Sharing an Example of Benefits Authors May Accrue When Speaking at Conferences

I have been speaking at writers conferences for something like fifteen years because I love being with writers and love helping them avoid the potholes I fell into when I first started marketing my own books.  But I thought I'd share this video with you because it is an example of the benefits authors who speak at conferences may get whether they speak for a fee or gratis. This was filmed by Author Learning Center at one of the GLAWS conferences I spoke at.  Imagine! Another way to share with writers I hadn't planned on!

Just a Quick Tip on Marketing Must-Haves for New Authors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rWUMd_c34w

PS: There are other interviews from experienced authors you can tune in to while you are there!  And you can leave tips of your own with links to your own blogs or Web site while you're there!  

PPS: These interviews were produced by Nicole Baker, manager of author education. Follow her on Twitter http://twitter.com/knicolebaker. And the Learning Center @authorlearning.  

 

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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 how to books for writers including the award-winning second edition of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The multi award-winning second edition of The Frugal Editor; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including 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. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor .

Before-It-Gets-Too-Busy Essential for Authors

I love it when my favorite PR experts share their expertise!

If you aren't using email marketing to build a base of raving fans who want to read your books, you're leaving money on the table.

Most authors aren't because, they say, "I wouldn't know what to write about. Anything I want to say is already in my book." Or they hate the idea of being lumped in with all those other "spammers." 

My friend, publicity expert Joan Stewart, aka The Publicity Hound who's also an author, has a super-loyal base of fans who devour her weekly email tips on how to get publicity. Joan has created a free sheet on "10 Profitable Ways to Use Email to Create SuperFans Who Help You Sell Books." It will give you ideas galore on content you can share with your fans--content that goes far beyond your book. You'll also get her email tips chock full of clever, creative ways to generate publicity for your book, your products and your expertise.

Access the cheat sheet at http://www.marketerschoice.com/app/?Clk=5479199

and make 2016 the year you make emailing marketing the power tool in your book marketing toolbox.

You can reach Joan with question, too! Tell her I sent you. 

Joan Stewart
The Publicity Hound
Box 437
Port Washington, WI 53074
Phone: 262-284-7451 (Central Time) Skype: joan.stewart3

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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 how to books for writers including the award-winning second edition of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The multi award-winning second edition of The Frugal Editor; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including 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. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor .

Thanks to BookBaby.com you can have my multi award-winning The Frugal Book Promoter free!

This month I’m doing something kind of special for my readers. I have partnered with BookBaby.com, online publishers that offers a free track for publishing books and lots of professional help, too. They are offering the e-book iteration of the second edition of my The Frugal Book Promoter to their customers free because they believe in it as an aid for their—well, book babies. 

I figured my SharingwithWriters subscribers and visitors should benefit from this promotion, too. If you already have the paperback, you will benefit from having an e-copy because of the ease of using it as a reference by searching important keywords for promotion. If you only have the first edition, this edition has been updated and expanded. If you already have the e-book, why not pass this link along to a friend you have been coaxing to get it: http://bit.ly/1JVMv8n. 

This is one of BookBaby’s ads. I love that they agree with me that "you need this book." (-:

Welcome to BookBaby!

You need to read this book.
So we’ll give it to you for free!

For a limited time BookBaby is offering you a free copy of the second-edition of Carolyn Howard-Johnson’s classic, The Frugal Book Promoter. http://bit.ly/1JVMv8n

Get it at http://bit.ly/1JVMv8n

PS: You know how fast things on the Web change? Well, as hard as I try to use permanent links to resources in my books, sometimes the worst happens. The Bookbaby’s e-book offer iteration has been updated just for this promotion. Eventually the updates will take effect in the regular books, too. But until then, you’ll have the most recent links.

PPS: And an after-after thought that it also a lesson in asking for what you need. It's great promotion as long as you let your reader or contact know it comes from a place of caring and passion. Won’t you please look into Bookbaby’s services if you:

1.   Have a book that has been with an agent too long.

2.   Are considering self-publishing a book and weren’t one hundred percent satisfied with the last publisher/printer who published a book for you.

3.   Just need a little nudge or some inspiration. This offer of The Frugal Book Promoter will cost you nothing; you are certain to get a new tip or whole new idea for marketing your book; and it will be the nicest thank you possible for this newsletter that comes to you with my love every month.

No, BookBaby didn't ask me to say this. As you know from the title of this blog, I believe in sharing good resources

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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 how to books for writers including the award-winning second edition of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The multi award-winning second edition of The Frugal Editor; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including 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. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor .

NOW Is the Time to Plan Holiday Book Sales

So many authors I work with don't realize that great holiday marketing doesn't start in December or November, though some things can certainly be done then. I was pleased to see that Terry Doherty planned a webinar and workshop to help you jumpstart your campaign. Just in time! She says:

 

So have you thought about YOUR sales campaigns for the season? Waiting until October or November isn’t an option. Designing and implementing a successful strategy takes planning. The Mom's Choice Awards (MCA) Academy has launched a new class on Social Media Marketing that is open to all  small businesses, independent creators, and entrepreneurs. There are just a few class opportunities left this month: a webinar on September 18, and 2-part workshops on September 9 & 11 or September 19 & 23.

All students will receive a Social Media Action Plan. This is a set of three spreadsheets that are pre-loaded with so much detail you can get your marketing campaign planned and executed within a day.   Here's what the Social Media Action Plan includes ...

• Objective Planner – A customizable worksheet that allows you to match your marketing goal with the social media platform that best facilitates its success. It works well for individuals or teams, ensuring that everyone stays on message and on task.
• Calendar Planner – Where the Objective Planner is focused on the “big picture,” the Calendar Planner is designed for laying out your marketing message. You can see how much your posting – and what you’re saying – for every platform you use.
• Metrics & Measurement – Running the campaign isn’t enough. You want need to know how effective your work was and whether or not something needs to be tweaked the next time around. This worksheet helps you through the data collection and analysis process.

Learn more and get registration information at http://honoreeblog.momschoiceawards.com/#sthash.NHcNkTA6.dpuf

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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 how to books for writers including the award-winning second edition of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including 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. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor .

Three Reasons Why Having Your Own Newsletter Is Important--and How to Use Others' Newsletters, Too

I don't think using others' newsletters and blogs a panacea for easy promoting. Newsletters and blogs that belong to other people are a great way of promoting but they do lack some of the benefits that you have if you run your own. That would be:

1.   The independence you have with your own.

2.   Using your own as mini a way to reward those who do something nice in terms of publicity for you. See the Thank You section in this newsletter as an example of this.

3.   Networking by offering guest features, guest posts, and other ways to link to people who—if they're savvy marketers—will reciprocate. If not today, then later.

4.   The ability to drive traffic to your Web site, online bookstore page, of anywhere your little heart desires.

Having a newsletter and blog of your own is a lovely way to share what you know. And having one doesn't discourage doing that in others' newsletters and blogs, anyway!

Here's an example of a tip I submitted to Penny Sansevieri's "A Marketing Expert" newsletter.

Reader Tip: Include Action Shots on Your Website

When you're updating your website as suggested by this Book Marketing Expert newsletter, be sure to include at least one action shot of you doing something. Many bloggers and online folks like plain old generic headshots but print media still need a whole lot more than someone holding his or her book or accepting an award. And TV producers need to see some possibilities for action in the still photos or videos you offer. Use my media room as a very basic example (http://howtodoitfrugally.com/media_room.htm) and Penny's as an example of what you're aiming for: http://www.amarketingexpert.com/media.html. And read more on why you need to relate to the media and how to do it in The Frugal Book Promoter at http://budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo.

Tip offered by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of how-to books for writers. http://www.howtodoitfrugally.com.

 

Here's an action shot like the one I suggested (see left). You just have to think of shot that is somehow associated with your book.

 

Having said that, any image is better than none at all. So a picture of you with your book at a book fair works, even though it may not qualify as a real action shot. Grab your book before the shutter snaps and take a picture anyway. But grab a fellow book fair participant to be in your shot with you because he or she may be willing to help you promote. Two marketers/publicists are better than one.

 

For more information on newsletters and blogging use the index of your Frugal Book Promoter (http://budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo) to find help, ideas, and tons more references.

Providing tips for others is a great way to extend your reach. But it's limited. You own blog and newsletter issn't. That's why I can include this additional tip in this blog post without considering word count (or just being a real pest to the newsletter editor!).  Here it is:

 

Re-use your action photo. Repetition is good for sales. That's why you have a book cover. I use this one in the image feature of my marketing books on my Amazon buy pages (see the images I posted on my Frugal Book Promoter buy page), on my Web site, and sometimes send it to feature editors after I've been interviewed. Especially if they don't mention sending a photographer to take a picture. It's part of our jobs to make it easy for editors to do their jobs easily and well.

 

If you'd like to be sure you see all my favorite marketing and writing tips subscribe to my SharingwithWriters newsletter at http://howtodoitfrugally.com. The subscribe button is in the right of almost every page. And you'll get a free little e-booklet on wordtrippers when you do it. And, yes. I encourage you to submit your own favorite tips to that newsletter and to include credit lines with links to your book's sales page.   

 

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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 how to books for writers including the award-winning second edition of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including 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. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor .

What You Want For Christmas (Or Learn To Do It Yourself)

If your name isn't Stephen King or John Grisham or Nora Roberts you've probably already figured out that you need a publicist. That publicist can be you or someone else, but somebody's got to do it if you want your book to sell. Your publisher won't spend much, if any, time or money on your publicity (except in the above three cases, of course!)

I have a publicist friend who is also an author. He rightfully claims that he could never find a PR person who would do the same kind of job he does, including the time he spends on his own PR. How could anyone argue with that? We all are our own best publicists, even if we hire someone else.

But what if we don't have the time or expertise?

We can learn to do it ourselves. After all, we are writers. We should be able to grasp the knack of how to write a release.

But the best way to do it is to learn a lot about the marketing of books and then partner with expert publicists or people who can help you with specific projects like online book tour specialists. (I suggest resources for these specialists in The Frugal Book Promoter.) If you decide to do that here are some starter recommendations:

1. Join an organization for publishers and authors. That could be Small Publishers Association of North America or IBPA. Yes, even if you are not self-published or subsidy published. Attend their seminars—online and off. You'll learn more about promotion and your own industry than you can possibly imagine. Not only that, but you'll get over your natural reticence to promote yourself and your book. After all, if you don't believe enough in yourself and your book to do a good job of it, who will?

2. Subscribe to my favorite publicity guru's newsletter. Her name is Joan Stewart; her letter is called The Publicity Hound. She does a print version and a free web version. Contact her at jstewart@publicityhound.com or go to her site: publicityhound.com. Tell her I sent you.

3. Take a class in Public Relations. The only way I know how to avoid drastic mistakes in choosing a class is to patronize your local college.

But what if you decide to hire a publicist? You should know that even if you hire one, you’ll need to know some of this stuff to partner well with her.

Here is the one most important rule for finding a good one:

When you hire a publicist, you are buying her Rolodex; and I'm not talking about a list she gleaned from a directory. You could get that at the library from Barron's Directory for less than what it costs to hire a publicist for one month

What I'm talking about is a Rolodex of personal, working relationships with editors, hosts, etc. Those relationships must be—to a great extent—contacts who might have an interest in a project like yours. A book publicist who has had mostly experience with mystery writers, deals mostly with books stores that dedicate themselves to stories about crime, and has a huge file of names of reviewers interested in psycho/thrillers probably won't be able to do you much good if you write literary novels. And if you write mysteries, well! The people she will put you in contact with will be a Trojan horse for you well into an entire career of writing.

Am I speaking from experience? You betcha. And lukewarm results were not the fault of my publicist. She did a great job with what she had. She just didn't have what I needed!

You may wonder why I selected her. The price was right and I thought that with my PR background and a reasonable amount of time at my disposal (until I figured out the plot for my next novel) that I could supplement her efforts effectively. It didn't work out that way. First of all, I didn't have a lot of effective contacts in the book world (it was my first book) and the same rules apply to me, as an author cum PR partner. You gotta know some people.

If you're considering hiring a pro this is one way to go about finding Mr. or Ms. Right:

1. Join a list-serve of authors who write in your genre. Pick their brains.

2. Do a Google search on "book publicists + lists." Keep varying those search keywords until you find something that seems to fit your needs.

3. Then check out what you find with your new friends at the list-serv or organization you just joined. Or your social network. Or your critique partners. Or your writing teachers.

Contacts, contacts, contacts. Contacts can't be warmed up overnight; it takes lots of sincere tact, warmth, and effort. But it’s a skill you will use long after you’ve published your book and after you’ve hired a publicist.

To hire or not to hire is not an easy decision. It isn't an easy process to find the right publicist if you decide to go that route. Warning! Steep learning curve ahead! But the ride will be fun.

You can finance your classes (or a publicist's first month fees!) by asking for cash for Christmas.  Or you can buy a great book or two. Start with The Frugal Book Promoter (www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo) but don't stop there. I mean, at an average of about $10 per book, you can afford to splurge on yourself. 

----- Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including the award-winning second ediction of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including 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. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use the little Green widget to let them know about this blog:

Amazon and C-Span: Tips for Increasing Exposure for Your Book

My husband, Lance Johnson, author of What Foreigners Need to Know About America From A to Z (http://amzn.to/ForeignersAmericaUS) offers this link for those who have nonfiction books related to public policy, government, politics and the like. C-span, just like bloggers and feature editors, needs material. It won't be an easy sell if you don't have a well-known name, but you owe it to your book to try. Here is the URL: http://www.booktv.org/

And while we're at it, does anyone know the names of people at C-SPAN our SharingwithWriters blog readers might contact, or tips to approaching them. Please leave a comment if you do.

Lance also says this Amazon link will help you search to see if your book is appearing on all the overseas Amazon bookstores: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=487250

While you're visiting each page, check to see if you have "likes" there, if you have any reviews, if your book's description is complete, all the other things I tell you to do with your Amazon page in The Frugal Book Promoter (www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo) .

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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 how to books for writers including the award-winning second edition of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including 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. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use the little Green widget to let them know about this blog:

Q&A a la Ann Landers: That "Selling Books" Thing Again

As you know, I often answer authors' questions in this blog. Here is a recent one:

Question:

Q&A: Linden wanted to know if I sell very many books from my Authors Den site (http://authorsden.com/carolynhowardjohnson  ).

Answer:

Linden, I don't use Authors Den to sell books. In fact, I (almost) don't do anything to sell books. It's my theory that if we get exposure for our books and ourselves, the books sell themselves. 'Course, we have to have a great book! (-: AD has a huge number of benefits. I use it mostly to distribute my newsletter, as a backup for my regular Web site (www.howtodoitfrugally.com), for networking, and, yep, for exposure! (-: Besides, you'll hear me say over and over again, when a book sells, it's really hard to know exactly what "sold" it. Usually it isn't one site or one promotion. Usually it's a combination of things the reader has seen or heard that finally gets them interested enough to buy a book. I hope you'll read my The Frugal Book Promoter for lots of basic concepts on public relations, getting publcity and marketing in general.

CHJ

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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 how to books for writers including, The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including 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. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use the little Green widget to let them know about this blog:

Another Q & A a la Ann Landers: Publicist Dilemma

On Hiring Your Own Publicist ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
QUESTION:
Dear Carolyn,

I read your current Newsletter. Thanks. (I took a class of yours at UCLA Extension last year.)

My question might seem to contrast sharply with the spirit of frugality, but my publisher wants me to hire my own book publicist/promotion expert IN ADDITION to the efforts the publisher will be making on my book's behalf before and at publication time, early next year. Do some of your author/reader/bloggers have info about how important it might be to spend money on a publicist? How about this as a subject for a paragraph or two in your next news? I do remember your telling our class that there is MUCH the author can accomplish on her own, vis-a-vis promotion, and I am fully prepared to do that. Still... I want to do all I can for the book, and I can't open many of the doors that the pros can.

Many thanks,
Name withheld

ANSWER:

First of all, congratulations to your publisher for caring enough about your book to make suggestions and to handle some marketing and/or publicity on their own. I would be curious as to just what they plan to do!

As you know from my class, I am not much on spending money on any kind of service that an author can do for himself. There are exceptions to the rule.

~The author has plenty of money to spend.
~The author doesn't care if the entire advance goes to publicity services (he or she is in it for the readership and a long-term career and/or he or she is willing to take a chance).
~The author has absolutely no time and a little (or bigger!) budget for this. You get the idea.
~One of the above applies and the author can find a publicist with a track record and lots of the kind of contact required to get exposure in national venues, or at least the kind of exposure the author dreams of.

If you are determined, you will find information on how to assess and hire a publicist in The Frugal Book Promoter (www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo). You may already have a copy from the class you took with me. Keep in mind that many times publicists have tons of "contacts" but they are of the sort that anyone can make, including authors, small bloggers, radio programs with few listeners, etc. So a publicist’s Rolodex is very important.

Then ask yourself: Is my book on a topic that a high-powered publicist can interest big radio and TV shows in covering? Or are they just going to subcontract an online launch, blog tour, and other promotions to others and charge you top dollar for doing so.

In that case, you might do better by learning to do it yourself or by hiring experts piecemeal yourself. It would also be less expensive to hire someone to coach you through the process (and refer you) to these services. I can do that, of course. But after your course with me, I think you have the equipment to do it yourself. And honestly, many of the resources I'd give you have been in one of my newsletters in the past.

Having said that, there is another UCLA course (http://uclaextension.edu) coming up this August 7th. It may be just the refresher you need and it is just over $100 for a full day refresher. A real bargain rather than the price of a publicist which can easily run $5,000 to $35,000.

Last point: You didn't say what your advance is but that's an important thing to look at before deciding what you can spend on a publicist that may rocket you to stardom...or put you in the red on your book's earnings.

If any of my readers would like to weigh in with their experiences, that's what my letters-to-the-editor in my newsletter is for. That's what this blog is for I'll ask them! (-:

CHJ

PS: Watch for scams. If a plublicist promises you a certain number of blogs or radio program appearances, as an example, that may be an indication that they are all blogs and/or radio programs that you could access on your own.


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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 how to books for writers including, The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . She is also the author of the Amazon Short, "The Great First Impression Book Proposal". She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including 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. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use the little Green widget to let them know about this blog:

Marketing and Publicity: Sharing the Small Town Farmers' Market Way

In Dotsie Bregel's Boomer Women newsletter she tells a little story.

She says, "I just returned from the Towson Farmer's Market. I often walk, but since the newsletter deadline was glaring me in the face, I drove. Towson no longer has parking meters. They've installed machines so you buy parking tickets for an allotted amount of time and post them in your car window. I followed the new system, got my juicy, grilled burger and walked around scarfing up fresh veggies and some strawberries. What a way to spend lunchtime. While leaving, I heard a young mother offer her unexpired pass to an elderly man and thought, what a great idea. I, in turn, offered mine to a young family that pulled in near me. They were delighted. I was happy to take the baton (her idea) from the young mother and pass it to another family. How fun is that? My wish for you is that find a way to pass a baton because it feels so good."

Her story made me realize that great PR operates the same way. Really, marketing is based on the old golden rule. It truly is about sharing. If more authors understood that, they might feel more comfortable with the PR process. After all, the very act of writing is one of sharing. We just must take it one step farther and let people know that we've shared, that we want to shar! So, yesss! We can get over our shyness. Yes we can.

BTW, Dotsie has a fan club on Facebook. Go there and learn more about the wonderful organization she founded. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Baltimore-MD/National-Association-of-Baby-Boomer-Women/68886848316 Why would you do that? To support someone who shares! And because when her organization shares with you, your book will benefit. So, what can you offer HER?

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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 for writers, 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 FRUGAL book for retailers 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. She is also the author of the Amazon Short, "The Great First Impression Book Proposal". Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog.

A Quick BEA Report: My Take on A Changing Industry

Things in publishing are changing so these are the top NEW changes I saw this year, including one (the last one) that probably isn't new but that I hadn't noticed before.

1. BEA generally is not a good place to try to sell a book. Research publishers, yes. But most publishers have stopped sending their editors (at least when the event is on the West coast!). I was told that is because of the cutbacks in publishing, because of the recession and because of the slowdown in the publishing industry. Now one finds in the booths mostly publicity and marketing people. I have a theory that you'll see more editors when this tradeshow is in New York next year because a cross town trip on the subway will fit into strapped publishers' budgets.

2. Publishers -- even the big ones -- are starting to catch up to self- and subsidy-publishers. They're finally understanding the applications of Print-On-Demand.

3. The Net is more and more important in promoting a book. Especially videos. And social networking. And yes, some (not all) big publishers are starting to understand this, too!

4. Authors who attend tend not to know enough about what this show is for and what it does and often once they start to get it, they don't understand the importance of knowing everything we can about the entire publishing industry. Those of us who write and don't want our book sitting in a drawer need to know more than craft. We need to know the entire market. That's what a tradeshow like BEA does for us.

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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.

Q&A a la Ann Landers: Getting Publicity From Grumpy Editors

Your Media Kit: Or How To Get Publicity from Tired, Grumpy Editors

Question: Because I know editors are busy I just send them a quick paragraph with a link to my website . . .

Answer: It's precisely because they are busy you don't want to do this. Our job as publicists for ourselves or our companies is to make the job of the editor as easy as possible. Telling her to go search a site is not the name of the game. Sure, you want your query to grab her interest, but maybe the query she read just before yours did that, too, but that person gave her what she needed right then and there.

So, yes. Capture her interest. Pitch your idea and a bit about you. Give her enough that if she is really time-constrained, she might not even have to check your website. Not pages and pages but a tightly packed, well-written page!

Of course, you also offer a link to your pdf media kit--directly to it. Don't make her go searching around your site to find the kit. You can offer to send her a kit by attachment, too, but often presses and other media don't want them, won't even open them.

You can also offer to help. Give her your phone and e-mail address. Let he know you're considerate of her time.

And the media kit itself--if she ever even gets to it? That's all about making her life easy, too. What an opportunity! Here are just a few things your kit needs to take full advantage of it.

 There should be items in your media kit (Like a 10 Tips piece) that can be published as is or in part by an editor who just happens to have a few inches available at deadline.

 Your media kit should be designed with ease in mind. If your kit is extensive, a Table of Contents (but call it CONTENTS, not TOC) is in order. That will make it easy for her to find what she needs from your kit.

 In addition to the usual stuff, include a complete, well edited first person essay. It could land in a first column on the front page of a newspaper.

 Include a one-page biography, but also include a prewritten short bio or tagline. The editor can just copy and paste it. No rewriting necessary.

 Most kits include a sample review and interview. Many authors forget to make it clear that they may be published at no charge and with permission of the reviewer and/or interviewer. If you don't do that, the editor will have to call you or do a rewrite. Also make clear the conditions. Does the reviewer require that the piece be uncut and that a tagline be included?

There are lots of good books on the subjects of queries and media kits written by experts. My The Frugal Book Promoter is specific about media relations, kits and queries. The Frugal Editor gives tips on how to avoid query-letter faux pas straight from the mouths of some of our nation's top agents.

I recommend that you read more than one book. There is more than one way to do a thing. Here are some other books besides mine for you to look at:

 John Kremer's
 Allan Shepherd's
 Janet Elaine Smith's new PromoPaks
 Fran Silverman's
 My new Amazon Short on writing book proposals (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000YG6O5U/ref=cm_arms_pdp_dp)
 Michael Larsen's
 Terry Whalin's

The biggest mistake is not supplying the editor with what she needs to make a decision on the spot.

I'm ranting, here. Sorry. But having worked in journalism, I know how frustrating incomplete information can be. Even these days, as the editor of my own newsletter, you'd be surprised how many posts I get from people who:

• Do not tell me what they want (these are query letters I'm getting, after all! So they should ask a question or QUERY!)
• Don't even give me a hint about how they want me to use the information they've sent.
• Don't use an autosignature telling me how to reach them in case I have questions.
• Give me links to sites that have no media rooms so I'd have to search many different pages to put a story together.
• Give me a homepage URL rather than the media room URL.
• Don't give me any information on themselves. Without that, how would I know if I'm interested in their story?
• And when I get that media kit, there is no first person essay, no article, no interview, no review, no... . You get the idea. This person wants ME to do all the work. (-:

So make 2008 your be-kind-to-editors year. You may find your queries start getting more action.
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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.