Almost everyone I "know" in cyberspace is here to sell something they make. As suggested at
...we could join Ysabetwordsmith, Scalzi, and other bloggers and have a Gift Shop Page...if enough people are still selling their work and want it linked here. This includes all authors, artists, and musicians whose work is featured here, whether I've been corresponding with you or not. Free ads for qualifying products!
Gentle Readers, people look at those other pages up there in the right-hand corner, even though I tend to forget them. Please use the comment section below (or e-mail the address at the bottom of the screen if Google tries to prevent comments) if you'd like to post something handmade by you, or a close friend or relative in a Gift Shop Page. This would be a page consisting of links to YOUR site, where orders, payments, haggling, etc., would go directly to you. It would be free to use. You could send me money, or a free printed book, etc., if your link was profitable, but there'd be no bill.
(If it really took off and generated lots of sales, in some future year there might be fees. If that did happen, it wouldn't happen in one year or probably in three. No worries. For now, this is just for fun, and if e-friends who have different interests and/or politics were to get to know each other through it, that would be a bonus.)
Acceptable merchandise would include:
* books and e-books
* bake sale treats, for the quality of which you take full responsibility
* any needlecrafts, papercrafts, woodworking, etc. that you make
* museum-quality "Art" paintings, stone carvings, weaving, etc. that you make
* potpourri, herb sachets as air fresheners, soap, perfume, candles
* digital audio or audiovisual recordings of your music
* prototypes for things you might some day mass-produce and sell in Wal-Mart (if it's a type of thing Wal-Mart wouldn't sell, e.g. a car, Google probably doesn't want it here either, and no firearms or fireworks or other things that are legal in only some States, please; samples of things like pillows and umbrellas are fine)
* your Zazzle, Etsy, FiberKind, etc., pages
Acceptable merchandise would NOT include, basically, anything that reminds me of Google Ads, Taboola, etc. There is no penalty for sending a link. If I don't want to advertise it, I won't.
* anything containing alcohol or drugs, including power herbs if it's intended for internal use (pennyroyal sachets would be allowed, pennyroyal tea not)
* obnoxious cards, "books," bumper stickers, etc. (keep it within the Google contract: no nudity, no Formerly Unprintable Words, no focus on body parts--"handshake" or "handsewn" or "firsthand" is allowed, "hand lotion" not so good since it borders on claiming medical benefits)
* medical books, unless you are an MD and the books have been published by a university or major commercial press and they're about general wellness with no focus on body parts ("Exercise for Fitness" is fine, "Exercise to Grow/Shrink Your..." is not)
* things that already are being mass-produced, e.g. cars, bicycles, washing machines (if manufacturers can afford factories they can jollywell afford $5 for a link)
* quill pens made from your own poultry's shed feathers would be welcome, ball-point pens with company names on them not
* "fan" or "parody" use of other people's fictional characters or worlds would be allowable if clearly identified as such
* using a computer to tweak your own creative pieces is fine, but no "AI" programs that mash up elements of other people's work, please
* secondhand stuff: this would be a Gift Shop not a Junk Shop, although popular demand might persuade this web site to add a Junk Shop Page some other time)
Generally this would be an additional marketplace for things that are safe, legal, on display in a mall shop or craft market; for things that won't get anybody sued. Over the years I think enough readers have shared enough books and other handcrafts to make a nice little Gift Shop...if they're still selling the same wares and willing to do it.
Like the other Pages here, this Page would not show up along with the other cyberchores involved in the maintenance of this web site. It would be a detour out of my routine. If it were to take off with daily additions and subtractions, it would become a routine of its own and I'd keep up with it. If it didn't move merchandise, it would gather cyberdust like other Pages. If youall are willing to promote it with an occasional link or e-mail, I'll do it. I can't guarantee any results whatsoever--that's why it's free. It would be a trial. If it works, great; if not, it won't cost you money.
International content is welcome as long as it complies with your country's trade policy. If your book was published in Canada, which is fine, we need more Canadian literature in the US, it's up to you to make sure your publishing contract makes it easy for US readers to order copies.
A Gift Shop Page is likely to benefit from the winter holiday market but does not have to be limited to December.
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