Creating interesting merchandising and swag to help gain attention for your products always involves a combination of creativity and business savvy.

We were quite delighted to see what author Madison Avery did when we met her launching her book at When Words Collide in Calgary.

Avery’s promotional item, a brilliantly portable engraved penny in a small transparent baggy with a special love note was a direct tie-in to the hot and handsome leading man in the opening story from her story collection Capturing the Muse. She moved about the conference and distributed lucky pennies as way of informing people about her upcoming book launch.

The book, which contains five erotic romance short stories that all involve writers discovering just how far they will go in order to find or gain back their creativity, opens with a story called “Luck be a Penny” and a mysterious handsome stranger by the name of Cole who works his way into the main character’s heart.

Pennies stamped with the word LUCK and included with a small love note from Cole that reads . . .

“A penny for your thoughts and good luck along the way. Yours, Cole“

. . . were included in the little packets.

One of the great things about promotional swag like this is that it’s small enough and portable enough that the author was able to keep a bunch of these items in either a pocket or purse and to be able to distribute them without having to carry around a lot of heavy items.

Another great and ingenious way to call attention to a new book.

Madison Avery doesn’t kiss and tell. Except when it comes to writing. She lives in Red Deer, Alberta, where she spends way too much time reading, writing and avoiding house work.

Capturing the Muse is her first foray into the world of erotica, but where she feels right at home.

You can find Madison, and her counterpart, Yong Adult Novelist, Avery Olive, on many social media sites like Facebook, Twitter (@AveryOlive), Tumblr, Goodreads and on her website, http://www.averyolive.blogspot.com, which is currently under construction)  🙂