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AllTips, Spring, 2011
Sharing with Writers

A newsletter that is also a community. Share your ideas. Learn from theirs! Associated with the multi award - winning series of HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers, www.howtodoitfrugally.com


From the Desks of
Carolyn Howard - Johnson
and Sharing with Writers Subscribers


Contents
This Is Your Semi - Annual AllTips Edition
~Note from Carolyn—a quick one!
~AllTips

Note: You may have better luck with the URLs in this newsletter if you copy and paste them into your browser letter. I leave the links long rather than use hyperlinks in this letter because the letter is available in plain text in your e - mail window as well as in .pdf.

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Note from Carolyn

Dear Subscribers:

This is your spring (well…OK—early summer!) AllTips edition of your Sharing with Writers newsletter. I hope you enjoy it and take a minute to forward it to another author you think will benefit. When you send it, please include an invitation to subscribe by sending me a SUBCRIBE message in an e - mail to hojonews@aol.com.

Happy Writing, Editing and Promoting
Carolyn


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Needing something more meaningful for the celebrations in your life? Something that stays within your budget? Try Imagining the Future: Ruminations on Fathers and Other Masculine Apparitions for the men in your life. Sure, they like fusses made over them, too! (www.budurl.com/Imagining) ($6.95). Cherished Pulse (www.budurl.com/CherishedPulse) ($6.95) for someone you love. She Wore Emerald Then (www.budurl.com/MotherChapbook) ($12.95), for mothers and other women, and Blooming Red (www.budurl.com/BloomingRed), to use as Christmas cards or incidental holiday gifts. They’re from the Celebration Series of poetry from Magdalena Ball and me.
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Tip: Fr ^ ^ Service from AuthorsDen! Matt Miller, President of AuthorsDen, says, “We have a big surprise for you! You can now sell your books right from your pages on AuthorsDen.com and earn 100% of the profits. See the full information at http://sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com/2010/11/authorsden - offers - new - free - e - book.html Why not load your e - book there at the same time you load it to Amazon for Kindle?


Subscriber’s Favorite Tip: Hi Carolyn:
I saw this (5 Free E - Books Every Writer Needs) in a Twitter feed by @JaneFriedman and immediately thought this was something you would want to let your subscribers know about. http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/2011/05/26/5FreeEBooksEveryWriterNeeds.aspx I'm working my way through the books now and have found plenty of useful tips!
~Jamie Schaffner, 2011 PEN Emerging Voices Fellow
Read my work in the anthology: Best Lesbian Romance (Cleis Press) http://www.amazon.com/Best - Lesbian - Romance - 2011 - Radclyffe/dp/1573444278/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1293398132&sr=1 - 1


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My review blog lets you extend exposure for your book. It’s a place for you to honor authors and books you’ve loved with a review. It’s a place to recycle the review of your own book, the one you love most. It’s f r ^ ^. Submission guidelines are in the left column at www.TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com.
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Tip: When someone tells you they love your book—in person or in an e - mail—ask them if you can use their comment as a blurb. (Some will find the word “endorsement” more understandable.) Try to get permission to use it as you see fit—on your Web site, in a future book, in your media kit, etc.

Tip: Love this tip from Tony Eldridge’s Blog. He says he uses it all the time to help with photo sizing: http://blog.marketingtipsforauthors.com/2011/06/resource - of - week - faststone - photo.html


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Please paste this little blurb - - perhaps with a little endorsement - - in your newsletter or Web site: To subscribe to Sharing with Writers send an e - mail with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line to HoJoNews@aol.com or go to www.howtodoitfrugally.com for an auto subscribe box. Let me know you did it. I will be able to do something similar for you on my Resources for Readers page at www.howtodoitfrugally.com.
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Tip: Did you get a great review on Amazon or elsewhere? You want your Web site visitors to know about it! Get the permalink for it by clicking on the specific post or review. Copy the very, very long URL that appears in your browser window. Then carry it (electronically) to a URL shortening service and get a short address for it. Use that short address on your Web site, blog, or wherever else you might be communicating with readers who may want to know more about your book. My favorite shorting service is BudUrl.com. I like it because using whole words in a link is more memorable and a better marketing device than a string of unintelligible letters and numbers.

Tip: I’m going to try this tip I found on Tony Eldridge’s Marketing Tips blog. He covers tech on Fridays and I need all the help I can get with that subject. This one seems as if it will be very helpful for lots of future marketing projects and it’s f r ^ ^> http://blog.marketingtipsforauthors.com/2011/06/resource - of - week - jing - free - screen.html


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My blog, War, Peace, Tolerance and Our Soldiers is where I get to nag and rag and try to make things better for our troops and maybe for the world. It includes a segment of frugal ways to help our troops and veterans. I'd love to have you leave a comment. www.warpeacetolerance.blogspot.com
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Tip: From Dana Lynn Smith’s e - book How to Sell More Books on Amazon comes this link for getting (or updating) your Author Central page. https://authorcentral.amazon.com/ If you already have an Authors Central page, you’ll need to sign in. Note: This used to be called Author Connect and before that a plain, old profile page. And while you’re there, you’ll find a link to sign your book up for the “Look Inside” program.

TIP: When you are adding tags for your books on Amazon (you are adding tags for your books, aren’t you?), remember that word order matters. If you still need more tags after you’ve exhausted your allotted 15, ask a friend to add more for you.

Tip: Speaking of keywords, find the most popular keywords for your book’s topic (and yes, your fiction does have at least one topic beyond its genre!) at https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal


=================================================Book Proposal Help: "The Great First Impression Book Proposal: Everything You Need To Know To Sell Your Book in 20 Minutes or Less" is now an e - book or paperback booklet (Only $6.95). Find it at http://budurl.com/bookproposalreport =================================================

Tip: Here’s one of the common errors I see authors make: They think their Amazon personal profile is the same as their Author Connect or Author Central page. Anyone who has bought anything on Amazon has a personal profile. Authors have one, too. To update that, click on “yourname.Amazon.com” link at the top of the screen that opens when you go to Amazon.com. Then find the “Your Profile” link in the upper left corner. Then click on the yellow “edit your profile” button. Be sure you have a photo of you or your book cover there and your Web address. Install your biography here, too. Enter a signature or tagline. That becomes your identifier when you write reviews, Listmanias or So You’d Like Tos. This is where you also add friends. Maybe people who have purchased your book?

Tip: Check out the free anthology, Savvy Book Marketing Secrets: 52 Experts Share Insider Tips for Selling More Books by Dana Lyn Smith on Smashwords. It includes one of my articles. http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/69171


=================================================Social networking is one of the best ways to make valuable contacts and build a list of readers. The most supportive and interactive one I know with an associated site for displaying fiction to the movie industry is iFOGO. Subscribe at http://www.ifogo.com/buy/order_chj.html
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Tip: There is a rumor that comes up again and again. It is that you must buy “the book” on Amazon to review it. Not true. You must have an account or have bought something on Amazon to a review a book there, but not THE book. That means you must have a user name and password. After that, you get to review to your heart’s content.

Tip: Do you know how to make one of those flowery little tech - designs you’ve been seeing around in restaurants work? They are little digital/visual miracles that can lead book and tradeshow visitors who own smart phones straight to your book or other promotion. Here’s how to use them straight from Tony Eldridge’s blog. Copy and paste it to avoid getting a broken link: http://blog.marketingtipsforauthors.com/2011/04/resource - of - week - qr - code - generator.html


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I’m reworked my Web site. Please use the huge Resources for Writers section http://www.howtodoitfrugally.com/links_for_writers.htm. And please let me know if you find broken links. I need your help! =================================================


Editing Tip: I keep popping in at my Frugal, Smart, and Tuned - In Editor blog to add another wordiness alert. You can easily find them by using the search engine at the very top of this blog. Just type in “wordiness” and quite a few blog posts will appear. The alerts are groups of words that will tell you how to look at your copy again. Maybe you can pare and clarify once you’ve spotted them. One such post is at http://thefrugaleditor.blogspot.com/2009/07/go - ahead - and - eliminate - wordiness.html.
Do know that I welcome contributions to my Wordiness alerts? You can give them to me in a comment on the blog or e - mail me directly. Feel free to include your book’s title and your Web site address so you will be properly credited for sharing so generously.


Tip: Many of you know that I believe in publicity because it’s
f r ^ ^ and that I am not very fond of advertising because one must pay for it and it usually doesn’t work super well. Nevertheless, if you’re going to spend some of your budget on advertising, make sure it is targeted advertising. Facebook can do this for you. So can Amazon and talk about targets! Their customers - - to a huge extent—are readers! Here’s a link to get started. http://www.advertising.com/advertiser/sponsored - listings


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No part of this newsletter is paid advertising. If you would like to advertise to subscribers, display ads are available at http://www.howtodoitfrugally.com/advertising.htm at less per year than most sites charge for a single month. Find classified there, too.
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Tip: There is a rumor that you have to own a Kindle e - book reader to buy and enjoy the e - books published in the Kindle store. Not so. Amazon offers fr ^^ applications so you can read these books on your Mac, iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, Android Phone or PC. Find them at http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=sa_menu_karl3?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771


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Subscribers who have websites or newsletters of their own may be interested
in the F r ^^ Articles 4 Readers and Writers on my site, http://howtodoitfrugally.com/free_content.htm. I try to add new articles to it frequently. If you don't see what you need for your blog or newsletter, just ask. HoJoNews@aol.com.
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Poetry Tip: Beware any organization that encourages you to enter poetry in a fr ^^ contest and also gives large prizes. It’s not that some may not be on the up and up, but most include your poem in a huge (!) anthology and try to sell it to you. Sometimes they’ll even give you a discount off an already inflated price.


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Endorsement: I wanted to tell you how your workshops, reading your newsletter, and just chatting with you has been a great help to me. I have a background in marketing from the fashion world and even though it has helped me get my foot in the door, I honestly have to say that after getting to know you, reading your books, and everything else I just said has truly helped me put Stories for Children Magazine on the map. ~ VS Grenier, Founder and Editor - in - Chief Stories for Children Magazine. http://storiesforchildrenmagazine.org.
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Tip:. Authors often say they “can’t afford” all the discounting that Amazon does with their books. Dana Lynn Smith puts it very clearly. She says, “The fact that Amazon has chosen to sell at a discount from the list price usually has no effect on the amount of money that authors earn—they still receive their standard payment from Amazon or their publisher, distributor, or wholesaler.” In fact, if any bookstore’s price structure means that you lose money on the books you sell there, you haven’t marked enough margin into the price of your book to make it profitable. The concept of a margin to accommodate retail sales seems to elude many beginning writers.


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A general marketing rule is that a product must be seen seven times before it is purchased. That is just as true for books (because they are products, like it or not!). Let people see that bookcover image! To do that, you are invited to advertise as a site sponsor at www.howtodoitfrugally.com for only $25 to $35 a year. Yep, the frugal way! Click on the Advertising tab at the top of the page or contact me personally at hojonews@aol.com.
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Tip: MaAnna Stephenson is guest blogger on Tony Eldridge’s Marketing Tips for Authors blog. She talks about how to avoid costly mistakes with your Web site.
http://www.facebook.com/l/17178d6Nn - ZVXhUAoGILxcCVT0g/blog.marketingtipsforauthors.com/2011/04/costly - pitfalls - to - avoid - when - setting.html


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Audio divas bring you audios on many aspects of building a writing career:
www.tri - studio.com/writers.html. Titles include:
~Contest Facts: How to Add “Award - winning” to Your Name;
~Do It Yourself Indexing: The Way to Sell Your Book to Libraries, Schools and Anyone Else That Buys Nonfiction;
~Fury and Destruction: How to Use Violence Effectively in Your Writing
~And more.
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Tip: Automatically feed each of your new blog posts to your Facebook or Twitter pals by using www.TwitterFeed.com.

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Are you confused about how to credit facts or quotes when you write articles or nonfiction? Check out my Frugal, Smart and Tuned - In Editor blog: http://thefrugaleditor.blogspot.com/2010/10/q - la - ann - landers - academic - accreditation.html
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Tip: To find hashtag trends (what tweeters have designated as topics of interest by using the little pound sign) go to www.trendistic.com .


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Yes, I do consult. I tailor my fees to your needs - - everything from coaching to full edits (sorry no partial edits) to hour - long consultations to help you with your marketing campaign or your path to publishing. http://budurl.com/carolynsconsulting =================================================

Tip: It’s easier to keep e - books current than paper books, especially with information that covers Web sites. That’s because Web site administrators love to make changes and Amazon is the king of changes. There is a section on using Amazon to promote your book in The Frugal Book Promoter (www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo) but Dana Smith has a new short e - book out on the subject. You will love it! http://bookmarketingmaven.typepad.com/savvy_book_marketer/how - to - sell - more - books - on - amazon.html. The two (my Amazon chapter and her e - book!) complement one another.

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Recent guest blog posts: BookBuzzr.com’s regular blog for writers: http://www.bookbuzzr.com/blog/book - marketing/your - stepping - stones - to - credibility/
Recent podcast links: Elemental Musings from Bev Walton - Porter of Scribe and Quill: http://budurl.com/waltonporter
Talking with Funky Writer Rob Batista about starting a career, promoting the hard - to - promote genres:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thefunkywriter/2010/07/30/the - funky - writer - radio - show - episode - 74
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Editing Tip: Oh, yeah. I struggle with singular possessive pronouns and gender neutrality. Now someone takes on the problem for the Bible. Wow! A don’t miss article! http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2011/04/updated - new - international - bible - translation.html


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Here is a list of small publishers for your consideration: www.howtodoitfrugally.com/small_publishers.htm
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Tip: If you have trouble understanding or choosing important keywords, get help at https://adwords.google.com and then find the “Reports and Tools” tab at the top of the page. Look for “Keywords” in the drop down menu. What do you need keywords for? You need them when you’re choosing categories for your book on Amazon or when you’re working with Google, Facebook, or other ad programs. When you’re working with titles for your book. And when you’re trying to up your Web site ratings.



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Fun and F r ^ ^: If you purchased the Frugal Book Promoter or the Frugal Editor, I'd love you to review it on Amazon or BN.com. Make it simple; just tell what part of it you found most valuable. If you do, send me the review link (URL) and I will send you a 35 - page handout from one of my UCLA classes. As a thank you, of course. HoJoNews@aol.com
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Tip: So you’re just starting your trek to being a bestselling author! Think ahead. Buy as many of the domain names you think might apply to your branding now and lock them in. That would include your name, for sure. Maybe the titles of your books. Yes! Even before they are done!


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Unsolicited endorsement from Chaz DeSimone, book cover designer extraordinaire (www.chazdesimone.com): “Carolyn, the Frugal Book Promoter is amazingly comprehensive, understandable, and is using up all my highlighter ink.” Heidi (one of his clients): Start reading! It'll get you excited about promoting, and getting your promotion ready ahead of time.” ================================================

Tip: Here is a freebie that you’d usually have to pay for and it is full of tips for you from Shelley Hitz. It is really her gift to my subscribers! http://www.self - publishing - coach.com/support - files/social - media - tips - from - the - experts.pdf


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My tweets cover everything from news to more tips and resources, all in 140 characters or less. If you don’t want to tweet, at least follow me for more great tips. Make a profile page and invite me at www.twitter.com/frugalbookpromo. =================================================

Tip: From Penny Sansevieri’s newsletter comes this tip on getting any kind of exposure. If you live in areas where competition is keen but your book fits other markets equally well or better, concentrate on those smaller markets first. To subscribe to Penny’s letter send an e - mail to subscribe@amarketingexpert.com.


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The New Book Review is a f r ^ ^ service of this newsletter. It allows authors to get more exposure from their favorite review and reviewers a chance to have more readers see their reviews - - with links, of course. Please check the guidelines on the blog site at www.TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com before you send me your fave reviews.
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Tip: If you need to convert you files to .pdf often, here’s a f r ^ ^ service. http://www.freepdfconvert.com/


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Sign up to receive a copy of my Sharing with Writers blog in your e - mail box. It is a focused blog on all things related to writing and publishing. Go to www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com. Sign up in the left - hand column. Find related resources by scrolling to the bottom of the blog.
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Wordstuff ™

Something to Make Writers Smile
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(Fun with language from The Washington and other publications.)

Sarchasm(n): The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.


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Essential Book and Record Keeping:

This is a place to share with others and learn from others.

Although I do attempt to verify information used within this newsletter's pages, Sharing with Writers does not guarantee entities or information. Subscribers should research resources.

To submit information articles, tips or other information, e - mail Carolyn at HoJoNews@aol.com. Please put "Submission: Sharing with Writers" in the subject line.

If you do not care to receive this newsletter, send an e - mail to HoJoNews@aol.com with "Unsubscribe” in the subject line, but please, please don't tell me you've given up writing or promoting!

To subscribe to Sharing with Writers send an e - mail with "Subscribe" in the subject line to:: HoJoNews@aol.com.

Please pass this newsletter to friends or e - groups. It needn't be pasted in its complete form, but please credit this newsletter, and the individual contributors with anything you snip and paste.

Ordering Information:
Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won't http://budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo
The e - book at http://starpublishllc.com/id43.html

The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success
http://budurl.com/TheFrugalEditor

The Great First Impression Book Proposal: Everything You Need To Know About Selling Your Book in 20 Minutes or Less,
E - book: https://www.createspace.com/3468136

Great Little Last - Minute Editing Tips for Writers: The Ultimate Frugal Booklet for Avoiding Word Trippers and Crafting Gatekeeper - Perfect Copy
E - book: https://www.createspace.com/3422926

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://budurl.com/RetailersGuide

To learn more about This Is the Place,
Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered, Tracings, and She Wore Emerald Then: www.carolynhoward - johnson.com.

She Wore Emerald Then: Reflections on Motherhood, a chapbook of poetry coauthored with Magdalena Ball. http://budurl.com/MotherChapbook

Tracings, a chapbook of poetry (Finishing Line Press)
www.budurl.com/CarolynsTracings

Contact Information
Websites:
http://carolynhoward - Johnson.com (literary)
http://HowToDoItFrugally.com (all things about writing)


Blogs:

http://www.SharingwithWriters.blogspot.com, a blog on all things publishing
http://www.TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com, all things grammatical and ungrammatical
http://www.TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog focused on YOUR reviews
http://www.TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com, a blog focused on editing, formatting and craft
http://www.WarPeaceTolerance.blogspot.com War. Peace. Tolerance. And Our Soldiers.
http://www.sizzlingbookfairbooths.blogspot.com, a blog where you can learn to get some mojo behind your own booth by learning from the successes and mistakes of others.

Tweeting at:
www.twitter.com/frugalbookpromo
www.twitter.com/frugalretailing