TGIF, WG2E-Land!
Many times now, here at The WG2E, the fabulous Liz Matis has mentioned in our comments section that she uses Romance Trading Cards as promotional tools.
We invited Liz to share the scoop on these terrific cards.
Take it away, Liz…
Romance Trading Cards made their debut at the 2011 RT Booklovers Convention after a Twitter conversation between authors turned into an idea for fan promotion.
What are Romance Trading Cards?
They are like baseball cards for romance readers. The book cover is on the front and on the back is the picture and name of a character along with their ‘stats’.
I chose to have the character’s occupation and their best line on my cards, but you can do most anything. For instance…
- For paranormal romances you might want to add the character’s special power
- Add the character’s description
- I’ve seen a separate card for the character’s pet
- If you are doing a series you might want to number the set
- For romantic suspense you can have a card for your villain.
- Include your website
How do you designs these nifty cards?
Well, if you are me you hire your cover designer, Hot Damn Designs, because though I can make my own book trailer I can’t seem to design romance trading cards. (I used the same photos I purchased for my book trailer for the cards) But if you are a DIY type of person then click here for the templates…
http://www.jeannielin.com/index.php/romance-trading-cards-download-templates/
And for the video tutorial click here…
http://romancetradingcards.com/tutorials/
At the RTC website you can click on the various genres and see all the wonder samples of other author’s cards.
But Liz, I’m not a romance author – I write horror or science fiction.
The RTC site has a generic card or you can download a blank template and go wild with your design skills by clicking here…
http://gotprint.net/g/showStaticPage.do?page=download_templates-collectors.html
What do you with the Romance Trading Cards?
You take them to conferences like the RT Booklovers Convention and to book signings. I include them in my giveaways. On my blog and Facebook page I occasionally announce free sets to whoever emails me their address. Of course there is the cost of postage (and the cards) but for now I’m enjoying spreading the love. And as D.D. Scott always tells us here at WG2E and RG2E it’s about treating your readers!
And what a treat!
So what do you think, WG2E-Land Peeps? Romance Trading Cards – Yay or nay?
The Best of WG2E and Romance Trading Card Wishes — Liz Matis
Amazon Bestselling Author Liz Matis is a mild manner accountant by day, romance writer by night. She loves happy ever afters!
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Thanks so much, Liz.
What a cool idea! Thank you so much for giving us the scoop.
On a more serious note, D.D. called to ask me to tell you all that she likely won’t be able to comment on this post or any others for the next few days. Her dad is going in for emergency surgery. I know we’ll all be pulling for him. He’s definitely one of the good guys. Please keep him in your thoughts.
Oh that is terrible! I would keep DD and her family in my thoughts and prayers. From her post here at WG2E I know she is very close with her Dad.
Thanks for letting us know about D.D.’s dad, David. I’ll be thinking him and D.D. and sending best wishes.
This is a cool idea. I used to collect hockey cards (still have several sets and rookies in the closet), so I understand the appear.
Thanks for sharing.
We still have some of my husbands baseball cards but alas I never kept mine.
Interesting idea… and featuring characters and what’s interesting them on a card might hook future readers more quickly than a book cover shot on a card. Thanks for sharing the scoop, Liz!
You are welcome Tamara. And on the front of the card is the book cover along with my blog address so hopefully they will be curious enough to stop by and take a look.
Hi, Liz! Fun idea! It’s always great to have some kind of treat for readers.
Thanks Alicia – and I have to admit – it’s a treat for me too
Brilliant! And you dummy-proofed it for me, with Links and Tutorials. You’re the most goodest, Liz.
Hi Greg:
I don’t know what that says about me – even though it’s dummy proofed I still had my cover designer do it for me… but at least I have that goodest thing going for me
I’ve seen these before and loved the idea,and wanted to do some for my own books. I like the idea of creating sets of them to give to readers for free. At the mo, I do postcards that have the cover of the ebook on one side and blurb and my website address on the other. I think trading cards are a bit more special. Will definitely look into these in the future when my romance series is more out there.
Hi Julie
I’ve done what are called rack cards and but also printed the book covers on photo paper. At nook/book signing the readers always gravitated to the glossy book cover. Wish I had my romance trading cards for the event.
Hey, Liz, great post! I love your cards. I’ve been thinking about doing something other than bookmarks for my Lost In Italy rs, but I wonder how have you found readers respond to the cards?
Hi Stacey:
Almost all have emailed when they received them and thanked me – some went even as far as to tell me I am generous – which just makes me all gooey inside.
I thought about bookmarks too but most of our readers are on e-devices so I thought the RTC were a better choice – for me.
Hi Liz!
Thanks for the info. LOVED Going For It!
Thanks Wendy! And I love The Nurse’s Not So Secret Scandal!
Liz, Thank you for this great post. Coincidentally, I just finished having trading cards designed for my Deadly Vices series a few days ago! I used ninthmoon.com for the design and printing since I’m very bad at design and imaging tools. They were great to work with and I can’t wait to receive my cards. I will be signing at ECWC this year, and they will be having some sort of reader contest involving the cards, which was the push for me to get these done.
Hi Kristine: I can’t wait to see your cards!
It’s so important to know our weakness and strengths! As I said I too am bad at design and figured my time was better spent writing and getting the next book out.
Nice, Liz.
Thanks Ana!
Thanks for sharing this great idea!
Your are welcome and thanks so much for dropping by!
Absolutely cool. I will be making cards for my fantasy characters as soon as I can convince my son (who is a fantastic artist) that drawing dad’s characters is much more important than getting A’s while studying Aerospace Engineering . Duh!
I totally agree!
HI Liz! Such a great post! I love Romance Trading Cards – they’re a fun and easy way to promote!