girls, Elegantly Undead: Book 1 of
the Coffin Girls Series, a paranormal romance
A sexy, female vampire with secrets.
A sinfully-handsome witch prince on a
mission.
A formidable Vampire Council with something
to hide.
An abundance of witch, vampire and fae
magick.
A vampire descendent from the original
Coffin Girls, Anais runs a successful event and wedding planning business from
her majestic New Orleans plantation house. To the Vampire Council, she is seen
as an exemplary hostess and household head of a misfit bunch of vampires.
When Yves, her maker and head of the
Vampire Council requests her assistance in hosting the mysterious, yet dashing
Prince of Witches, Conall, she has no option but to accept. But Anais is the keeper
of secrets; secrets that can kill. Protective of her family’s undiscovered
uniqueness, Anais is guarded, yet intrigued by the enigmatic witch prince.
Conall and Anais are drawn together when confronted
with fatal encounters and an unimaginable destiny… if she’s willing to accept
it and fight.
Finding Promise Blurb:
A woman striving for independence.
A man with a charmed upbringing.
A small town filled with welcoming and
quirky characters.
Caroline had led the life of a high society
daughter and wife, one that was filled with soul-destroying emotional abuse.
Upon the death of her husband, she finds that she is financially incapable of
supporting herself and flees New York without a plan or destination in mind.
Her travels lead her to Promise, a small town on the New England coast.
Following instinct, she settles in Promise
and begins to explore her new found independence and the pleasurable side of
love with ruggedly handsome local, Luke Edwards. Her new-found contentment is
shattered as past resurrects itself and she needs to find the courage to face
it before she can truly re-build her life.
Blurb:
“I am female, I am a slut, and most
days, I think I'm a loon too, but those are my secrets to keep except from you.
… I ask you to play the role of a priest – nonjudgmental, understanding, and to
atone me for my sins…” ~ Simone
Simone, the quintessential desperate
housewife, is primarily absorbed on settling her family into their new home in
the vibrant, metropolitan city of Johannesburg, South Africa. Unbeknownst to
her, the greatest threat lurked not outside of the eight-foot walls and
electric fencing but within the walls she seeks sanctuary. But the threat comes
disguised as tantalizing pleasures of the most carnal nature that challenges
her views of love, marriage and sex. Can Simone resist and rescue her family
from the evil she’s let into their lives?
This is her first confession.
