Creating your own author 'swag', or merchandise can bring in income and engage your readers as well as giving you the creative edge at literary events and festivals. Bands and film-makers always create merchandise for their creative works, now it's time for authors to use merchandise to market their works too.In this book you'll find: 5 things merchandise should do for you 6 steps of new product development (NPD) How to think beyond bookmarks and coffee mugs Case studies and interviews with real authors to inspire you Details of good suppliers to get you started Merchandise for Authors is a really valuable resource. Melissa has clearly used the time she spent with the British Library to good effect, giving excellent advice to the many writers with whom she worked - and has now generously shared her thoughts in a format that means a much wider audience can benefit. I advise you to take her advice. Dr Alison Baverstock, Associate Professor of Publishing at Kingston University, author of How to Market Books