The Importance of Gifts and a New SharingwithWriters Newsletter Format

Do you remember the Morton Salt icon--a little girl sloshing through puddles (as I recall it) to illustrate the idea "When it rains, it pours!" Consumers were supposed to correlate the motto with the idea that Morton's didn't clump together like salt used to. I really wouldn't know, the clumping part was way before my time! 

But that's what the last few weeks have felt like, clumping. And being unable to stop it!  My computer didn't work . . .and kept not working. We had workers clumping around the house an on our roof!  ("Clumping" seems like the right word, here, too.) Then one of my newsletter subscribers (a poet who is also a silicon valley management consultant) offered to do a new design for my #SharingwithWriters newsletter.  Perhaps she noticed that I violated my own advice to keep branding recognizable using focused topics and, yes, color!

This comes with my heartfelt thanks for making me giving me a new tool! It means so much because she cared enough to do it, but also because it illustrates how important it is for authors (Samanthi is a poet) to support one another—that sparkly essence called networking. But mostly it is proof that authors—generally speaking—are more caring with each other than those in many other industries. I remember once about ten years ago. I was at a meeting for writing instructors at UCLA. I was near the beginning of my foray into independent publishing and a similar viewpoint came bubbling out of my mouth. There was a loud guffaw from the other side of the room where the screenwriting instructors tended to group together. I chose not to react, but that person's disapproval of my Pollyanna attitude proved how important our camaraderie is, even if it didn’t prove that my premise was accurate. Samanthi Fernando—so many years later—dignifies my assertion with her caring.

Samanthi is the author of seven chapbooks. You can learn more about her under the “Thank Yous” segment of this SharingwithWriters newsletter by clicking on the May issue at http://howtodoitfrugally.com/newsletter_copies, on Amazon at http://amazon.com/author/samanthifernando or on the About Me segment of her website at http://www.starsafire.starrayz.com/aboutme.html. And, if you'd like to subscribe, you have time until Thursday to do it before I get my August issue out.  I hope you do! 

Have a happy summer,

Carolyn Howard-Johnson,

http://HowToDoItFrugally.com

MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER



Howard-Johnson is the 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 award-winning second editions of The Frugal Book Promoter (where she talks more about choosing and the advantages of winning contests and how to use those honors)  and The Frugal Editor. Her latest is in the series is  How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically. Learn more on her Amazon profile page, http://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile. Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers is one of her booklets--perfect for inexpensive gift giving--and, another booklet, The Great First Impression Book Proposal helps writers who want to be traditionally published. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including one she encourages authors to read because it will help 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. In addition to this blog, she 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 )

Q&A a la Ann Landers: Stigma, Book Bigotry, and Other Publishing Terms We May Have Got Wrong

Question: There seems to be some confusion between the terms "print on demand" and "publish on demand." Are some calling self publishing and vanity publishing "publish on demand" hoping to avoid the stigma that's attached to vanity and self publishing?

Answer: The term "publish on demand" rather than "print on demand" goes all the way back to the days when monks published a book when they got orders. They'd copy it, illuminate it and deliver it. But only if they already had a client waiting. The term "publish on demand" has a long tradition. We moved away from the monk's model when printing presses were developed. Large runs were more economical so we printed 'em up and waited for orders.

"Print on demand" became a term when digital printers became available. We could go back to doing it "on demand" as the monks did it but it with a lot more speed. Of course, it was also--to many--still "publish on demand." To further complicate the issue, M.J. Rose (and I'm only paraphrasing) said in Poets and Writers that publishing is a word that should only be used when a book is both printed and promoted. I agree. Printing up a bunch of books or even getting one ready to be printed on demand isn't really publishing. Further, the big publishers do a disservice to the whole industry when they print a book and then don't give over a budget so that readers will know it well enough to buy it.

Now, about that stigma thing. Let's just ditch the term "vanity publishing." Some of the best (and richest) authors I know self-publish. The kind of press they use does not make their books bad or good. The content makes them good; their promotion makes what they do lucrative.

In fact, let's ditch anything that smacks of book bigotry. Let's stop doing what we were told never to do when we were young. Let's stop judging books by their covers. And that's a metaphor for judging them any way at all other than by their content.

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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
www,TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favoite reviews.
www,AuthorsCoalition.blogspot.com, a blog that helps writers and publishers turn a ho-hum book fair booth into a sizzler.
www.TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com, a blog about editing, grammar, formatting, indexing--all the nitty-gritty parts of publishing we're not to fond of but need to know.