Monday, September 22, 2008

How to Make Bookmarks

"Today the greatest single source of wealth is between your ears." ~Brian Tracy

I promised a quick "how to" for anyone out there interested in making bookmarks using VistaPrint's oversized postcards. I've ordered from them several times and been really pleased with the results, so while the design process might be a little labor-intensive, for me it's worth it to save $$.

Now, there are many sites that offer bookmarks, so I encourage you to look around a bit and compare prices before you order. I arrange 3 bookmarks per oversized postcard and then cut them on a papercutter myself, which means I'm getting 150 bookmarks for every 50-postcard order. (Staples will also cut them for you, I've been told). If you've ordered from VistaPrint before, you know you get email specials about every other day. 50 free oversized postcards is ALWAYS one of the specials, so you'll only pay shipping. If you choose slow shipping, it will cost you roughly $7.00 - 9.00 for 150 bookmarks. Note: you can order these special deals as many times you want in a single day, to get the best price (in other words, if you order more than 50 at one time, larger quantities aren't free).

One other word of warning: as of yet, I haven't figured out how to rotate the postcards while I'm designing them, which means I have to proofread the darn things sideways. No matter; I've always been happy with the way they turned out.

I choose the blank template, and my design looks like this (I made double One Night in Boston for this order because my book signings at the time focused on that book):




I upload my book cover (ask your editor or cover artist for a 300 dpi version of your cover; they're the sharpest in quality). One nice thing about VistaPrint is that once you've uploaded a graphic, it's in your collection forever, so you only pay to upload once. Beneath that goes a brief blurb about the book. Beneath that go 2 or 3 reviews, whatever I have room for. At the bottom I put my tagline and my website:



On the backside (choose gray scale unless there's a special for free black and white glossy or color) I put my name, tagline, and website address again:

And that's it! The quality is good, heavy duty with good, clear color on the graphics. If you have more questions, or if you've never ordered from VistaPrint before and would like a link to their freebie specials, drop me an email at allieb@allieboniface.com. And if you have other tips for making bookmarks, including other websites you really like, let me know. One of the best parts of the industry is sharing ideas, as far as I'm concerned :)

11 comments:

Marianne Arkins said...

Thanks! I think I've nearly gotten mine figured out... we'll see when I upload!

Devon Gray said...

WOW! I would never have thought to do that. I order their oversized postcards to use as promo, but haven't attempted to do bookmarks. Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Very cool. Thanks for sharing!

Dayana said...

Hey, Allie. Great idea! I have been wondering how I could do that. Someone suggested it but I had no clue. I will be working on my own very soon:) And using your instructional as a guide.

BTW: Thank you for the Halloween contest plug! I appreciate it *grin*

Dayana~

Shelley Munro said...

Thanks for the instructions. I've thought about doing this but haven't plucked up the courage yet.

Anonymous said...

Allie, browse through the over-sized postcard templates and find one that is vertically oriented. I have one from way back when they had the vertical/horizontal option on the template page. Unfortunately, I don't see that now. Anyway, once you have one (just one) vertical postcard set up, you can paste any photo/artwork over it and change your "bookmarks". ;) ~Skhye

Nell Dixon said...

I keep meaning to have a bash at this. Thanks Allie

Allie Boniface said...

Thanks, Skhye!

Carolan Ivey said...

I've been doing the Vistaprint bookmarks and they always give me a nice product! I hadn't tried three on a large postcard, though. I've done two on the small size. And DUH, I hadn't thought of doing two different bookmarks on one card! LOL

Christina Phillips said...

Thanks for sharing, Allie! I wouldn't have thought of doing that!

Amber Leigh Williams said...

Thank you so so much for this amazing idea! This is going to save me a lot of money. I've never made bookmarks before but now I'm really excited about it for the first time :)

Amber

Amber Leigh Williams
www.amberleighwilliams.com
FOX & HOUND, "Outstanding Read"
DENIED ORIGIN, "Highly-Charged, Danger-Filled"