How And Why I Started Making Merch For My Fiction Readers

Q&A Responses

This week, I’m continuing my responses from Evolet Yvaine’s questions. Let’s talk about Merchandise. Specifically, how I started, why I do it, and what it looks like behind the scenes.

Why Did You Start Creating Merch in the First Place?

Honestly? I didn’t start with a grand plan or a merchandise strategy. Back in 2020, when my shop lived on WooCommerce, I was simply looking for a way to extend my Intellectual Property (IP) as a fiction author so that I could find a more sustainable way to support myself beyond book sales. It was just a great way to add an additional stream of income.

Deleyna Marr introduced me to Printify, and I started experimenting. In truth, my early numbers were tiny ($250 that first year in merch), but something important happened that I didn’t fully understand at the time.

I sold about 70 direct eBooks of my superhero short reads that year. The same stories that would’ve been $0.99 on Amazon, with only 30% back to me. On my own site? I kept 90% (BookFunnel was just starting its delivery function).

Then someone bought a digital book and a t-shirt with a superhero on it. I remember thinking: I just made so much more money.

Not because my audience was huge.

It wasn’t.

But they knew what they liked, and I knew I could bring it to them. I was serving a very underserved audience, and merch was a natural extension of what I was already doing. A way to build something sustainable beyond Amazon’s margins. Back then, I didn’t have language like “buying identity.”

I just knew: readers kept gravitating toward certain designs, even when the tech was bumpy and everything felt messy. That spark is what kept me going.

How Do You Decide Which Characters or Themes Get Merch?

This part wasn’t sophisticated in the beginning. At first, I was straddling two identities: author or POD merchandise seller. It was a hard place to be.

No one was really doing what I was doing, and adding merch made me feel more like a content creator than a traditional author. I remember the shade from other authors:

• “Won’t you feel bad if you sell more t-shirts than books?”

• “You’re just hocking t-shirts now.”

• “Aren’t you embarrassed you’ll never get an orange bestseller sticker on Amazon again?”

Mostly, they had problems with me creating a larger storyworld and becoming more of a content creator than “just” an author. It was a tough beginning. I felt disrespected for having merch. Sort of shunned by many in the author community. Luckily, I had some close writer-friends who supported me, and I also found a home in the larger creator economy. I started taking courses.

Learning from POD gurus and artists who understood what I was building. It was freeing to step outside that scarcity artist mentality that so many writers carry. The POD world taught me to create way more products than I thought I needed. To test and experiment. That’s what caused the sprawl (characters everywhere, varied designs and styles, and a variety of product types). I was testing everything to see what readers actually bought. Yup, it was chaotic, but it was valuable data.

That’s also when I started getting clearer on my brand. Not just traditional author branding (color schemes, taglines, themes). But product brand strategy. I learned that brands like Nike have three core emotions.

So I identified mine: Courage. Bravery. Strength.

That led me to zero in, not just on Black SFF characters in general, but on my specific audience (Black women) and the characters that embodied those emotions (superheroes and warriors).

Over time, I began noticing a pattern:

Readers didn’t connect to the merch because of a character. They connected because of an identity.

Reader identity and immersion is my next phase and evolution for my merch selection and how I will begin to choose my designs and product types. My new goal is to make sure every piece of merch isn’t character-specific but identity-specific.

What tools do you use on the back end?

I’ve used Printify since day one. Here’s the [LINK] (Disclosure: affiliate link, but only because I’ve used them for five years.)

When I moved to Shopify, everything finally clicked:

• Printify → production

• Shopify → storefront + product pages

• Klaviyo → reader identity & immersion + event emails

• BookFunnel → digital eBook & audiobook delivery

Together, these tools let me weave it all together (my storyworlds, reader identity, reader events, merch, and music) into one continuous experience.

Do You Think Merch Works for Every Genre or Only Some?

I don’t believe EVERY author needs or wants to do merch. But for authors who want to and feel inclined to:

• Extend their storyworlds

• Make more money or add another income stream

• Create reliable revenue

• Add more SEO/GEO/AEO to their platforms

Merch is a really good option. And at this point, I can’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work across genre types or author types, because every author’s platform and brand (especially their brand’s core emotions) are different and unique.

A Quick Detour Into eCommerce Language

When I learned that successful eCommerce store owners built reliable revenue through structured funnels and the right traffic, everything changed.

The concept was simple:

Get people at the top of your funnel (low-cost, easy entry) down to the bottom (higher-value offers). For me, that was a game-changer. I realized I no longer needed to rely on Amazon’s algorithm, which serves Amazon’s needs, not mine.

I could create organic and paid traffic just for me and my very small niche. All I needed to do was show up and create books and products that fit my particular audience in the quiet background.

The goal: Get as many people at the top of my funnel down to my bottom, and have products with a much higher AOV (average order value) than a $0.99 or $2.99 eBook.

Here’s how that breaks down for fiction authors:

Top-of-Funnel (TOF): Discovery Merch

Broad identity/Broad keywords/Easy entry

Examples include: Stickers, mugs, tees, digital low-content items, ebooks, or audiobooks.

This is the merch that brings new readers into your orbit. They don’t need context, just connection.

Middle-of-Funnel (MOF): Storyworld Merch

Genre-adjacent/Emotional tone/Story identity

Examples include: Merch bundles (tee + mug), paperbacks, digital bundles, book playlists, or music albums

These pieces deepen the connection and help readers step further into your universe.

Bottom-of-Funnel (BOF): Collector Merch

Premium/High-end/Deep identity

Examples include: Hoodies, sneakers, reading blankets, wrapping paper, home décor, Special Editions, and Premium bundles.

This is where your most aligned readers live, the ones who want the full immersive experience and will pay up to $100 or more.

So, do all genres fit this?

Absolutely. Reader identity is universal. Readers want to feel like someone in the worlds they love and are willing to pay for these premium experiences.

How Does This Connect to Your Reader Events and Storyworlds?

Merch is an unsung hero for fiction authors. I always think about the fact that George Lucas made more money from Star Wars fandom merch than he did from the actual movies. That’s not an accident, and to boot, no one ever questions whether or not he’s a “real” filmmaker because he sold more merchandise than movie tickets.

Merch is an incredible opportunity for fiction authors who are willing to move from “just writing a book series” into “how do I create an immersive experience for my readers?”

How Do I Take My Readers to the Next Level?

I hear a lot of authors say, “No, that’s not in my lane. I don’t want to be making t-shirts for a living.”

I think that’s a very narrow lens. You don’t have to sell t-shirts if you don’t want to. You don’t even have to ship things from your home.

Print on Demand Merchandise is an excellent way to have an environmentally safe approach to eCommerce. As a fiction author, you have the wonderful opportunity to take your readers to the next level and create some very cool immersive experiences for your unique audience. Not only can you extend your IP, but you can create reliable revenue and support yourself in a sustainable way.

For me, merch isn’t a side project; it’s a part of the narrative structure of my entire universe, and quiet IS kept, I wouldn’t mind following in George Lucas’ footsteps. I think it’s perfectly okay for a fiction author to make more money selling fandom merchandise from their storyworlds than from selling the book series, especially if it gives them the financial wealth they need to take care of themselves, their families, and to be able to write without strain. But that’s just my two cents…

If this post resonated, consider becoming a paid subscriber to support this work. You’ll instantly unlock my growing library of Quiet Writers Workbooks and PDFs — including The Storyselling Superpower Workbook & The AI Overview Workbook— designed to help authors build bold, sustainable careers on their own terms.

We’re in a quiet rebellion. We rise together.