Marketing Books Isn't a Frill: It's Essential

The argument that marketing is just too, too crass for authors doesn't seem to go away, does it? 

It feels as if more is a work here than rational argument. Do the literary minded feel threatened? Do those who market their books feel both deprived of writing time or feel they are being discriminated against by the literary world? Do we in the publishing industry really want to behave like politicians?

Here's the thing. Marketing as always been part of publishing. It's just that these days publishing houses' budgets are smaller and many authors' marketing skills (by necessity or preference) have blossomed. A book simply is unlikely to sell unless someone is doing the marketing. So what about a nice balance of writing and marketing for any author.

Publishing is a partnership and authors have always been partners--even if not full partners--in the marketing of books. It takes the author to do book tours, to sit on panels, to sign books, to be interviewed on the Today Show. Always has. Always will. So if authors extend those skills to benefit their books while balancing that time against writing or taking a reasonable amount of time away from writing to get their book on the right track...well, isn't that what is best for book, author, publisher—and the reader who can't read a book unless he or she knows about it.

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson is a frequent contributor to Writers Onn The Move. She is a multi award-winning novelist, poet and author of the HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers including the highly acclaimed Frugal Book Promoter (http://budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo) Learn more and sign up for her SharingwithWriters newsletter at http://howtodoitfrugally.com.

Valentine's Book With One Click--Free Limited Time

Title: Cherished Pulse
Subtitle: Unconventional Love Poetry
Genre: Poetry/holiday/Valentine's
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Magdalena Ball
Available FREE for Kindle or PC/Mac download
Available paperback
Poetry Chapbook o Valentine Greeting Card
ISBN: 9781449546052
Authors' Web sites: http://magdalenaball.com http://howtodoitfrugally.com/poetry_books.htm

 

Valentine’s Day may be the holiday best made for poetry. A rose, a poem and thou.  Trouble is, many that we find on the inside covers of commercial greeting cards may be just a little too-too for many of us. Multi award-winning poets Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Magdalena Ball to the rescue with Cherished Pulse, a chapbook of poetry just right for tucking into an envelope or sending off as an e-mail attachment to loved ones.

 

And right now, Cherished Pulse is available free with the KDP Select free e-book feature. All you do is go to http://bit.ly/Vs07hV on January 11, 12, 13, 14 and 14^th and click. And you don’t need to have a Kindle reader to benefit! It may be downloaded as a pdf to send to loved ones, or let Amazon do the work for you by sending directly from their site.

It takes only the click of a mouse!

 

And there is plenty of time for you to schedule delivery before February 14^th.

It's a mini gift and greeting card in one!

Cherished Pulse includes many of the science-inspired poems Magdalena is famous for as well as Carolyn’s nostalgic poetry. Chapbooks in the Celebration Series have won many awards including MWSA’s highest honor of gold and several from USA Book News.

 

It’s you who had me dreaming

lilacs, breathing April’s sweetest

tears…

 

Magdalena Ball runs the highly respected CompulsiveReader.com review site.  She is the author of the poetry book Repulsion Thrust, which was published to unanimous five-star reviews.  Her novel Sleep Before Evening was a Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist and she just released a new novel set in Australia. It is Black Cow.  

Carolyn Howard-Johnson's poetry appears frequently in review journals. She is listed in Poets & Writers and her chapbook of poetry, Tracings (www.budurl.com/CarolynsTracings ), was given the Award of Excellence by the Military Writers Society of America. One of her poems recently won the Franklin Christoph Poetry Prize. She is also an award-winning novelist and short story writer and instructor for UCLA Extension Writers' Program.

For more information on the Celebration Series chapbooks, contact either author, or visit media rooms at http://howtodoitfrugally.com  or  http://magdalenaball.com.

Vicki Thomas contributed the watercolors used on the cover and interior. To see her selections of her work, go to http://www.vickithomasartist.com .

 

 

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Support material available electronically or by post on request.

BookPleasures Reviewer Raves About Frugal Marketing Aid for Writers

Thinking this review of a self-help book for authors might encourage you to order if for an author friend as a holiday gift. It's a thoughtful gift and, in the Kindle edition, considerate of the environment.

Title: The Frugal Book Promoter

Subtitle: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher

Second Edition

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Genre Nonfiction: How-to for writers
Publisher HowToDoItFrugally Publishing
ISBN 9781463743291

Available as paperback and on Kindle

Five-Star Review

Reviewed by Dave Menefee, originally for BookPleasures.com

Would you spend a nickel for the best advice you could ever receive?

If you are a writer, spending 5¢ a page for a 395-page book packed to the seams with the most comprehensive collection of established, helpful advice ever compiled would be well worth the investment. In The Frugal Book Promoter, author Carolyn Howard-Johnson details how to get nearly free publicity on your own by partnering with your publisher. Spend the $17.95 for the huge book and get your career on track for success. Carolyn not only shows you the way, she lights the trail to triumph with a blazing torch.

The book’s title may seem misleading, once you dig deeply into the thirty-two chapters and find that Carolyn’s suggestions often hinge on either the author or the publisher spending money on touting a tome. Don’t let this throw you. The Frugal Book Promoter does not pretend to be a book for an author wishing to succeed on a shoestring. Instead, Carolyn shows you how to wring the most out of your advertising, marketing, and promotional budget. For example, staging a book signing event usually entails purchasingbooks to sell, travel expenses, signage charges, giveaway costs, buying business cards and brochures, and laying out money on a long list of other sundry expenditures that add up to a tidy investment gamble. Here’s where Carolyn’s expertise gleaned during years of trial and error pays off: she reveals all the little tricks of the trade that can spell the difference between failure and loss or an ample return on your investment. As your mother might say, “Listen to her! She knows what she’s talking about!”

Carolyn’s massive set of revelations are divided into seven sections:

• Getting Started and Getting On With It: dealing with typical author angst.
• Plunging In: Publicity Basics Now: all about the business of promotions
• Do-It-Yourself and Partner Publicity: media releases, book reviews, media kits
• Promote Your Book by Doing What You Love: extra writing opps that can fan your flame
• You and the Media: how to handle interviews, and using the Internet
• Well Traveled, Oft Forgotten: wading into the world of retailing
• Onward and Upward: stoking the stove for even more success

In addition, the back matter contains a set of Appendices containing sample query letters, media releases, blog entries, trade show invitations, a phone pitch script, an autosignature for e-mails, and a tip sheet example.

For an experienced author who may be battle weary from years of tooting their own horn, Carolyn’s sage recommendations will enlighten him or her to hundreds of steps they may have missed that will prove more encouraging during their next tour through the trenches. For the beginning author who may feel baffled and intimidated by the mere thought of selling during a dreadful economy, Carolyn’s clever counsel should seem like a Godsend. “This book is for authors who want their books to soar and do not want their careers to languish,” she writes. “It is structured so authors can select chapters that address aspects of their marketing plan most needed at any given time.” Indeed, the book features an extensive Index that will make looking up topics a second time a snap. This is not a mere book to read; this is a guide to refer back to time and again—a battle plan for victory.

If you are an author, or if you know an author struggling over how to build buzz for their book, The Frugal Book Promoter outlays literally thousands of nitty-gritty how-tos for obtaining a foothold in a niche. As the old saying goes, “When you find your niche, scratch it!” With The Frugal Book Promoter, you can light a fire under your ambitions, pick and choose from ideas extensively developed and refined through endless campaigns, and match up your pocketbook and personality with hundreds of Carolyn’s angles for accomplishment.

~Reviewer David W. Menefee is the author of
Can't Help Falling in Love

Secret Soldier Master of Disguise
Sweet Memories
Sarah Bernhardt, Her Films, Her Recordings (Foreword by Kevin Brownlow)
Wally: The True Wallace Reid Story (Foreword by Robert Osborne)
The Rise and Fall of Lou-Tellegen
Richard Barthelmess: A Life in Pictures
The First Female Stars: Women of the Silent Era
The First Male Stars: Men of the Silent Era
Brothers of the Storm
"Otay!" The Billy "Buckwheat" Thomas Story (with William Thomas, Jr.)
Charlie O’Doone’s Second Chance
Margot Cranston The Voice in the Shadows
Margot Cranston The Secret of St. Laurent Lighthouse
Margot Cranston The Mystery at Loon Lake
Margot Cranston The Quest for the Jade Dragons
Falling Stars 10 Who Tried to be a Movie Star
George O'Brien: A Man's Man in Hollywood
A Craving for Travel II (with Jim Strong)
How to Write, Format, and Market a Kindlebook on a Shoestring Budget
His newly released book, Master of Disguise, is about secret soldier Isador Messing who lives up to the title of the book. Terror strikes when Hitler's SS troops arrest Messing's fiancé on the day they plan to escape Nazi occupied Berlin. Alone and stoic in the face of utter malevolence, he launches a bold, daring, and desperate plan to liberate her. Can the remarkable Mr. Messing's one-man army triumph against all odds and win in a war-torn world gone mad?

This book is also available on Kindle.

If Pinterst Is About Images, What Are Authors Doing There?

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning The Frugal Book Promoter

I just started using Pinterest. It’s the new social network that many are saying “I don’t get it” about, just like they did when they first ran into Twitter. Now we’ve all been Twitterfied.

I didn’t get it, either, but I've been applying lots of general marketing techniques to Pinterest and that gave me a bit of a headstart. Now people are asking me what I think of it for authors and I’ve been telling them that Pinterest is like any other promotion or social network. If you want something to be successful, you have to promote the promotion.

An example. I got started by telling my author friends on Facebook that if they pinned one of my books to their account, I'd do the same for them. I have several different book boards (like bulletin boards where you categorize posts that intrigue you. One of them is "Books by My Friends" where I pin these books. I also pin images of gorgeous book cases, quotes, book-related cartoons, etc. on that wall to keep it interesting rather than just a wall of book covers, which they could find on Amazon.

I’m  offer you blog visitors the same deal, of course. But to work well, you really need to have a board showing your book cover—preferably with related images pinned on the same board.

We're all in this together. (-: Find me at www.pinterest.com/chowardjohnson. Also notice how I separate out the books I write in different genres to separate boards. And how I sometimes repeat a book image on two different boards. As an example, the theme of my novel is rooted in tolerance so it appears on my Tolerance board and on my Literary and Poetry board.

I believe it's little techniques like these that can make a difference to a network that at first doesn't seem innately suited to the needs of writers.

And yeah, its all about branding and finding those marketing angles I talk about in The Frugal Book Promoter. You have to analyze your own book to understand the possibilities for marketing it, for branding it, for targeting your readers.

~Learn more about the blogger/author at www.howtodoitfrugally.com. Check out her blog for authors, too (www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com, www.thefrugaleditor.blogspot.com and www.thenewbookreview.blogspot.com).  You can also learn more tips for authors from Carolyn with the hashmark #PinterestTip.

A Must Read Book, See The Book Trailer

In Dearest Children, T. R. Lipscomb shares very candidly her family's journey through life. Her story is a very real look at life, marriage and children from the eyes of one who did not live the fairytale story with a fairytale ending. It is a true story that is raw with the reality and emotion that unfortunately, is probably closer to the reality of life for most in this day and age.

After all of the details, twists and turns in this story, T. R. Lipscomb's life lesson is that if you put your trust in God and look to Him to provide peace, comfort and healing, He can heal your family relationships and help you get through any situation that you are facing in life! Get your copy of Dearest Children by Author T.R. Lipscomb at Advantage Books

Book Trailer by CBM Christian Book Trailers

Perfect Christmas Giving for Author in Your LIfe

The Frugal Book Promoter
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson416 pages
ISBN: 9781463743291
Available in paperback or for Kindle
Also available as an e-book at http://createspace.com/3656422
Author's Web site: http://www.howtodoitfrugally.com

Everything you wanted to know about book promoting and much

much more., September 25, 2011

Reviewed by

mary greenwood

originally for Amazon

This review is from: The Frugal Book Promoter: Second Edition: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher. (Paperback)

When I saw the Table of Contents for this promoting bible, I was hooked. There was a chapter on everything I wanted or needed to know. I have written three "How To" books and have had a number of reviews and awards, but I am looking to go to the next level with some fresh new ideas. In other words, I had reached a plateau and did not want to repeat the same old methods.

When I first started reading the book I immediately liked the tone. It was as though the author was in my living room saying: Mary, why don't you try this and maybe you don't want to do this." Her books, like mine, are based on her personal experience. She has done book fairs; she has taught classes and consulted with authors; she has written award-winning books. She is an expert. That is what makes the book so powerful. I have read books that make me feel guilty if I haven't done ten things for my book that day.

Yesterday, I exhibited at a book festival and most of the authors were complaining that they had few sales. I looked up the topic in my new book. The author says "Book festivals are for readers." I knew intuitively that she was right. She goes on to say that these are really networking opportunities for the writers and not that many books are sold. That shift made me feel encouraged rather than discouraged at the book festival's results. Even though I did not sell tons of books, I did meet a lot of people: readers, writers and bookstore owners. I got a few tips and gave a few tips. I reconnected with people I had seen at previous events and got some recommendations for the best venues for future events. The author was spot on.

I also checked the chapter on book awards. I have won a total of 28 book awards for my three books and thought I knew all there was to know about awards and have spoken on the subject. However, after reading that section on book awards, I realized that I was not doing enough publicizing after I won the book awards and I am going to remedy that situation. Another tip I picked up. I am now going to say Mary Greenwood, multi-award winning author, instead of award-winning author.

Of course, I wished I had seen this book when my first book came out, but I can see that this book is useful for all authors, those working on their first book and authors who already have published several books and need some new ideas. I know I will go back and reread a chapter when I am starting a new task such as a press release or am thinking about doing a new blog or sprucing up my website.

I am just starting on my new book about "How to Negotiate With Your Dog" (hint: you don't.) I am going to use The Frugal Book Promoter Second Edition, the whole way. I can't wait to get started!
~Reviewer Green is author of How to Interview Like A Pro: Forty-Three Rules for Getting Your Next Job

Book Marketing: Midwest Review Calls Book "Single Most Valuable Addition"

The Frugal Book Promoter, second edition
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
HowToDoItFrugally Publishing
Author’s Web site: www.carolynhoward-johnson.com
ISBN: 9781463743291 Paperback $17.95
Paperback on Amazon
Kindle Edition

Reviewed by Jim Cox, editor of The Midwest Review

Originally for The Midwest Review and Newsletter

Carolyn Howard-Johnson draws upon her many years of experience and expertise as a professional book publicist and marketing specialist to author "The Frugal Book Promoter". The 416-page compendium of commentary, advice, tips, tricks and 'real world' techniques on how to authors can obtain nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with their publishers will prove to be an invaluable, practical, profitable, and thoroughly 'user friendly' instructional reference.

It should be noted that the Midwest Book Review is cited four times.

Of special note in this newly expanded and completely updated second edition are the sample letters query letters, media releases, blog entries, trade show invitations, phone pitch scripts, email auto-signatures, and tip sheets. Simply stated, "The Frugal Book Promoter" is the single most valuable addition any aspiring author or novice small press publishers can add to their personal and professional book marketing reference shelves -- and has a great deal of enduring value for even the more experienced publisher marketing directors and publicists.

Author Spotlight Blogger Likes Promo Smorgasbord

Essential Book for Authors Reviewed by Nancy Famolari

The Frugal Book Promoter answers the question that most of us ask after writing a book. How do I get readers? The question is particularly important for self-published authors and authors who have little to spend to help their publisher promote their book. The book publishing industry looks particularly daunting when you're trying to break in. So many authors, so many books, what can I do to get noticed?

Carolyn Howard-Johnson gives excellent advice on this dilemma. It feel like you have a knowledgeable consultant sitting in the room with you. The book is filled with classic techniques, such as writing releases, query letters, obtaining interviews, and much more. My favorites, however, are the chapters on the new techniques: blogging, using social media, taking advantage of the tools offered by Amazon, and your web page.

My favorite chapter is on why writers worry. Writers worry about many things including plagiarism, pirating of ebooks, being sued, and the big one: success or rejection. I think that once an author gets by these hurdles the rest becomes, if not easy, at least a mountain it's possible to scale.

I highly recommend this book. If you've written a book, it's got wonderful suggestions on what to do next. If you're afraid to let your book see the light of day, Carolyn's discussion of worries will make you less afraid. In the long run, this book will save you money and sleepless nights.

Book Sales Getting Musty?

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson

Adapted from the multi award-winning Frugal Book Promoter (www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo)

In the world of publishing as in life, persistence counts. Of course, there is no way to keep a book at the top of the charts forever, but if you keep reviving it, you might hold a classic in your hands. Or your marketing efforts for one book may propel your next one to greater heights.

I can’t tell you how often I’ve seen authors who measure their success by book sales give up on their book (and sometimes on writing) just about the time their careers are about ready to take off. I tell my students and clients to fight the it’s-too-late-urge.

Publicity is like the little waves you make when you toss pebbles into a lake. The waves travel, travel, travel and eventually come back to you. If you stop lobbing little stones, you lose momentum. It’s never too late and it’s never too early to promote. Rearrange your thinking. Marketing isn’t about a single book. It’s about building a career. And new books can build on the momentum created by an earlier book, if you keep the faith. Review the marketing ideas in this book, rearrange your schedule and priorities a bit, and keep at it.

Here are a few keep-at-it ideas.

• Run a contest on your Web site, on Twitter, or in your newsletter. Use your books for prizes or get cross-promotion benefits by asking other authors for books; many will donate one to you in trade for the exposure. Watch the 99 Cent Stores for suitable favors to go with them.

Hint: Any promotion you do including a contest is more powerful when you call on your friends to tell their blog visitors or Facebook pals about it.

• Barter your books or your services for exposure on other authors’ Web sites.
• Post your flier, brochure, or business card on bulletin boards everywhere: In grocery stores, coffee shops, Laundromats, car washes, and bookstores.
• Offer classes in writing to your local high school, college, or library system. Publicizing them is easy and free. When appropriate, use your own book as suggested reading. The organization you are helping will pitch in by promoting your class. The network you build with them and your students is invaluable. Use this experience in your media kit to show you have teaching and presentation skills.
• Slip automailers into each book you sell or give away for publicity. Automailers are envelopes that are pre-stamped, ready to go. Your auto mailer asks the recipient to recommend your book to someone else. Your mailer includes a brief synopsis of your book, a picture of the cover of your book, your book’s ISBN, ordering information, a couple of your most powerful blurbs, and a space for the reader to add her handwritten, personal recommendation. Make it clear in the directions that the reader should fill out the form, address the envelope, and mail it to a friend. You may offer a free gift for helping out, but don’t make getting the freebie too tough. Proof-of-purchase type schemes discourage your audience from participating.
• Send notes to your friends and readers asking them to recommend your book to others. Or offer them a perk like free shipping, gift wrap, or small gift if they purchase your book for a friend. That’s an ideal way to use those contact lists you’ve been building.
• While you’re working on the suggestion above, put on your thinking cap. What directories have you neglected to incorporate into your contact list? Have you joined any new groups since your book was published? Did you ask your grown children for lists of their friends? Did you include lists of old classmates?
• Though it may be a bit more expensive than some ideas in this book, learn more about Google’s AdWords and AdSense. Learn about these opportunities on your Google account page. Many authors of niche nonfiction or fiction that can be identified with often-searched-for keywords find this advertising program effective.
• Check out ad programs like Amazon’s Vine review service. You agree to provide a certain number of books to Amazon and pay them a fee for the service. Amazon arranges the reviews for you. It’s expensive, but it gets your book exposed to Amazon’s select cadre of reviewers who not only write reviews for your Amazon sales page but also may start (or restart!) a buzz about your book.
• Some of your reviews (both others’ reviews of your book and reviews you’ve written about others’ books) have begun to age from disuse. Start posting them (with permission from the reviewer) on Web sites that allow you to do so. Check the guidelines for my free review service blog at TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com.
• Connect and reconnect. Start reading blogs and newsletters you once subscribed to again. Subscribe to a new one. Join a writers’ group or organization related to the subject of your book.
• Record a playful message about your book on your answering machine.
• When you ship signed copies of your book, include a coupon for the purchase of another copy for a friend—signed and dedicated—or for one of your other books. Some distributors insert fliers or coupons into your books when they ship them for a fee.
• Adjust the idea above to a cross-promotional effort with a friend who writes in the same genre as you. He puts a coupon for your book in his shipments; you do the same for him in yours.
• Explore the opportunities for speaking on cruise ships. Many have cut back on the number of speakers they use, but your area of expertise may be perfect for one of them. I tried it, but found ship politics a drawback. Still many authors like Allyn Evans who holds top honors in Toastmasters and Erica Miner have used these venues successfully. For help with the application process from beginning to end, contact Daniel Hall at speakerscruisefree.com.

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson has been promoting her own books and helping clients promote theirs for nearly a decade. Her marketing plan for the 2^nd in the HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers, The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success (www.budurl.com/TheFrugalEditor) won the New Millennium Award for Marketing. Learn more about her at www.howtodoitfrugally.com.

Compulsive Reader Reviews Expanded Second Edition of Frugal Book Promoter

Reviewed by Magdalena Ball

The Frugal Book Promoter: Second Edition: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher
by Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Amazon link: http://www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo
CreateSpace
Paperback: 416 pages, August 25, 2011
ISBN-13: 978-1463743291
Also available for Kindle

It doesn't matter how many books you've published. Self-published or traditionally published, gaining publicity is always tricky, always critical, and always a moving target. If your budget is limited, it's even harder, and perhaps, even more imperative. Enter Carolyn Howard-Johnson, the queen of frugal promotion. Her frugal books are pitched at the modern writer: time poor, financially parsimonious, and publicity hungry. The Frugal Book Promoter is the jewel in the crown. As with the first version, The Frugal Book Promoter is full of ideas, strategies, and tips for promoting your book cheaply, in innovative and effective ways, but it has been updated with a much greater focus on new technologies, the all-important social networks, and a range of strategies designed to help authors with less commercial offerings such as poetry and fiction.

Of course the book is rich with classic techniques too, such as media releases, query letters, and a whole fantastic chapter pulling together a media kit. There's information on using bylines, writing a biography, obtaining endorsements and blurbs, distribution of releases, obtaining reviews, tradeshows, book fairs, setting up a website, and many more 'must-do' items that have really become part and parcel of any author's promotional toolkit. Ignore this kind of stuff and unless you win some kind of book lotto, your book will almost certainly fall into the obscurity that is an ever-present risk of modern authordom. What I like best about Howard-Johnson's book is the simple, informal prose which is both warmly reassuring ('of course you can do this'), and deceptively intelligent. The reader is encouraged and reminded of his or her own innate capabilities even as they're goaded onto to raising the bar:


You’ve been practicing PR most of your life. Getting along with family. Impressing a new boss. You’ve been a customer and know why you like some products and businesses better than others. All it takes is some examination of the processes that influence you to get a grip on public relations—even on marketing as a whole.
The new version also contains a chapter on some of the most current topics, including information on blogging, working Amazon, using social networks, and even some common pitfalls to avoid in blogging and networking. Howard-Johnson totally practices what she preaches, so her advice comes directly from her many years of experience, and is rich with innovative ideas to minimise the time involved and maximise the input through such things as integration and cross-linking, clever use of soundbites and re-tweetable tweets, setting up a "Quotable Quotes” page on your Web site (I love that one), using RSS, and many other novel ideas. Throughout the book there are links, anecdotes, worked examples, and excellent templates including queries, a sample media release, blog entries, invitations, and even a tip sheet.

No, you don't really need a copy of The Frugal Book Promoter. You could hire a publicist for $100 an hour, or organise a retainer for anywhere from $1,500 to $20,000. But if you're looking to do your own publicity, or to augment your publishers and don't have the kind of budget that can support a publicist, or you simply want to do the legwork, connect with your reading public, and do your best to ensure that your wonderful work of art reaches a maximum audience, then this book is really the self-promoter's bible. You don't have to read it cover to cover, although it's certainly accessible and enjoyable enough to do so. The book is well-referenced and perfectly designed to enable the frugal author to dip in once a week and pull out a new publicity idea to try, or to use as a reference when it's time to pull together a marketing plan for your book, or at that moment when you need to write a press-release and want a template and guide, when you're looking for ideas to maximise your book signing. Whatever kind of promotions you want to do for your book, you're sure to find it in The Frugal Book Promoter. Howard-Johnson makes it all sound simple, and provides such easy instructions, that you'll want to go out straightaway and get to it. Put simply, The Frugal Book Promoter is the best guide around for create interesting, fresh, inexpensive, and relatively easy promotion for your book, whatever the genre.


~Magdalena Ball runs the popular review site Compulsive Reader and is an award-winning author and poet in her own right.

Online Conference Offers Free Workshops

What an exciting time in the publishing world! I'd like to personally welcome you to our book marketing community and thank you for your interest in the 3rd Annual Book Marketing Conference Online!

 We are so fortunate to have 14 book marketing experts

who are willing to share their wisdom and experience with us. They include Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning Frugal Book Promoter. She frequently contributes to this blog. You are in for a treat!

New Video and Special Bonuses Added

If you have not seen the new video or the list of special bonuses now available, please take a moment to visit:

 http://bookmarketingConference.com/details

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Bonus Workshop Added - Monday, October 3rd, 7:00 PM Eastern

While you have full access to the three pre-conference workshops,

many of our new members have requested access to a live workshop

before the conference begins.

I'm happy to oblige by offering a free bonus workshop, in addition to

the three workshops available, just below the video, details at:

http://bookmarketingConference.com/details

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New - Special Bonuses now available to Conference Attendees

 If you have already reserved your Sapphire, Gold, or Platinum

access pass for the book conference, you can access these

seven special bonuses via the "Your Member Benefits" page.

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Here are the details for Monday's workshop. See you there!

• Monday - October 3rd - 7:00 PM Eastern
  "Pre-Conference Bonus Workshop: Cool Tools for Authors
  Plus - Book Marketing Conference Highlights"
  

Workshop Access and Event Brochure at:

http://bookmarketingConference.com/details

We'll see you soon!

All the best,

D'vorah

~.~.~.~.~.
D'vorah Lansky, M.Ed., Bestselling Author, and Event Founder and Host

Mystery Writer Review Book on Ahem! Marketing Books!

Writers' Tricks of the Trade: Carolyn Howard-Johnson gives marketing advice

By Morgan St. James, originally for the Las Vegas Examiner

A few years ago I met author, promoter and writing instructor Carolyn Howard-Johnson when she presented workshops at the Las Vegas Writers Conference. We’ve since become friends and follow milestones in each other’s careers.

Carolyn is the author of books that are tremendously helpful, particularly for the writer who must stay on a budget. One of her books, The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won’t, is on my own bookshelf with lots of bright orange sticky notes marking passages that I go back to again and again. It is also listed in the bibliography at the back of my new book Writers’ Tricks of the Trade: 39 Things You Need to Know About the ABCs of Writing Fiction. As you can tell, I cherish her solid advice.

Her books that relate to the real world

In this tight economy and fierce competition for the readers’ dollars, we need every edge we can possibly find. In Carolyn's new book, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Get Nearly Free Publicity On Your Own Or Partnering With Your Publisher, she relates to the dynamic changes that have occurred over the past few years in the way we do business. I was fortunate enough to receive an advance copy and delighted to see that one of the people she dedicates this book to is Trudy McMurrin, a very talented editor I had the pleasure of knowing. Trudy influenced the way many writers developed their skills, and her life was claimed by cancer much too soon in 2009 .

Here is why I suggest adding Carolyn’s books to your writers’ library.

She approaches her topics in plain language, something I really like, and fills them with real-world common sense. I do that, in my own books and columns because hyperbole and lofty writing are not the way to teach in my opinion.Give me plain talk any day!

She doesn’t advocate that the author “run willy-nilly” and break the rules of PR (public relations.) Instead, she says as a creative author you can take the rules and turn what might have been the tinkle of bells into the sound of timpani for everyone you want to reach. She further states that the idea that authors can’t promote is anything but the truth, and cites Mark Twain as one of the best at putting himself out there.

There are two big words the author needs to have at the front of their consciousness at all times: branding and networking. In simple language, figure out who you are—your strengths, who you want to reach, how you want them to perceive you which will give them a reason to believe they can’t go one more day without putting your book in their collection. Then network, network, network. The best branding in the world is no good if the message isn’t circulating.

It reminds me of the bit of advice I always spout.

No one is going to knock at your door and say, “I understand you just wrote a book. Please let me buy a copy.” Of course, it could be Aunt Sadie who lives close by because your mother just told her about the book, but that's not reaching your market.

Let the world know what you’re doing and enlist the help of others to spread the word.

The new edition of The Frugal Book Promoter is broken down into well organized sections:

• Section I Getting Started and Getting On with It
• Section II Plunging In: Publicity Basics Now
• Section III Do-It-Yourself and Partner Publicity
• Section IV Promote Your Book by Doing What You Love
• Section V You and the Media
• Section VI Well Traveled, Oft Forgotten
• Section VII Onward and Upward

This book is an absolute treasure trove and with two new books to promote myself, I can’t wait to start marking the pages and putting her sage advice to use.

The release of her new book will be announced in this column, on my blog and in the newsletter. Incidentally, Carolyn Howard-Johnson is a guest contributor for the October issue of the Writers’ Tricks of the Trade Newsletter. SUBSCRIBE to the Writers' Tricks of the Trade blog for posts and newsletters to be delivered to you automatically when published.

~For more information about Morgan St. James, visit www.morganstjames-author.com website or the Silver Sisters Mysteries website. Morgan frequently speaks and gives workshops for published and aspiring writers at conferences and events. Her next appearance will be at Partners in Crime, Sydney, Australia on September 11. Information on her website.

Because of the popularity of Writers' Tricks of the Trade, she has recently added a blog, newsletter and the just-released Writers’ Tricks of the Trade: 39 Things You Need to Know About the ABCs of Writing Fiction book., available in paperback, eBook and Kindle. The hilarious third Silver Sisters Mystery, Vanishing Act in Vegas, was also released in August.

A Christmas Story for Children - Santa's Birthday Gift

Santa’s Birthday Gift is an attempt to include Santa in the meaning of Christmas. (After I read a story of the nativity to my young granddaughter, she looked at me and asked “But where’s Santa?”) The editor who critiqued this book wrote: “What a cute story! I know there are many stories about how Santa came into the picture, but this is a delightful idea behind the gifts at Christmas.” The story is best for ages 3-10, to be read to children who still believe in Santa! This book received a 2011 National Indie Excellence Finalist Award, and is a 2011 Readers Favorite Finalist. ~ Sherrill Cannon

Other books by Sherrill S. Cannon include:

Peter and the Whimper-Whineys (2010) is designed to help parents cope with whining and complaining children. The book is a 2011 Readers Favorite Finalist.

Sherrill's third book was released in February of 2011, The Magic Word. The book has received a NABE Pinnacle Achievement Award for summer 2011, a Global eBook Finalist Award, and is also a 2011 Readers Favorite Finalist.

Visit Sherrill Cannon at Sherrill S. Cannon's Website and Blog or at Sherrill Cannon's Amazon page

BookBuzzr Offers FREE Webinars for Authors

BookBuzzr Offers New Learning Ops for Writers; or
How to Avoid Becoming a Book Marketing Dinosaur by Marketing Your Book with Emerging Technologies.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The technology landscape and associated opportunities for marketing your book is changing at an unprecedented pace. Online games, mobile marketing, Facebook, Twitter, the Kindle, the iPhone, the iPad and the Android are pushing the boundaries of what is possible when it comes to promoting and marketing your book.

As an author, it is important that you keep abreast of these emerging trends and technologies so that you can take advantage of these opportunities. You don't want to become a book marketing dinosaur, do you! Ha!

The first step in avoiding the fate of the dinosaurs is to spend some time to educate yourself, and Bookbuzzr is providing a perfect place to do just that. It's a new kind of online learning environment … one that was focused on getting practical, actionable information from industry leading experts to authors in the most efficient manner.  I will be participating so I'm especially eager for you to know about it early enough to include it in your new year calendar. Here is their announcement:

Announcing BookBuzzr’s Book Marketing Technologies Center (BBMTC)

In order to help you to successfully navigate through the swarm of new technologies and separate the noise from the signal, we at BookBuzzr are launching the BookBuzzr Book Marketing Technologies Center (BBMTC.)
BBMTC is the world’s first and only online, free, learning program designed to help authors learn about emerging new technologies and associated opportunities for book promotion. BBMTC features a monthly online seminar or roundtable (aka webinar) featuring industry leading book marketing experts. Each month they will cover a new technology or emerging trend.

Our panel of experts will talk and share about technologies with authors and writers through webinars and blog posts to cover it comprehensively. This is our way of getting different viewpoints to the table about what is the latest trend emerging for authors in technologies that will help them reach out to more people.

We will have one webinar each month on the topic and as many view points as possible from industry experts as article/blog posts.
For each webinar the panel will share their views about the topic and discuss it in detail. The latter half of the webinar will be dedicated to answering questions from authors and writers. Questions can be asked before, during, and after the seminar on Twitter (with Hashtag #BBMTC) or on our BookBuzzr Facebook Page.

How much does it cost?

You can attend any workshop for free. Our generous expert partners are giving away much of their knowledge for free. Why is BBMTC free you ask? Our expert partners are doing this in the hope that at least some of the attendees will become their clients in the future. Also its our and our experts way of giving back to the author community. Of course you are under no obligation to purchase anything.

What is the schedule and what are my next steps?

The schedule is outlined below. Please bear in mind that the schedule may change and we may make changes to the format of this program or the schedule based on feasibility and opportunities. Simply sign-up to our monthly newsletter to get notified about upcoming BBMTC events.
All seminars/webinars at 2:00 p.m. Eastern / 11:00 a.m. Pacific / Noon Arizona

January Facebook Fundamentals for Authors Wednesday, 12th Jan 2011

February Using Twitter to Market your Book –I’ll be participating on this panel. I love Twitter for authors! Wednesday, 9th Feb 2011

March Formatting for the Kindle and other readers Wednesday, 9th Mar 2011

April Marketing Your Book in an Apple World Wednesday, 13th Apr 2011

May Blogger Relations for Authors I’m a panellist for this topic, too. Lots of us aren’t using our blogs to their capacity. Wednesday, 11th May 2011

June How to Create Good Book Trailers Wednesday, 8th Jun 2011

July Podcasting Fundamentals for Authors Wednesday, 13th Jul 2011

August Online Gaming - Why it Matters for Authors Wednesday, 10th Aug 2011

September Marketing Your Book in a Mobile World Wednesday, 14th Sept 2011

October Networking on Forums and Reader Sites for Authors Wednesday, 12th Oct 2011

November How Authors can Use Technologies to Market Their Books Wednesday, 9th Nov 2011

December How Authors Can Succeed in the EBooks Universe Wednesday, 14th Dec 2011
Feedback Requested

If you find a topic interesting or believe that you have the expertise to participate on a particular topic, or if you’d like to contribute and be a part of this program – drop us an email at freya [at] BookBuzzr [dot] com. We’d love to hear from you – the more views on a topic the clearer it gets : )

Our BBMTC panel page is up. Do take a look: http://bit.ly/igPsNh

Note: For an inexpensive way to educate yourself on the publicity basics please consider my The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't. You'll get the basics for publicity, writing media releases, assembling media kits and promotion ideas that don't necessarily require high-tech skills.  By the way, for newbies, the word "publicity"  is synonymous with the word "free."  There are ways to get more of it than you ever imagined.

~Submitted by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, www.howtodoitfrugally.com

Amazon Secrets FREE For Subscribing to Valuable Newsletter

Authors love to hate Amazon.com. Trouble is, we can't thrive without it. Sadly most authors and even publishers don't know how to effectively use the features Amazon offers -- especially the trick to achieving bestselling ratings. I don't want Frugal Book Marketing blog subscribers to be one of those folks.

Luckily, Aggie Villaneuva learned that stuff the hard way -- and she achieved two category bestsellers in 2010, each book in three separate categories! She freely shares that knowledge with us in her TWO white paper reports in ONE, "How Choosing Kindle Categories Wisely Got me Two Best Sellers This Year." Plus "How to Gain Bestseller Status in Amazon’s Print Bookstore Too."
Miraculously, (because Aggie is a peach!)  I'm offering it at no charge to authors willing to help other authors learn even more about the writing and publishing world by subscribing to my Sharing with Writers newsletter. One report for the author who recommends my newsletter. Another for the author who signs up. It doesn't get any better than that!

To qualify for this double gift, put SUBSCRIBE-FREE "AMAZON Secrets" REPORT in the subject line of an e-mail and send it to HoJoNews@aol.com. In the window of the e-mail, list the e-mail address of the recommending author and the new subscriber. Both authors will get an e-copy of Aggie's report back in their e-mail boxes. Easy as that!

PS: You'll also find the section on using Amazon in my The Frugal Book Promoter useful. Amazon isn't perfect but they are trying to be author friendly. And, I have to say, they've never been late with a royalty payment. Authors can't always say that about their publishers, can they? (-:

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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:

Frugal Authors' Web Site Offers New Benefit

This is news I think Frugal Book Marketers will like, Smitty! (-:

I have been a member of Authors Den (AD) for about eight or nine years. At first I just loved their free (very frugal!) way for a new author to have a Web site. Then I started using their Gold membership to publish my newsletter.

I'm not much of a date keeper but that newsletter (It goes by the same name as this blog--branding you know!) has been around for some years now! I recommended it in my The Frugal Book Promoter, of course. And I've even partnered with Authors Den at the LA Times/UCLA Writers' Faire. Cross promotion always has its advantages, but it is an especially good marketing tool when one partners with those who already have lots of contacts and a great reputation.

The point of all this is that AD has some news. And I sure love spreading good news--especially when it comes from people I feel great about recommending. My AD friend Matt Miller writes:

"The AuthorsDen Services Marketplace is Open for Business!

"AuthorsDen.com, an online literary community established in 2000, has seen the toll researching the diverse components of the book industry has taken on writers. As a result, we recently launched the AuthorsDen Community MarketPlace...

"The MarketPlace brings together authors and community service providers to create a more artful product. It looks as if it will save us authors some promotion time. Find it at
http://marketplace.authorsden.com"

I can hardly wait to try all its features. Check it out for yourself. And while you're poking around, look at the different membership levels. At a bare minimum sigh up for the free level. Even if you have a Web site of your own, all those outside links coming back to your Web site make for very good Web site opitmizaton (SEO). And it is great backup when your server gives you fits. And, think of the networking opportunities among your fellow AD authors!


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Carolyn Howard-Johnson guest posts for Frugal Marketing. Carolyn is 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: