Vlog, Swag and Other Four Letter Words

Yesterday, as a part of WriteOnCon (an annual online children's writing conference), I was in a group vlog with the Class of 2K12, a group of 21 authors with debut YA and MG books coming out in 2012. I have to admit I look pretty stiff and awkward in this vlog BUT, if you're a writer--especially one looking to get published--I think you should check it out for the wise/inspiring words of my classmates. And try to take my word for it that I'm less awkward in real life (maybe by a smidgen, but still. Less awkward).

You can watch the vlog here. Plus, if you leave a comment, you can win a tote bag of some 2K12 swag Which...

...segues nicely to my next four letter word. Swag! I have the final version of my stickers to share with you.

Ta-da!

Now, I'm guessing this doesn't entirely make sense without having read the book. Hope you think they're cute anyway. I really love them.

And according to this blog post title, I promised you other four letter words. So hear they are: goop! ears! whoa!

Swag: A Sneak Peek

It was a busy weekend. The final Harry Potter movie came out (and was attended with great excitement/sadness, of course) and two of my closest friends had their 30th birthday parties on Saturday and Sunday. During a few down hours somewhere along there, I decided to start thinking about some book "swag."

Swag are promotional items that are given out usually at signings, blog giveaways or other events: things like branded bookmarks, pens, buttons, etc. I've seen some really creative book swag recently. Gretchen McNeil had temporary tattoos made of the charm bracelet that her main character wears in her book, Possess. Bree Despain had branded nail polish that matched her book's (The Dark Divine) cover.

At the moment, there are two types of swag I'm thinking about getting. One are some fun map-related bookmarks. And the other are sticker books. Just because I spent all weekend working on it, here is a preview of one of the stickers. (There are five more designs.)

What do you think? I should be getting my order in a couple of weeks and am definitely looking forward to seeing how they turned out.

I'm still brainstorming other fun/creative items though. So if you have any suggestions--things you've seen that you've really liked or just your own original idea that you're willing to part with--please let me know in the comments section!