Creating Merchandise Based on Your E-Book
Certain e-books lend themselves well to physical products, or merchandise. Plenty of sites on the Internet let you create your own products, such as T-shirts, mugs, stationery, and other items from CafePress (www.cafepress.com
), or greeting cards and other photo-printed items from PhotoBox (www.photobox.com
).
You can produce merchandise for promotional purposes, such as your e-book’s cover, title, and blurb printed on T-shirts to wear at conferences or on postcards to mail. You can also make merchandise that you plan to sell directly to customers. (Sites such as CafePress work similarly to print-on-demand publishing, so you don’t need to stock up on supplies initially.) If individuals have helped you by serving as beta (advance) readers or even by helping fund your e-book, you can thank them by sending them T-shirts, mugs, or other gifts you’ve designed.