Just a New Years Reminder! And New Year's Recommendation!

We authors often reevaluate our marketing campaign at the beginning of a new year.  This is it, kids! I have been a subscriber of ISWG where I found great networking partners (Thus my little tip near the end of this sample of their newsletter!--Scroll down!), new resources (including the #bookclub in this letter that I haven't tried yet!) and so many more.  Edited by Elizabeth Seckman with great access to other movers and shakers like L. Diane Wolfe, C. Lee MacKenzie, and Alex Cavanaugh, subscribing should be at the top of your #2022 to-do list. In fact, try to subscribe to a couple new ones in each new year. I love Penny Sansevieri's newsletter, too! 

Here's to a great 2022 for all of us! 

Hugs to all my #SharingwithWriters visitors and subscribers!

Carolyn Howard-Johnson

IWSG Newsletter offers articles from industry experts, links to helpful articles as well as advice, wisdom and inspiration. View this email in your browser

Insecure Writer's Support Group A database resource site and support group for writers and authors. Featuring weekly guests and tips, a monthly blogfest gathering, a Facebook group, a book club, and thousands of links – all to benefit writers! #IWSG Website / Facebook Group / Twitter / Book Club Reedsy Discount / Past Issues Fast Five Free Gift - Mobi / Epub / Pdf

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time - and return comments. This group is all about connecting!  Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post. And please be sure your avatar links back to your blog! Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.      You ready? Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!   January 5 question - What's the one thing about your writing career you regret the most? Were you able to overcome it? The awesome co-hosts for the January 5 posting of the IWSG are Erika Beebe, Olga Godim, Sandra Cox, Sarah Foster, and Chemist Ken!

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Image by Alexandra_Koch from Pixabay It’s just around the corner – 2022 is a brand new year. Embrace it! We all know it’s been creatively challenging the past two years. Some managed to write like maniacs, but a good portion of us were sidelined by events wrought with turmoil and uncertainty. But 2022 can be different. We can take control of our own creative future. We need to start planning now. Map out that plan. What can we control? What can we set in place to make it happen? Who can help us be accountable to that plan while allowing room for life? Most important, we need to maintain hope. Without it, we won’t make it. We need to feed that spark of hope. That creative spark! That’s our wheelhouse. So, we need to believe in ourselves. Believe in the words we write. And believe 2022 is our year! Alex J. Cavanaugh, IWSG Founder

Polish those manuscripts and get those pitches ready to throw at the pros. The next #IWSGPit will be in January 26, 2022,8:00 am - 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. Visit the IWSG website for more information.

*Looking for some quick and frugal tips? The best of Carolyn Howard-Johnson.  *Why are book reviews important? L. Diane Wolfe explains.   *Need to buy a gift for writers on the cheap? Elizabeth Seckman offers some Dollar Tree gift options.

Amazon designates its top reviewers and its own Vine reviewers as headers for each review and each is linked to the author-reviewer’s Profile page, a very handy tool for learning more about them. Top reviewers are those who have reviewed the most books on Amazon. Vine reviewers are readers Amazon selects and sends books and other products to in exchange for the promise of a review. Use these links to find individual reviewers for your own books. Many Amazon reviewers also review for other blogs, journals, and websites. Your assignment should you decide to accept: Send a few query letters to get your book reviewed by a biggie to those reviewers who have reviewed books similar to yours. It takes a little Amazon surfing, but these special reviewers are influencers in the eyes of readers who choose books based on Amazon reviews.

Frugal Book Promo Tips Adapted from Carolyn’s multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books including THE FRUGAL BOOK PROMOTER, 3rd Edition, THE FRUGAL EDITOR, And her newest GETTING GREAT BOOK REVIEWS FRUGALLY AND ETHICALLY BY CAROLYN HOWARD-JOHNSON. E-mail: HoJoNews@aol.com     Website: www.howtodoitfrugally.com

Book Club!!! A message from our book club leader, Toi Thomas We at the IWSG Book Club on Goodreads are excited to start the new year continuing with the new direction of the book club. We are excited to continue to spotlight and support members of this community and hope you will join us. You are always welcome to participate as much or as little as you’d like.  The books we’ve chosen to spotlight in the month of January are The Glass Gargoyle by Marie Andreas and Satellite Blues: Book I: Dark Matters by Team Netherworld. Please check these out and consider giving one or both of these a read this month. If you’re not up for reading them, no worries, you can still help spread some love for these publications and or participate in the book club activities (as seen in the images below). Here’s our monthly spotlight schedule.  IWSG blog list 1-50 = Feb, Jun, Oct. IWSG blog list 51-100 = Mar, Jul, Nov. IWSG blog list 101+ = Jan, May, Sep. (IWSG Anthologies)  IWSG Registry = Apr, Aug, Dec. In February we’ll feature books from authors in the 1-50position of the IWSG blogging list. Remember, if you are not currently on the IWSG blog hop list and don’t plan to join, the registry is the only way for your books to have a chance to be spotlighted by the book club.  Please click this link to fill out the form to be added to the IWSG Book Club Spotlight Registry.  If you are on the blog hop list, please don’t join the registry. We want to be fair and give everyone an opportunity to be featured, which mean some of us will have to wait our turns. As the book club administrator, I’m still eagerly waiting in anticipation for the day one of my books has a chance to be featured.  Here are the festivities from the month of December, for anyone interested.   .Poll, Check-in, and Discussions for Falling for the Villain & Being Human We look forward to seeing #IWSG and #iwsbookclub on social media as members share our featured books on social media, as well as participate in fun polls, check-ins, and discussions. Oh, and we’d love to see your reviews. They add so much to the fun.  As always, read as much or as little as you want, participate as much or as little as you can. The IWSG Book Club will always be a safe place for writers who enjoy reading.  If you ever have any questions, just reach out. I’m Toi Thomas. https://etoithomas.com/ | https://www.goodreads.com/toithomas

Poll, Check-in, and Discussions for Falling for the Villain & Being Human.

Administrators:    Alex J Cavanaugh Michelle Wallace L. Diane Wolfe C. Lee McKenzie Pat Hatt Elizabeth Seckman Juneta Key    FREE! The Insecure Writer’s Support Group: Guide to Publishing and Beyond Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / Smashwords The Insecure Writer’s Support Group: Writing For Profit Amazon / Barnes and Noble / Kobo

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 Howard-Johnson is the multi award-winning author of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. She is also a marketing consultant, editor, and author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers including the multi award-winning The Frugal Book Promoter (http://bit.ly/FrugalBookPromoIII), now offered in its third edition by Modern History Press. Carolyn's latest is in the #HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers is How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically. She has two booklets in the #HowToDoItFrugally Series, both in their second editions from Modern History Press. Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers (http://bit.ly/LastMinuteEditsII) and The Great First Impression Book Proposal (http://bit.ly/BookProposalsII) are career boosters in mini doses and both make ideal thank you gifts for authors. The one on writing book proposals is also available as an Audio Book. The Frugal Editor (http://bit.ly/FrugalEditor), now in its second edition, is the winningest book in the series. Carolyn also has three frugal books for retailers including one she encourages authors to read because it helps them convince retailers to host their workshops, presentations, and signings. It is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques (http://bit.ly/RetailersGuide). In addition to this blog, Carolyn helps writers extend the exposure of their favorite reviews at TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com. She also blogs all things editing--grammar, formatting and more--at The Frugal, Smart, and Tuned-In Editor (http://TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com). Learn more and follow for news on her new releases direct from Amazon at http://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile.

Any Writer Can Join These Far Northern Authors for Benefits

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Isn't it wonderful that the great partners, Zoom and Covid (ahem!) have made it easier to connect and benefit from associations with other others from North to South, East to West! Here is a book club for you and I just spoke (PowerPoint speaking) at this organization's writers' conference.  The PP is online for you to see, too! It's like getting the keynote of a top national writers' conference absolutely free. That's frugal. That's why I'm enthused about the trend. 

Here's the book club information!  Scroll down where you see that UPPAA welcomes all authors to their activities and other benefits! 

For Immediate Release… Contact: Victor Volkman (734) 417-4266 President@UPPAA.org www.UPPAA.org UP Notable Book Club presents a history of the Anishnaabeg in the Lake Huron region Dear Carolyn Howard-Johnson UP Notable Book Club:  the Crystal Falls Community District Library in partnership with the U.P. Publishers & Authors Association (UPPAA) has scheduled author events with winners of the UP Notable Book List. The second event is with Phil Bellfy featuring his book Three Fires Unity The Anishnaabeg of the Lake Huron Borderland.The events are open to all U.P. residents free of charge. When: Thursday, February 11th, 2021 at 7pm Eastern / 6pm Central Where:  There will be socially distanced seating available at the Bayliss Public Library at the Soo -- Or to participate via Zoom, please contact Evelyn Gathu in advance by email: egathu@uproc.lib.mi.us, or by phone (906) 875-3344.  We recommend you borrow a copy of these books from your local library or purchase from your local bookseller in advance to get the most out of these events. Phil Bellfy (Enrolled Member of the White Earth Band of Minnesota Chippewa) is a professor emeritus of American Indian studies at Michigan State University. He is also the author of Indians and Other Misnomers: A Cross-Reference Dictionary of the People, Persons, and Places of Native North America. You'll be joined by readers from around the Upper Peninsula in a lively question and answer session with the author. Winner of the North American Indian Prose Award, Three Fires Unity is the first comprehensive cross-border history of the Anishnaabeg provides an engaging account of four hundred years of their life in the Lake Huron area, showing how they have been affected by European contact and trade. Three Fires Unity examines how shifting European politics and, later, the imposition of the Canada–United States border running through their homeland, affected them and continue to do so today. In looking at the cultural, social, and political aspects of this borderland contact, Phil Bellfy sheds light on how the Anishnaabeg were able to survive and even thrive over the centuries in this intensely contested region More information about the U.P. Notable Book list, U.P. Book Review, and UPPAA can be found on www.UPNotable.com   About the Upper Peninsula Publishers and Authors Association (UPPAA) Established in 1998 to support authors and publishers who live in or write about Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, UPPAA is a Michigan nonprofit association with more than 100 members, many of whose books are featured on the organization’s website at www.uppaa.org. UPPAA welcomes membership and participation from anyone with a UP connection who is interested in writing and publishing books.     # # #

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MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER

 Howard-Johnson is the multi award-wining author of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. She is also a marketing consultant, editor, and author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers including the multi award-winning The Frugal Book Promoter (http://bit.ly/FrugalBookPromoIII), now offered by Modern History Press in its third edition. Carolyn's latest is in the #HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers is How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically. She has two booklets in the #HowToDoItFrugally Series, both in their second editions from Modern History Press. Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers (http://bit.ly/LastMinuteEditsII) and The Great First Impression Book Proposal (http://bit.ly/BookProposalsII) are career boosters in mini doses and both make ideal thank you gifts for authors. The Frugal Editor (http://bit.ly/FrugalEditor), now in its second edition, is the winningest book in the series. Carolyn also has three frugal books for retailers including one she encourages authors to read because it helps them convince retailers to host their workshops, presentations, and signings. It is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques (http://bit.ly/RetailersGuide). In addition to this blog, Carolyn helps writers extend the exposure of their favorite reviews at TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com. She also blogs at all things editing--grammar, formatting and more--at The Frugal, Smart, and Tuned-In Editor (http://TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com). Learn more and follow for news on her new releases direct from Amazon: http://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile.