February 17, 2007 Sharing with Writers:
From the Desks
Of Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Authors' Coalition Friends
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"Sharing with Writers" is the official newsletter of Authors' Coalition,

http://authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com

an organization of writers who help writers.

To read this newsletter at Authors Den go to:

http://www.AuthorsDen.com/adstorage/1713/Sharingwithwriters_Feb_FourthWeek_2007.doc

Learn about an opportunity to participate in the LA Times/UCLA Festival of Books -- whether you live in LA or not -- by going to my blog at http://redenginepress.com/chjohnson

The LA fair is one of the nation's biggest and most prestigious with more than 130,000 visitors and the power of the LA Times behind it.

Find pictures of last year's booth at http://tri-studio.com/kathegogolewskiPHOTOSfair06.html

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Note from Carolyn:

My fellow AC Members and SWW Subscribers:

I need your help. Those of you who have read The Frugal Book Promoter know that I advocate entering and winning contests. You also know that I don't think they have to be (maybe shouldn't be in order to assure a win now and then!) the biggest name contests around. Winning any little award or contest will do to help you set apart you, your book or whatever other project you're working on.

Now, the dreadful secret. This newsletter, this very Sharing with Writers newsletter has no awards. And now I have such a gorgeous website (Ha! You all know how hard I worked on it and that alone makes it gorgeous!), I need a little banner of prestige to add to the newsletter page.

So, how about it? Would you mind taking a minute to nominate Sharing with Writers, if you get enough from it each year to think it should qualify? If so, send an email to writersdig@fwpubs.com. Put "101 Best Web sites and/or Newsletters" in the subject line and include a brief note about how Sharing with Writers (or www.HowToDoItFrugally.com) has helped your writing career. Feel free to copy me the nomination and give me your book title and URL and I'll thank you formally in the Thank Yous column of this newsletter. That's because I follow my own advice. In The Frugal Book Promoter, I tell people to write at least one thank you note a day. That's one rule I can tell you to, "Do as I do" instead of only "Do as I say."

Best,

Carolyn Howard-Johnson
HoJoNews@aol.com
http://carolynhoward-johnson.com
http://authorscoalitionandredenginepess.com and a blog focused on book fairs at
http://redenginepress.com/chjohnson and another blog that is just about writing and reading at www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com.
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Letters-to-the-Editor

(I am publishing this personal letter as a reminder to write your one small letter of thanks or love each day. The letter I sent to Cindy couldn't have warmed her day as much as this one warmed mine.)

Hi Carolyn,

Many months ago when I retired from writing to take care of an ill [relative] you sent me lovely note to me through Bev Walton-Porter who was editing Scribe & Quill at the time. You mentioned that you hadn't known of me very long, but that you now saw me everywhere. I always meant to write you back, but the intention got lost in the daily [care].I wanted to tell you that the reason you were seeing me everywhere was because I was following the advice in your book! I recommend it to every writer I know. I just met a woman who self-published a diet book and was marketing it herself. I told her not to do another thing until she had ordered a copy of your book. So . . . a very belated thank you for all the wonderful info in your book. It was a tremendous help.

Best of luck with all your projects. I had wanted to attend your lecture when you were here in San Diego, but had a prior commitment. Maybe next time!

Cindy VanRooy
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Mini-Feature

Neuromarketing: Nothing New But the Term

Remember that old Pepsi vs. Coke test? I remember it. I won lots of quarters identifying Coke over Pepsi every time. That test was updated in 2004. Sixty-seven people tasted the two in a blind test and were then rolled into a functioning magnetic resonance imaging machine (an fMRI) where the activity of their brain cells was measured. All showed pleasure and results were about evenly split between the two products (they obviously didn't ask me to participate!).

Then they repeated the test and they were told what they were drinking. Three out of four preferred Coke. This showed that the brand itself has value in the brain system way beyond the real value of a product.

What does that mean for us authors? Well, it may mean that John Grisham's books are not all that much better than yours. It also means that if you get a hold of that branding concept and utilize it effectively, you might convince the world that your book is . . . .well, as good as it is! (-:
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CHJ suggests that the place to begin to get a grip on branding is in The Frugal Book Promoter. Then go to the Links for Writers page of HowToDoItFrugally.com for some more marketing resources.
For more on this subject check out "A User's Guide to the Brain" in Time Magazine, Jan 29, 2007.

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No part of this newsletter is paid advertising.
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TIP: Have you thought about making a video/slideshow to bring visual information about your book to people at book fairs and other events you appear at? Authors' Coalition has. We're testing the concept (though larger brains than ours have already proved that more people learn better if they see something than if they only hear it) at the LA Times/UCLA Festival of Books. The whole test is free to anyone who purchases the CD package; that way those who participate will end up with a CD they can use to promote themselves (and others through cross-promotion) AND a video-type slide show that will let them do the same thing using a different medium. That's a marketing tip. Don't appeal to only one or two senses. Snag as many as you can using everything from sight to sound to touch.

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Please pass this letter on to others. Unlike many others, I do not mind if you use only portions of it as long as you credit the writers and include this subscribe information. "To subscribe to 'Sharing with Writers' send an e-mail to HoJoNews@aol.com with 'subscribe' in the subject line."
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TIP: Here's a monthly opportunity for you. Yarnspinners and Wordweavers. As you may know SWW subscribers and Authors' Coalition members are given special consideration for publication in this lovely zine. You can read it by going to
http://www.redenginepress.com/February07.htm and open or download the jpg of each page. You can also open the pdf by clicking on this link: http://www.redenginepress.com/Y&W/feb07/Y&W%20Feb07.pdf. If you aren't subscribed, send an e-mail with "subscribe" in the subject line to nate@redenginepress.com.

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TIP: If you didn't see the article on why you should use Amazon's AmazonConnect ™ in last week's newsletter, you can find those reasons plus a couple of other valuable tips at www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com.


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Perks for participants Authors' Coalition's booth in the LA Times/UCLA Festival of Books:

 Yarnspinners and Wordweavers will feature an ad for your book.
 You will qualify for an interview or a review in Yarnspinners and Wordweavers.
 Authors' Coalition will run a year-long ad on their site.
 You automatically become a paid member to Authors' Coalition entitling you all the members' perks including a review on the AC site, participation in the AC bookstore, and more.

You can participate in some way whether you can be in Los Angeles for the fair or not. When you do you will get exposure at the fair to more than 130,000 visitors. If you participate in the catalog more than 500 or more booksellers and press will see your book

To subscribe to Y&W, send an e-mail with "subscribe" in the subject line to nate@redenginepress.com. To learn more about the LA Times Fair program go to http://redenginepress.com/chjohnson.
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Opportunity:

Send me your title, author, ISBN and a quick pitch and the category of your book and I'll list it on my Links for Readers page on my new website, www.howtodoitfrugally.com. Of course, I'd appreciate a return link but that's not essential.

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New members will help Authors' Coalition serve all its members better! Ask your writing friends to join at http://authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com. Paid members get a favorite review posted, consideration for an interview or review in Yarnspinners and Wordweavers. Membership is reasonable, too. We're even planning a speakers' bureau.

Tell friends to visit our blog. There they'll learn how to spark generally insipid book fairs by using value-added promotions: http://redenginepress.com/chjohnson .
http://authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com
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Tip: Read my review of a really unusual and interesting reference that can help writers. It's also such a lovely book; you'll like having it in your library on that basis alone. Go to: http://www.allbookreviews.com/Default.aspx?tabid=819
This site is edited by
Shirley Roe, Allbooks Review
www.allbookreviews.com
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Author Successes

(You are invited to send me news about your successes. New books, awards and more. If you read about others' successes you'll not only be inspired, you'll glean resources for future successes of your own. Please get in the habit of using subject lines, though, that will not be interpreted as spam.)

Brandon Wilson

(Success comes in all kinds of costumes. This in from Brandon Wilson, author of
Dead Men Don't Leave Tips: Adventures X Africa)

"Beginning late in April, two of us set off walking along an ancient Crusader/Roman route from France to Jerusalem. For me, it was a trek for peace, talking with literally millions of people, via media interviews, along the way. I reminded them that there are other options to constantly choosing war over other solutions, especially in this fragile world.

It was a time of contemplation and wonder, as "angels" appeared to help us with their random acts of kindness along the way.

After five months and 2500 miles across ten countries, I arrived in Jerusalem on September 30th.

Since returning, I've been working each day on a new book about the adventure and hope to have it out next January. Although I still haven't hit on an exact title, it may be something as simple as Walking to Jerusalem. If interested, there is a new page devoted to the project at http://www.PilgrimsTales.com .

As always, thanks for all your promotional ideas. (Now if I could only find people as receptive to peace-as they are to what Britney's wearing under her skirt!)"

In peace,
Brandon Wilson
Pilgrim's Tales, Inc., www.PilgrimsTales.com. publisher of the IPPY award-winning Yak Butter Blues/
"Recommended for adventure travel and Tibetan culture collections."~ Library Journal

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Nikki Arana (http://www.nikkiarana.com/) won the Excellence in Media 2007 Silver Angel Award (www.angelawards.com) for her second book, In the Shade of the Jacaranda.
She says, "The Silver Angels entries arrived from places like Russia, Israel, Japan, the West Indies and Great Britain. No entry is in competition with another. Each entry competes with itself... for excellence. This makes it possible for a small town to make the winners list along with the major studios and networks.
Over the past 30 years, Excellence In Media has recognized more than 140 producers with Silver Angels annually. These productions were professional and had the highest moral, 'spiritual, ethical, or social impact.'"
The entries are judged by a panel of civic leaders, businessmen, college professors, producers, journalists and members of Excellence in Media who are outstanding in some media fields and can bring the expertise and experience to the judging.
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Ian Middleton is releasing in e-book format his To the End of the World and Back (A South American Adventure) with 140 full colour photos, and Hot Footing Around the Emerald Isle with over 100 photos and 18 new articles from further travels around Ireland, including an article about a 280-mile hike for charity from Wexford to Donegal, in aid of asthma research.

As an introduction he is offering a free e-book with the purchase of any paperback, or two e-books for the price of one when bought directly through the publisher's website.

For more information visit the website: http://www.schmetterlingproductions.co.uk/
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Bev Walton- Porter, editor/publisher (scribequill@comcast.net ) Scribe & Quill (http://www.scribequill.com/) was voted 4th place out of the top 10 at the Preditors & Editors 2006 poll. Scribe & Quill is issued quarterly and offers a quill award. Check it out.

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Fun and F r * *: If you purchased Promoter in the past, I'd love for 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 an excerpt from my soon-to-be-released The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success that includes some sidebars from the book that will help you with some tricky grammar. As a thank you, of course. HoJoNews@aol.com, the Frugal Book
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Tip: Here's a place you can list some events you are doing at no cost--if they are nonprofit. I listed the one I am doing for my city's library, but I'm not sure if they would consider, as an example, UCLA Extension, as nonprofit. And there's no point in listing a closed seminar, I guess. There is some potential here for some of you, though. Here's the link: http://www.womenscalendar.org/index.asp

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Carolyn's Appearances and Teaching:

Carolyn Howard-Johnson's new course at UCLA is Creating a Promotion Package for Your Fiction or Nonfiction Book (Engl. 735.1, Reg. #S9465). It is scheduled for April 14, 2007, one day only. On the UCLA campus, Public Policy Building, Room 1278, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm.
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Carolyn will workshop with members of the California Writers Club and nonmembers alike on Saturday, March 3, 11 am, at the Valley Center Jewish Community Center, 13164 Burbank Blvd, Sherman Oaks, CA. Learn more at http://www.calwriterssfv.com. After learning how to build credentials by building a media kit, she will critique kits for audience members. The cost is $10 for nonmembers, $5 for members. The fee includes lunch.
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Coming Saturday April 21, 2007 at 10 am. Led by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, Poetry! Don't Let It Molder in a Drawer, Publish It! A seminar and poetry reading at the Glendale City Central Library (California) in the auditorium.
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Mark April 28th and 29, 2007, for the LA Times/UCLA Festival of Books. Go to www.redenginepress.com/chjonson for the fair-focused blog with details on how even out-of-towners can participate.
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Carolyn will train American Business Women of America's (ABWA) newsletter editors publish prize-winning, professional periodicals June 9th at their regional convention in Downey, CA.
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Romance Writers Everywhere! Come to the meeting I'll be speaking at on Saturday, June 16th, in San Diego to meet me and the National President of Romance Writers of America (Jill Limber) who will speak on writing a great synopsis--something most of us aren't that adept at (for lack of practice if nothing else). I'll speak at 10 am, she'll speak after lunch. Lunch and meetings at the Mission Valley Handley Hotel is $25 for members, $30. for nonmembers.
For reservations contact hospitality chairwoman Mary Galusha at: marydave66@yahoo.com . Please copy Linda Sundstrom, lsundstrom@ucsd.edu if you want to arrange seating at my table. The group's website is www.rwasd.com.
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Carolyn will be interviewed by popular author and marketer Janet Elaine Smith hosts an online radio program, "Marketing for Fun and Profit," every Monday evening at July 9 p.m. ET on http://internetvoicesradio.com/ .

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Carolyn will speak on "Your Media Release: You Write So You Can Do It! September 8, 2007 at the Valley Cities Jewish
Community Center in Sherman Oaks, CA www.CalWritersSFV.com
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Carolyn will moderate a panel on publishing at the West Hollywood Book Fair on September 30. Circle your calendars. It's f r ^ ^ Even those who are old hands at publishing will learn something new, I promise!
West Hollywood Park
647 N San Vicente Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90069
Learn more at http://www.westhollywoodbookfair.org/Mambo/
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Carolyn will speak at the fourth Annual Pen to Paper Literary Symposium October 6, 2007, Dayton, Ohio. The conference will include tracks for music and screenwriting, in addition to writing and publishing books. Start planning now to attend this elite event and take advantage of the early bird special (www.penofthewriter.com/pentopaper).
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The f r ^ ^ Muse Online Writers' Conference, sponsored by Lea Schizas and Carolyn Howard-Johnson, is accepting early registration. More than 1,000 attended last year and openings are limited. Learn more about this year's conference, October 8 to 14, and how you can assure your spot 2007. We will present an all-new program soon. Go to:
http://www.freewebs.com/themuseonlinewritersconference/presentersregistration.htm
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Carolyn will be speaking to PEN USA's Emerging Voices fellows in May at Antioch University. This is a closed event but you can learn more about the program for yourself or to help other talented writers by going to www.penusa.com.
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New for 2008! & As you can see 2008 is already beginning to fill. I will be sharing with the nation's humor writers again in the fall of 2008 at Dayton University's Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop.

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Authors' Coalition members! For credibility, use the AC logo on your promotional materials. Ask for it by sending an e-mail to HoJoNews@aol.com or download it with a click from the AC site http://authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com.
Be sure to link it to the AC site, too!
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Thank Yous:

(Note: Each thank you may be set with a jewel of a resource for you to plumb for your book. Watch for them! Adapt them to your own publishing and promotion needs!)

California Writers Club for collaging The Frugal Book Promoter prominently on the cover of their beautifully produced roster for 2006-2007. The cover was designed by Carol Wood. Here's an idea for you from this roster great roster. Included interesting tidbits of some kind on each. They used humorous "Writers' Exercises" to keep members turning the pages.
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To Lea Schizas for publishing my article "Eight Ways to Avoid Paying a Publicist to Get You on Radio" in the Muse Marquee. Go to http://themusemarquee.tripod.com/. Consider subscribing and/or submitting to the Marquee while you're there.
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To Sassy Brit for posting Maggie Ball's and my release on how poetry connected two hearts from opposite sides of the world: http://tjbook-list.blogspot.com/2007/02/net-connects-two-poet-hearts-in-two.html And to all those who bought copies of Cherished Pulse to give to someone they love.
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To The Muse It Up Club for including one of my poems in Matters of the Heart in a free e-book available at http://museitupclub.tripod.com/. It will also be available as a downloadable .pdf on my site www.HowToDoItFrugally.com. Look for the poetry pages.
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To Magadalena Ball for her recommendation of The HowToDoItFrugally series on her Compulsive Reader site. http://www.compulsivereader.com/html/index.php She also has a call out for book reviewers.

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Reciprocal Links: Many subscribers are in a position to cross-promote. Let me know if you would like to trade some recommendation or promotion for a place on my Links for Writers or Links for Readers pages on www.HowToDoItFrugally.com.
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Resources
From Elizabeth Lucas-Taylor

(Elizabeth contributes at least one valuable paying resource per SWW issue--either a great place to sell material or find writing craft or promotional idea.)

MANUSCRIPTS - Ideas for preparing flawless manuscripts with free downloadable tips: http://www.publishersresource.com/

ONLINE PAYING MARKET - Common Ties tells us that funding is provided by angel investors. http://www.commonties.com/
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Find Elizabeth at http://www.authorsden.com/elucastaylor or her new blog at http://www.elucas-taylor.blogspot.com/

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When was the last time you bought a book from an author you know? Tracings, my new chapbook of poetry is available for that honor at www.amazon.com/gp/product/1599240173/qid=1141623936/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-4692447-2218401?s=books&v=glance&n=283155
but any book mentioned in any one of your Sharing with Writers newsletters would be a nice gesture. If all of us directed more of our reading to newer authors who write in genres we love or genres we need to stretch into, we would do ourselves and the publishing industry a great favor.
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Scandal Suspected, Now Confirmed

I have read this kind of thing before. Last time the story was a bit different. Major publishers often inflate the numbers they give out of first run printings because big numbers help create a buzz. Now we have this one that explains how publishers often don't reveal how many of a given book sells to the press or issue misleading figures.

When, in the past, I have told people that I don't know for sure how many of my book has sold, I get that "you are withholding information" look.
However, I truly only have a rough idea and I don't believe in misleading people. Many authors don't know how many books they have sold and wouldn't without demanding an audit from their publishers. They may not even know how many they've personally sold unless they kept precise figures on books given away as promotions to reviewers and others and books sold at book fairs and speaking gigs.

So, don't feel confused, lonely and mislead. Just read up and be as informed as you can on book sales. Here's the link to a really good article on the subject from the LA Times. http://www.calendarlive.com/printedition/calendar/cl-et-booksales14feb14,0,882221.story
CHJ
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Thanks to June Casagrande, author of Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies (Penguin) for sending this link to "Sharing with Writers."

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Notice: The resources sections of this newsletter have been removed. The ones I included in my newsletter are now permanent links of my new website (though the website is still emerging). I've added lots more links, too, making it a wonderful page for you to go for services and ideas you might need. http://www.carolynhowardjohnson.redenginepress.com/links_for_writers.htm or go directly to the homepage (www.HowToDoItFrugally.com) and click on "Links for Writers." If you don't see your link there, check the "Links for Readers" page. And while you're checking, please check to be sure that one or more of my books is included on your website or in your newsletter.(-: No, I won't take down your link if you don't reciprocate; my links are service to writers. I don't put it up if I don't think someone will benefit. At the same time, it is nice for others to reciprocate when they can. (-:
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"AC is the current that powers your writing career." http://authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com
Carolyn Howard-Johnson, Authors' Coalition Founder
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Feature

E-Tips for E-Promotion: Because we all know that targeted media releases are so important, here is my favorite site for finding local outlets that will be interested in your release if you let them know there will be local interest in you or your book. I used it extensively for publicizing "This Is the Place" because there are so few books set in Utah. : http://www.usnpl.com/ .
You can do the same by targeting each state's (or city's) media by asking: Where are the characters in my book born? Where do they live? Where was the author born? Where did the author grow up? Is there something about my book or life that will appeal to a particular region?
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This is a regular Sharing with Writers feature by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of USA Book News' Best Professional Book THE FRUGAL BOOK PROMOTER: HOW TO DO WHAT YOUR PUBLISHER WON'T and the soon-to-be released THE FRUGAL EDITOR: PUT YOUR BEST BOOK FORWARD TO AVOID HUMILIATION AND ENSURE SUCCESS. (E-tips for E-promotion was originally a regular feature of SellWritingOnline.com.)

========================================================If you enjoy "Sharing with Writers" please nominate it for Writer's Digest's 101 Best Newsletters for Writers. We aren't big, we aren't old. So it would take a huge outpouring from subscribers to make a dent. Send an e-mail to writersdig@fwpubs.com with subject line, "101 Best Newsletters for Authors" and let them know what this newsletter does for you!
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Wordstuff ™

Something to Make Writers Smile:

(Every year the Washington Post conducts a neologism contest. These are the winners, one at a time. You might have some favorite neologisms metaphors or similes that make you smile. If so, please contribute.)

"Frisbeetarianism (n.), (back by popular demand): The belief that, when you die, your soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there."

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Essential Book and Record Keeping:

This letter is an entity of Authors' Coalition http://authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com

Edited and distributed by Carolyn Howard-Johnson,

http://carolynhoward-johnson.com

author of This Is the Place, Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered, Tracings, and The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won't, this is a place to share with others and learn from others.

Though 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 letter, unsubscribe at HoJoNews@aol.com

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

Order the Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won't
at stores like UCLA, Dayton University and San Diego State University's bookstores. Order it as an e-book at http://starpublish.com/carolyn_howard-johnson.htm

or paperback at Amazon where it is discounted:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/193299310X/qid=1149015406/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-4692447-2218401?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

Tracings, a chapbook of poetry, published by Finishing Line Press may be ordered at www.amazon.com/gp/product/1599240173/qid=1139084827/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-7824821-4156653?s=books&v=glance&n=283155