Be Part of the Nation's Best Trafficked Book Fair at a Discount!

Join Authors' Coalition as a signing author at the Authors' Coalition booth at the LA Times Festival of Books on the beautiful UCLA campus now and get a substantial discount!

The fair is the last weekend of April 2009. The book-signing portion of the fair requires that you attend but other value-added promotions do not. You'll hear more about those later.

Authors' Coalition will again be sponsoring a booth at the LA Times/UCLA Festival of Books on April 2009. We focus on making a humdrum fair into a sizzling success; we make changes every year based on what we learned the year before and the year before that.

Register before September 16 and receive an early bird discount for the signing slots. One hour signing segments (50 minutes to allow set up) cost $100 for the first and $80 for a second hour. After August 15, the fee will return to its regular $150 for the first and $100 for the second day. The fee includes display of your book, your order forms and your bookmark or business card and a poster for the full two days. Those who are not members of Authors' Coalition will be asked to join at the Silver Membership level. The regular cost is $25, but will be discounted to $20 for those signing. Participants whose memberships from last year come due in April can join for only $10 in addition to the signing fee.

Last year we had our booth televised on the Internet. Rey Ybarra from Best Selling Author Television was there to cover the event. He conducted short three-minute interviews with the participating authors. The program proved to be a great success. Rey will be there with his crew again this year. (To see the 2008 video made by Rey Ybarra, go to Best Selling Author Television site at : http://www.veoh.com/channels/BSATV

For benefits offered by this booth please visit the Authors' Coalition official blog: www.authorscoalition.blogspot.com or e-mail Christine Alexanians at chalexwrite@yahoo.com

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of 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. She is also the author of the Amazon Short, "The Great First Impression Book Proposal." Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com and AuthorsCoalition.blogspot.com, a blog that helps writers and publishers turn a ho-hum book fair booth into a sizzler.

Best Selling Author TV To Be at LA Times Festival of Books

Big Video News!

Rey Ybarra, the interviewer for the video many of you have seen and commented on is fantastic. So is his cameraman, Randy Detroit, and so is the equipment they use! And so is their knowledge about getting that video out to places that most authors know little about.

They will be filming at the Authors' Coalition booth at the LA Times Fair April 26 and 27th with a special introductory price for videos. I'm hoping lots of authors drop by to see what this team can do for them besides film a really nice video. Learn more at www.bestsellingauthortv.blogspot.com .

Explore the videos they have done there. Check out Rey's amazing past in radio and TV.

There will be more on this opportunity in my newsltter later. You can subscribe by sending me an e-mail at hojonews@aol.com. Use the same e-mail address to make advance appointments or ontact me with questions.
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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.
Her other blogs include TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com and AuthorsCoalition.blogspot.com, a blog that helps writers and publishers turn a ho-hum book fair booth into a sizzler.

Invitation to Authors: Cross Promote with Tote Program

You Are Invited To Participate in Authors' Coalition's Tote Program

Tote bags are long lasting, cross-promotional tools. That means that YOUR name, book title and the URL of your choice will go out wherever participating authors choose to distribute the bags, not just in the cities where you are promoting.

All participating authors will have their name, their book title and their website printed on the totes, alongside the Author's Coalition's logo, which will be kept relatively small and will give crediblity to the authors participating for it will show they are members of a professional writers organization. There will be up to ten authors featured in this way on the bags. Printing will be in one color, royal blue.

The bags can be distributed at fairs, library reading events, and other literary occasions. The cost of 1000 bags for 10 participants (100 bags per person) will be $225.00 per participant. (Participants may choose to have the 100 bags shipped to them for their own events or to have them distributed to the readers at the LA Times/UCLA Festival of Books. Or they may choose to have a portion shipped and let us distribute the other portion.)

The price includes
the art work
the printing on canvas totes (see picture)
shipping and handling to each individual.

If we get more participants we can order higher quantities for a lower price, possibly print on both sides. This will be first come, first served. We will carry over those we can't accommodate to a second bag printing if the numbers warrant it.

Also, we are going to have a stuffing program. Anyone can supply from 25 to 100 items for stuffing in the bags for a charge of $25. We will accept only promo items or books. No fliers, bookmarks or business cards.

If you are interested, please send your checks to:

Christine Alexanians (e-mail for address)
Christine is a trusted Authors' Coalition member, memoirist and poet.

Please e-mail Christine with questions. tinooshik@yahoo.com .

The checks will not be cashed until we receive enough commitments to make cover the costs of this promotion. Checks will be returned or destroyed if there are not enough participants. There will be no refunds if it becomes a "go." Deadline for orders is March 5, 2008.

Attached is a picture of a sample tote. Ours will have blue handles to match the Authors' Coalition colors.
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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.
Her other blogs include TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com and AuthorsCoalition.blogspot.com, a blog that helps writers and publishers turn a ho-hum book fair booth into a sizzler.

Make Bookstore Book Buyers Sit Up and Take Notice

Calling booksellers on the phone can be a futile effort if they have no reason to know you.

Worse, it's impossible to call every book buyer and expensive to send info on your book out to hundreds of them.

And, yes, you need some credibility. There could be some past experience with the bookstores (you were a guest on a panel perhaps?). Or you could be part of a professional organization and that is evident in the first contact you make with them.

Authors' Coalition to the rescue!

Authors' Coalition sends out a catalog under our name. But we also tie it to our booth at the LA Times/UCLA Festival of Books. That's Double Credibility!

Participating authors provide the names of the book buyers we send it to, 500 or more. That means that it many cases the bookseller will know at least one author featured in the catalog. That's another level of credibility, another reason for them to pay attention to that book and the others in the catalog.

And it gives the author a way to follow up with a phone call that will be better received. They simply ask, "Just calling to see if your received the LATimes/UCLA catalog sent by Authors Coalition. My book, Great Expectations, was featured."

Then, of course, it's a four color catalog. It comes in the mail, a rarity these days. And, did I mention that it's less expensive than going it alone?

Learn more about this and all the Authors' Coalition programs at: http://www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com/fair_booths.htm.

The catalog and others are designed so you don't have to be at the fair or even in LA to benefit.

After you've peeked at the AC page, e-mail me with CATALOG in the subject line. I'll help you pick and choose the programs right for you. HoJoNews@aol.com.
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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.
Her other blogs include TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com and AuthorsCoalition.blogspot.com, a blog that helps writers and publishers turn a ho-hum book fair booth into a sizzler.

Unsolicited, Unexpected Valentine for Me and for You!

This is from my coming Sharing with Writers newsletter. I know Nancy meant to spread her Valentine wishes among all the writers who come together to help one another so I'm including my blog visitors, too. To subscribe to Sharing with Writers newsletter, send me an e-mail with SUBSCRIBE in the subject window. HoJoNews@aol.com.

Dear Blog Subscribers and Visitors:

A very simple wish of love for Valentine's Day. Love comes in many forms. I am passing this note from one of my associates on to you. I hope you will take advantage of the offer, but I also hope you will see the spirit intended and do something lovely and loving for someone other than the people you always send your love to. Choose someone to surprise! And ask them to keep passing the love around.

Here is the note:

Hello Carolyn's Devoted Readers -

With Valentine's Day coming up, I just wanted to write something from my heart about Carolyn Howard Johnson. I believe Carolyn is a gift to all writers. She is someone who is there when you need her, shares endlessly, and gives bountiful advice. The real deal. And I feel so very fortunate to have her on my Spirited Woman advisory board you have no idea. Thanks doesn't begin to cover it. She is my cherished
friend.

So I want to give back to Carolyn through you - her readers. I've never done this before. I'm offering all of you a Valentine's present in her honor. I founded the Spirited Woman tele-chat Conversation Series a few years ago. Janet Fitch, Fannie Flagg, plus countless other famous women authors have been my guests. This year our line-up is fantastic: http://www.thespiritedwoman.com/spirited_woman_circle

The series begins on March 4. Carolyn's chat is on June 3, 10 am PST. All chats are $15. My Valentine's offer to you is sign up BEFORE February 14th, and I will make Carolyn's conversation a gift to you. All other conversations (upcoming or in our MP3 library of past guests) will be only $10 each before February 14th. That's a great savings. All you have to do is e-mail me at: nancymills@thespiritedwoman.com and let me know your choices.

Happy Valentine's Day.
All my best,
Nancy Mills,
Founder, The Spirited Woman.com

I guess you can all tell that my heart was warmed by this unsolicited gesture, and that she included all of you in it, too!

Happy writing, promoting and, yes, editing, too!

Carolyn Howard-Johnson

Websites:
http://carolynhoward-Johnson.com (literary)
http://HowToDoItFrugally.com (all things about writing)
Authors' Coalition: http://www.AuthorsCoalitionandRedEnginepress.com

For the Frugal Editor, Amazon-direct: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0978515870/

Blogs: http://AuthorsCoalition.blogspot.com, a blog focused on book fairs
http://www.SharingwithWriters.blogspot.com, a blog on all things publishing
http://www.TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog focused on YOUR reviews
http://www.TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com, a blog focused on editing, formatting and craft
And now blogging on War. Peace. Tolerance. And Our Soldiers at http://www.warpeacetolerance.blogspot.com.

And now! Squidooing at
http://www.squidoo.com/HowToDoItFrugallyforAuthors
and http://www.squidoo.com/carolynhoward-johnson

Q&A a la Ann Landers: Becoming Known As an Expert

Question:

Publicist Mindy Phillips Lawrence asks:

I have a client who is an academic. Do you have any suggestions to help him with being viewed as an expert by the press and others in the publishing world?

Answer: You client's website should tout him as an expert in specific fields, areas of study, etc. Authors can do that by being sure that their awards are listed and that they have a media room and that they have a page that lists seminar and workshop topics. Check out my site and snoof (yes, I make up words!) around. I'm serious. I'd direct you to one page but I've used methods of doing this throughout the site. Endorsements. Places where I've already served as an expert. There's even a video so people who might use me can see that I'm full of information but also pretty casual. So your job is to analyze those things and see how they might apply to anyone who wants to position himself as an expert.

And then there is our new Authors' Coalition speakers' bureau and others (far more expensive) where he can become listed. Once listed, tell him to include his URL in his signature, etc. to let everyone he knows (all those academics as an example!) that he is featured on a speakers' bureau. He should even do that on his letterheads and business cards. Maybe his older contacts haven't thought of him as a speaker! This cards might read "expert" but also might include "specializing in" "consulting on" etc., all of which connote "expert." He could even add a motto like "Sharing his expertise on the world of XXXX."

Hey, what about a newsletter or blog that does the same thing? Whatever he does, though, his credentials should be upfront and center. I have a client who is an MD. In an effort to be modest, she didn't those initials in her byline for her book. Next time she will! But remember, credentials aren't only about a string of neat letters behind your name. They're also about experience.

He can also get himself listed on sites where people go to find expert. Sites like: http://www.experts.com/
http://www.expertclick.com/
http://www.refdesk.com/expert.html

Sites like these are used by editors and program directors much as speakers' bureaus are. Each one operates differently. Use a search engine to find others in any given field.

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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.
Her other blogs include TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com and AuthorsCoalition.blogspot.com, a blog that helps writers and publishers turn a ho-hum book fair booth into a sizzler.

Why Book Fairs Are Like Tulips

It may be dead-of-winter in your neck of the woods, but spring is creeping up on us. That means book fairs will be sprouting about the same time as the tulips. So put on your promotion hat and your get-with-it boots and be thinking about how you can take advantage of fairs. There are all kinds of ways and the most likely way, surprisingly enough, may not be to take a booth at a fair.

Here are alternatives.

 Share a booth with one or more authors. Or rent an hour's signing time with an organization like Authors' Coalition of Book Publicists of Southern California.

 Just go to the fair. In costume or not. Take fliers. Hand them out. Put them on the tables in the refreshment area. This works best for authors who have exhausted those on their local lists meaning there may not be one on the list who hasn't purchased their book anyway. It's also great for authors who haven't yet published.

 Pitch yourself as a speaker or panel moderator. If no one bites on your offer, the fair planners will know you are out there.

 Take part in value-added promotions that Authors' Coalition builds around the fairs it does. You don't have to live in the area or be willing to pay travel expenses in order to participate in them with us. The organization provides what might be termed long distance promotion. This year they'll have CDs for readers, a slideshow for those who are active speakers, a catalog that goes out by mail to booksellers and maybe even totes (more about that in about a month).

 As an information source - Read book fair fliers and catalogs. Research the names of the publishers - of the writers' organizations - of the services offered authors for promotion. Last year I ran across the US Postal Service booth and learned about the stamps they will print for you--with your book cover on them!

 If you consult, edit or provide any other book-related service, a fair may be the place for you. Authors' Den partnered with Authors' Coalition last year by providing fliers and a contest to win an iPod. Bet they got lots of new associates that way because the interest was huge.

 Your book club or writers' organization can help other writers by sponsoring a speaker at a book fair. The Tennessee Writers' Alliance sponsored me at the Southern Festival of Books , and they certainly did me a favor as well as -- I hope -- providing a service for the betterment of their writing community.

Now is the time to do your research, make your plans. Check out Authors' Coalition, whether you can make it in person to the LA Times/UCLA Festival of Books , or want them to work for you from a distance with their value-added programs. See if there's a fair in your stomping grounds that you can support or utilize. Learn how to make any fair work for you with AC's blog that explores what worked best for the ones they have done in the past (yes, they are your laboratory!).

Find a way to use a fair to reach readers, booksellers, the people you speak to and to cross promote. Writers need each other to make our efforts go farther and farther.

Happy writing, promoting and, yes, editing,

Carolyn Howard-Johnson, HoJoNews@aol.com
Find details on participating in the Authors' Coalition booth at the LA Times/UCLA Festival of Books at http://www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com/fair_booths.htm.

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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.
Her other blogs include TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com and AuthorsCoalition.blogspot.com, a blog that helps writers and publishers turn a ho-hum book fair booth into a sizzler.

The "Tell-A-Friend" Link on Amazon is Fun for Readers, Great for Writers

Philip F. Harris, author of Jesus Taught It, Too, sent me a message about his book. Actually he sent it to all of his Amazon list, the list that Amazon calls "Amazon Friends." I'd never used it so I had to go see how it works. Phil says, "Sometimes the easy things are overlooked!"

It occurred to me that this is an Amazon feature that everyone should be using. Here's how. Booklovers keep reading. There's something here for both authors and readers. Even authors who read!

Go to any book's Amazon page. (Authors will probably want to start with the page for their own books! If you need a sample of one of mine, click here. Look on the right side; the 8th box down has a link that says, "Tell a Friend." When you click on that, there is a drop-down menu where you can choose specific friends you added at one time or another or you can choose to send to all of your Amazon friends.

This, of course, works better if you have been collecting Amazon friends all along, but it's worth a whirl to let just a favorite reading friend know about a single book. Authors can put the word out about their own books but also about the books of their author friends. It's Zen. Don't do it often, of course, but every once in awhile give yourself or a fellow author a treat by putting out the word.

For instance, I could send a notice to my Amazon Friends about Lisa See's new book, Peony In Love. Her book has nothing to do with me and I don't know her personally, but I do strongly recommend it. So, shouldn't I help out an author I love and in doing so, give a gift of sorts to my Amazon friends.

In the meantime, an author might want to start building that "Amazon Friends" list so that when his or her book is released, it will be ready to go. Readers can forward the cause of reading the same way. Phil and I both recommend it.
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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. www.howtodoitfrugally.com.

Publishing Stupidity Running Amuck

Big publishers are discovering that fun promotion works. I cite two recent experiences that prove it. My friend, June Casagrande, pitched having bumper stickers that say Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies made to her publisher (Penguin), and guess what! They did it.

Then, Time magazine ran an article (October 16, 2006) on how St. Martin's has taken to (my words) doing something more than running ads in the New York Times! The inspiration? Their author K'wan who wrote hip hop or street-lit like Gangsta.

So, "instead of signings at Barnes & Noble, St. Martins' is planning giveaway and readings in barber shops and beauty salons" . . . .ads on urban radio and an official Hood Rat mix tape CD.

Sorry, but if big publishers had spent less time ignoring (or dissing) independent authors and small presses, they'd have gotten the idea long ago. Two years ago the Authors' Coalition published a CD for our booth at the LA Times Festival of Books and, I guess you could say we got it because we're promotion-smart, too. We plan to do it again, so there!

Last year at the same fair, Joyce Faulkner , author of The Complete Writer tested magnet signs for her rental SUV. We may offer those soon on the Authors' Coalition site even though results were hard to measure. We did get some action from the press as we were carrying our bookshelves and signs in from the loading dock. They knew they'd seen something a little unusual and possibly even smart. So the street-smart author Time cites, Rentless Aaron, wasn't the first to plaster his car with signs. Maybe something just got into the air and spread.

Time says, "In an industry the considers ales of 20,000 a success, gritty steet-lit authors are routinely doubling that number." Where St. Martin's may have it over some of us is their budget and perhaps the genre itself.

OK, but it still seems big publishers have been monumentally slow learners in the face of the example of entrepreneurial authors I've seen at work. So, does anyone expect anyone to give us any credit? I, for one, don't. Time certainly didn't.

They mentioned Amazon which quashed the need for brick, mortar and shelves.

And they mentioned Vickie Stringer who just got tired of being at the mercy of others and self-published. As if that is news! She also founded her own publishing company and her own literary agency. Way to go, Miss Independent but many authors I know have been doing that since I got into the publishing business about seven years ago.

So, am I suggesting there's only one way to do things? Nope. I'm just saying that if we all got busy learning from one another, supporting one another, we just might all do better, big publishers included.

CHJ



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.