Every time I think I’m doing something swell (writerly speaking), I forget about the ripples. You know what I mean about the ripples? Like when you drop a pebble in the water and the ripples expand outward, affecting the waters further and further away?
So I’ve been researching agents and editors for the Rutgers conference (and I have found SO many wonderful sites/blogs packed with great info! I’ll share those soon!) and I came across a blog post from a writer who’d attended in the past and she mentioned business cards. And I thought, thank goodness, I have plenty of business cards. Because I have THREE different–no, FOUR different business cards.
And then one of those ripples banged into me. Self, I said, you better check your business cards since you’ve made some changes lately. And uh-oh. Most of the cards had the Hall of Fame blog on it. A few had my old website. Which means I’ve been blithely handing out business cards for the past…let’s see, 9 months, with outdated information.
Oy. I suppose I don’t need to tell you that I was pretty annoyed with myself, grasshopper. I should make a checklist of “What To Do When Changing Your Web Presence” rather than what I do do, which is changing one thing, then catching up with the ripples as they inevitably bang into me. Don’t do that, grasshopper. Make your checklist, and put “Check/change business cards” on the top of the list. Then you can do a happy dance (like me!) when the NEW BUSINESS CARDS arrive from Vistaprint! And P.S. I also ordered a sheet of sticky business card labels that I could slap on a manuscript, which I thought was scathingly brilliant, not to mention ripple-evading.
(If I’m being perfectly honest, I love designing business cards. But you probably had an inkling of that when you read about the four business cards, piled in my desk drawer.)







sally apokedak
Sep 12, 2012 @ 11:35:34
I got fifty free cards from MOO, though a Klout freebie offer. (go to klout and see if you have offers.) And I guess because they were free, I didn’t take a lot of time to design them well. When they got here I was so mad at myself, because they are such beautiful business cards. Really high-quality. And…poorly designed by me.
But I’m going to design and order more. I’m constantly changing addresses (web and real life) so I think the answer for me is to only order fifty or so before each conference, instead of printing up 300 or more.
I just heard at a conference I was at that we no longer need to put snail mail addresses. No one uses snail mail anymore. If we have a cell phone number and an email address, that’s enough. And I wonder if even need to put our web addresses because how many people type in those. If I have a business card from someone I’m not going to type in http:// blah, blah, blah. I’m going to type in the person’s name and let the search engine pull them up.
What do you think?
Cathy C. Hall
Sep 12, 2012 @ 12:18:44
I always put my email contact (and that hasn’t changed in all my business cards)–I’ve never put cell or home address. But I think it’s a good idea to put the place on the web that you keep current. Even if an agent/editor doesn’t check it, (and I agree that most people just put in a name and see what comes up)they see that you’re invested in the business of writing. (I don’t put the http part, just cathychall.wordpress.com). I use Vistaprint ’cause they almost always have deals–you can’t order 50 cards, though. Also, their pic quality is excellent. And I think you HAVE to have that pic. People remember a personality with a face, not necessarily a name.
Of course, once you’ve got a pubbed book, it’s a whole different business card. Fingers crossed, we’ll be printing more cards someday soon!
Linda O'Connell
Sep 12, 2012 @ 17:19:46
Better than handing them out with your home adress which I did forst time out
Cathy C. Hall
Sep 12, 2012 @ 22:14:42
Hahahaha! Sorry, Linda, I can’t help laughing–but I know you laughed at yourself!
Debra Mayhew
Sep 12, 2012 @ 17:21:28
Well, some ripples are good… like the ones you’ll get from the sticky business card labels. Very cool! As for handing out old business cards, I just have to smile. As if getting an editor’s attention wasn’t hard enough…
Cathy C. Hall
Sep 12, 2012 @ 22:15:45
You know, I never thought about the GOOD ripples. Thanks, Deb!
Becky
Sep 12, 2012 @ 17:37:06
Love the sticky cards you can use as book plates! And hey, Cathy, didn’t you forget to take your business cards once last year? I seem to remember reading about that….you remembered Cathy on a Stick, but forgot your new cards?? Make a BIG note to be sure and pack them!!
Cathy C. Hall
Sep 12, 2012 @ 22:16:55
Oh, not to worry, Becky. This time, I’m making a List Of Things To Take To Rutgers!
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