The main place I go to order any printed material is Vistaprint.com - which I am sure most of you have heard of. Open a free account and get on their email list. They send out weekly emails with huge specials in them - usually FREE postcards, business cards, fliers, invitations, etc. There are so many options, and creating your personalized bling is very easy! You can use their stock images or upload your own.
They do have a small upload fee, but you don't have to pay it until you actually checkout where you order an item that has a newly uploaded image. Also, watch the shipping charges. Sometimes adding a non-free item actually reduces the shipping! I try to do one large order all at once to reduce shipping costs.
Browse all the items they offer, you'd be surprised! And they have thousands of designs all ready to go with your customized text, or you can create your own from scratch! Okay, so trust me, I am NO graphic designer, but I have been satisfied with my work (it is pretty fun to mess around with too).
If you are lucky enough to have your cover done, upload it to Vistaprint and go nuts! Mine isn't done yet, so I've had to be creative for now, but I can't wait to update my bling with my cover when I get it!
Okay, another TIDBIT is that you can create all of these fun images, and then put them in your cart, BUT then click on the 'preview' button and even 'larger preview' and you can save the image to your computer and use it all over the web! The images are not copyrighted and there are no royalties - so it is a free-for-all image fest! Also, all of your products are saved in your account portfolio, so they will be there for you to re-order and edit.
So, what to order???
Business Cards
I started with BUSINESS CARDS. Give them to everyone you know or meet!
Postcards
Next I made POSTCARDS to hand out and leave at various places. On the front I put some basic information, but on the back I put a larger blurb.
They also have OVERSIZED POSTCARDS that I plan on using at any ebook signings.
Bookmarks
Another tip is to use the "Rack Cards" for BOOKMARKS - they are about 8x3 or so inches and are created the long way, so you can actually cut it down the middle vertically and get two bookmarks out of each rack card. You would just design each half how you want and wa-la!!
Posters & More
You can design POSTERS for booksignings, and for those of you with a little more of a budget, you can design BOOKBAGS and T-SHIRTS.
Well, good luck with your bling and have FUN!!!
P.S. No, I don't work for Vistaprint, I just love that place!
Another option is GotPrint, www.gotprint.com. I've gotten some great deals from them, including a banner for cheaper than VistaPrint.
Thanks for sharing this great info, Jan. I will check it out.
Thanks for visiting Valerie! I love VP!! I bet you will come up with some cool stuff!!! Jan
Thanks so much, Jan! I designed my business card through VistaPrint and everyone comments on how beautiful they are. I forgot, however, about what other items they offer. I could make my promo items through them. I've wanted to do blog/Gobsmacked giveaways with pirate theme of course. Everyone who follows my blog says they want one, so that was a good reminder of where I can go. Plus, I haven't heard from them in awhile so I'll sign up for their sales and promos. http:/
Hi Janet, I am so glad you found this helpful!! Jan
Wow, I knew nothing at all about this world. A thousand thanks, Jan.
Janet
Thanks for stopping by Roxanne!!
Good tip. I use vistaprint. Very reasonably priced and always have some sale going on. You can look expensively and classy for cheap.
Thanks for sharing your experience Carolyn!!
Good Luck Carolyn! Remember we are our best promoters! Who loves our work more than we do :)
I've been playing around with this idea for a while, and am glad to see how someone employed it. Vista print is a good source for inexpensive collaterial materials. I designed myself a rack-card-sized promotion with cover on the front and full synopsis on the back, but haven't executed it yet. Your experience has inspired me to get moving!
Thanks for visiting Deborah! Jan
Great resource . . . thanks so much for sharing.
I'll have to check out that site - thanks for sharing!
I found some at allstarco.com - 1000 jewels for $14.00. I went with the blue rhinestones for my book Under a Prairie Moon. seemed perfect
Good idea with the jewel stickers!!!
Love the idea of adding a little bling to the book marks I'm looking into getting some little jewel stickers. And vistaprint just emailed me a Free shipping ad for today in case anyone wants to order.
Hi Cheri! I hear ya about shiping, but it will be fun to get your stuff!!!
I just ordered biz cards from Vistaprint. I sprang for a pen and mouse pad, too, just for fun. =) Unfortunately, I had to fork over a whopping $19 to pay for what really amounts to standard shipping time so that they'd arrive in time for the Willamette Writers Conference this weekend. So DuEwa is right. If you don't want to pay an exorbitant amount for shipping costs, order way in advance of any events you've got planned. Sheesh.
Great tips, Jan!
Hi DuEwa! Thanks for pointing out the slow shipping times encountered with Vistaprint sometimes. So true. I recently placed an order, but don't need the items for a couple of months, and chose the slowest delivery time to save on shipping costs. I am glad you stopped by today! Jan
Hey Stephanie - At Vistaprint, for $35 I got: 1 large car door magnet; a vinyl banner (3ftx1.5ft), 50 large postcards, 100 regular postcards, 250 business cards, 50 'rack cards' (tall postcards). $15 of that was for my uploads of the pics and publisher's logos I used and the rest was for shipping. When you re-order items that you have already paid for the upload fee, you don't have to pay it again - which makes re-orders even cheaper! Open a free account with them, and they start sending you specials via email for tons of free things!!! Just try it out and play with it and you should be able to get lots of fun stuff to play with!
Hi Jan,
I've been using Vistaprint for several years. They're a great inexpensive printer for business cards. I did however have trouble twice when I ordered postcard flyers for two of my past book events. For some reason, Vistaprint could never get them to me in time for my event. I used them to mail to bookstores to give out to customers leading up to the event. I think it had to do with the fact that I used my own artwork and graphic designer for the postcards. Vistaprint sometimes states that they can turn your project around in just 5 days or so, but that's not always the case. If you use them for postcards or posters and you have a deadline, plan months in advance because when they mess up, all they can do is say sorry and credit you, but your order will still be late.
There are so many possibilities! I need hundreds and hundreds of dollars so I can play! That's not likely to happen anytime soon, so back to the budget I go. *sigh*
Hi Stephanie!! I can't wait to get my cover either! I did go ahead and order some business cards and post cards now without it, but it will be fun to go back and create more stuff with my actual cover! Good luck with your book!!! Jan
Hi Krista! Someone else had the idea to put bling on the bookmarks one you get them - a tassel, charm, ribbon, jewel, etc. She thought they wouldn't end up in the trash so fast if she did that. I thought it was a great idea!! Thanks for commenting!