(writing) Thinking about cons and giveaways

Conventions, not con games, that is. I’m getting things ready for rolling out Winter Secrets at Balticon and ConCarolinas this year, and so I’m thinking about these kind of things, which to be honest, are both fun and annoying to me as a writer.

 

Fun, because ooh, what can I give away to get people excited in the book? I mean, I love giving things to people. I want to be rich, so I can randomly give stuff to people. I still randomly give stuff to people, even though I’m not rich. And with Molly, since we share a love of tea, I can give away one of my favorite things: TEA. Which everyone should drink, because it is awesome.

 

At the same time, it’s hard, because a) I’m NOT rich; b) tea is not cheap; c) time spent planning giveaways and putting them together takes away from time I have to write, and that is what I truly love to do. But this world means you have to wear several hats as a writer, and publicist is one of them. So, I’m thinking today about what I’m going to do for my two cons (which are back to back, so yay?)

 

Molly, as many of my readers know, loves to collect odd tea cups and mugs to use in CrossWinds Books. So what better giveaway than a tea cup/mug and some of her favorite tea? I’ll have at least one set to give away at each con, but how to do it? At Balticon, I’ll have a table, and I think I might offer tickets to anyone who takes a postcard or bookmark about the book. More tickets if you buy it. Then I can draw a ticket and give it away. At ConCarolinas, I won’t have a table, so I’m going to see what I want to do. I might see who’s got a party going, and see if I can give it away there. Or package it with a copy of the book to the charity auction. And then, I have to come up with postcards and bookmarks, maybe tea bags, to give away at the freebies table.

 

It’s not cheap – either in terms of money or in terms of time. I don’t have a publications department doing this for me, especially with these books, as I’m publishing them myself. It could be a fulltime job on its own, to be honest. But at the same time, it’s kind of fun to see what I can come up with.

 

What would you like to see on a freebie table? Got any ideas? Let me know!

 

Originally published at The words of Valerie Griswold-Ford. You can comment here or there.