Swag: “everyone” wants it, does anyone use it?
This past few days, a major debate’s been taking place on Facebook about swag, and the swag room at one of the major literary conventions I visit every year. The organizers are thinking about a change to the swag setup and authors struggle to keep up and readers worry to lose their swag.
Do you see “my” swag in the pile? See anything you’d actually use?
First, if you don’t know what swag is, here’s a definition: Swag is free branded stuff that people give away. Things like pens or other little trinkets with the logo of the giver. Swag is a HUGE industry and they think it’s all a no-brainer:
“If your company has ever considered in-person, on the ground marketing on college campuses, then you know that free swag is a major player.”
So says an article by Built in Chicago. And I tend to agree, it is a major player, even in the book industry, and authors all around the world struggle with it. Imagine being part of an event with over 100 authors, and you have to try and come up with something that stands out… Good luck! Many conventions hand out the swag in a bag at registration (the bag being swag, too) and when you come home, you’ll realize that most of what you have in that bag goes straight into your round archive (i.e. the trash can.)
Why?
Candy, bracelets, loads of paper stuff which didn’t survive the handling of being in a bag or a suitcase, and all the worthless stuff that people come up with. Here’s an image of what I brought home from one of the events (not saying which, because I know that people try very hard to come up with decent swag):
Can you spot my swag in the pile? Probably not. Anything that attracts your attention? I’ll grant you that we are different as individuals, and we use different things and find different things useful. Problem is, in a bag of that size, it’s difficult to stand out, and in order to make swag affordable, it has to be cheap. Cheap is normally the antipode to quality. Say you spend US 50c on a piece of swag. Say you need 500 for two conventions. That’s a whooping US $250, plus start-up costs and taxes.
Will that sell you any books? NO! If you sell your books at an average of $3.99, you need to sell 125 books just to recover your cost (I’m assuming a 50% margin on the books.) So for the vast majority of us, swag isn’t worth it, yet we still feel compelled to do it.
Why?
- Readers expect it?
- Everyone else does it?
Here’s my swag from last year. I’ve learned a lot. I still like it, but it’s a bit too “out there” to be really useful on a daily basis.
Yes, some readers would be very disappointed if they didn’t get their swag. I’ve overheard conversations from readers who are totally infatuated with the swag. I haven’t really focused on asking them details about what they use and how, but anecdotal evidence suggests that they like to keep the swag of authors they like. Are they representative for the majority of readers? In all honesty, I don’t know. Based on what I hear, they’re not. Most readers will gravitate toward the useful stuff and disregard “junk”… However, question remains: what is junk? What is useful?
The second point is much stronger, and if you look at the pile above, it’s really difficult to come up with something that actually stands out. Something that readers will want to keep. In a totally unscientific discussion with fellow author friends, we all agreed that “swag that lasts” has to be useful, which means it needs to have a lasting value. Pens are a good example, or screen wipes, etc. But if you end up with 100 pens in a swag bag, we’re back to square one.
I recall the discussions I had with my supplier last year with regards to author swag. We also wanted to make sure the swag tied into being an author (pens? book marks?) but in the end we decided that too many were doing it. Now, I would agree that book marks are a thing of the past, mostly, because well, most of us read e-books, and those who don’t, they get five to ten book marks at every con. I saw no reason to add mine to the pile. Again, to create a really nice bookmark that people will actually use (and throw away the others), it’ll cost.
What did I do last year? I ended up producing a few postcards and a business card (paper is generally not a good swag item) for those who needed links and info about my books, mostly e-book readers. I did NOT include those in any swag bag. Lesson: I needed far less of each printed item than I had anticipated. Business cards I can re-use, post cards not so much. 10% of what I printed is enough.
My web shop button. Cool design, but who uses this after the convention? Lots of people were wearing it during the con, but afterward? Probably none. Lesson learned.
I also created a key chain (useful? Don’t know, but I needed one, and it turned out pretty great) with my “branding” on. Thing is, that the branding of the key chain is great, but it’s very “out there” in terms of using it in public. Sadly, just as many LGBT people still need to come out, so do the readers of our books. Many of them don’t tell anyone (not even their husbands) that they read gay literature (even if they’re as straight as a fiddle) and so any and all swag that might insinuate anything won’t be used. I have a hunch that while I got good feedback on my keychain, very few are actually in use.
The same can be said about my button, which I created to support my web shop. Turns out that my web shop was more costly than it brought in revenue, and I closed it down at the end of 2015. The button is now useless, as funny as it may have been…
For 2016, I have two advantages: a logo (see top of page) and more knowledge. The knowledge I’m passing on freely here, you will have to work on your own branding. Here are the lessons for me:
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An author logo is a good way (I think right now…) to build your brand. Notice how Natasha has included my logo on the book cover. Consistency is really key though…
Don’t fret about swag. If you can afford it, get some. If not, you won’t lose any sales on it, as little as you’ll gain readers for it. So why do swag in the first place? I think it’s about prolonging the memory of you in people who have already met you!
- Don’t produce too much.
- Business cards are a must, include purchase links and/or a QR-code to help readers find your web site and/or web shop quickly and easily.
- Post cards for your books are a good thing to personally hand to someone you’ve spoken to, particularly those who buy e-books. It will help them remember you. But don’t just put it into a bag. It’ll look awful by the time they unpack it!
- Go for useful swag. Pens, mugs, markers, wipes, chap sticks etc. Things people use will ensure that your name, your logo, is put in front of a lot of people and stays in the view of your readers in a good way. Fewer items for a select audience is what I’ll do.
- Make sure your swag can be used in public… (I recall one author last year creating “panic sets” consisting of a condom, ass wipes (no joke!) and lube for clean & safe gay sex, at a con visited by mostly women. It was borderline insulting for us gays (we tend to be ready anyway), and appealed more to the dirty imagination of the ladies than being useful. Not the kind of swag you’ll keep around for your friends to see…
What’s your take on swag? Have any experiences to share? If so, the comment section is open…
If you’ve enjoyed this post, please share it with others. I love to connect with my readers. You’re more than welcome to interact with me on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and/or Instagram.
Have a wonderful week. See you Wednesday for the review of my friend Bru Baker’s novel King of the kitchen!
Hans
PS: Just saying, but sometimes, better than swag is to leave people with a memory they’ll never forget, such as the image below. What do you think?
Her Majesty, the Queen of Unconventional Happy Endings. Photo: Christy Duke
I’ve often wondered what was up with swag. I’ve bought books directly from the author over the Internet and when the book arrives, so do bookmarks, postcards, pens, etc. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m particular about the pens I use. Bookmarks I will use and keep, though now I have more bookmarks than I will ever have books I’m in the middle of. Postcards of the book I just bought confuse me.
Swag should be directly about the book or the author. I can see picking up a postcard or business card that will remind me of the book or the author if I’ve spent my budget but want to remember something (or someone) who has caught my eye. Putting it in the bag before I’ve made any decision? Not for me.
Higher priced swag should only go with a confirmed purchase (cup, hat, etc.)
Great point Kenneth Larsen. I like the idea of expensive swag going to purchases.
I am a cover junkie. But most my books are ebooks and I am robbed of all the color of a nice cover. Post cards with a book cover are important to me. Now I have a cover to look at.
I can’t site this fact, but I was told that a reader needs to see a cover six times before they will check it out. So you want to give the reader a chance to run across your cover as often as you can. As a reader (and blogger) I find this true. If I keep seeing the same book pop up, eventually I get curious and take a closer look at it. Swag is a way to do this.
I personally keep bookmarks/postcards of books I’m interested in reading/checking into further. Kind of like my own Goodreads want to read shelf .
thanks for this post. As a blogger I am always looking for input about marketing I can share with new authors.
In order for your swag to stay relevant, be sure to promote yourself not a particular book. Look for things that people will use. Since I’m from New Orleans, and write a lot of books set there and in Louisiana, I use that as a theme.
I’ve given away Mardi Gras beads – the good, old fashioned glass beads – with my business card – in a baggie. It’s wearable – and keep-able. the hope is that when someone wears it, they think of me.
I’ve given away voodoo dolls and prayer candles tied to characters in my books.
My constant and best swag are my emery boards with just my name and website. People hunt me down at cons for more of them.
So far I’ve attended only one Convention. I got my swag, actually, I got two bags in the end because not everybody picked theirs up and they were happy to give them away. Did I use anything in the bag? Actually…only the matches and pens. I liked a few of the keychains, but seriously, how many keychains does a person need? And being married for 24 years…condoms aren’t really on my “I need them” list, too.
In my opinion, while swag might be nice to go through once, the second time most of it is unfortunately stuff you probably keep for a while, it collects dust and a few months later you throw it away anyway. Personally I would prefer that the authors keep their swag money, buy themselves a good cup of coffee and use the time for writing instead of wondering which swag they should bring the next time.
What makes me remembering authors I hadn’t knows before the convention? The way they interacted, the way they were during all the time, if they had a panel that I liked. Not the swag.
Thanks for that great comment! 🙂
I started out thinking “cutesy” swag at cons. Pompom animals with my website tag on them, a little pill box with a storywitch cat logo on them and a teensy book quote folded up inside, etc. End result? Readers LOVED them, grabbed them all up. Saw NO marked change in hits on website or sales growth, or in post-conference communication from new readers.
So I started thinking, “Okay if I’m going to put 400 things in a welcome bag and/or have stuff to set out on a swag table, then I’m going to choose something that will get them interested in the BOOKS.” So ever since, I do a glossy 8-12 page excerpt booklet, usually combined with a piece of quality chocolate (Dove is my preferred choice), and sometimes a pen with a catchy logo and my website on it. I put it all in a pretty plastic sleeve with an adhesive flap (from ClearBags). It’s a romance conference – the attendees ARE going to open that packet for the chocolate, and maybe as they’re savoring that, they’ll look over the excerpt booklet. I’ve had enough results from that (increased sales and reader feedback) to make me feel that is the winning combination for me. I also make my excerpt booklets more series-focused than single book focused now, so the same excerpt booklet can work over an extended period of time.
I continue to maintain a stock of postcards/bookmarks at home, because every once in awhile I’ll send out a call on FB that if anyone would like to have some of these to carry in their purse and spread the word about my books, I’d be happy to send them a small handful. I always get a few long term readers or new readers enthusiastic about discovering my work who want me to do that.
Thanks for this article. I’m always delighted to hear what’s worked for others and add to my own ideas!
Thank you so much for your kind words and for sharing your own experiences so openly. I greatly appreciate it.
Best of luck with your writing and your sales. 🙂
Personally I don’t think there is any point in giving swag in a general convention swag bag. If the recipient doesn’t actually come by your stand and talk to you, I doubt the swag in the bag will make any difference.
For my books, I keep business cards and fliers on my table. I give away a free short story which I can print up myself as a booklet (or you could could give Smashwords coupons etc. if it’s available online). I also take newsletter sign-ups (for which they’ll get emailed the same short story). Anyone can take that stuff. If I sell a book, I give them a bag (paper bags are very cheap to buy, and they can also be cheaply branded if you like to with stickers) and in the bag goes a flier for the sequel (if they didn’t buy all the books), and a colour map of the world of the book (fantasy has some perks). Sometimes I also give away postcards of the art of the book, or fridge magnets, or coupons for a free ebook version of the print book they just bought. In my opinion it is much easier to use swag to cement the loyalty of someone who just bought a book than it is to sway over someone who hasn’t. Most of what I do can be printed cheaply at home, and if I buy swag, it’s usually only for book buyers, so a little goes a long way.
I think flash drives are good swag options (I’ve never thrown away a flash drive) and you can be really cheeky and load it with free content (e.g. a free short story and other digital downloads you might offer readers–I have wallpapers and screensavers). But they are quite expensive to produce, which is probably why I see them more at corporate events than writing conventions.
As far as your online store goes–if you use WordPress you can use Ecwid to build a store. It has no fixed cost.
Thanks Ciara! I agree with your assessment. I did use a WP plugin for my store. Still, I didn’t think it was worth the cost (accountant mainly.)
Great article my friend. I won’t lie I’ve been thinking about this very thing. In the past, I’ve done limited “swag” i.e. Postcards, business cards (if that’s really swagged) and occasionally stickers and even a coffee cup once for giveaways. I run into the problem that you brought up though is the cost of doing it versus the return on the investment. I understand from a PR & customer service perspective it is a nice thing but as an author who is relatively new and small spending even 50 bucks on swag is a scary and expensive thing.
Thank you for commenting Michael. I hear your pain. 🙂