Promote your poetry with a beautiful postcard

Whether you’re a haiku poet, photographer or haiga artist, postcards are amazing promotional items to bring to a conference.

Format

The most common postcard sizes are:

• 4 x 6 inches
• 5.5 x 4.25 inches
• 8.5 x 5.5 inches

Templates

You’ll find templates in many software like Word, Publisher, InDesign. Many printers offer templates on their website.

Cost

Postcards can be expensive to print.  However, the more you print, the less it costs per unit.

At my local print shop you can get 20 postcards for $15 or 100 postcards for $35. If you want something printed on the back, there’s an extra $10 fee. Shop around to find the best deals.

Make sure to order early as delivery can take some time.

Postcards

If you’re considering making postcards for your next conference, here are some examples to get you inspired.

Postcard by Frank Carey (HNA 2015)

Postcard by Joyce Clement (HNA 2015)

Postcard by Bill Deegan (HNA 2015)

Postcard by Stevie Strang

 

Art postcards

This beautiful reversible postcard, handmade by Julie Bloss Kelsey, is one of my favorite freebies of all time.

It has everything I like: great haiku, nice paper, good handwriting, 3D objects. Well done!

Reversible postcard (front) by Julie Bloss Kelsey (HNA 2015)

Reversible postcard (back) by Julie Bloss Kelsey (HNA 2015)

Book postcards

If you’ve published a book, a postcard is an excellent promotional tool. I like this simple postcard by Roberta Beary because it promotes her book The Unworn Necklace simply using a beautiful photo and haiku, instead of the usual book cover, making it a beautiful keepsake.

 

Postcard by Roberta Beary (HNA 2015)

Photo postcards

These two postcards are actually 4×6 photographs printed via Shutterfly. On the back, photographer David Giacalone printed his contact information.

Photo postcard by David Giacalone. (HNA 2015)

Photo postcard by David Giacalone. (HNA 2015)

Souvenir postcards

At HNA 2015, Terry Ann Carter performed her beautiful Chiyo-ni tribute and distributed these postcards to commemorate her unforgettable performance.

Do-it-yourself postcards

If you’re short on time, or are budget-conscious, you can also print postcards on cardstock at home. Just be prepared to spend lots of time cutting them. In this example, Claude Rodrigue also added a touch of color by hand.

Whatever style you chose, make sure to order your postcards early if you want to receive them before the conference.

Did you ever a produce a postcard for a conference? Are you considering creating one? Share your tips.

Postcards not for you? Try a bookmark.

My next post will be about trifolds.

 

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Freebie: an introduction

Freebie table (HNA 2015)

With Haiku North America around the corner, it’s time to think about the freebie you’ll bring to the conference.  A freebie is a promotional item you give to attendees at a conference. A freebie can take different forms: bookmarks, leaflets, postcards, 3D objects.

Whatever format you chose, a freebie must fit certain criteria to be successful.

The best freebies are:

1. Beautiful
2. Well written
3. Good promotional tool for the author
4. Portable

Now let’s look at each criterion with some examples.

 

1. Beautiful: does your freebie have a wow factor? A nice cover that will get people to pay attention? Is it printed on good quality paper? Color paper? Is the shape unusual?

Leaf-shaped haiku freebie by Deborah P Kolodji (HNA 2015)

 

2. Well written: Have you included your best haiku? Is the contents free of typos and grammar mistakes?  Extra points if your contents fit the theme of the conference.

Booklets by Tanya McDonald

 

3. Good promotional tool for the author: have you included your name and contact information? The main goal of a freebie is promotion, so don’t forget these important details. A freebie is your business card.

Bookmark by Frank Carey.

 

4. Portable: is your freebie small enough to fit in a luggage? Or is it cumbersome? I took a picture of this beautiful rock by Jeff Hoagland (HNA 2015). Although I really liked the haiku and the concept, there was no way I could have brought back this massive 1 pound rock in my suitcase.

Haiku Rock by Jeff Hoagland (HNA 2015)

In the next couple days, I’ll show you more examples of promotional items for writers and share some tips about creating a freebie for your next conference.

Do you know what freebie you’ll bring to your next conference?

 

 

Minnows

This comic is inspired by Maxianne Berger’s book Winnows (Imago Press) featuring haiku found in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.

Haidan (December 2016)

Here’s the most recent Old Pond Comics published in Haidan (December 2016). I had the pleasure of illustrating twelve haiku this year to accompany articles by Emiko Miyashita published in Haidan issues from January to December 2016.

Haidan (December 2016). Photo by Emiko Miyashita.

warmth

tearing a sponge cake

the hand’s shape

• Haiku by Eriko Tsugawa

Synchronous

 

Synchronous

 

The day brightens-

water boils on the stove

with little noises

 

-Haiku by Jocelyne Villeneuve translated by Mike Montreuil, The Unfinished Poem, 2015

Haidan (September 2016)

Here’s a glimpse of Old Pond Comics published in Haidan journal in Japan. Every month, My haiku cartoon accompanies an article written by Emiko Miyashita.

Haidan (September 2016 issue). Photo by Emiko Miyashita used with permission.

I’m very lucky Emiko sends me photos of the issue of Haidan as soon as it comes out since my copy takes time to reach me in Canada.

Emiko writes that the object on the left is a biwa and the rock on the right comes from Nice!

Here’s the comic published in the September 2016 issue of Haidan:

It’s funny how reading the comics two months later I realize perhaps the haiku should have been placed in panel #2 instead.

love fulfilled

love fulfilled . . .

fireflies leisurely await

the sunrise

— Haiku by Masajo Suzuki illustrated by Old Pond Comics.

 

This haiku-comic was published in Haidan journal (July 2016 issue) in Japan.

 

Words: Haiku on Paper

Did you know many haiku poets are also paper artists? Among them, Terry Ann Carter, Claudia Radmore, Steve Addiss, and more, will have artwork in the international exhibit Words: Haiku on paper in Whitehorse, Yukon. The exhibit coincide with the Haiku Canada conference in May 2016.

Support the Go Fund Me campaign to receive a catalogue featuring work by your favorite artists/haiku poets.  I just donated now and the process was really easy.

Thanks for sharing the campaign on Facebook and Twitter to help fellow haiku poets.

I created some haiku-origami pieces for the exhibit. Not sure if they’ll be in the final exhibit or not. I mean, I was told they will be, but it seems unbelievable that my work would be exhibited next to international artists, so I’ll believe it when I see it.

I’m keeping the final artworks a secret, but you’ll find above an earlier version of “Childless” with the frog origami not yet mounted.

Any artwork not selected for the final show will be featured in store windows on Main street during the conference. It’s gonna be great to see haiku everywhere in Whitehorse during the Haiku Canada conference. Thanks to Helen O’Connor for curating the exhibit.

Haidan – May 2016 issue

Since January 2016, Old Pond Comics is published in Japan. I’ve been working with Emiko Miyashita, a haiku poet who is writing a monthly column on haiku translations for the new journal Haidan. Every month, Emiko sends me three haiku and I provide a haiku-cartoon to accompany her article.

The publisher sends me copies of the journals, but only months after publication, so Emiko occasionally sends me pictures of what the article looks like as soon as she gets her copy.

Here’s a photo of the May 2016 issue showing beautiful Japanese items on her desk. She gave me permission to share this.

Haidan (May 2016 issue). Photo by Emiko Miyashita.

 

Here’s the comic:

In the distant hills

A patch where sunlight touches

The withered meadows.

— Kyoshi (haiku translated by Donald Keene)

Haidan

Since January 2016, Old Pond Comics is published in Japan!

My comics are illustrating articles written by Emiko Miyashita — about the translation of haiku from Japanese to English — that are published in the new haiku journal Haidan. Our collaboration will extend until December 2016.