I’m going to the Malice Domestic conference at the end of this month in Washington, D.C.
This has put me in a tizzy. Conferences and other types of public appearances do that to me. I’m on a panel, too. :)
Now, suddenly, I’m done with various deadlines (until revision deadlines come in) and I’ve got Malice coming up in just a few weeks.
Bookmarks!!!
I needed bookmarks. I’ve had postcards and business cards. But I needed bookmarks.
I’ve needed bookmarks for a while. I’m in a couple of promotional groups that are very good to promote me while they’re promoting their own events. I’ve sent along postcards to these folks, but really…I needed bookmarks.
Iconix is supposed to be one of the best places to order bookmarks online. A ton of authors have told me this. Somehow, something always came up, priority-wise for me, though….and I didn’t call to order them.
And so…I got down to the wire and suddenly Malice was right on top of me and it was too late to order them online and still mail them to Lorraine Bartlett who nicely offered to bring them for me to Malice since I’m flying.
So I decided to make my bookmarks on MS Publisher which is a program already on my computer. After designing them (which took maybe 30 minutes), I emailed the bookmark as an attachment to Office Max. I asked them to print them on card stock, in color, and to print about $50 worth…and gave them my cell phone number if they had any questions.
I’m not even sure exactly how many I got, but it’s definitely several hundred.
If you’re in a similar boat, here’s how to make a bookmark on Publisher: (they can be printed 4 to a 8.5 x 11 page), with space for trimming. This is right from the Microsoft Office website.
- In the Publication Types list, click Blank Page Sizes.
- Under Standard, click Create custom page size.
- In the Custom Page Size dialog box, type 2″ in the Width box, and then type 7.5″ in the Height box.
- In the Name box, enter a name for the new custom page size.
- Click OK to close the Custom Page Size dialog box, and then click Create to create the bookmark.
Customize your bookmark publication by adding any pictures, graphics, or text that you want. You can also customize by selecting color schemes or font schemes. For more information about any these tasks, search Publisher Help.
So I’ve learned two lessons from this experience.
One—You can make your own bookmarks in case of an emergency and get them back that same day. If you have Microsoft Office on your computer, you have MS Publisher. They may not be as nice as the Iconix ones, but they were nice enough for the Office Max worker to ask me if I were “the bookmark lady” when I walked in and then ask me for a bookmark.
Two—Perfectionism takes up time and makes me lose out on opportunities. It’s better, for me anyway, to just go with something that works fine and use it instead of miss out on promotions.
Are you putting anything off until you can do it perfectly?
You rock and amaze me at the same time. To make your own bookmarks when you get down to the wire like that is awesome. You will do great at the Malice Domestic conference. Just hope you remember to have fun too. :)
Mason
Thoughts in Progress
That looks amazing. If it doesn’t get people to look at your book, nothing will.
Lady of many talents, I can see.
~ Rayna
Brilliant idea – and they look fantastic. I only put off paying bills and writing, and one of those tasks I claim to enjoy.
Not me. God enough …. is. I do a pretty darn good job at everything so at least I’m consistent.
And I have yet to do a panel. Too often I see a couple jerks interupting the other panelists and the moderator not doing their job. But good luck. And don’t allow anyone to steal your limelight.
Stephen Tremp
Thanks for the info, Elizabeth. And say hello to Deborah Sharp for me at Malice if you cross paths. She’s a Killer Nashville alum and another author from Mystery Ink.
Elizabeth – I love your bookmarks!!! They are wonderful! And I’ve found from experience that bookmarks and other “goodies” are really useful and welcome. A good friend of mine made bookmarks for my first signing of Publish or Perish, and they went over very well. I’m lucky that she’s going to do the same for B-Very Flat. She’s already come up with some great ideas.
Nice bookmarks, Elizabeth! I’m looking forward to meeting you in person at Malice–should be a blast. Hey, we can exchange bookmarks!
Mason–I hope they’ll do the trick at Malice. And thanks! :)
Rayna–Well, lady who doesn’t plan far enough in advance, anyway! :) Thanks.
Charmaine–I paid bills yesterday. Bleh.
Stephen–It’s not too bad, usually. But, yeah–sometimes there are panelists who like to talk and sometimes there are moderators who don’t stop them. But I usually don’t mind–as long as my book is in clear view of the bored audience members. :)
Yes, Elizabeth, I’m with Mason Canyon, you continually amaze me with what you get accomplished. I Have Microsoft Office and didn’t even know it had a publisher capability in it. Thanks.
Karen
I prefer dealing with Printing For Less, the most customer-service oriented company I’ve ever found (and readers of my blog know how picky I am).
What I do print myself are chapter booklets using Publisher. It’s about the only thing I know how to do with that program.
(And if there are any lazy folks out there, I have a referral code for a discount on your first order with Printing For Less.)
I’m going to the Pikes Peak Writers conference next weekend, but I’m purely a spectator.
Marvelous information, Elizabeth! Does anyone know if there’s a Mac equivalent? Have fun at Malice – I hope to be there someday…
This is good info to know for those emergency situations. Thanks.
Lately I’ve been using iprint for bookmarks. You design your own on their site, and within a week receive nicely done, laminated bookmarks at a reasonable price. I’ve been pleased with their work and services.
The name alone makes it sound like an interesting conference.
That bookmark is beautiful! I would have thought them “professionally” done. I’ve never been to Malice. I hope you have a wonderful time on the panel.
Helen
Straight From Hel
I am a MASTER of making do. (it actually helps me a lot in my day job–making lemonade out of lemons, where data is concerned) In fact probably I could use a pretty healthy dose of perfectionism added to the mix, at least on these things that don’t have extra eyes. I think it’s great though, that you figured it out and managed to do it last minute.
Your bookmarks are amazing! I made my own wedding programs on Pages (the Mac version of Word). It saved me money and was fun doing it myself.
Good for you for taking it into your own hands instead of panicking! And thanks for the Publisher tip. :)
Glen–Oh, right! Yes, I think she’s going to be there…I’ll tell her hi. :)
Margot–It’s GOOD to have friends like that! I think I’m on my own in that regard.
Alan–I’m looking forward to seeing you there, too! I’ll have plenty of bookmarks to exchange. :)
Jane–Laminated! That does sound nice. I didn’t opt for that. I’ll check out iprint–thanks!
Thanks Helen! I’m looking forward to the conference now…it took me a little while to get geared up.
Karen–Thanks! And good luck with it. :)
Hart–I think you sound like you’ve got a much healthier and realistic approach to this than I do! I need to learn to roll with it sometimes.
Terry–I don’t think I know Printing for Less. Thanks for the tip! I’ll check them out. If there’s one thing I always need more of, it’s promo materials. I’m not sure what happens to it!
Laura–Well, I might have panicked a LITTLE bit. :) Thanks for the compliment. Making your own wedding programs would be scary…I’m so glad it turned out well!
Elizabeth, the bookmarks look great – very professional for a last minute job. I genreally wait until the last minute (or at the very least underestimate the time a project will take) and drive everyone around me nuts trying to get a perfect product ready in an unreasonable amount of time. I’ve made custom calendars the last few years from pictures of my daughter which I took into Photoshop to give the scrapbook treatment. My wife has threatened spouse-icide if I don’t start this project in January instead of November. Of course, I’m now four months behind…
Yes. Several things and they all involve organizing papers and sorting through boxes from my move last year. Is there therapy for this condition?
Thanks for the recipe for a quick bookmark!
Oh yes. I’m bad about that. Way too bad. I try to make perfectionism stay well away from me in writing, though, until I’m on the next-to-last draft. Then I like it to poke in occasionally. I’m glad you got your bookmarks.
That’s a really good idea doing your own bookmarks and I think they look great. Hope you have a great conference.
ann
I always *want* to do it perfectly, but I’m good at making do.
I love your bookmark idea! I need to try that.
Ike–Photo projects! Yes, I like those, too, and I’m about 2 years behind. I use Snapfish for it.
Elspeth–Oh, gosh, there should be a TON out there for Macs, since they’re the design gurus. Let’s see: Quark is good, I think? And Pages?
Mary–We SHOULD have therapy for it! :)
Ann–Thanks so much!
Carol–It’s hard, isn’t it? I think most of the time it works in our favor, though…most of the time. :)
I like the way you think on your feet! They look great too! I don’t think the online place could have done any better.
My husband is having an art exhibition in a few weeks, and we realized his business cards were all out of date–website, phone number, everything–so I hastily designed a new one and took it to a printer in town. It’s a nice “offset” print job, whatever that is, with a matte finish and not the same day print quality, so it will take them about a week, but it will be done on time. Whew! But now we have to make advertising posters, and the painting my husband wants to use isn’t finished yet, let alone photographed. As you can imagine, whenever I see him my arms are crossed and I’m tapping my foot, waiting for him to paint so I can get started on the rest of it…
Photoshop would be good for that as well.
Very resourceful!
Have fun at the conference.
Really great post! I’m now a subscriber to your blog. Thanks for great guidance.
I received a book as a prize recently and a matching bookmark was inside. I love it and it is a great way to advertise.
Well done on making yours.
I think vista.com make them as well.
Not putting off anything at the moment, which is unusual.