February 09, 2008
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:/www/authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com
an organization of writers who help writers.

To read this letter in plain vanilla text, 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_Feb_No2Week_2008.doc

In the spirit of the advice I give in the Frugal Editor - - that is to use an extra pair of eyes whenever possible - - this newsletter is voluntarily copyedited by Authors' Coalition member, Mindy Phillips Lawrence ~ mplcreative1@aol.com
www.freewebs.com/mplcreative
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Note from Carolyn:

Dear Subscribers and Authors' Coalition Members:

The weeks march on. In Southern California the rain - days are gone and sunshine has arrived. Perfect convertible weather!

Not to worry. I won't go out in this gentle sunshine until I've passed on the tips and questions and answers and articles and all the other things your fellow subscribers are sharing with you as well as the things that I found during the week that you need to know about.

Not the least of which is a new way to get your books reviewed. A way that few authors seem to know about. If they do know about it, they're mostly hoarding the information unto themselves. Not a good thing.

But not subscriber Annette Fix, author of the Breakup Diet! I featured her suggestion on the Sharing with Writers blog. You may have to ask your publisher to handle this for you, but it may be well worth the trouble. Go to http://www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com.

Do leave a comment. If you go explore this opportunity and can add anything to the conversation, please leave a comment, too. Anything! Pro, con or a way to make something like this work better for us all.

Happy writing, promoting and, yes, editing, too!

Carolyn Howard - Johnson
Websites: http://carolynhoward - Johnson.com (literary)
http://HowToDoItFrugally.com (all things about writing)
Authors' Coalition: http://www.AuthorsCoalitionandRedEnginepress.com
For the Frugal Editor, Amazon - direct: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0978515870/
Blogs: http://AuthorsCoalition.blogspot.com, a blog focused on book fairs
http://www.SharingwithWriters.blogspot.com, a blog on all things publishing
http://www.TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog focused on YOUR reviews
http://www.TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com, a blog focused on editing, formatting and craft
And now blogging on War. Peace. Tolerance. And Our Soldiers at http://www.warpeacetolerance.blogspot.com.
And now! Squidooing at
http://www.squidoo.com/HowToDoItFrugallyforAuthors
and http://www.squidoo.com/carolynhoward - johnson

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Please pass this letter on to others. Unlike many, 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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Letters to the Editor

Dear Carolyn:

I may be the only person in the world who doesn't buy her books directly from Amazon, but just in case others are having trouble using their features, I thought I'd share what I discovered.

In order to use Listmania or post reviews, you need to buy a book from Amazon. Not a Short (like Carolyn's guide to a Great First Impression Book Proposal) and not a used book from one of their affiliates. But a new book from Amazon. Otherwise, the site does not recognize you as having an active account. It tells you:
"Want to write a customer review?

"To write a customer review: you must have used this account to complete a purchase* of an item from Amazon.com. Please wait 24 hours after your first purchase before writing a review.

"If you have another account: and you have already used it to make a purchase, you can sign into that account to write a review."

Karina L. Fabian , www.fabianspace.com Editor, Infinite Space, Infinite God, thought - provoking sci - fi with a Catholic twist, now available at www.twilighttimesbooks.com, www.amazon.com

========================================================New members will help Authors' Coalition serve all its members better! Ask your writing friends to join at http://www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com/. Paid members get a favorite review posted, consideration for an interview or review in Yarnspinners and Wordweavers, ditto for The Fiction Flyer and Betty Dobson's Inkspotter. 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. www.authorscoalition.blogpsot.com.
http://authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com
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In the News: Daniel Menaker, former executive editor in chief of the Random House Publishing Group and fiction editor of the New Yorker, will be the host of a new Web - based book show. The show is “Titlepage.” It will feature discussion between Menaker and four authors and will be streamed online at www.titlepage.tv on March 3. Apparently everyone is beginning to understand that it is much easier to post video online than to get a show on television. Having said that, you may want to consult with an expert on that subject - - Rey Ybarra. Find him at rybarra106@aol.com. He's the one who did my videos. Find what he did on my website at www.howtodoitfrugally.com. Read the whole NY Times article on Menaker's concept at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/30/books/30mena.html?ex=1202706000&en=0a067128c2a480e5&ei=5070&emc=eta1

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I just added my fifth blog to blogspot.com. Yes, I love blogging. This one is called War, Peace, Tolerance and Our Soldiers and it is where I get to nag and rag to try to make things better for our troops and maybe for the world. I'd love to have you leave a comment for its inaugural. www.warpeacetolerance.blogspot.com
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Thank Yous

(There are leads here, just as you'll find in all the most innocent - looking areas of this newsletter. You never know when you'll find a name or a site that will help you network or write better!)

To Catherine Yesayan for being an early bird purchaser of the telechat offered by Nancy Mills's Spirited Women Circle. Learn more about it at http://www.thespiritedwoman.com/spirited_woman_circle or scroll down to my appearances in this newsletter. The special offer disappears like magic on February 14th and you'll need to tell Nancy about it to get it.

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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 at less per year than most sites charge for a single month (see the advertising tab at the top of the page). Authors' Coalition www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com is also accepting ads. So is Yarnspinners and Wordweavers. Contact katieseyes@aol.com.
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Feature

One Way to a Bookstore Book Buyer's Heart

Selling books to bookstore buyers is a constant challenge. Some very few small, independent and subsidy publishers (or mixtures of the above) have programs to market their books to booksellers. (STAR Publish (www.starpublish.com) is among these with Janet Elaine Smith spearheading the effort.

Selling books is one reason that distributors exist. They have (or should have) teams of sales people who talk to book buyers. You can tell by the above statement that even this is not always so. And, of course, many small publishers and independent authors don't have distributors.
Unless authors are published by the big guys (and even sometimes then) they have a couple of hurdles to overcome. One is that of credibility (usually not a problem if you're published by Harpers). Another is entrée. Another is credibility. Another is frequency.
That's why Authors' Coalition offers our catalog service. Here's some information on why you need it and what it can do for you:
Calling booksellers on the phone can be a futile effort if they have no reason to know you.
Worse, it's impossible to call every book buyer and expensive to send info on your book out to hundreds of them.
And, yes, you need some credibility. There could be some past experience with the bookstores (you were a guest on a panel perhaps?). Or you could be part of a professional organization and that is evident in the first contact you make with them.
Authors' Coalition to the rescue!
Authors' Coalition sends out a catalog under our name. But we also tie it to our booth at the LA Times/UCLA Festival of Books. That's Double Credibility!
Participating authors provide the names of the book buyers we send it to, 500 or more. That means that in many cases the bookseller will know at least one author featured in the catalog. That's another level of credibility, another reason for them to pay attention to that book and the others in the catalog.
And it gives the author a way to follow up with a phone call that will be better received. The author simply asks, "Just calling to see if your received the LA Times/UCLA catalog sent by Authors Coalition. My book, Great Expectations, was featured." Of course, they go on to explain (quickly) how carrying that author's book will benefit the bookstore and the bookstore's customers.

Then, of course, it's a four color catalog. It goes out to the bookseller in the mail, a rarity these days. And, did I mention that it's less expensive than going it alone?

Learn more about this and all the Authors' Coalition programs at: http://www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com/fair_booths.htm.

The catalog and others are designed so you don't have to be at the fair or even in LA to benefit.
After you've peeked at the AC page, e - mail me with CATALOG in the subject line. I'll help you pick and choose the programs right for you. HoJoNews@aol.com.
Of course you can put together a sell sheet and do this on your own. And perhaps you should do this, anyway. With your own list of booksellers as a follow - up (you've heard me say that frequency counts.) But you can see that this is a time when do - it - yourself may be both more expensive and not as effective, except as a follow - up effort.

Still, if you do decide to do it on your own, follow the pattern Authors' Coalition uses for theirs. It's been tried and tested and it works if you work it.
PS: You might also want to send your catalog out again to the book buyers you are personally contacting. They can be purchased from AC or we can send you a pdf copy and you can print your own. This is, after all, a cooperative effort. The more you do, the more all participants benefit.

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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 try to add new articles to it each week. If you don't see what you need for your blog, or newsletter, just ask. HoJoNews@aol.com.
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Tip: Cheryl Picket who blogs at www.publishinganswers.blogspot.com says, "I ran across this cool contest at first on the social network Shoutlife. It was announced in a bulletin posted by one of my friends. Unfortunately, sort of like Facebook, you have to have an account to get details on Shoutlife, so I went over to one of the participating sites to get a link for you. http://georgianad.blogspot.com/ I’ve not seen anything like this and thought it was a great frugal idea." It's an idea that involves cross - promotion and might be adapted to any genre.

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Fun and F r * *: If you purchased the Frugal Book Promoter or the Frugal Editor, 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 a handout from one of my UCLA classes. As a thank you, of course. HoJoNews@aol.com
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On Poetry

This is a new running feature for the poets among us and those who would like to try writing poetry but feel, well . . . inadequate. Please send in your poetry tips and resources for this section.

Here is a recommended book for you: How To Publish Your Poetry: A Complete Guide To Finding The Right Publishers For Your Work, by Helene Ciaravino, SquareOne Publishers
$15.95 www.squareonepublishers.com

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Don't suffer with book proposals. You can be a pro with and investment of only 20 minutes and 49 cents with my Great First Impression Book Proposal Short.
http://www.amazon.com/Great - First - Impression - Book - Proposal/dp/B000YG6O5U
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Tip: Utilize professional writing organizations to network and give yourself credibility. Find a list of my favorites at www.howtodoitfrugally. Click on the Resources for Writers page link at the top of the page.

========================================================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 book cover image! To do that, you are invited to advertise as a site sponsor at www.howtodoitfrugally.com for only $25 to $30 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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Author Successes

(If you read about others' successes you'll not only be inspired, you'll glean resources for future successes of your own. You are invited to send me news about your successes. Please use "AUTHOR SUCCESSES" as a subject lines.)

Michelle Dunn was nominated for the 2007 Inc.com Entrepreneur of the Year Award (http://www.inc.com/entrepreneur/2007/profile/index.php?dunn218) as well as the 2007 New Hampshire Business Review 2007 Business Excellence Award (http://www.nhbr.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071012/BUSINESSREVIEW26/310110001). Michelle’s award winning book “Starting a Collection Agency, how to make money collecting money” won the 2007 New York Book Festival Award (http://www.newyorkbookfestival.com/) in addition to other awards it has won in the past. The third edition of this award winning book is being released in January 2008 and has already been entered into the ForeWord Book of the Year Awards contest. Michelle was named one of the Top 5 Women in Collections in 2007 and has been nominated as one of the Top 5 Women in Collections for 2008 as well as one of the Top 50 most influential Collection Professionals, http://www.creditandcollectionsworld.com/pagedisplay.html?pagename=subscriptions and http://www.collectionadvisor.com/magazine.html
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Linore Rose Burkard: Self - published author Linore Rose Burkard has been picked up by Harvest House Publishers with a two - book contract. In addition to re - publishing her POD first novel, Before the Season Ends, they will also release its sequel (The House on
Grosvenor Square) in 2009. Linore encourages all self - published authors to continue honing their craft, and marketing! "A good web presence," she says, "is vital to getting noticed by a traditional publisher." http://www.LinoreRoseBurkard.com

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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/eAuthor.php?Name=Carolyn%20Howard - Johnson ) including one on "Do It Yourself Indexing." The first audio, "Promoting Easy and Cheap!" is a F R ^ ^ sample you can download. 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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Q&A a la Ann Landers

Judging How People Buy Books by Your Own Shopping Patterns?

Question: I would never buy a book until I had read a rave review in a reputable review journal. I don't trust Amazon reviews and the like. I also don't trust the award systems. So isn't getting reviews on the web and getting awards a waste of time and money?

Answer: In marketing, it is a mistake to rely too heavily on "What I would do." Certainly, our own personal tastes, buying habits, etc. are an indication of a small percentage of any market. As a retailer, though, I knew that if I said, "I'll buy this to put in my store and if it doesn't sell, I'll take it home," that I would sure enough be taking it home. It's not that my store didn't reflect my taste to a certain extent but as a good buyer, I wanted to make a profit. Thus I bought what past experience and studies told me my customers wanted.

Book sales are no different. We as publishers and authors know the industry up close and tight. Our actions are predicated at least in part on what we know. The general reading public hasn't the same handle on things we do. Thus, two books side by side. Customer is considering both. One has an award (not necessarily a big name) and one doesn't. The one with the award is likely to win. It may make little difference if it is a big award or a little one.

Independent book awards help us sort through thousands of books that are published every which way. We all know there are lots of poorly written, poorly published books among them. Still, it may be the only ones who realize they are poorly published are those of us in the publishing industry. General readers only see that some are books they might like and want to read and some aren't.

The same goes for reviews. Certainly some of readers are very discriminating, both in the review journals they read and in the books they choose. Many aren't. It's been shown that buyers generally must see something many times (the accepted wisdom is seven times) before they are moved to action. Authors want their book's cover and name to be seen many places, not just a few of the what they consider the best places.

This concept is true for publishing, too. I would venture that most of the reading public doesn't know much about self - publishing vs. subsidy - publishing vs. traditional publishing. They buy a book on word - of - mouth considerations, the cover, the blurbs, their need, and how thoroughly it has been marketed. Frankly, I'm glad they do. If that weren't so, more good books from small publishers would get overlooked.
CHJ

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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.
You know you want it on your website! Be sure to link it to the AC site, too!
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Tip: You will find the answer to a question on using formal punctuation in dialogue posed by Susan Stephenson, editor of Musings at The Muse Marquee http://themusemarquee.tripod.com/id185.html an my blog at http://www.thefrugaleditor.blogspot.com. Ask your editing and writing craft questions by following the guidelines on the left. I'll answer them and, if I can't, I'll find someone who can. ( - :

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Authors' Coalition: No Hum - Drum Book Fair Promotion Allowed is a blog where you can watch how Authors' Coalition members make book fairs successful with cross - promotion, value - added promotions and a good assessment process. Find it at www.authorscoalition.blogspot.com. It's time to sign up for 2008's LA Times/UCLA Festival of Books.
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Tip: Most writers make it their business to know a lot about Greek myths. Sometimes - - because we may be self - taught - - we don't know how to pronounce the names of gods and other assorted characters. This site has an audio that will help you pronounce some of the names. Charon, the guy who ferry's spirits over the river Styx, is pronounced "Ker - un," as an example.

========================================================Learn more about tips booklets and how to make them work for you. Paulette Ensign was one of the first master promoters I came in contact with. She'll teach you to make promotional booklets work for you with a variety of programs. http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/?af=696843
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Q&A a la Ann Landers

What Book Promotions Are Effective?

(These questions were all sent by Virgil Jose, author of The Examined Life, a sophisticated murder mystery available at amazon.com.)

Question: What has been your experience with postcards? In quantity they might cost, say, 5 cents each. Then postage is 24 cents or 29 cents each to mail. In quantity that gets expensive with [my] royalties approx $1.60 per book. To whom did you mail postcards?
Answer: Go to your Frugal Book Promoter and look up "postcards" in the index. There is quite a bit about them in it. I mail postcards primarily as invitations to events. I also printed postcards for my signing at BEA this year to give away instead of fliers.

But you could also mail postcards as a follow - up to some other promotion you are doing. If you're sending e - mails to librarians, as an example, you could follow up with a postcard because frequency is important. That kind of a reminder might work well. Also, anything you mail out gets better results from the lists of people you have built yourself based on personal contact.

Question: Any results you could quantify on any book promotions you've done?

Answer: I'm going to sing my same old refrain. Results are practically never quantifiable for any specific mailing or promotion. It's the overall effort that starts making a difference. I can think of about two things I've done in all the time I've been promoting that were quantifiable and then those results may have been deceiving because it's hard to isolate one effort from another.

Question: What about book marks?

Answer: A few people collect bookmarks at book fairs. Most people appreciate receiving a bookmark in a book they've been given as a gift. Many authors use them instead of business cards. I've never used them. I print business cards that are more like mini advertisements (this idea is also in The Frugal Book Promoter, I think). I find they work reasonably well because they not only inform but sell. They are more easily stowed in a wallet or with a person's collection of cards he or she may keep for business purposes. But either a book mark or a card will work and some authors use both. Being frugal, I see no need for that.

Question: In general, what promotion activities have you found most productive in terms of book sales?

Answer: Actually, The Frugal Book Promoter contains ALL The things I'd tried up to the time I wrote it. And I am upfront about which things worked better than others. Maybe it's time to relook at your copy. The things I like best are the perks Amazon provides because they target readers.

I also like speaking, which builds personal loyalty.

Among the book fair value - added promotions that Authors' Coalition does, I like the CDs best. I give them out when I speak, when I send out media kits, at the fair itself, etc. They are especially valuable because everyone who is on the CD does the same thing. Thus info on my books gets out when they work it, and when I'm working it, I do my fellow participants a lot of good, too. That's why cross - promotions like these work better than anything you can possibly do on your own.

With any promotion it's frequency and persistence that count. You haven't given any promotion a fair shake unless you keep it up for an extended period of time.

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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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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.)

THE WEB SAVVY WRITER - You'll find great ideas for book promotions at http://www.websavvywriter.com/blog.
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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 - - from 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:

To Italicize or to Skip It?

This subject has already created such a stir on one of my e - groups that I can't resist including in Sharing with Writers this week. ( - :

Here's the original how - to post I was asked to provide each week:

Avoid using italics to indicate internal thought. You probably don't have to use them. You will be writing from a specific Point of View and your reader will know those words are in that character's head anyway. Plus, there are several ways to get around having to use them that are part of a skilled fiction writer's stable of writing techniques. It's not that exceptions can't be made. (All rules were made to be broken.) But don't break guidelines or rules unless you have a really, really, really good reason for doing so.

Caveat: "Because I like it that way," is not a good enough rule.

Caveat #2: Neither is, "My reader won't understand. I'm trying to make it easy on my reader." Your reader may have read Anna Karenina. Not easy reading. No italics. We all know your reader understood it. I mean, 1,000,000 Oprah fans can't all be geniuses. Smart, but not geniuses. So I guess that's another tip. Trust your reader to be a reasonably good at what she/he does which is read.

This is a continuation of the thread:
I'm adding some more of my answers to writers on the thread that on italics. I knew I'd stir up a hornet's nest! ( - : but it seemed people needed more information to make their decisions. To read more on this subject go to www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com.

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I use Vista Print for lots of my promotional materials. Be aware that shipping prices may fluctuate, depending on the deal of the moment. Please use this link:
http://www.vistaprint.com/frf?frf=815651421184
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TIP: Are you using Google's calendar to list your teaching and signing appearances? With this calendar you can enter your gig once and by utilizing the html code they provide in other places (like your website and your blogs), Google will automatically feed any changes you make to each and every one! Go to www.Google.com. Make sure you have an account. Scroll down to the Calendar link to begin.

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The New Book Review is a service of this newsletter and Authors' Coalition. 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.
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E - Tips for E - Promotion

You can increase your readership among many English - speaking Europeans by using keywords in their own language. Translate your keywords using http://babelfish.altavista.com. And, yes, it's free. You can also add the translation tool to a page so that foreign visitors can use it at will.
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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 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.)

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Tip: Are you using www.booktour.com to let people in your area know where you'll be signing and speaking? You can find my appearances there but also appearances of some the nation's most well - known authors. You can also sign up to be notified of appearances happening in your town.

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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, 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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Carolyn's Appearances and Teaching:

Please join Carolyn Howard - Johnson and the Writers of Kern County, a branch of California Writers Club. They meet at Location: Best Western Crystal Palace Inn & Suites, 2620 Buck Owens Blvd., Bakersfield, CA 93308 for a seminar on publishing, editing and promotion. Feb. 16, 10:30 am. If you would like to join or attend, contact Margie Custer at custer@ix.netcom.com.
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Carolyn Howard - Johnson will be Valerie Connelly's guest on her teleseminar March 19th, 2008 at 8PM Eastern, 7PM Central, and 5 PM Pacific Time. The subject is: "It's Your Call: Frugal Book Promotion with Carolyn Howard - Johnson." A downloadable MP3 recording of the teleseminar is available to registered attendees after the event. Please sign up by March 18th. Space is limited. Let Valerie tell you more about it: info@callingallauthors.org.
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Carolyn Howard - Johnson will share with the nation's humor writers again in April 3 - 5 of 2008 at Dayton University's Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop. She'll speak twice at the Kennedy Union on campus. Go to www.humorwriters.org/2008SpeakerBios.html. Tapes will be available even though this conference sold out 77 hours after opening registration. It is not too early to be thinking about 2010.
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Carolyn will teach a new seminar on the UCLA campus on March 22, 2008, Room 1323 Public Service Building. It's called "The Business of Writing: Carve Your Career with Great Queries and Covers." Here's the class description: "You've written your story, your poem, your book. What now? You've tackled your craft like a professional but when it comes to introducing yourself to the decision makers—the marketing and editing part of your work—you may show a lack of expertise with seemingly innocuous departures from accepted procedures - like using a cover letter when you need a query. In this one - day seminar, the students will use basics taught in the class to critique drafts of letters they have brought with them. In the process you'll get grammar, punctuation, and even computer editing tricks you may apply to your other writing as well as your queries. You'll receive a handout of the do’s and don'ts for approaching gatekeepers straight from the mouths of agents who contributed ideas on the subject for the instructor's book on editing and samples of letters that have produced results. Participants will not only walk away with two letters they can be proud to send out, but will also have a low - cost plan for using them effectively in a variety of ways." So, are you all planning to come to spend a weekend in the sunshine in LA and make it a business expense? ( - :

To enroll call Marcus Hennessey, 310 - 267 - 4888, or go to www.uclaextension.edu and enroll for 735.18, Registration # T6393.
Because it is a one - day seminar, it is less than $100.
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Nancy Mills, founder of Spirited Woman, will be interviewing Carolyn Howard - Johnson in her 2008 Spirited Woman tele - chat series. Sign up now to be part of this exciting series, whether you want to listen to Carolyn or to the likes of Jacqueline Mitchard, author of the Deep End of the Ocean and Catherine Ryan Hyde, author of Pay It Forward. Find the entire series at: www.thespiritedwoman.com/spirited_woman_circle
To listen live, circle Tuesday, June 3, 2008, 10 am (PST), 1 pm (EST) on your calendar. Advance registration needed.
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Carolyn Howard - Johnson will appear on Write On Four Corners with host Connie Gotsch on KSJE FM Public Radio broadcast from San Juan College. Access the program at: www.ksje.com 10:30 am Wed. 2:30 pm Fri. Mountain Time. Click on the website to listen live in your appropriate time zone. Connie is the author of the mystery suspense novel Snap Me a Future as well as host of Roving with the Arts on KSJE and regular contributor to The Four Corners Free Press - - www.fourcornersfreepress.com
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The Catholic Writer’s Guild (www.catholicwritersguild.org) and Canticle Magazine (http://www.canticlemagazine.com) are pleased to announce the first Catholic Writer’s Conference Online May 2 - 9, 2008. Conducted entirely via Internet, the conference will feature online seminars and chat rooms hosted by editors, agents, published writers, and other media professionals in book and magazine publishing. F r ^ ^ to writers of all levels, advance registration is required. To register go to www.conference.catholicwritersguild.org. At 10 am, Pacific time, on Monday, May 5, Carolyn will present Your First Marketing Offense: Query Letters and Great Editing or Ten Ways to Let an Agent Know You Are an Amateur. Karina Fabian will moderate. Then Carolyn will co - present a seminar with Karina on book promotion at 11 am Pacific Time the same day.
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Carolyn Howard - Johnson will be one of the featured winners of the USA Book News' booth at BEA on Friday, May 29, at the nation's premier book event, Book Expo America. She will sign her USA Book News Award - Winning book, The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success in the USA Book News booths, #835 & #837 in the PMA Pavilion. Make BEA reservations and get info about the event here: http://bookexpoamerica.com
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Carolyn Howard - Johnson will read from her chapbook of poetry, Tracings, Monday evening, Aug. 11, at 7:30 pm at the Village Bookstore 1049 Swarthmore Ave, Pacific Palisades, CA. Poets Alice Pero and Lois P. Jones sponsor ongoing featured readings called Moonday. Learn more at: http://home.earthlink.net/ ~pero/moonday.html

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Wordstuff ™

Something to Make Writers Smile

(Definitions in the next few newsletters are from http://www.butlerwebs.com/jokes/definitions.htm .You might have some favorite neologisms metaphors or similes that make you smile. If so, please contribute.)
"ATHEISM is a non - prophet organization." - - George Carlin
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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 How To Do It Frugally series of books for writers,

www.howtodoitfrugally.com.

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/

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 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 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/

The second in the How To Do It Frugally series of books, The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success, is available at this link to Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0978515870/


The Great First Impression Book Proposal: Everything You Need To Know About Selling Your Book in 20 Minutes or Less, is available on Amazon as a Short for 49 cents.
http://www.amazon.com/Great - First - Impression - Book - Proposal/dp/B000YG6O5U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199595319&sr=8 - 1