June 7, 2007
Sharing with Writers
A newsletter that is also a community. Share your ideas. Learn from theirs!
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 letter in plain vanilla text, just scroll down. To read this newsletter with a bit more pizzazz (not much, though!) at Authors Den go to:

http://www.AuthorsDen.com/adstorage/1713/Sharingwithwriters_June_No1Week2007.doc

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Note from Carolyn:

My fellow AC Members and SWW Subscribers:

When I returned today from speaking to a regional group of the American Business Women Association (http://www.abwa.org/), newsletters and contests were on my mind.

The room was full of women who edited their group's newsletter and, at least in part because the group offers awards for well-constructed newsletters, they were interested in improving theirs. I, of course, loaded them with ideas I use for this newsletter but also with good solid stuff from my newspaper days including how to use decks, taglines, bylines--even how to set up interesting picture opportunities.

I have long advised authors to sponsor contests as ways to promote their books. Most use contests in which they give away their books or the books of others along with, perhaps, an associated gift. They offer these competitions on their sites, when they speak and in their newsletters. Some ask entrants to answer questions based on the content of their books--a sort of unveiled attempt to get them to read their books, of course. These contests work with a varying amount of success.

I offer a Noble (Not Nobel!) Prize to books that excel in the use of the English language and explore the human condition, books that have been ignored by the real Nobel and other well-known awards (See my "Back to Literature" page at www.MyShelf.com for details.) The goal for me is to send the message that I am more than the HowToDoItFrugally girl and, of course, to help serious, unsung writers get noticed.

I once sponsored a contest for book promotion ideas. The winners of that contest were published in an e-book that continues to keep giving. You will find it as a
f r ^ ^ download on the "Free E-books" page at www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com. Kristie Leigh Maguire, publisher of Star Publish, was the cosponsor and great e-book assembler.

Of course, the goal for ABWA to sponsor a contest and to have me as a speaker was to get their editors to put out better newsletters.

Why?

1. Because regular newsletters build loyalty. To an organization, to an author, to a product. They do that by offering content that their subscribers want..
2. Because newsletters educate. They give information to subscribers that the sponsoring organization or editor wants them to have.
3. Because newsletters can actually recruit. (By the way, too many newsletter editors are too eager to trim away subscribers who are not also active participants. In this electronic age, it costs nothing for a newsletter to go to people who once showed an interest; that person's interest might be kick-started again by a new project featured in the newsletter or by the subscriber's own personal needs. Let the subscriber opt out! Don't just trim them away!)
4. Because the content in newsletters can be the seeds for publicity in other places. Local newspapers, other organizations, etc. might be interested in articles published in your newsletter. That's why I have a "Free Articles 4 Editors" page on my website, www.howtodoitfrugally.com.
5. Because newsletters can bring a group together by offering interactive opportunities. In other words, subscribers who are encouraged to participate in the workings of a newsletter can help others while branding themselves and marketing their product or business.
6. Because newsletters encourage frequent contact with its audience. In marketing, frequency counts.

If a national organization as strong as ABWA sponsors contests that foster better newsletters, they must see the potential in those letters and understand the power of contests as motivators.

We, as writers and authors, should too!

Happy, happy writing and promoting!
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
HoJoNews@aol.com
Websites: http://carolynhoward-johnson.com and www.HowToDoItFrugally.com
http://authorscoalitionandredenginepess.com Blogs: A blog focused on book fairs at
http://redenginepress.com/chjohnson and another blog that is about writing and reading at www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com and
www.thenewbookreview.blogspot.com

Note: Next issue watch for Carolyn's new way to get more mileage out of your favorite book review!

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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 and ditto for The Fiction Flyer. Membership is reasonable, too.
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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Letters-to-the-Editor

Carolyn:

Your article this month about "The Power of Pause" [This article was by Vicki Hinze, www.vickihinze.com ] reminded me of how that works for me.

No matter what I write (other than a brief email), I always "let it simmer" (pause) for at least 24-hours. Yes, it does make me discipline myself to get jobs done earlier so I have the time to revise, but I believe that I always put out a better blog, article, newsletter, press release, speech,
content for a client, etc. by setting it aside and coming back to it with fresh eyes.

My two cents for this week.

I wished I had gone to BEA this year just so we could have met. Maybe next
year in LA...

Carol White
Author, Publisher, Speaker & Marketing Coach
www.roadtripdream.com
888 522 TRIP (8747)
A member of PMA, SPAN, NSA,
NWABP & Travel Publishers Assn.
Finalist, 2004 ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year - Travel Winner, 2006
Benjamin Franklin Book of the Year - Marketing Excellence


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Subscribers who have websites or newsletters of their own may be interested in the Free Articles 4 Readers and Writers on my site, www.howtodoitfrugally.com. I add new articles to it each week. If you don't see what you need, just ask. HoJoNews@aol.com.
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More Scamy Stuff

Beware Big Business Education Providers

Elizabeth Lucas-Taylor sends me a letter from an organization that is offering a workshop on Internet broadcasting. My take-advantage-of-authors-scam antennae went up. That the organization sponsoring the workshop is interested in empowering the underserved made it all the more worrisome.

It looks to me as if the organization that is presenting this seminar (and is being endorsed innocently by the nonprofit) is a big-business-for-profit entity specializing in education. Many of us have seen throw-away newspapers and sites on the web that offer learning experiences; some do a poor job of vetting their teachers. They sometimes pay more attention to the profitability of their organization than they do to the quality of classes/instructors they choose or to the content of the classes or to the ethics of the schemes being presented.

The subject of the workshop also worries me. I don't recommend that anyone pay to become hosts or guests on radio--Internet or otherwise--and this may be a workshop designed to entice people to do just that. It's not that Internet radio is not powerful, but there are ways to utilize it without getting taken. There are too many people charging the underserved (yes, women! authors! artists! ) for services that they can get at n^ c^st. This particular offering may be more about selling entrepreneurs (including authors) something they could do free on their own rather than about helping them.

"Buyer beware." Choose your classes and promotion opportunities carefully.

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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 www.howtodoitfrugally.com (see the advertising tab at the top of the page) or at www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com.
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Tip: My recent issue of Span Connection pointed me to the sitemap at Ideas for Business to find articles on "creative techniques for promoting, advertising, customer service" and to subscribe to the site's f r ^ ^ newsletter. The URL is http://ideassiteforbusiness.com/sitemap.cfm. Learn more about SPAN and its newsletter at www.spannet.org.

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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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Tip: Here is a site where an author of anything having to do with publishing or writing can get a free listing. They allowed me to post for this newsletter and here is the URL: http://www.published.com/published/5023_Sharing%20with%20Writers%20and%20Readers.aspx

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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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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.)

Due to the short time between newsletters, there are none to report. I like to hear about book releases, awards, promotion coups that will help others. Please don't send book events, though, unless it can help fellow authors with new resources or especially creative ideas.

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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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Carolyn's Appearances and Teaching:

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 moderate a panel titled
Reach for Your Dream: Prepare for Publication the Professional Way
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/
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Carolyn will speak at the fourth Annual Pen to Paper Literary Symposium October 6, 2007, Dayton Marriott, 1414 S. Patterson Blvd Dayton, Ohio, 45409. The conference, spearheaded by Valerie Coleman, 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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Sign up to receive a copy my Sharing with Writers blog. It is a focused blog on all things writing and publishing related, from scolding Oprah to free speech. 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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Carolyn's Appearances and Teaching 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 spring of 2008 at Dayton University's Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop. I'll speak twice at the Kennedy Union on campus.

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Coming Soon! Booth opportunities at the West Hollywood Book Fair.
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Tip: Available: Audios from Audio Divas on many aspects of building a writing career are published by Double Dragon Press. Here is the page where you'll find the full list (http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/glist.php?imprint=AUDIO) including one on "Do It Yourself Indexing." The first one, "Promoting Easy and Cheap!" is a
F R ^ ^ sample. Each comes with a resource guide. Here is an example of a guide for the audio-lesson Your Divas did on "Contests": http://www.derondouglas.com/audiosample/AwardResourceGuideContests.pdf

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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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"AC is the current that powers your writing career." http://authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com
Carolyn Howard-Johnson, Authors' Coalition Founder
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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--and sometimes throws in a resource for you.)
Resources:

WRITER’S ENCYCLOPEDIA - http://www.writersmarket.com/Ency

WEB WRITING – Web Tips: http://www.webwritingthatworks.com

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

WRITER’S CONTESTS - http://www.writers-free-reference.com/contests.htm
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Find Elizabeth at http://www.authorsden.com/elucastaylor or her new blog at http://www.elucas-taylor.blogspot.com/ or at MySpace http://www.myspace.com/elucastaylor
where you will find a writers' community.

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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 any of my books -- the HowToDoItFrugally Series to my chapbook of poetry -- for a place on my Resources for Writers or Resources for Readers pages on www.HowToDoItFrugally.com.
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Feature:

Author as Indexer: The Good, the Bad and the Possible

It’s standard procedure these days for a publisher to require an author to obtain the index for his nonfiction book. The author has two choices: created the index himself or hire a professional indexer.

Why would an author opt to do the job himself? Money, perhaps. Sometimes a publisher will pay half the cost, but it’s still money out of the author’s pocket. But why would an author take the time and trouble to write a great book and then leave the all-important index to an amateur just to avoid one last expense? As my mother used to say, “Penny wise and pound foolish.”

More likely, I suspect, is the perception that because an author knows his subject best, he the most qualified person to created the index. Like many intriguing things in life, there’s more to be considered. In fact, sometimes detailed knowledge of the subject matter is a detriment to the creation of a useful and efficient index.

A publisher recently asked me to evaluate an index for a book on a rare childhood disease. The index was prepared by the author, a physician, who expressed his doubts as to how well he had constructed the index. The publisher also had doubts, but couldn’t put a finger on the problems. Neither of them had ever studied the art of indexing.

The book was a hefty tome, almost 450 pages, written for parents of children with the disease, as well as physicians who are encountering the disease for the first time in their practice. The book was not meant to be read from cover to cover, but rather to be used as a reference. As such, a good index was critical.

I took the volume home and got to work. With no more than a glance, I spotted numerous items that were dead giveaways of an amateur indexer. The commonly accepted practices of indexing exist for a reason: they make an index easy for a reader to use. Entries need to make sense and not waste a reader’s time. In short, an index’s sole purpose is making information easily accessible. This requires an indexer to set aside the author’s point of view and get into the mind of the reader.

First I looked at the index from the parents’ point of view. When a child is diagnosed with a mysterious, disabling disease, the parents want instant information on the immediate aspects of their child’s disease. As the disease progresses, other topics become important, and again parents wants immediate access to those points. The index needed to be precise, well organized, and written in anticipation of the parents’ needs.

Numerous topics in this book’s index had strings of up to 20 undifferentiated locators. That means 20 scattered page numbers on which a particular topic was found. Which page would a reader turn to first? Where is the main discussion of the topic? How many pages would he flip through before finding the specific reference he is looking for? Are some of them merely passing references that clutter the index without offering any substantial information and thus should be eliminated? The remaining main entries needed to be broken down into subentries.

So instead of

prednisone, 27, 79, 85-86, 103-104, 153, 157, 234, 271, 273, 276, 301, 313, 315, 342,
346, 366-367, 369, 371, 429

We might have

prednisone
benefits, 27
dietary considerations, 79
dosage, 85-86
etc.

As a test case for frantic parents, the first things I’d have wanted to know were, what causes the disease, how is it treated, and what are my child’s chances for recovery. Oddly, terms such as, “symptoms,” “diagnosis,” “treatment,” “therapy,” “prognosis,” and “home care” were either not included or set as subentries under technical terms where I would never have stumbled upon them. Information on these topics was in the book, but I had to do a lot of searching to find it. This is a classic example of the author being too close to his subject. He may have been the world’s expert on the disease, and he discussed the topics of interest to parents thoroughly, but he didn’t realize that parents would use the index differently from his fellow physicians. A professional indexer brings a fresh set of eyes to the project, trained to create an index of maximum use to every potential reader.

The sections written for physicians contained fountains of medical terminology and technical explanations which a busy doctor would need to access quickly. The index needed to anticipate his needs, too. There were almost three columns of drugs listed under “medications,” but few of them were double posted under their own names as main headings. Where perhaps a parent might have looked under “medications,” how much more useful for a physician, already familiar with the names of the medications, to be able to find what he was looking for directly.

So while there were commonly-phrased topics such as “allergies,” “dental care,” and “diet,” there were also scientific terms like, “nasendoscopy,” “acanthosis nigricans,” and “Mi-2 autoantibodies.” In gathering terms and structuring the index, both readers’ approaches had to be considered.

I found many odd inconsistencies in the index; many topics that were overanalyzed, confusing and wasteful; nonsensical cross references (Outcomes. See outcomes) and double posted entries with different pages references (they should have been the same). These are just a few of the things a professional indexer would have corrected immediately, or not have done in the first place.

In addition to having technical skills, an indexer works at a substantive level: deciding what to terms include in the index, phrasing them succinctly, connecting related topics, and deciding on the appropriate depth of the index. Are the terms selected in accordance with author emphasis? Are they selected and defined in accordance with content? These decisions are made with varying degrees of educated subjectivity, and they must be well thought out.

Are authors ever acceptable as indexers of their own work? Of course, if they take the trouble to learn the art. Several authors have even won coveted awards in respected literary competitions for their own indexes. More often, however, an author’s index is substandard and therefore less helpful to the reader. Aside from lacking technical knowledge, he may be heartily sick of the thing after the umpteenth revision and find himself unwilling or unable to face the intensity of this final task, thereby producing a hasty and incomplete result .

Worse yet, he may begin willingly but find the ultimately task so overwhelming that he is unable to complete it, and the book is published with no index at all. Or he may simply not know how to locate a professional indexer and decide to do without. (Indexers are easy to find. See http://asindexing.com .) Sometimes an index is so poorly done that the publisher refuses to use it, and again the book goes to press without an index.

With a poor index, or none at all, a nonfiction book is often overlooked, discarded or not taken seriously by readers, librarians, professors, and book reviewers, resulting in loss of sales. After all the effort that goes into the writing, how unfortunate that would be. Perhaps even worse, it goes to press with an index that embarrasses both author and publisher.

All of this being said, an author who wishes to index his own book, and has the energy left to do so, should be encouraged. He may find he has a natural aptitude for the work. I would only hope that he educate himself in the art before beginning. There are several courses available by distance learning, and some excellent books on the topic.

In the case of the book on the childhood disease, the author and the publisher were right to acknowledge those little inner voices telling them the index didn’t measure up. Happily, we caught it in time.
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Madge Walls is a professional indexer who lives in Colorado. She welcomes your questions at madge@allskyindexing.com. Her website is http://allskyindexing.com .

Note: The Audio Divas, Joyce Faulkner, Kathe Gogolewski, Allyn Evans and I will be doing a seminar on indexing (both the do-it-yourself variety and information on professional help) at the Muse Online Writers Workshop in October (see Carolyn's appearances in this newsletter).

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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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E-Tips for E-Promotion:

A media room is an essential part of any author's website. Don't make editors, producers, or anyone else interested in giving you free publicity search all over your site for the details on who you are and what you do. Put your kit into a .pdf file and let them download it and read it. Use the one on my new website as an example: www.howtodoitfrugally.com. Click on the Media Room tab at the top of the home page.
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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)

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Endorsement:
"www.HowToDoItFrugally.com , by Carolyn Howard--Johnson [is] a top website for writers . . . I'd say my ROI is over 1,000%. The advice is particularly strong in addressing the new author where they are in learning the publishing/selling process. Very practical. The site is excellent." ~ Hill Kemp, author of Capitol Offense, http://www.capitoloffense.com/, and contributor to Secrets, Fact or Fiction? I, ISBN 0-9737282-5-6 and Secrets, Fact or Fiction? II, ISBN 1-59594-062-6, LOC 2006904627, http://www.secretsfactorfiction.com
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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.)

"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 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