Dear Readers,
‘Cartophobia’
It’s taken me 8 years. From Day 1 as an author, I read that I ought, along with other things, to consider ‘merch’. Book-themed mugs, caps, pin brooches, stickers, bags, t-shirts and the like. But I had, what I call, ‘cartophobia.’ Fear of maps? Fear of carts? I hear you enquire. Indeed, carts. But not all or any carts, very particular, virtual carts: shopping ones.
At this point you can skip to the shop launch video or read on …
My Murky Nerdy Past
Now you may have heard this part of the story before but this is only half of it. Back toward the beginning of the 2000s, I was in marketing. Deep in marketing and, in particular, The Latest Thing: websites. I created and was webmaster of about 30 for small-medium local businesses. It was demanding and I was on call about 20 hours a day. And then, at the cutting edge, came shopping carts.
Commonplace now with sites like Amazon, no one gives a second thought to purchasing online. Now there are easy-to-use shopping cart solutions for businesses of all sizes, like Shopify. But back then, many developers wrestled with clunky, unreliable systems harder to manage than a wagonload of monkeys. (Not that I have had experience of the latter). Bolted on to emerging website platforms, they were a nightmare.
Sleepless nights, desperate searches on fora for obscure solutions to cart failures, anxious clients … I could go on, Â but you get the picture. Merchandise? Shopping cart? Shudder!
An Unexpected Turn of Events
Years passed. And then one day, someone I knew announced a new hobby: making objects out of epoxy resin. In due course the offer came to make some bookish objects for the Amanda Cadabra books: bookmarks and page spreaders. The curse began to lift as I threw myself with enthusiasm into the project.
It was not to be, and never made it to full fruition. But it had done its work and got me thinking once again about the possibilities of making Amanda Cadabra actual 3D items for readers who would like to own a piece of her world.
The Twilight Toxin Intervenes
The new book, Amanda Cadabra and The Twilight Toxin, however, took front and centre, and I was whirled away with finishing it, editing it, and supplying Tim, my friend and cover illustrator ( and bestselling novelist in his own right) with the images for the new jacket.
Suddenly, there was a strange gap, such as I rarely encounter. There is always The Next Thing. But I had sent the manuscript off to the sub editors and beta readers, so I could do no more on that. I had done as much as I could towards building the launch machine at that time. I could do no more without the cover. And Tim had said he now had all the images he needed.
But How?
The merchandise idea suddenly rushed into to fill the space like water out of an open lock gate. I’d shopped at Redbubble over the years and been impressed. They do print on demand. Easy as pie. You load an image of your design, and they print it on whatever items you like. Customers purchase them on your shop page on Redbubble. And they take care of transactions and shipping and then give you your cut. Hmm … perhaps. But what designs? How did people think them up?
The Forgotten Tote
How could it have slipped my mind? Two years previously, the sister of a friend who enjoyed the books, became interested in my merch project and offered to create some designs. This lady is an in-demand product designer whose services would have been considerably beyond the non-existent budget for the project; however, she kindly volunteered her ingenuity and expertise.
Although work and time has whirled her onward, she had left me with 6 beautiful designs. But as mock-ups on tote bags. Unearthing the files I saw the potential. I set to work recreating them and, within a day, there I was, with my shiny new shop, loading  them up, seeing them brought to life on models, on furniture, on large-as-life 3D real world objects.
The Tinder Flares
As I loaded them, new ideas were kindled. More and more designs came to me. It was a joyful flume ride, an exhilarating whoosh of inspiration. I waited for Redbubble to inspect and publish them on the site. Meanwhile, I received the Twilight Toxin cover from Tim, and it was time to return to the launch machine.
And now … with The Twilight Toxin released into the wild, the free Amanda Cadabra and The Nightstairs days completed, the time has come to welcome you through the shop door. https://www.redbubble.com/people/Amanda-Cadabra/
Browse, look around, explore, see what you like, what you’d enjoy seeing more of, or if there is a design you would like on a particular item, just let me know.
And here is the video …
https://amandacadabra.com/shop-opening-video/ ‎
https://www.redbubble.com/people/Amanda-Cadabra/
You can also browse some choice items here on amandacadabra/shop
Next
This is the opening collection. There are more waiting in the wings. And something else too, is cooking ….
Next time … I just might have some news of it. Or at least, a new collection. And then there is the matter of the next book …
Happy browsing,
Holly
PS If you want to start the series now:
