Get your character a business card?

[Martyn]

In short: to promote my books, I had business cards made for my freelance assassin/corporate troubleshooter protagonist Katla Sieltjes.



I read somewhere that writers were having bookmarks printed with their covers and description. Another writer had business cards with his name and ‘author’ on it. Since I often use business cards as bookmarks, I decided to mix those two ideas and create a business card for my protagonist.

For the full article, go to my blog: http://amsterdamassassin.wordpress.co...

[Shannon]

Martyn, this is a really nice and creative way to go about it. It definitely has the cogs turning in my head for my own cards and bookmarks.

[Martyn]

I just 'spoke' to another author who has a QR barcode on his card that can be scanned with a smartphone and sends the scanner to his GoodReads profile...

[Shannon]

I've seen those quite a lot on cards. They usually go to the author's amazon profile but going to Goodreads is a pretty smart idea too.

[Martyn]

I found the website where you can generate your own QR code, but I also found an article on how easy it is to cover a valid QR with a malicious QR code that sends the scanner to a phishing website.

And with my business card in hand, it should be pretty easy to type 'amsterdamassassin.wordpress.com' in a google search bar.

[Shannon]

It doesn't surprise me there is information about making malicious QR codes. I mean for people who really like making other's lives miserable and in a world where people live on the internet, it's become quite easy to hack ads on sites or a site as a whole and make it malicious.

The QR code really appeals to the instant gratification mentality that is on the rise. So while it would be easy to type in the web address it's not as instant. Though you do have a leg up if those using QR codes aren't putting web addresses anywhere on their cards. For those who don't have smart phones or prefer to look at a website on a computer, they can't use the QR code.

[Yzabel]

I've mused a couple of times about doing something similar... but what I plan on self-publishing is in English, and I doubt such cards would garner much attention in France. (My country's not famous for either interest or quality in learning English. :/ )

[Justin]

It sounds like a unique idea but I have a hard enough time finding places to leave my regular business cards.

[Martyn]

Justin wrote: "It sounds like a unique idea but I have a hard enough time finding places to leave my regular business cards."

Yzabel wrote: ".. I doubt such cards would garner much attention in France. (My country's not famou..."

The Netherlands is more conducive for English language works, but to be sure I leave my cards in English language library books and at booksellers like Waterstones in the Kalverstraat and American Book Centre at the Spui, where they have more chance to be found by someone who'd read my books.

[Yzabel]

Martyn V. wrote: "The Netherlands is more conducive for English language works, but to be sure I leave my cards in English language library books and at booksellers like Waterstones in the Kalverstraat and American Book Centre at the Spui, where they have more chance to be found by someone who'd read my books."

If only I had those where I live.
I hate small towns. The closest thing we have to a bookstore is the supermarket. *sighs* (No wonder I always shop on Amazon, huh.)

[Martyn]

Yzabel wrote: "*sighs* (No wonder I always shop on Amazon, huh.)..."

One of the reasons Amazon could become so big is the lack of booksellers in remote areas.

[Yzabel]

Martyn V. wrote: "Yzabel wrote: "*sighs* (No wonder I always shop on Amazon, huh.)..."

One of the reasons Amazon could become so big is the lack of booksellers in remote areas."

Indeed. Even worse when it comes to reading in a foreign language. *weeps*

[Martyn]

FYI, for those who wanted to read my article but don't want to click a link, the article is now in my blog roll on my author page. Just click my name.

[Stan]

Martyn V. wrote: "In short: to promote my books, I had business cards made for my freelance assassin/corporate troubleshooter protagonist Katla Sieltjes.



I read somewhere that writers were having bookmarks printe..."

I like it.