I spent a very long weekend going blind looking for promo stuff and in effort to cheer myself up, I found myself at PBW’s blog re-reading her WIDGETS FROM HELL post. About promo, naturally.
So here’s my list of things I’m going to avoid…an unofficial Thursday Thirteen…unofficial because I don’t have time to keep up with the commenters and go check out their blogs, not today. So unofficial.
- Candy shaped like body parts. Any body parts. I’m sorry, but I really don’t wanna eat a sucker shaped like a penis.
- Cheap nail files. The emery boards don’t work for me…I have thick nails so if I want it to do me any good, it needs to be a decent nail file. But decent = costs more.
- Stuffed animals. I have three kids…you know how many stuffed animals are in this house? Me neither and I’m scared to check. I can’t be the only mama in this boat.
- Hats. Never wear them. Yeah, I know this isn’t for me, but I figure if it’s something I’d end up tossing if somebody gave it to me, maybe I’m better off not using it as one of my promo items.
- Sticky notes. Most of these conventions are places we have to travel to. A million and one sticky note pads won’t be much fun to pack.
- Water bottles. I have too many of them. I have no room for glasses because of all the water bottles~and it’s also one I’ve seen lots of. Nope, I want something different.
- Makeup. Of any sort. I’ve gotten some as promo items and it’s something I end up throwing out. I’m not going to give somebody a promo gift that might break them out in rash. They may never forget my name, but not the impression I wanna make.
- Drink koozies. I never once used one of these. And yes, I’ve gotten many. How many koozies does a person need?
- Ice scraper. So far nobody’s given me one of these as a promo item, but I see them at a lot of the sites I hit. Great for a used car place. Romance author? Not so much.
- Candy. Whether it’s shaped like a body part or not. There is always so much candy at these things…I’ve lost 15 lbs, I’m not putting it back on by buying candy for readers that I end up eating. 😉
- Stress balls. Got pets? If so, then you may know already that dogs really like to eat these things. I’d hate to give one to somebody and then it ended up being Rover’s midnight snack. When Rover’s mama was cleaning up the mess, she wouldn’t be thanking me.
- Condoms. Too many readers are mamas. Unpacking from these things, I’ve found unusual items that I had to scurry to get put away before rotten ones saw them. Too big a headache. Besides, I’m married~I wouldn’t use them…back to that rule If I don’t find it useful, will others? Nope, not everybody’s married, but I doubt they need me helping them in the safe-sex department.
- Bookmarks. Yes…bookmarks. I’ll probably take some of the ones I already have to RT with me, but I doubt I’ll mess with ordering more. Bookmarks get handed out by the dozen. I hate being lost in a crowd. 😉