I started collecting pins when I lived in Japan (2016-2022). I discovered a hilarious Attack on Titan pin that showed Levi kicking the crap out of Eren, and I knew I had to have it. That led me to collecting Tokyo Ghoul and Voltron: Legendary Defender pins. Later I got a souvenir pin from doing the Shikoku Henro in Japan (the 88-temple pilgrimage) and I *think* it’s celebrating 1200 years, but I’m not 100% sure because I can read maybe a whopping four kanji.

When I got back to the States, the collecting continued. I started getting pins as freebies due to preorder campaigns for books. Not every author/publisher does this, but it’s fun to receive a unique book-related pin just for preordering something (sending in a copy of your receipt). I have pins for The Sunbearer Trials, A Spindle Splintered, and Spear, to name a few. I also commissioned a pin of my very first book, Son of the Siren.

In addition to preorder goodies, I discovered Litjoy, Fox & Wit, Clio, and Literary Emporium…places that have special shops that deal in all sorts of bookish things, but specifically, enamel pins. I’ve bought several from these companies and have been pleased with them all.

Lastly, I’ve got custom art pins (more like buttons) from Kohi & Andie and special Kickstarter rewards for donating, plus convention pins for attending as a panelist or VIP. Ingram Spark also sent me some button/pin swag from when my book was featured at the American Library Association conference over the summer.

I’ve been collecting pins for almost ten years come January, but I don’t have a ton of them because of the room–I’m not sure where to put them! They are hanging out in a small plastic container for now, but somehow I’d like to display them in a wall hanging or something. Friends suggested I get those con bags/anime bags designed to showcase pins, but I would probably never carry it around. I want something static and pretty.

I’ll likely collect more things, though, before I make a decision on how to display them. Here are all the ones I’ve talked about so far:

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Readers, what sorts of things do you like to collect? To you keep them to yourself, or do you display them?