Etsy Seller Interview with Cam of WayWordsPaperCo

How WayWordsPaperCo got started

Introduce your Etsy shop and tell us your story. How did you begin and decide on what to sell on Etsy, and how do you create your products?

Hey, I’m Cam, a self-described lifelong fangirl and book nerd. I’ve been running WayWords Paper Co. since 2020—I create the kind of nerdy, fannish pins, patches, stickers, shirts, and more that I want to see in the world!

WayWords Paper Co. began as a nerdy side project during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. In early 2020, after reading Tamsyn Muir’s The Locked Tomb books (if you haven’t read Gideon the Ninth, please do yourself a favor and do that!), I found myself in fandom communities that really wanted merch: stickers, enamel pins, and so on. I had an iPad, drawing software, and a sticker maker, and so, on a whim, I sketched a few designs and shared photos of the stickers with fan communities and friends.

To my surprise (and delight), some people asked me if they could buy them! I didn’t want to run the risk of the envelopes being lost in the mail (if you’ll recall how strapped the postal service in the USA was in 2020, you understand), so I listed the stickers on Etsy so the few interested people could order stickers sent with tracked shipping. But, to my surprise, the listings attracted more than just the few promised people—dozens of orders started coming in, and WayWords Paper Co. became a full-fledged shop before I could even fully process what was happening!

While the original vision behind WayWords Paper Co. was to create stickers, notebooks, and other paper products (hence the name), my offerings—thanks to demand and my own desires—have extended beyond that to enamel pins, T-shirts, and more. I create what I wish to see in the world, and I also make things in accordance with what my fellow fandom people want to see: patches inspired by their favorite characters, pins with an iconic book quote on them, and so on.

While the majority of my offerings are Locked Tomb-themed, my customers often express their love for the pure, unadulterated chaotic queerness of my offerings, whether that’s skull stickers wearing pride flag aviators or screaming possums with pride flags in the background. I’ve also been lucky enough to leverage my Etsy audience into a successful Kickstarter campaign, which funded a whole slew of pride-themed enamel pins, many of which are available on my Etsy shop now that the campaign has ended.

I print and cut the majority of my stickers at home; so many of them are customizable, so it’s easiest for me to do it at home using my iPad, my Cricut Air 2, and my own elbow grease. I outsource the production of my embroidered shirts, patches, and enamel pins; the shirts are embroidered by a small business in North Carolina, and I work with two Japan-based factories to design and create my pins and patches. I package and ship everything from my home in southern Virginia and always include little handwritten notes, because what’s the fun if there’s no personal touch?

Favorite items

What are your favorite items? What makes these so special? Why do you think these items might be selling well?

While the word "paper" is in my shop’s name, I must confess to absolutely loving my skull pride pins, as well as my burger pin (which is inspired by Tamsyn Muir’s Nona the Ninth, so if that doesn’t make sense to you, it's completely understandable!). The existence of the skull pride pins is thanks to a Kickstarter that I ran under my Etsy shop’s name, and my Etsy audience of rabid Locked Tomb fans is absolutely the reason the pins were able to be made. I’m honored and delighted to be the reason so many people can show off their pride flags. Now more than ever, we need queer visibility, and I’m proud to be even a small part of that effort.

My embroidered shirts are also a favorite; I really love subtle fandom-inspired T-shirts and was thrilled to find a supplier that sources my favorite style and colors. I practically live in casual clothing, so I have high standards of comfort for all my tops. It’s been really fun to see photos on Instagram and Twitter of folks who buy the shirts, and I even got to meet someone at a fan convention who just happened to be wearing one!

Finally, I’m a big fan of my sunflower notebooks. I’ve always been a paper and pen gal, and I’m heinously picky about my paper products, so obviously, that same intensity of opinion was going to extend to my notebook designs! The paper is super-thick and buttery to the touch, the notebook cover is water-resistant (I once spilled half a cup of coffee on it and not a drop soaked in!), and the colors are subtle enough to not be obnoxious but rich enough to be elegant. If you can’t tell, I’m pretty proud of those product choices.

Getting sales on Etsy

How long did it take for you to earn your first sale and how do you currently attract customers to your Etsy shop?

I’m unique in that I built my Etsy shop around the desire to make sales with tracked shipping, so instead I can tell you that the first sale that came to me outside of any marketing efforts came in less than a week after I launched my storefront! Because my offerings cater to both a broad demographic and a niche fandom interest (sometimes both at the same time!), my shop is uniquely positioned to do pretty well in all the spaces I choose to occupy.

Currently, the majority of my customers come to my shop via either word-of-mouth or my own promotion efforts; I’m in several fandom Discord servers where people share what they purchase from my shop or where I share announcements about new product launches. I’m also in the process of building a newsletter audience to share monthly releases and behind-the-scenes content.

Some customers also come to my shop via TikTok content; I create book and TV show analysis videos on the platform and also share clips from my daily life, which often include product unboxings or order fulfillment and packaging videos. I didn’t set out for that platform to become a marketing arm, but it’s been effective because of how personal it is!

Managing WayWordsPaperCo

How do you manage your shop? Are you running solo or do you have any team members? What tools or services do you use to run your shop and how do you handle fulfillment?

WayWords Paper Co. is a one-woman show; I manage every aspect of the business by myself, which is a bit taxing at times, and as I grow in volume, I’m having to find new ways to streamline my processes so I can stay sane and also do my day job!

I handle shipping and fulfillment through Etsy’s platform, which is also where the bulk of my customer inquiries come in, and I manage my finances through Quickbooks Self-Employed. I keep track of my business budget via Google Sheets, which is also where I keep track of inventory. It’s nothing special or fancy, but it works for me!

The future of WayWordsPaperCo

What goals do you have for your shop in the future?

I recently started taking WayWords Paper Co. on the road and have been applying to fan convention artist alleys; my 2023 appearances so far include Norfolk, VA’s MarsCon, Virginia Beach, VA’s Tidewater Comic Con, and Dallas, TX’s Fan Expo Dallas. People who have been following my journey since 2020 have been kind enough to make the journey to visit me and support me in person, which means the world, and it’s also been such a special experience to bond with other sellers!

My other main goal for my shop is to continue iterating on what sells well while staying true to myself and my design sensibilities. I adore designing and selling enamel pins and am also a collector of them, so I want to keep harnessing the desires and interests of my audiences to create fun, interesting, and new pins that will keep them coming back. This will be a bit of a challenge, as the enamel pin space is incredibly saturated on the platform, but I think I can tackle it!

Advice for new sellers

What’s your advice for a new seller starting an Etsy shop?

Be prepared to spend an insane amount of time on product photography. This is, by far, the most tedious thing I have to do (maybe because I don’t enjoy it very much!), but it’s SO important if you want people to see your listings and want to stick around. As you can see from my images, they don’t have to be professional-grade and perfect, but they should clearly show what you’re offering.

If you’re like me and sell physical goods like patches, pins, or stickers, be prepared to niche down to the extreme until you find a broader audience. I lucked out in that the Locked Tomb fandom on Twitter and Discord was small, mighty, and hungry for merch; the momentum of those sales continues to carry my shop as so many people equate me with quality fandom merchandise, but I know that one day the buzz will fade, which is why I’ve branched out into another, broader niche—pride-related stickers and pins. You should be prepared to do the same: find a small but mighty niche to start with, and then get a sense of what else those people might enjoy that would also appeal to a broader audience.

Finally, don’t be afraid to be yourself. I think the majority of people go to Etsy because they want the unique, handcrafted, personal experience that you can’t get from a big box store or online storefront. In your marketing materials, social media posts, and promotional videos, don’t be afraid to let your true self shine through. It feels more authentic and is more fun when you can be yourself while also sharing the awesome things you make!