If the holiday décor we see showing up on retail shelves is any kind of clue, it’s time to start getting ready for holiday sales. If you have any plans for creating or promoting books, journals, daily planners or other products for the holidays, it’s time to take action. We’ve been doing this for decades, so trust us, it’s never too early to get started. Here is our best advice for getting ahead of the curve and planning for a successful holiday sales season.
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER
Decide on products to sell. Make a list of customizations. Contact Vervante at sales@vervante.com and request free quotes for printing, shipping timelines, etc.
If you’re just adding your logo to one of our ready-made products, upload print-ready file to your Vervante account, then order a sample copy to see it in real life.
For customized products, finalize graphic design files and upload to Vervante account.
Order sample copies for quality and proofreading checks.
If you are going to sell from your own website, start setting up your shopping cart and test it out thoroughly to make all systems are a go.
If you don’t have a website or shopping cart, we can list for you on Amazon or through the Vervante Bookstore.
NOVEMBER
Put marketing plans into action. Announce special promotions, early bird sales and specials. Promote, promote, promote!
Did time get away from you? For last-minute ideas in time for Black Friday, our ready-made planners, card decks, books, journals and calendars are easy and quick to set up and sell.
DECEMBER
Confirm Vervante holiday shipping deadlines (see below for details).
Attend book signings. Continue promotions, especially for New Year / 2023 products.
Announce surprise last-minute deals.
JANUARY
Continue to promote New Year products.
If 2023 planners were a hit, think about removing dates from planner so it can be sold all year long.
Look back at your holiday sales experience, making notes about what worked (and what didn’t) to help with next year’s plans.
Holiday Shipping Guide If this is your first holiday season working with Vervante, click here to read all about how order processing and shipping works with our services: “How order processing and shipping works.”
If you’re planning on a holiday launch, or would like your product to arrive by the end of December, it’s important to include shipping as a big part of your planning. Delivery speed, cost, and customer satisfaction are all affected by the way your products are shipped to your customers.
Orders are shipped according to the method you or your customer select. If you have a new product or dated product such as a planner, we recommend using Priority Mail the last six weeks of the year.
The year is flying by, summer is almost over, and you know what that means? It’s time to start planning ahead for 2023! Especially when it comes to creating planners or journals to debut for the New Year.
To get you started, or inspired, or just ready to roll, we’re excited to share with you our new Vervante 2023 Softcover Daily Planner. This planner features a beautiful butterfly on a background of deep, rich colors. Butterflies are a symbol of beauty and transformation. They come in all colors and are beloved around the world, which made this an easy choice for a year that we feel is filled with possibilities.
Our 2023 Butterfly Softcover Planner features thumb tabs, stickers and a handy interior pocket. It can be printed with soft covers, board covers, poly paper covers, laminated covers and punched for disc binding. Also...
Features a new layout for weekly spreads
Size is 7x9" with 178 interior pages
With printed thumb tabs
Can be completely customized using the InDesign files
Can be plastic or metal spiral bound, wire-o bound, or punched for disc binding
We've designed this planner to be used in several ways:
You can order and use it just like it is.
Personalize with a simple change like adding your logo.
Or you can fully customize to fit your branding and vision. (We provide the InDesign files so you can change what you want.)
How to make changes and customize this planner
As we mentioned above, you are welcome to modify or change whatever you'd like to make the Butterfly planner your very own. We provide the InDesign files, you make the changes, then send the files back to us. Here are the links you need:
Be sure to check out the Vervante Video Vault for detailed ideas for planners, planner add-ons, and lots of other products and customizing options.
Can I create a disc-bound planner?
Yes, absolutely! Disc-bound planners are hot-hot-hot and we’re happy to provide the ability to help you create one. We are one of only a few companies that provide punching for a disc bound product, giving you the ability to create these highly sought after items. If you already have a planner (or journal or similar type of product) and would like to convert it for disc binding, we can help you do that too! Check out these articles: "How to Create a Disc-Bound Planner," and "How to Convert a Planner into Disc-Bound."
Deadlines for ordering 2023 planners
If you have a 2023 hardcover planner that you want to arrive by the end of December, your order will need to be in the queue by October 15. This applies to hardcovers only. If your planner is a board cover or laminated cover, then the deadline is November 1.
We're pretty excited about all of our planners, including this new 2023 Butterfly Planner, and we hope you are too. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us.
No matter what kind of product you create, the quality of your content matters! The writing you do, whether for books, planners, information products, calendars, or anything else, can make you look like a professional or an amateur, and that make a big difference if you’re trying to create satisfied and loyal customers.
Even the most experienced writers make mistakes, but there are some common issues that are easy to avoid, as long as you know what you’re looking for.
Mistake #1: Not using a copy editor
Nothing can be more damaging to your products and your reputation than publishing a book or other written product that is filled with typos, errors, and incorrect information. If your budget is small, that’s ok, there are free options like Pro Writing Aid or Grammarly that can help. For more ideas and information about copy editing, click here to read “The importance of copy editing for books and products.”
Mistake #2: Using passive voice
Passive voice is a common mistake that can make your writing less effective and turn the reader off. To put it simply, passive voice makes your writing weak. Active voice is simpler and stronger.
It can be tough to recognize passive voice because it’s grammatically correct, and it reads like your average textbook. But that’s the problem. Passive voice reads like a boring textbook – and people don’t want to be bored.
The more you work on this, the easier it will become to find instances of passive voice and change them to active. Here are some more examples:
Passive: Elizabeth is loved by Mr. Darcy.
Active: Mr. Darcy loves Elizabeth.
Passive: The coffee spill was cleaned by the barista.
Active: The barista cleaned the coffee spill.
Passive: The flowers were wilted by the sun.
Active: The sun wilted the flowers.
Mistake #3: Unnecessary words and “fillers”
An easy trap to fall into is using excess words or fillers to stretch out your content. All that extra stuff doesn’t always work, and it can actually end up muddying up your writing and make it seem awkward and confusing.
Start by deleting words like “actually, basically, very, quite, just, or somehow.” They take up space without adding anything to your writing. Next look for phrases that can be said in one word. A good example is instead of saying “small in size,” you can just say “small.” Or replace “prior history” with “history.”
Mistake #4: Taking too long to get to the point
This is especially true when it comes to products that contain shorter passages of content that need to be strong and to the point, such as for daily planners, inspirational or motivational calendars, etc. Don’t beat around the bush. State clearly what is happening, the value of what they are about to read, the point they need to understand. Leave flowery poetry – for poetry.
Mistake #5: Apostrophe catastrophes
It’s a small simple little thing, but use it wrong and it can make you look like an amateur. Apostrophes are one of the most common mistakes editors watch for and even the professionals let them slip through once in a while. Using the wrong version of its/it’s or here’s vs. here are just a couple of examples.
Here’s a tip to avoid this issue: Any time you use an apostrophe in a contraction, where you're combining the verb with the noun (such as "it's" for "it is" or "here's" for "here is"), expand the contraction in your mind so you get the subject-verb agreement right.
For example: Writing “Here’s the menus you asked for,” may seem ok at first glance. But, if you expand the contraction, you can can see that saying “Here is the menus you asked for,” is incorrect and you should rather use “Here are the menus you asked for.”
There you have it! Five common writing mistakes, easy to avoid, that will go a long way toward helping you make your writing stronger – and avoid looking like an amateur.
If the holiday décor we see showing up on retail shelves is any kind of clue, it’s time to start getting ready for holiday sales. If you have any plans for creating or promoting books, journals, daily planners or other products for the holidays, it’s time to take action. We’ve been doing this for decades, so trust us, it’s never too early to get started. Here is our best advice for getting ahead of the curve and planning for a successful holiday sales season.
If this is your first holiday season working with Vervante, click here to read all about how order processing and shipping works with our services: “How order processing and shipping works.”
The year is flying by, summer is almost over, and you know what that means? It’s time to start planning ahead for 2023! Especially when it comes to creating planners or journals to debut for the New Year.
No matter what kind of product you create, the quality of your content matters! The writing you do, whether for books, planners, information products, calendars, or anything else, can make you look like a professional or an amateur, and that make a big difference if you’re trying to create satisfied and loyal customers.