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Monday, December 13, 2010

The Question of Business Cards

So you’re a wannabe novelist at a big convention in hopes of making good connections and even better first impressions. You’ve never published, or if you have, it’s been on a small, not-really-important scale.

So you talk to some agents, editors, authors, fellow wannabes. Do you give them a business card?

What are your thoughts on business cards? Is it kosher to have a business card as a writer when you’ve never been published? Or to have a business card with your information, but not an actual business? Or do you give out your actual business card, regardless of whether you work for Novell or Canyon Catering? What’s the etiquette here?

Thoughts muchly appreciated. Savvy?


Excerpt of the day:

She peered up into the bright morning sky, speckled with two, feather-like clouds. “How did you get me down?”

Thade smiled, but didn’t answer. Either he didn’t know how to sign the words, or he chose not to explain it to her. Teague suspected the second.

Weirs, chapter 7

5 comments:

  1. I'd say there's nothing wrong with having a "contact card." Just give them a card with your contact information on it. You can make it look as fancy or as sparse as you want, so long as it looks professional, but I'd say make up a business card, sure. In fact, I'd encourage it.

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  2. Jason printed a bunch of cards and then gave them to nobody.
    I think that my goal is to leave a big enough impression they'll remember me based on that, not on a piece of paper.
    However, I have the natural benefit of having loud red hair, which means everybody remembers me everywhere.
    As Bill said, it can't hurt, but don't just use them as a crutch.

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  3. As for a card, Jason's was brilliantly goofy (though I dissed it). It has something like "Author, Custodian of Mansion House, Friend of Interstellar Space Butlers." And it then has his blog link on the back.
    So there's that idea: tie it with your work and make it clever.

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  4. I'm a fan of business cards. They're cheap, easy to make, and a great way to network with other writers--note that I said "other writers" and not "agents, editors, publishers, etc." I don't think I've ever given a card to an agent or editor--I've just sent them my manuscript with a quick note of who I am--but I've given TONS to other writers, and it's definitely helped me to expand my network among them.

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  5. I have tons of business cards from people I have met. And honestly, if I didn't have a business card from them, I wouldn't remember or know how to get ahold of them again. I think business cards are a must.

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