When you meet new people, they almost always ask you what you do. If you can get the courage up to say, “I’m an author”, as night follows day, they’ll ask if you’ve been published. When this happens, I pull out a business card I’ve had made specifically for my writing with my phone number, email and website address. I hand it to them and most say they’ll look me up online. I’m sure many don’t, but if I just told them about my book and where they could find it, I know they never would.
I know authors who go all out and buy customised bookmarks and have flyers printed, then distribute them wherever they think someone might pick them up. I’m not yet convinced that this works, but I’m sure it doesn’t hurt.
I also use my business cards as book marks and leave them in books I get from the library. I’ve left them lying about places where I think readers might see them, who knows… But really, my business cards are for face-to-face meetings and are miles better than scribbling my email address or website on a matchbook.
