Reader Swag on a Budget
Before I get into the links for my favorite personalized swag vendors, let’s address the elephant in the room: space and money for bulk orders.
We don’t all have it — and that’s okay.
This is where your author community can become your best asset. 💖 When you design swag that fits your genre (rather than specific books), you can split larger orders with your author friends to keep costs manageable.
Here’s how I suggest making that work smoothly:
🤝 Tips for Group Swag Orders:
Collect money up front — including shipping for both the group order and their portion once it’s delivered to you.
Take delivery of the swag yourself.
Ship out everyone’s items promptly — especially if you want them to say yes the next time you suggest a group buy.
And remember: no matter how close the friendship, money stuff can get awkward, so protect your friendships by keeping it clean and clear from the start.
That said, I rarely order more than 100 items at a time — often much less. So everything I’m sharing here works great for small-batch swag.
🚨 PLEASE READ BEFORE CONTINUING:
I have no affiliation with, nor am I endorsing, any specific company, product, or site.
This is simply my personal experience — yours may vary. Please use your own judgment and take full responsibility for any orders you place.
🧷 STICKERS
🎯 Slapco
Great deals if you wait for sales (sign up for their emails — they come with frequent discounts).
Offers sample runs — smaller quantities that are ideal for trying out a new design.
Solid pricing, consistent quality.
There's almost always a discount running on the site.
🍻 KOOZIES & WRISTBANDS
I’ve ordered both can coolers (aka koozies) and personalized wristbands.
Just a heads up: items made from rubber or synthetic material may need to air out a bit (off-gassing is real).
💄 LIP BALM
Tons of customization: flavors, cap colors, label wraps.
Bonus: They arrive individually sealed in little plastic bags. 💋
(Which makes them more hygienic and giftable at events.)
🖊️ PENS
I’ve been ordering from them for nearly 20 years!
I prefer retractable pens, but they offer every kind imaginable.
Their pricing can vary wildly, so always check for deals — especially on their non-pen merchandise.
💻 DESIGNING YOUR SWAG
I mentioned this in my affordable bookmarks post, but it’s worth repeating:
Canva is by far my favorite platform for designing promo graphics — for bookmarks, lip balm wraps, koozies, and more.
That said, any design tool works, as long as you can export a high-res image in the file format the site requires.
So don’t get stuck on the software — focus on creating something beautiful and on-brand. ✨
Final Thoughts
Reader swag doesn’t have to cost a fortune or take over your spare room. With a little strategy (and a few trusted vendors), you can create personalized, high-impact swag that your readers will love — and you’ll feel good about handing out.
Got a favorite swag vendor I didn’t mention? Let me know! I’m always happy to update and expand these resources for other indie authors. 💖
Until next time!
Lucy
With more than 12.5 million copies of her books sold worldwide, Lucy’s an award winning and USA Today bestselling author with 95+ published books. Her stories have been translated for sale all over the world and after a long career in traditional publishing, she’s gone indie. She loves the freedom to write the stories both her and her loyal readers enjoy the most. Her steamy mafia romance series, Syndicate Rules features the morally gray alpha heroes and spice she love to write. She also writes contemporary, historical and paranormal romance. Some of her books have action adventure and intrigue. All of them are steamy and deeply emotional. She’s a voracious reader and loves to talk about both her books and those she’s read (or should read…good recs are always welcome). Welcome to her world where love conquers all, but not easily!
For info on all of Lucy’s books, visit her website.
Find her on social media:
BookBub: Lucy Monroe
goodreads: Lucy Monroe
Facebook: LucyMonroe.Romance
Instagram: lucymonroeromancePinterest: lucymonroebooks
YouTube: @LucyMonroeBooks
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