When You're Ready for Business Cards: Part 2

Terri Patrick Business Card:

Therese says: I never had a need for business cards. My goal when attending conferences was to get business cards from agents and editors so I could contact them through the postal process, which took months - or longer. This process only changed in recent years.

But now I have a digital book and my website to promote and I need business cards to do so. I really liked the font used for my title and name on the book cover and tried to duplicate that on my business cards. When my order from VistaPrint arrived, I noticed the yellow fonts were a wrong choice. The color contrast looked better in digital than in print.
Three days later I realized, I hadn’t included my email address on the card! Oh well.
The cover of my novel only takes up 2/3 of the back of the card, leaving space for my autograph or notes. I made up labels of my email address then trimmed them by hand to fit on the edge of the card next to the cover.
Notice how the red title still pops in thumbnail size.
The bonus of having business cards was almost immediate, we were at a picnic last month and someone mentioned I write books, and interest buzzed. As I handed out my business cards I was asked to autograph them. The thrill I got from that lasted for - well - I can still feel it.

C. Morgan Kennedy Business Card:

 Morgan says: I've used this card design for years (long before AM101 was created) and I still love it! It screams urban and dark, but the streams of light suggest hope. Like Therese's cards, mine were produced on Vistaprint. Orange is my favorite color and there it is peaking through the copper and brown hues providing a nice contrast for my website address text. This card was specifically designed for my adult, futuristic, urban fantasy series. My manuscript pitch is on the back of the card, so that agents and editors will have a name and a face to link to my pitch. When I do another print run of my cards, I will do a version that doesn't have my story synopsis on the back of the card to have two versions of the same card: one for  agents and editors and one for everyone else. By the way, this business card and pitch worked for me - my manuscript was requested by a number of agents and editors. While my adult novel is making the review rounds, I started working on my next novel - which gave birth to Morgan Mechan. This card and affiliated website designs will continue 'as is' with only minor updates until my futuristic, urban fantasy sells. At that point, I will need to transition the site from a pre-published to a published author site.

Morgan Mechan Business Card:

Morgan says: My Morgan Mechan cards and website were pulled together at the last minute. I was invited to be on author panels at Portland's Gear Con in July. I still don't have my steampunk author persona portraits done, but there is plenty of room to add a picture when I'm ready. The back of this card is blank. Once my young adult steampunk adventure has a cover image, I will add it to the back.

 Notice that my business cards and website banners match. In fact, I used elements form the same vector illustration. This image uses my all time favorite color palette: chocolate browns, burnt oranges, deep golden rod yellows, and light sepia tones....perfect for a steampunker!
A steampunk owl in a top hat with goggles will be my avatar until I get pictures taken. My website banner and Morgan's Compendium blog banner are also coordinated to indicate a transition in content via the banner titles. I am very pleased with how these designs work together to promote my steampunk persona. They reflect the steampunk aesthetic, while giving me the flexibility to create a wide variety of stories and characters.

Author Marketing 101 Promo Cards

Our graphic card is used as a handout for workshop attendees. During our first year as Author Marketing Myth Busters, this was a simple venture and we felt a one item handout and a simple blogspot would be proactive and sustainable. Both cards represent our process in one glance. We'll still run this blog for fun, with FREE advice, but our graphic needed an upgrade as it now applies to our book. It's the same message and process but you can see the difference a professional designer can add!

Previous Posts on Business Cards:

Mirror Your Business Cards and Website

When You're Ready for Business Cards