Adventures in Bookmarks
My promotional efforts for Aqua Vitae have included producing a set of gorgeous bookmarks with information about the novel. I've been aided with the design expertise of a friend, and it's been an interesting learning experience.
Following the advice of this article, we uploaded our design onto Vistaprint, actually making postcards rather than bookmarks (does VistaPrint even have a bookmark option? I don't remember seeing it.) Each postcard featured the bookmark pattern twice, so I then had to use the library guillotine* to cut them to size.
I'm satisfied with the finished product, and for writers (or anyone, really) wishing to do the same, I have only a few additions to the advice contained in the above linked post.
First, I cannot stress enough, be sure to get a VistaPrint discount. You could get it offline, or you could subscribe to their mailing list, or you could borrow a code from your friend. But get one, because VistaPrint prices add up very quickly--they charge, so far as I can tell, for each subset of a service. The finished bookmarks are gorgeous, but printing them in color on both front and back added at least a dozen dollars to my order. I'd suggest you find a coupon that takes a large chunk off your total order for that reason (rather than getting individual services for free or at a reduced price--you'd still have to pay for the other services).
Remember to orient the images on the postcard the way the article shows you! My friend and I followed the instructions and the bookmarks turned out fine. Otherwise they'd have been printed upside down.
Be careful how you cut the postcards. You get two to four bookmarks to each postcard, and it can be tempting to cut many at one time so cut short the amount of time you'll spend at the guillotine (it took me half an hour to cut 200 postcards, give or take). However, you really should only cut one postcard at a time--the glossy paper stock on the postcards doesn't cut easily in a thick stack. I lost some bookmarks trying. Also, I'd advise cutting with the glossy-side of the postcards facing down, although you may wish to experiment on your own. This was a library paper cutter with an old blade that I was using, and sharper ones may be able to manage more.
Lastly, when designing the image to upload on VistaPrint, add very generous margins. You'll need them to cut out the finished product. Also, VistaPrint's printing may leave some blank slivers on the edges of the cards. You can decide whether they're worth trimming off if they occur.
Also, the prices per card drop drastically as you make larger and larger orders. If I run through this batch of bookmarks, I'll order more and more of them.
There ya go! Sage's advice on how to make promotional bookmarks using VistaPrint. Oh, it also helps if you get a design wizard to help create them. Have I mentioned how gorgeous mine are?
*Aka the choppy paper-cutter things. If guillotine is not the real word for them, I don't want to use the real word, because saying I've used a guillotine sounds too cool. I am a grown-up.
Following the advice of this article, we uploaded our design onto Vistaprint, actually making postcards rather than bookmarks (does VistaPrint even have a bookmark option? I don't remember seeing it.) Each postcard featured the bookmark pattern twice, so I then had to use the library guillotine* to cut them to size.
I'm satisfied with the finished product, and for writers (or anyone, really) wishing to do the same, I have only a few additions to the advice contained in the above linked post.
First, I cannot stress enough, be sure to get a VistaPrint discount. You could get it offline, or you could subscribe to their mailing list, or you could borrow a code from your friend. But get one, because VistaPrint prices add up very quickly--they charge, so far as I can tell, for each subset of a service. The finished bookmarks are gorgeous, but printing them in color on both front and back added at least a dozen dollars to my order. I'd suggest you find a coupon that takes a large chunk off your total order for that reason (rather than getting individual services for free or at a reduced price--you'd still have to pay for the other services).
Remember to orient the images on the postcard the way the article shows you! My friend and I followed the instructions and the bookmarks turned out fine. Otherwise they'd have been printed upside down.
Be careful how you cut the postcards. You get two to four bookmarks to each postcard, and it can be tempting to cut many at one time so cut short the amount of time you'll spend at the guillotine (it took me half an hour to cut 200 postcards, give or take). However, you really should only cut one postcard at a time--the glossy paper stock on the postcards doesn't cut easily in a thick stack. I lost some bookmarks trying. Also, I'd advise cutting with the glossy-side of the postcards facing down, although you may wish to experiment on your own. This was a library paper cutter with an old blade that I was using, and sharper ones may be able to manage more.
Lastly, when designing the image to upload on VistaPrint, add very generous margins. You'll need them to cut out the finished product. Also, VistaPrint's printing may leave some blank slivers on the edges of the cards. You can decide whether they're worth trimming off if they occur.
Also, the prices per card drop drastically as you make larger and larger orders. If I run through this batch of bookmarks, I'll order more and more of them.
There ya go! Sage's advice on how to make promotional bookmarks using VistaPrint. Oh, it also helps if you get a design wizard to help create them. Have I mentioned how gorgeous mine are?
*Aka the choppy paper-cutter things. If guillotine is not the real word for them, I don't want to use the real word, because saying I've used a guillotine sounds too cool. I am a grown-up.