Raffle Baskets and Book Signings

Judith Ashley is the author of The Sacred Women's Circle series, romantic fiction that honors spiritual traditions that nurture the soul.

Last Monday’s post was about Time (and water); Wednesday I shared my thoughts about the Chaparral Suites and meeting J.A. Jance.

Today I’m showing you the results of creating a raffle basket for Desert Dreams and the creation of my display for the book signing.

Let me start by saying neither a fantastic basket nor a dazzling display would have happened without the guidance (actually a bit more than that word implies) of my friend and first reader, Lois. She is an artist and graphic designer among other things. And if you are into mid-century modern things and live in the Phoenix, AZ area, look her up at Modern on Melrose.

ALL THINGS OREGON:

All Things Oregon was the theme. A two dollar basket from Goodwill was a start. A trip to Michael’s and we had the stuffing and cellophane for the basket as well as ribbon for the basket and ‘bundling’ books. I also purchased a small glass heart shaped bottle for the beach agates. I’d brought books, chocolate, beach agates, green jasper, a polished thunder egg, book mark, business cards and an amethyst pendant and matching earrings.

Our Very Happy Winner!

Sarah Raplee, Diana McCollum and I donated the books. Sarah and I donated the Moonstruck Chocolate. Sarah and I donated the rocks (green jasper and beach agates from me, personally polished thunder egg from Sarah’s rock hounding adventures). Diana made beaded book marks and one was included in the basket with the Love and Magick anthology. And last but not least, the necklace and earrings were from Mary McGar.

Ours was a very popular basket!!!

DESERT DREAMS BOOK SIGNING:

First we tried out several options in our room. Lois had a chrome and glass stand she donated to the cause. (I’d love to find something similar to use when I’m able to drive to the signing. It made everything so much easier because I only had thirty-two (32) inches to display books and bundles!)

Note the design in the center

I took a picture of what we liked best so we could easily recreate it at the signing. I’d been told that ‘the way to go’ was by bundling. With that in mind we bundled three anthologies that Sarah, Diana and I were a part of. And I also bundled the first three and the last two of the five books in The Sacred Women’s Circle series that are currently available.

Why that way? My reasoning was that the first two books had a hotter heat level that the 4th and 5th books in the series.

What I learned was bundling works better with a trilogy. Although even though I bundled the three anthologies together, people couldn’t see the names of all the authors. And, not having thought that was something I needed to know, I hadn’t made a note of that so I could tell people interested in those books about the authors and stories within (even though I’d read them all)!

Lois and her creation

While I’d still do a couple of bundles for the display because they look gorgeous, I'd make sure people knew they could create their own bundle. Having the ribbon on hand along with a bit of bling will be important. See the picture to the left. Aren't those bundles beautiful? That means I’ll have the ribbon on hand along with a bit of bling.

Lois added five rhinestone hearts the the ribbon on each of the bundles for a bit of bling. We also found out that the adhesive on the rhinestone hearts was not reliable so there was a bit—actually quite a bit—of re-gluing if not realigning of the bling.

In the end, while I did not sell as many books as I’d have liked, I did sell some. I got a hands on lesson (how I learn best) on how to create a beautiful basket and a gorgeous display. And, Lois wrote it the tips and tricks we learned along the way.

Was it worth it?

You tell me.

Would you put your raffle ticket in a basket that looked fantastic And had gifts you were interested in? 

Would you be more likely to put your raffle ticket in a fantastic looking basket? 

A proud author and her display

Would you only put your raffle ticket in a basket that had something you wanted regardless of how it looked?

If you see a gorgeous, creative display (like mine), would you be more likely to stop by and look more closely, engage with the author or does something like that not matter at all because you only go to book signings to see authors you know and like?

You can learn more about The Sacred Women’s Circle series on my website.

Check out my Windtree Press author page.

Follow me on Twitter: @JudithAshley19

I’m also on Facebook

© 2016 Judith Ashley