Indie Book Club discussion

I've seen several author websites that have "stores" where a reader/fan can buy tee shirts, mugs, hats, etc., based on their books. There are pictures of logos, book titles, graphics, and so on, and I was wondering if anyone here has ever used Cafe Press?

I'm considering starting a "store" just to see how everything looks.

When I was running this play-by-email Star Trek gaming group (I know, I know... geek), we had a Cafe Press store to help raise money for service/website costs. As the general demographic for Trek RPers is Broke, we didn't sell a lot but the stuff was decent quality.

Play by email gaming group, huh? Man, you are seriously giving me a run for my money when it comes to geekdom. :)

Decent quality items? Reasonably priced?

*lol* Oh yeah, I still do my by-email gaming, too, though not as much as I used to. I still have one of the things I got from that store of gaming geekness, too.

The stuff was a little pricier than the average, but it was POD style, I think. This was a few years ago too and as technology goes -- much like POD for books -- it may be cheaper now.

There is another store that people can get custom made stuff. I know Janet has some stuff for her Blue Moon Detective series available, but the name of the place escapes me.

If you can remember, let me know. I've come across several sites where authors have cool "themed" stuff, like mugs and shirts, and thought that was really cool.

Came across Cafe Press last night and I promised myself I'd look into it. I was just wondering how much it'd cost to put the guur on a mug. Things like that. :)

It's Zazzle.com

Here is a link to one of Janet's mugs http://www.zazzle.com/wolfsong_mug-16...

I'm not sure how to find her specific store that has all her merch

Here is a link to Arshad's merch page as well:
http://www.zazzle.com/gifts?ch=pactar...

Wow. Janet's Wolfsong mug has 1055 reviews! She must be pulling some serious sales on Zazzle.

:)

I think that's the number of reviews for that type of mug. Some of the reviews mention other designs.

It tells me that they make some really good products there if there's that many positive reviews. Gonna have to look into that one, too.

Working on a design with the guur up top and "Bakkian Chronicles" below that. Might have to get my wife involved. She's better with Paint Shop Pro X2.

Want to design up something for a tee shirt. Hmmmm...

I might be able to help with some Photoshop, too, if you need it. :)

Thanks Mia. I thought it might be kinda cool to get some custom tee shirts for our trip to Disneyland in November seeing how book II paid for it. :)

Sounds like a fantastic idea, Jeffrey!

It does sound like a fun idea. :) If you'd like any Photoshop help, just drop me an email.

Thanks for the offer, Mia! Might have to take you up on that. :)

Gonna see what I can do and then if it looks decent, I'll post a link in here to get some opinions about it.

My first stab at this...

Tell me what you think about the new Lentarian Gift Shoppe!

Seriously, Jeffrey, you are impressive. You did all of that over night? I'm clapping. You can't see it, but I am.

Looks good!

It actually wasn't too difficult. Get some graphics you have used for your books, at least 300 pdi or better, select which products you want it on, etc.

Store was easy to setup. I'm checking out Wordpress widgets now to see what I can use on my blog. It's pretty cool. I'm gonna add a Gift Shop page to my blog! I'll even add the PayPal buttons where I can sell signed copies of my books.

You guys gotta try this thing! :)

I've thought about it, but don't think I have enough fans to make it worthwhile. But it looks like fun! :)

That's some nice looking gear there Jeff. I really liked the stainless steel water bottles. If I can ever force myself to enjoy tea I'll have to start a collection of mugs designed by the authors I know.

Ok, I've added the widget to my blog. Lentari's Gift Shop has just opened for business! :)

My wife suggested a couple of ideas for logos, titles, etc. Will have to get those incorporated!

Check it out! Lentari's Gift Shop

Just added mousepads, journals, and a couple of mini posters to the gift shop. Still have to make a couple of graphics my wife suggested.

Did someone say sumthin' about t-shirt designs?! O_O

Yeppers, that was me. I had created the first t-shirt with just the Bakkian Chronicles title on the front of it.

I'm working on a new graphic that will say something to the effect of, "Honorary Citizen of Lentari" on the front, with maybe the title on the back. Still experimenting.

Hey, thought I'd share this. Could anyone use a story that'd make them smile?

This happened yesterday to me. It concerns Cafe Press.

I created my specialized "Gift Shop" with them late last week. I uploaded my own graphics I created as well as the book covers that were commissioned by me, paid for by me, and owned by me. I chose a selection of products and then once I was finished creating my "shop" as Cafe Press calls it, I proudly showed my wife.

She really liked it. Was interested in the ceramic mug. She still doesn't like the guur, the ten legged armored bug thing I'm fond of, but that's ok. She suggested I create a few things with just the simple "Bakkian Chronicles" logo on it.

Easy enough. I opened Paint Shop Pro and cropped down one of the graphics I made which, if you've seen the gift shop, has "Wizards be Damned!", a guur, and then "Bakkian Chronicles" right below it. I cropped everything out but just the title. I uploaded that image, put it on a t-shirt, ceramic mug, and a simple cap. I thought they looked great!

Three days later I check the shop and those three new products aren't there. I was thinking, WTF! So I log in to my account and see those three products are "Pending". There was a small little link to click on to explain why it was still pending. The new image. Apparently they felt it violated their Content Usage Policy. Namely, they thought I was improperly infringing the Bakkian Chronicles books.

The dark thundercloud instantly formed over my head and Mr. Snarkish Dude suddenly emerged. I reached for my phone.

When I finally got through, some teenie-bopper girl (no offense if you're a teenie bopper girl!) gets on the line and informs me, in an almost snarkish tone herself, that the new image was flagged and won't be allowed to use unless I could get express permission from the author.

So at this point, I'm sorta impressed. Either they have heard of the books or else they did their research and investigated what the Bakkian Chronicles were.

I cleared my throat. The following is an excerpt how the next part of the phone call went...

Me: You want me to get permission to use the image?
Yes, sir. Without it the image remains flagged.
Me: Would you hold the line? I'll go get him.
Really? Ummm, alright.
Me: Great. I'm passing the phone off to him right now.

I deliberately paused a few seconds and got back on the line.

Me: Mr. Poole, so nice to see you again. Why thank you Mr. Poole, the feeling is mutual. Listen, I hear you'd like to use my book title on some products, is that it? Why yes, Mr. Poole, that's exactly it. What do you say? Can I? Why of course, Mr. Poole. I see no problems with it. Thank you Mr. Poole. No problem, Mr. Poole.

I waited a few moments and then addressed the girl.

Me: How's that? Will that work for you?
Are you the author of the book?
Me: Yep.
Ummmm, ok, I will notify the department and have that flag removed immediately.
Me: (False British accent - still pissed)Why thank you ever so much.

Three hours later I had the official apology from Cafe Press and everything was fine.

Now, I could remain super annoyed, but I am glad they were looking out for my best interests. However, you'd think they'd look at the name of the account holder and, oh, I don't know, compare it to the name of the author and see that everything would be ok.

Jeeeeeeeez.

LOL! Awwwwww, poor "teenie bopper" girl. :P

LOL!

Nice. *lol*

That was worth a laugh!

Zazzler seems to be better than CafePress.
Maybe.

Hi Cammy - do you have a Zazzler shop set up? Can you provide a link? I'd love to see what types of products are offered.

Sounds weird, but I really would like to make a custom deck of cards.

Jeff, you seeing any sales off your gift shop?

My publishers have shops on both. They are only thinking of using CafePress for some bikini pants that Zazzler doesn't offer.

Sorry, I guess it's just Zazzle, not zassler http://www.zazzle.com/

Looks great Jeff. Love the new cover also. The font used really suits your title.