Swag

One of the things I love about conferences is the swag, all the free fun stuff you get just for walking in the door. But after looking at all of the swag I got at this year's Romantic Times conference (this is just the stuff I got for walking in the door and attending one party), I have to wonder how beneficial swag is to the authors who hand it out.

For regular followers of the blog, this isn't a new conversation. Not even close. I've always wondered if all of those bookmarks, postcards, and pens really sell books. I'm not convinced they do. At least I've never bought a book based on the swag, and these days, bookmarks are even more useless. I try to save them, I try to use them, but they keep sliding off my ebook.

So I went through my swag and here's what I found:




Laptop-style work bag--love. Will definitely use
Two canvas shopping bags--added to the collection for grocery shopping
Pen--I can always find a use for another pen (especially a good one)
Ice scraper--if my kids don't confiscate it, it will be great for the glove compartment
Two fans--the hotel was so hot I added one to my purse
Notepads/notebooks--always good to have
Candy--tossed most, kept Werthers (yum)
Bookmarks--tossed without looking
Postcards--tossed without looking
Author bracelet--passed to kids
Books--definitely took those home
Chapter samples--kept both to read on the plane
Can cozy--love these. There's nothing better than watching a manly man drink beer from romance author's can cozy

Number of books bought based on swag--probably zero.

What about you? Swayed by swag or just overwhelmed by stuff?

Jessica