Coming January 2012!

Jade Calhoun was never fond of her empath abilities. Now she’s found out she has another gift she’d rather not unwrap—magic. But when her mentor, Bea, becomes gravely ill and insists Jade’s the only one who can help, she’s forced to embrace her witchy side.

It’s too bad she spent a decade shunning the magical community and never learned to harness her powers. Because time’s run out. A trapped spirit has revealed a clue to Jade’s long-lost mother. The resident angel has gone rogue and disappeared with Jade’s boyfriend, Kane. And if that wasn’t enough, her ex appears to be possessed.

To save any of them, Jade will need to find a way to control her inner white witch—without succumbing to black magic. Otherwise she’ll lose everything…including her soul.

Let me just say right now, I have no problem with people asking for a discount. I don’t get offended, hurt, or indignant. Many times I have seen artists get riled up when someone sends them a message offering less than the asking price or asking for a discount. But honestly, who doesn’t like a deal? And keep in mind when you sell online, the market is worldwide. That’s right worldwide.

Many cultures thrive on haggling and the “let’s make a deal” method of buying goods. It’s a normal every day thing for them. Other folks are just trying to find the best deal. No harm in that.

Some of the arguments I’ve heard from my colleagues include: But we’re selling art! It’s a piece of ourselves! How dare someone ask me to sell it for less? If I wanted to sell it for $10, I would have put a $10 price tag on it!

We Americans can be so touchy. *grin*

Once you start selling your lampwork, you’re in business. Period. Expect to get questions about discounts. It comes with the territory. Try to take emotion out of it and think with your business hat. (Yes, I know, we artists hate the business end).

Okay, so how do you handle it? Do you have a discount or wholesale policy? If not, make one and stick to it. Do not deviate from customer to customer unless you have meticulous record keeping skills.

Example: early on in my lampworking business days,  I had a regular customer who bought at least once a month. I valued her tremendously and one day she asked for a discount. I said sure. I’m pretty sure I said something like, you’ve ordered so much, each time you order from now on I’ll give you 20% off. That was all fine and dandy, until she stopped ordering as frequently. She was a designer and designers move on to new things and new designs. That’s okay.

But as you might guess, I got busy with other customers and pretty much forgot all about the 20% discount. Then the customer came back to me months (maybe even a year) later and ordered stuff, and of course by then I’d forgotten all about the discount. When she reminded me, I gave her the discount, but yeah, I admit I was a little resentful I had to give a 20% discount on a small order (less than $30). And it was my own fault. I didn’t set terms. I didn’t really have a policy. I was making it up as I went along.

So I made one. A set policy I can refer back to when I get the discount questions:

Designers: 30% off a set amount.

Bead Stores: 50% off a set amount.

And that is it. The amounts vary depending on if we’re talking about beads, marbles ,or murrine. But they are always the same. So when someone asks about discounts, I have a pat answer. There isn’t emotion involved.

Do you offer wholesale pricing?

Yes, my terms are…

Do you ever offer discounts?

Yes, my terms are…

I also run a few sales throughout the year, usually up to 25% off. To be notified of future sales, sign up for my newsletter here.

I’ve spent a lot of money with you over the course of the year. Do you offer discounts?

This one gets a little trickier, because they might be thinking they’ve already spent a lot, they deserve the discount on a small order. I always answer that an order has to meet xxx to reach wholesale levels. Sales are not accumulative. I also again refer them to the newsletter for future sales.

If I buy ten of these will you offer a discount?

See designer wholesale terms.

I’ve seen this in your store, will you sell it for X amount?

This one I am flexible on. It really depends on the item. Have I had it forever and do I want it gone? Am I just in a good mood? Or do I love the piece and am not willing to discount it? Sometimes I’ll deal, and sometimes I won’t. Just be firm (but friendly) and if you do deal, be prepared for them to try it again. That doesn’t mean you have to deal again, it just means don’t be surprised when they ask again. Trust me, they will.

As I said earlier if you do go with different discounts for different customers be sure to keep good records. I guarantee after enough time goes by, you’ll forget. We have different ones for designers, beads stores, galleries, and suppliers (for murrine).  On my website I have a place for customers to sign up for wholesale. I keep all the discounts in there for easy reference. All I have to do is look up their name and there it is. (Their wholesale terms are only visible to me on the back end of the website.)

If you don’t offer discounts of any kind, that’s fine too. My response to all of the questions above would be: Sorry, I don’t discount my work. Thank you for stopping by.

Short, to the point and respectful. Remember, you’re in business now.

I’ll be sure to update you on when it’s available in all outlets. But in case you’d rather get an email, go ahead and sign up here. I only send emails out for new releases and discounts. So don’t worry about me spamming up your email box. That isn’t my thing. If I have information or ramblings to share, you can find it all right here.

Merry Christmas! I hope to get back to regular blogging now that the latest book has flown the coop.

Happy Thanksgiving to those in the US. Happy holidays to everyone else. Greg and I are spending a quiet Thanksgiving together with our giant twenty pound turkey. Yep, twenty pounds for two people. We love leftovers.  While I’m slaving over a fancy Thanksgiving dinner for two, we are running a sale!

This is our annual Giving Thanks sale. Sale starts at midnight Thursday morning and runs for 48 hours, ending Friday night at midnight (11/26/11 @ 12:00am).

All murrine 50% off

Etsy
Website

All beads 25% off

Etsy
Website

Happy shopping!

Thank you so much for all your wonderful support. We couldn’t do this without you.

Deanna and Greg Chase

The wonderful Laura Pacino of Simply Adorning has a brand new tutorial out. It’s labeled  Beginning Metals Fabrication-Bezeled Toggle Clasp.  I had the opportunity to preview this ebook and let me just say it’s wonderful.

I’ve had very little experience with metal fabrication. I took a class six years ago, but due to time restraints I never made anything other than some disks at a friends house, which means I barely remember anything. Oh, I vaguely recall filing and sawing and pickling, but if I were to sit down and try to make something, disaster would ensue. But I didn’t have any trouble following along with this tutorial. Laura even gives you part numbers for tools and materials so it’s easy to find the items she is talking about. I love that! Especially since I am such a noob.

The tutorial is how to set a stone, but she also discuses tips and tricks for glass beads. See the picture on the left? The bead on the right is one of mine. Doesn’t it look gorgeous? Laura makes everything look awesome.

Anyway, the tutorial is clear, the pictures are awesome, and since part numbers are listed, tools and supplies are easy to find. I’d say it’s well worth the $25 price tag. Check it out!

Go here to vote and to see all the nominees in all categories. Congratulations to everyone! Some of my favorite authors of all time are nominated in their respective categories. Adrian Phoenix, Richelle Mead, Ilona Andrews, Kim Harrison, Jeaniene Frost. It’s truly humbling to even be listed on the same page as these amazing authors.  Voting opened today and runs until Nov 30th.

You know, I was just thrilled when The Romance Reviews picked my book up to be reviewed. I never imaged it would be nominated for anything.  Is this my cue to say it’s just an honor to be nominated? Na. Go vote!

This was the second year Bead Fest was held in Arlington, and my first year doing this particular show. In comparison to Bead Fest Philly it was much smaller. I’d say about a third of forth the amount of vendors as Philly.

The good:

It’s pretty close to me. It took eight hours to drive each way. Going I had my friend Susan Sheehan with me, so it seemed much shorter, especially since she drove most of the way. Our other friend Lisa Liddy was a vendor there, so for us it was kind of a girls weekend in addition to working the show.

The show was low cost (relative to the other ones I do).

I had a great day sales wise on Friday. (It’s a three day show). Easily my best one day total in a very long time. I had high hopes after Friday, let me tell you.

There were quite a few less vendors than I’m used to, so less competition which is always nice.

The bad:

We had to pay five dollars a day parking.

I had an artist’s table, which means one eight foot table (pretty standard). But all the artists tables were butted up against each other. I’d say there were twelve to fifteen tables all lined up with no room to get to the other side of the table. We had to trek all the way down to the end to get around to the other side. It wasn’t very convenient.

Perhaps the most unfortunate issue was the show was the same weekend as the World Series. The ballpark was literally right next door. The Rangers and Cardinals played both Saturday and Sunday night. To add insult to injury the Cowboys football games was Sunday at 3 pm.  Needless to say, Sunday was a snooze fest. I’m sure we lost many possible shoppers who were afraid of crowds and issues with parking. Luckily for those who did come out there was designated Bead Fest parking. However, if one didn’t brave it, they wouldn’t know that.

The good news is I made more than my formula on Friday, so the show was certainly successful for me. I’ll definitely be back next year.

Formula:

Table fee + electricity + travel fee + $100 a day I’m out of my studio (traveling, packing, manning my booth) = Amount  I have to make to consider the show successful.

Next show: Houston Bead Society November, 11, 12, 13. Only Greg is handling this one. I have a book to finish.

So when I say it’s still been summer, you can count on temperatures in the eighties. Okay, temperatures are still hitting in the seventies during the day, but the nights are cooling off into the thirties and forties.

Last night I stayed up late writing (4000 words for Witches of Bourbon Street thank you very much) and I was chilled enough I knew it would take forever to warm up once I went to bed.

So, instead of climbing in bed at 1am, I climbed into my tub with BLACK HEART LOA , by Adrian Phoenix.

Awe wonderful bliss. A hot tub, a good book, and a cold night. Bring on fall and winter. Mr. Clawfoot, I’ve missed you.