I have a large number of bookmarks in my home. I recently moved house and found a lot of bookmarks, including one from a small business that closed its doors nearly 10 years ago! Most of my bookmarks are from authors promoting their books.
So much of traditional marketing advice is around having business cards, even though, in some circles, people are phasing them out. Business cards can be handy, however bookmarks can be valuable.
Bookmarks are something that is small and useful. They are also something fairly cheap to produce.
You could make your own bookmarks at home, there are plenty of online tutorials to help you, however one of the easiest ways is to design something in a program like Canva and then get them printed. I have got my most recent ones done through VistaPrint with an end of financial year sale.
When designing bookmarks, think about what you want to promote. Do you want to promote you as an author in general, or for a particular book? There is no right or wrong here, however if you have multiple titles, then a bookmark for you as an author can inspire people to go to your website to find other books you’ve published.
Bookmarks can be handed out at events, at markets when people want to find out more about you, can be included with books you send out to customers, put inside goodie bags, and even as a letterbox drop to promote you in a local area. If you do school visits, you could also hand out bookmarks for students to take home.
Bookmarks are a low cost item that can work for you to promote you as an author as well as your books. They don’t need to be fancy, but they do need to have your website or a QR code so that people can find you if they pick up your bookmark.