The Harvard Dream--If Not You Then Your Book

Do all authors love campuses or is it just me?

I love walking at UCLA with a pile of books in my arms. Shuffling though fallen liquid amber leaves near the belltower at USC. Even wending my way up the shabby back halls of meeting rooms of Herzen University in St. Petersburg. But I've never made it to Harvard. Oh, I've thought of finagling a way to attending a class at there. Perhaps through a summer program? Do they have an extension program that would allow a Californian in?

Somehow I never got any further than dreaming. And then Jewel Sample, a subscriber to my newsletter "Sharing with Writers," let me know that I am already there. She found The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won't, on the Harvard.com bookstore and sent me the copy and paste from it. She said "Congratulations you are at Harvard!" and I have to admit my heart skipped a beat.

So, it's not quite the same thing as I had in mind, but my little promoter heart then went into gear--right alongside that part of my heart--the campus-loving chamber.

I thought, how can such a coup be turned into something fun for promotion for my readers--both of my HowToDoItFrugally series of books and my newsletter? First of all an author would have to check to see if his or her book was there. If not, he'd need to pitch them to see if it could be added to their online bookstore. And then, of course, make a fun thing of it in some way. It would, of course, be a matter of tying in the book's theme to Ta Da!! Harvard!

I thought it would be interesting for authors to see the clip from the site (see fragments in bold below) and to also to see Harvard's bookstore bio (just below that). It's all part of the game! I can only hope that The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success is so honored when it is released.

Now isn't this fun?


The History of the Harvard Book Store

Just search on my name or find my page at: http://www.booksite.com/texis/scripts/oop/click_ord/listbooks.html?sid=1624&qkey=carolyn%20howard-johnson. There you'll find:

~Support Our Troops: Quotations on Patriotism and Prayer with Magnet(s)
by: Dinyer, Eric
Foreword by Howard-Johnson, Carolyn,
~The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won'tby: Howard-Johnson, Carolyn
~Harkening,by: Howard-Johnson, Carolyn
~This is the Place,by: Howard-Johnson, Carolyn

And, you'll also find information on the venerable bookstore but here it is, just in case you don't like clicking (-: :

"Harvard Book Store was founded in 1932 by Boston native Mark Kramer with $300 he borrowed from his parents. Then, as now, Harvard Square was a magnet for students, cultural enthusiasts and intellectuals. Mark chose to start his bookstore at the center of this vibrant community. Two years later, Pauline Kramer, Mark’s new wife, joined him in running the small bookstore offering used and remaindered books to the discriminating Cambridge community. In 1962, at the time of Mark’s death, his son Frank Kramer took over the family business and he has actively directed the bookstore’s activities since that time.

"The theme of quality bookselling expressed through a broad inventory and personal service was established early by the Kramers, and it remains the primary goal of the company. Today, our expanded bookstore is a Harvard Square landmark and a destination for visitors from all over the world. We provide a comprehensive and provocative selection of new, used and bargain books. As one of the few bookstores in the nation with an academic emphasis, we feature authoritative sections in philosophy, fiction, cultural and critical theory, cognitive science, politics, and African-American studies. We also feature the ability to special order books not available in our store. This web site is our latest effort to make our selection and services available to book-lovers around the world.

"In 2002, our seventieth year of business, Harvard Book Store’s excellence in bookselling was recognized nationally when we were awarded Publishers Weekly’s Bookseller of the Year."
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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author THIS IS THE PLACE; HARKENING: A COLLECTION OF STORIES REMEMBERED; TRACINGS, a chapbook of poetry; and two how to books, THE FRUGAL BOOK PROMOTER: HOW TO DO WHAT YOUR PUBLISHER WON'T; and THE FRUGAL EDITOR: PUT YOUR BEST BOOK FORWARD TO AVOID HUMILIATION AND ENSURE SUCCESS.