The Business: Authors, Merch, & The Future Thereof

It's no surprise that merchandise is a significant revenue source for entertainment properties. Most authors aren't savvy enough to see that they can play that game also, which is why the few who do tend to be seen as Black Swans, but the smart and successful in NewPub don't agree. Merch is a business decision like any other, and that means you can get the data and work out what to offer, when, and how. This is why I follow The Business of Writing.

Some of this should be familiar by now:

• Crowdfunding a merch product is an option.
• From the perspective of an author, offerings in other media are merch (e.g. games).
• The easiest, and therefore earliest, merch offerings remain art prints and related stuff (shirts, hats, etc.).
• The easiest things for you to do depends upon your skillset and network. (e.g. games for a gamer-author)
• Crowdfunding your merch product works with aggressive shilling due to the pitch being "Please help" vs. "Buy now."
• Sales strategies vary by what you're offering and where.
• For the love of God, learn how to sell.

A lot of what's talked about here supposes that you've got operational capital on hand to make full use of the advice; I'm not there, so I have to adapt accordingly, which means emphasizing elements that don't require me to shell out what I don't have. (No, no Facebook/Twitter/etc. ads out of me anytime soon.) Instead I have to favor options that don't cost me a penny (such as posting here daily and linking everywhere I can; no, Facebook doesn't allow me to link to this blog at all). You'll have to adapt in a similar manner to emphasize your strengths and avoid weaknesses until you can begin to exploit the full array of options out there.