About SharingwithWriters Blog


Named to "Writer's Digest 101 Best Websites," this #SharingwithWriters blog is a way to connect with my readers and fellow writers, a way to give the teaching genes that populate my DNA free rein. Please join the conversation using the very tiny "comment" link. For those interested in editing and grammar, go to http://thefrugaleditor.blogspot.com.
Showing posts with label newsletters for writers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label newsletters for writers. Show all posts

Friday, December 31, 2021

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.
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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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ForwardForward

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.  

.PollCheck-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

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

  Administrators:   

 

FREE!

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group:
Guide to Publishing and Beyond

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The Insecure Writer’s Support Group:
Writing For Profit

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MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER 

 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.

Thursday, April 14, 2016

F. Scott Fitzgerald Almost Made a Booboo You Can Avoid

This is short and it's a recycled  tip from my SharingwithWriters newsletter, but I couldn't resist sending it to subscribers and visitor to this blog because it's a reminder that even great writers can make dreadful mistakes--but for wives. Ahem!  

After F. Scott Fitzgerald’s editor and his wife Zelda warned him against using an obscure reference to a first century Roman fiction as his title (“Timalchio in West Egg”) he changed it to The Great Gatsby. This bit of information comes with a reminder to take another look at your own title; does it do what you’d like it to? 
PS: You can subscribe to my newsletter at http://howtodoitfrugally.com. There is a subscription box in the upper right corner of most every 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 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 .

Monday, July 01, 2013

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 .

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

To Gussy Up Your Newsletter-Or Not!

This is a reprint from a past SharingwithWriters newsletter. If you'd like to subscribe so you don't miss a single thing that might be healthy for your book, just send an e-mail to HoJoNews (at) AOL (dot) come with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line and I'll do it for you. (-:


Criticism Turned to Self Reflection: What Style for Newsletters?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You may recall that I received a bit of, ahem, criticism that didn’t seem particularly constructive at the time, but it gave me something to mull over. The letter suggested I quit being so frugal and start using a service that prints newsletters all gussied up in color. Actually, I had considered that before, but times are changing and it had been awhile since I had visited the problem. At the time, I had read about a politician who published a flier and included the anecdote in The Frugal Book Promoter (www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo). It went like this:

"Newsletters needn’t be fancy. In his column for Time magazine, Joe Klein told of Bryan Lentz’s choice of a simple flier to promote his run for Congress. Lentz said his staff '. . . wanted something splashy.' His simpler choice cost less and, he says, 'They look real. People open them and read 'em like a newspaper.' Klein notes, 'It was true, people [nearby] were reading the Bryan Lentz news.'

"That’s the way it can be for your newsletter, too. I once asked my readers about my plain-text Sharing with Writers e-newsletters and they voted overwhelmingly for keeping them long and simple rather than short, colorful, and in HTML."

But when I receive this not-so-kind suggestion that I was being cheap, I thought I should look again in case I should also reconsider my frugal advice to you, my readers. I mean, theoretically I am not saving much by publishing my newsletter the plain old generic way because AuthorsDen charges for the higher level of their service that includes newsletter distribution. So I could disregard the frugal aspect of my choice—something I will never give up completely because I hate, hate, hate seeing authors spend more on promoting their books than they need to with so many free ways to do it out there—and change to something like ConstantContact if I wished. It’s never too early (or too late) to change one’s mind.

At first, I thought I’d poll members, but I did that before and most of you said to leave things the way they are with a plain text in their e-mail and a link to a pdf file for those who prefer something a little snazzier. Then I started looking at the newsletters I get in my e-mail box, my favorites. One that comes from Penny Sansevieri is long and anything but fancy, but full of all kinds of good pointers I can use every week. Another of my faves is from the legendary Dan Poynter who basically sends a link to his pdf file. It's also long and includes a lot of free benefits for his readers like a review service. Another is from Joan Stewart (The Publicity Hound) who now uses HTML and it looks gorgeous but I liked it better before when I didn’t have to click on so many links to get at the good meat and potatoes she always has in her letter.

That’s when I decided I wouldn’t change. You are stuck with plain old vanilla pudding SharingwithWriters. Well, not really stuck. If I get a rash of people who complain about this decision, I may reconsider again. So do let me know!

I believe that newsletters are still one of the most viable ways to connect with writers. And I believe that two features make them or break them. One is content. The other is to offer ways for readers to contribute in some way. This one does both. And if you don’t know what those ways are, you need to go back and read this letter from top to bottom and start using those features as a prompt to help get the word out there about your book.

But just in case you have decided to use a gorgeous format for your newsletter, here are some services you might explore, especially since many of these services are also spam reducers.

  1. Find vendors to consider at www.espcoalition.org/members.php
  2. Swiftpage.com
  3. GetResponse.com
  4. MyEmma.com
  5. MailChimp.com
  6. ConstantContact.com

Most price according the size of the list you have. Many offer free trials, but I would imagine you’d be loathe to change once you’ve gone to the trouble of setting up with one. Some have limits on the number of e-mails you can send in any month—a distinct disadvantage, I’d say, especially if your subscriber list grows beyond your wildest dreams. Some charge based on the number of e-mails sent daily—like $14.95 if you send no more than 250 which would, I think, discourage you from trying to grow your list.

Some good reasons to go with pretty:

  • You letters look good—maybe even great.
  • We know that images sell. You can include them in a pdf file but not in a plain text newsletter.
  • These services may force you to keep your letters short (which may be bad for content, but good for style and your busy schedule)
  • These services give you statistics like who pens your e-mail and who clicks on the links you provide.

Some big drawbacks of these services:
  • If you already have a newsletter of considerable size, many services require your subscribers to re-opt in.
  • They won’t let you provide the personal service of subscribing for people if they have given you permission. I consider that a service and wouldn't want to give it up!
  • They also often won’t send to generic addresses like the ones that begin with info or editor. I’d hate to lose a single one of you—on the outside chance that you might benefit even if you only open one letter a year!
If you decide to stay old fashioned with me, watch next week for a list of things you shouldn’t do or say if you don’t want your newsletter to get caught in spam folders and other techy devices. If you decide to go with an HTML service, I’ll help you keep your letter free of spam assassins that may make your newsletter show up DOA (dead on arrival).
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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:

Friday, March 09, 2012

As the Newsboys Used to Holler...

As the newsboys used to holler out, "Get it here! Get it here! Late breaking news!"

But there is no late-breaking news. Only an edition of my interactive newsletter filled with tips for promoting, editing, and the craft of writing. No articles. Just tips. The first was so popular I brought it back, as they say, "by popular demand." It only comes out once or twice a year. So, I guess it is still news. (-:

It's a perfect time to subscribe to get these letters in your e-mail box and get a FREE copy of The Great First Impression Book Proposal to boot. Learn not just how to write a great book proposal that showcases your title and your voice, but learn to do it in 20 minutes or less! Go to www.HowToDoItFrugally.com and find the subscription window in the top left side of the home page (and every other page in the site!).-----
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:

Monday, December 26, 2011

Newsletters: The New/Old Way to Market Books

The new year is almost upon us and I gleaned this editorial from one of my old SharingwithWriters newsletters. Because I believe old-fashioned newsletters delivered by e-mail are second only to social networking (and that includes blogs) for the marketing of a book. And because I believe in recycling the writing we do. Ahem! (-:  And because this is the time of the year to promise yourself you'll start a newsletter!


How many e-mail newsletters do you subscribe to? Do you put one out yourself? I think they’re very important! I recommended having one in the first edition of The Frugal Book Promoter and I continue to do so in the 2nd edition (www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo)  (with new ideas for making them successful, of course!). And I’m not the only one who thinks newsletters are a good idea.


Noelle Skodzinski, editorial director of Book Business magazine thinks so, too. But she touts them for publishers. She says the best example of a good publisher newsletter is HarperCollins’ Author Tracker. You may want to subscribe to see what they’re doing that you can adapt to your letter and find new, great reading while you’re there.


Harper’s letter lets readers track their favorite authors. It lets them know when the author will be doing an event in their area. When their next book is being released. When it is being made into a film. But, hey! We authors can do that for ourselves!


She also suggests cross promoting other books with similarities. Themes. Genres. Historical periods. The list could be endless. So, I’m thinking why couldn’t authors do the same thing? They could partner with other authors to announce one another’s books. And if those authors write in the same genre so much the better. They aren’t competitors. They’re comrades. A reader who reads horror, as an example, probably reads more than one horror book a year. So why not promote your book and one written by a horror-writing friend?


By the way, I also think authors should read more than one book on marketing. Each book we read offers new inspiration, new ideas, new approaches or techniques for old ideas.


Noelle says that to convince yourself that this is effective, “Think of Amazon’s ‘others who ordered [this book] also ordered [this other book]’” feature.

She also suggests embedding video in the e-mail. That gives readers a personal connection to the author!


She suggests some of the same things I do in the second edition of The Frugal Book Promoter. How can you get subscribers to your letter to sign up for something? What can you give them free? What about a quote of the day or week? How about using QR (quick response) codes I’ve been talking about for the last few issues of this newsletter? Look on the back of the new Frugal Book Promoter to see one, or check the index for one I used inside the book.


Noelle reminds us, “Books have power. Authors have power. That power can be used to benefit the reader—who craves more content that will impact their lives…”


Oh, while we’re at it. You have in your power to share newsletters with valuable information with others. Your newsletter readers have the power to do the same. Have you asked them to share? I’m asking now. Send the link for this newsletter with a personal recommendation and invitation to subscribe. http://www.AuthorsDen.com/adstorage/1713/SharingwithWriters_Nov5_2011.pdf

All they need do is send me an e-mail with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line and I’ll do it for them!

See how easy that is? See how important a newsletter can be?

 (And, in this case, how important a blog can be?)
----- 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:

Thursday, July 14, 2011

KFC Slam Dunks an Old Marketing Technique Writers Can Use

 Holy moly. Talk about a smart marketing move!
In The Frugal Book Promoter (www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo), I advocated watching current events and hooking them to anything in one’s book that might relate to one of them. Kentucky Fried Chicken just showed us how to do that! Big time!

They paid attention to one of Wade Dwyane’s tweets asking if anyone was hiring after the NBA lockout. Dwyane used to work for KFC, so they offered him his old job back. If he’d lead a team filling KFC buckets fast (instead of NBA baskets), they’d donate $250,000 to charity. Geesh! That is cheap advertising when they figure how much publicity they’ll get with this master stroke of publicity-getting! Here is the link to read more: http://aol.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2011-07-11/kfc-offers-dwyane-wade-a-job-during-lockout?icid=main%7Chtmlws-main-n%7Cdl10%7Csec1_lnk3%7C218968 .
So you don’t have $250,000 to do something similar? You don’t need to. You just need to keep your marketing bonnet on so that when the opportunity arises, you will be there. Maybe it will cost you $5. Maybe it will be free. But when it comes, you don’t want to miss it!

Writers who would like more tips like this may want to subscribe to my Sharing with Writers newsletter. Just  send a SUBSCRIBE message to HoJoNews@aol.com and I'll do it for you! (-: Or subscribe to this blog. Actually do both so you don't miss even one tip on book promotion, craft, or publishing news.
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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: