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One boss strongly recommended embossed cards; what I have been doing is attaching Vistaprint cards to MagnaCard magnet backings, both of which options seem to get attention. I've seen one design gallery at least demonstrating the almost infinite flexibility of embossed cards. My boss referred to his cards, which had letters embossed into the surface of the cards, as "Secret Service" cards from James Bond movies that glamorized them; however, a search for "Secret Service cards" turned up people selling official-looking business cards to people in the Secret Service that would leave me to expect confusion if a civilian asked for one of their badged cards. A search for "embossed cards" turned up a gallery for inspiration, among other things, but none of them seemed to match my boss's plain white rag paper card with impressed letters. (My cards with magnets also seem to draw attention.)

I would like a card that, perhaps with a faded version of a good photo I took, presents:

Christos Jonathan Hayward
CJSHayward@pobox.com

eBooks - CJSHayward.com
Web - JonathansCorner.com

What options should I be considering? I'm presently leaning towards a new text on an old background, one that I took at Cambridge, England. Another question on this forum, Is there a canonical reference for business cards? has a basic recommendation of "Go plain conservative unless you are in the arts." Books are in the arts, and while it is not specifically my goal to impress people with my creative card, I would like to have something classy that will yield visits either to my main website or to the eBooks URL, which redirects to my Amazon author page.

What sources should I be looking at?

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  • Vistaprint, FTW! – Jim G. Mar 14 '13 at 2:51
  • Business card is an important issue in workplace, on paper or electrononic media. You need some way to introduce yourself when meeting with others. Can somebody explain the reason for close vote? – scaaahu Mar 14 '13 at 4:38
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    Hi Jonathan, welcome to the Workplace SE, the Q&A site for questions about navigating the professional workplace. This isn't really a question that fits our topic. I'd suggest dropping by the User Experience SE and asking if maybe this would be on topic there. Please see our faq for more guidance on our site topic. Good luck and welcome! :) – jmort253 Mar 14 '13 at 4:41
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I would say part of the answer here depends on what writing you are doing and in what industry as well as who the cards are aimed at.

I don't keep business cards I collect, frankly. I enter the info into my email system if I want to keep it, then I toss the cards. I never keep magnetic cards because they are not great around older hardware, I don't keep things like that on surfaces around me and they take up extra room. Plus I don't put magnetic cards into my wallet near my credit cards, so they are less likely to even go home with me.

If you are in a highly graphic-based or marketing based industry, you'll have a different card need and different boundaries than if you were, say, writing for banks or such. It sounds like you're a fiction author, which means you need to decide if your card is for your potential readers or for authors/editors/publishers first.

Personally, I enjoy cards with QR codes on them because I can scan them with my phone and ditch the card. Sometimes I've scanned them, bookmarked the website or created a contact and then given the card back to the person I'd met. Saved them money and I got what I needed.

I have mini cards from MOO with a QR for my website on one side and very basic information to contact me on the other. They go over well. I may do cards with an embossed QR code next time.

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    I like the QR code idea. Whatever on the business card needs to be easily converted into electrononic media. Who would spend time to type a long URL or domain name? Even an old fashion guy like me would not do it anymore. – scaaahu Mar 14 '13 at 3:57
  • And no one I know keeps a business card file or rolodex in paper form anymore. I want to make it easy for them to save and retain my information. – Maura van der Linden Mar 14 '13 at 3:59

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