Postcard Mailings

A lot of authors do postcard mailings, although with the price of postage these days and the habit of many bookstores of simply tossing such ads in the trash as junk mail, their usefulness is debatable. But for those wanting to bring their book to the attention of some of the thousands of independent bookstores out there, here's a list of helpful hints we learned the hard way.  

A)  Have your postcards done professionally.  Yes, technically
      you can print them off yourself, but let's face it, between copier
      jams eating up extra pages and the high price of ink, you
      probably aren't going to come out much cheaper via the
      do-it-yourself route.  And letting the professionals do it means
      that you avoid bleeding to death from paper cuts sustained
      while trying to cut out two thousand post cards.
B)  Shop around!  Prices vary widely and many online print
      companies run sales from time to time.   A good rule of thumb,
      if you paid more than $150.00 for 2500 cards, you've been
      had.
C)  Order early.  I know, I know, they say they deliver overnight,
      and many do--for a price.  A couple of thousand post cards
      weigh about 20 pounds.  Check out the delivery rates for
      overnighting something that heavy and you'll see why waiting
      until the last minute will cost you.
D)  Order big.  This may actually save you money.  The larger the
      order, the smaller the price for each card.  Five thousand cards
      ordered all together won't set you back but about thirty dollars
      more than 2500 because the main cost is in the set up.  But
      making a second order for 2500 later will cost you $150.00
      again.  If you think you might need extras for giving away to
      bookstores, or at conventions or signings, opt for the 5,000.
      The same rule applies if you're having bookmarks done.
E)  Get a good quality image of the cover from your publisher
      for the front of the card.  You don't want anything grainy going
      out under your name!  Also, if you don't have a program on
      your computer like Adobe Photoshop, which will allow you to
      change the size of the image to one appropriate for a
      postcard, don't worry.  Most printing companies will design the
      card for you, although they normally charge a fee.                    
 F) Be sure to include everything you want on the card,
      because writing in anything, even a few words, several
      thousand times is not fun.  Some things to include are: the
      name of the book, the ISBN, the price, the format (mass
      market or trade paperback, or hardback), the publisher and
      publication date, and a short blurb.  If you have promotional
      items to send to bookstores, like bookmarks or signed copy
      stickers, say so (unless you are planning a follow-up mailing
      later, in which case you can mention it then).  If you have a
      web site, add that,  too, but remember to leave space for
      the address and stamp!
 G) Be nice to your mailperson--don't drop 2,000 cards in the
      neighborhood mail box!  This is known as bad karma and
      leads to things like all your mail being delivered to the local
      dump for the rest of your life.  Put the cards in boxes (if you had
      them shipped to you, they will already be in the right size
      container) and take them down to a post office branch. 

Good luck with your promo!