March 16, 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_Mar_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:

I'm not nagging. I'm really not. But here's the story I just had to pass on:

Because her newest book had just been released, a friend told a friend that my class on query letters at UCLA is coming up this Saturday. Friend - of - friend huffed that she had been writing ten years and thought she could handle a simple query. I tried not to weigh in on the situation, just expressed sorrow that she wouldn't be with me to partake of my great wisdom and experience ( - : and that of my students who would be critiquing as well.

Well! Yesterday I received a query letter from friend - of - friend asking me to review her book. Here's the thing. She IS - - obviously - - a fine writer and maybe a pretty good editor, too. There wasn't a single typo or grammatical error in it. Trouble is, she broke almost every query letter rule (or rather guideline) in the book! Starting with one you all know, I'm sure. If someone has offered to network for you, you mention that in the query letter. This one should have said something like "My friend XX told me to write you about your Noble (not Nobel!) Prize." She not only didn't mention her friend and our connection, she didn't say a thing that would indicate that she knew me or what I do. And that was just the beginning of her mini - boo - boos.

At that point, yes. It was very hard for me not to point out the error or her ways. But I didn't. Instead I'm using her anonymous little soul (bless her) as a lesson.

So, this is my reminder! If you can come to my class on Saturday at UCLA on Saturday ($98 dollars for a full day of query - letter - writing brilliance!) you can register for the March 22 class by calling Marcus Hennessey, 310 - 267 - 4888, or go to www.uclaextension.edu to enroll for Number 735.18, Registration # T6393. The class is an unlimited enrollment, but - - obviously - - time is getting short!

If you can't be there, you'll get lots from the chapters on query letters in The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success, available - - and disco u n ted - - at Amazon. ( - : Yes, I know you can write a query letter. But if one teensy - weensy suggestion gave you an edge over others, wouldn't it be worth going that extra step?

The class overview is included below under my appearances. Hope to see you there. Let's all see if we can double the response we get on our query letters!

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

PS: Valerie Connelly and I will be talking at www.callingallauthors.org on Wednesday. See details for that below, too.

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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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Tip: My favorite Google service other than Alerts (see the article in this newsletter) is Analytics. It tells me how many people are coming to specific pages of my newsletters and my blogs, and what cities they are from! How I love getting visitors from Dubai and towns in Africa I've never heard of. Go to www.google.com. Click on your "accounts" link at the top of your page and find "analytics."

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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.blogspot.com.
http://authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com
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Tip: Do you Squidoo? You maybe should because you can focus each lens you make, that is, you can target specific interests. And so many squidooers offer help to others. Like this tip from Squidooer, Jennifer Akers who Squidoos at www.squidoo.com/jenniferakers: http://www.squidaholic.com/. She recommends www.squidaholic.com/ . It will tell you who's visiting your lens. Great contact information. BTW, so go see Jennifer's lens. Rate it. Sign up to be a favorite or a fan. Then make a lens of your own.

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My blog, War, Peace, Tolerance and Our Soldiers is where I get to nag and rag to try to make things better for our troops and maybe for the world. It's only been active a few weeks and is gathering an amazing following. I'd love to have you leave a comment. 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 Dr. Bob Rich for including my news in his "Bobbin' Around" which always includes some great stuff for writers! http://mudsmith.net/bobbing7 - 6.html#carolynhj

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To Phyllis Goldberg and Rosemary Lichtman.for the interview on their blog. It's still hanging around as an archive if anyone wants to do some reminiscing. www.NourishingRelationships.blogspot.com
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To Mary Emma Allen (me.allen@juno.com): She plans to use some media ideas I sent her at (http://www.homebiznotes.com/carolyn - howard - johnsons - tips - to - spark - your - media - releases/) on March 17. Won't you visit and see wha'zup?. Mary Emma also has a Quilting and Patchwork blog (www.quiltingandpatchwork.com) and an author blog at blogger (http://maryemmallen.blogspot.com).
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To Joyce Faulkner, webmaster for the Military Writers Society of America, for publishing some tips for writers. http://www.militarywriters.com/ . Some of you will want to check this site out anyway. They have low annual dues and give their members awards and some nice online perks.

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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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Tip: People are always asking me. Here it is. The address of the copyright office! http://www.loc.gov/

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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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Opportunities:

Dawn Colclasure, author of 365 TIPS FOR WRITERS: Inspiration, Writing Prompts and Beat The Block Tips to Turbo Charge Your Creativity (http://www.booklocker.com/books/1743.html), send us this opportunity:
"An editor I know is looking for book reviewers based in the U.S. She is a deputy editor for a British magazine called Disabled, Pregnancy & Parenthood international (DPPi). Here is their Web site: http://www.dppi.org.uk/
"She is looking for U.S. book reviewers interested in reviewing books on disability topics. The DPPi is a charity, so this is a non - paying arrangement. If you'd like to review books for her, please let me know and I'll include your contact info in the list I am sending to her."
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Jordana Ryan is looking for great guests for her talk show. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Jordana - Ryan

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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.

My favorite book for learning new poetry forms (and really understanding them is Western Wind: An Introduction to Poetry by John Frederick Nims and David Manson.

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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: Want to increase traffic to your blog? Give something away f r ^ ^ now and then. It can be something like an e - book or booklet (see the info on Paulette Ensign's books in this newsletter) or a white paper or handout. Then be sure to be that magic words f r ^ ^ is in your keywords. You won't even have to spell it funny to avoid the S P ^ M filters. ( - :

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A general marketing rule is that a product must be seen seven times before it is purchased. That is just as true for books (because they are products, like it or not!). Let people see that 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.)

Ken Rand's humorous fantasy novel Fairy BrewHaHa at the Lucky Nickel Saloon is now available from Yard Dog Press (http://www.yarddogpress.com/fairy.htm). Read the first chapter on my web page at www.sfwa.org/members/Rand/.
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Carol Burge is proud to announce the sale of her very first book. Her historical western romance novel, Dangerous Desires, has been accepted for publication by Lyrical Press, Inc. There isn't a release date as of yet, but there is a cover! You can see it by visiting Carol's blog Romance Writer Woes @ www.romancewriterwoes.blogspot.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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TIP: WRITING.COM is an online community for writers with hundreds of thousands of potential networking contacts for you. www.writing.com/

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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://www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com/AC_Promotional_Videos,%20Logos%20&%20More .
You know you want it on your website! Be sure to link it to the AC site, too! And there is a cross - promotional slide show there that will add movement and color to your site or blog, even if you aren't featured on it. It's all about Karma. ( - :
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Opportunities:

Registration now open for the Muse Online Writers Conference

Lea Schizas and Carolyn Howard - Johnson will be hosting their third annual Muse Online Writers Conference on October 13 – 19. The conference offers new and seasoned writers over 120 FREE workshops each year held over the course of one week.

Last year, there were close to 2000 writers who attended from all over the world: USA , Canada , Mexico , Africa , England , Italy , Greece , India , New Zealand , Turkey , Australia …to name a few.

Some of the Presenters back once again this year are:
 Denise Cassino - Long Story Short Publisher
 Deron Douglas - Double Dragon Publisher
 Hope Clark - Funds For Writers Publisher
 Lillian Cauldwell - PIVTR founder
 Lynda S. Burch - Guardian Angel Publisher
 Magdelena Ball - Compulsive Reader Founder
 Margot Finke - Musings Founder
 Pauline B. Jones - Eppie VP
 Terry Whalin - Literary Agent
 Valerie Connelly - Nightengale Press Publisher
 And lots more!

For more information on the Muse Online Writers Conference: http://www.freewebs.com/themuseonlinewritersconference/

To register as an attendee: http://www.freewebs.com/themuseonlinewritersconference/registration.htm

To apply as a Presenter: http://www.freewebs.com/themuseonlinewritersconference/presentersregistration.htm

Contact: Lea Schizas
Co - founder of The Muse Online Writers Conference
http://www.freewebs.com/themuseonlinewritersconference/
Email: museitupeditor@yahoo.ca

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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: Bookwire List of Children's Publishers is a great place to find markets: http://www.bookwire.com/index/Childrens - Publishers.html

========================================================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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TIP: You can add your book to www.livesimon.com and it will cost you nothing unless you upgrade to include extras. It has been said that f r ^ ^ e - books do very well as a classified on this site. Your ad only is up for 30 days. I'm testing the f r ^ ^ e - book Cooking by the Book, available on the Authors' Coalition site. http://www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com/free_ebooks.htm. Here's where my Live Simon listing lives: http://livesimon.com/index/listings/page20571.htm.Check it out! So, OK. I'm still learning. ( - :

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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.)

INDEPENDENT BOOK STORE LIST - http://www.newpages.com/bookstores/default.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 - - 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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TIP: Yvonne Perry, freelance writer, author and owner of Writers in the Sky Creative Writing Services (www.yvonneperry.net) sends us a resource for learning more about how Amazon works. It's especially good if you are truly self - published and must sell your own books through Amazon. http://optizon.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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Feature

You, Your Thank You Notes and Google

Your mother would have insisted you use Google Alerts if they'd been around back then.

Why? Because they are you first line of defense for writing thank you notes.

And you all know how important I think thank you notes are! ( - : You use them to keep in touch with your valuable readers and to keep networks with your editors and fellow authors alive.

Alerts is a tool that notifies you when something you need to know about appears on line. It knows what you want to know because you tell it.

That makes it an excellent research tool, too.
Here's how you use Alerts for both thanks yous and research:

For the rest of this article go to www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com.
CHJ

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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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Tip: Lulu is teaming up with Borders to set up a kiosk in the store where people can bring their manuscripts and have them turned into a book. Here’s an article on it. http://mashable.com/2008/02/15/borders - lulu/. Contributed by Yvonne Perry, Writers in the Sky Creative Writing Service www.yvonneperry.com .

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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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TIP: After a discussion of one of the tips I send on editing each week to Word_Mage@yahoogroups.com, Listmom Billie Williams said, "You are right about 'All Right.' . . . I just checked with www.Answer.com and they say that "altogether" and "already" were turned into one word before the grammar police of this century decided that they didn't want any more single words made our of what had always been two words. Or something like that. If you are looking for a site or helper that's even better then your dictionary.com go check out answer.com it's a neat place." (I highly recommend this Yahoo group, by the way) ______________________________________________________

Carolyn's Appearances and Teaching:

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 at callingallauthors.org.
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Please listen to Sound Authors on March 28th at 10:00 am Pacific, 1:00 pm Eastern, 15 minute interview. www.soundauthors.com/wp - content/themes/revolution/images/log.gif. Learn more about the interview and how to query the producers at: www.soundauthors.com. The site is easy to navigate and, you can see, a great one to be listening to or appearing on.
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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 Howard - Johnson will share her secrets for taking a book fair signing out of the realm of hum - drum to make it a sizzling success at the Thursday, April 17 meeting of Book Publicists of Southern California at the Sportsmen's Lodge in Studio City.
BPSC is a resource for publicists, authors and others associated with the publishing industry. The organizations publishes a member directory and newsletter (www.bookpublicists.org/pages/newsletter.asp) ., sponsors events (www.bookpublicists.org/pages/events.asp) and gives out the IRWIN (www.bookpublicists.org/pages/irwin_award.asp) awards to help foster industry excellence.
The event includes dinner. Sportsmen*s Lodge is at 12825 Ventura Blvd., Studio City. A mixer at 5:30 is the epitome of promotion in action. Dinner at 6:30 is $35 and the program only is $10. Reservations may be made at irwinzuckerpr@aol.com. If you tell Irwin I sent you, he will extend the membership rate for dinner. $27.
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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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 On April 26 & 27, Carolyn Howard - Johnson will sign her new USA Award - winning book the Frugal Editor ( as well as her others) at the LA Times/UCLA Festival of Books on the beautiful UCLA Campus in the Authors Coalition booth, #610 and 611. (http://www.latimes.com/extras/festivalofbooks/_) Other authors signing there include Barbara Crandall, MD; David H. Jones, Joyce Faulkner, Pam Kelly, DanaLee Buhler, Annette Fix and poets Christine Alexanians and Sona Ovasapyan. To learn more about opportunities for your book go to: http://www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com/fair_booths.htm. Some promotions authors have to be present for, others not. Visitors at this booth will receive free books with their purchase.
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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. To listen live to Carolyn, circle Tuesday, June 3, 2008, 10 am (PST), 1
pm (EST) on your calendar. Find the entire series at: www.thespiritedwoman.com/ spirited_woman_circle 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 at 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.fourcornerspress.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 guest speaker for Pamela Kelly's UCLA Extension course, "Public Speaking for Professionals" on Monday, May 19th at the Public Affairs Bldg, Room 2238, 7 - 10pm. Those interested in learning the steps to exciting and effective speaking, may enroll by going to www.uclaextension.edu and enrolling for Reg# T7594B. Pam Kelly is the author of Speak with Passion, Speak with Power!, a book on speaking that I strongly recommend for authors who want their books to succeed.
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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 home.earthlink.net/ ~pero/moonday.html.
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The f r e ^ Muse Online Writers' Conference, sponsored by Lea Schizas and Carolyn Howard - Johnson, is accepting early registration. Nearly 2,000 attended last year and openings are limited. Learn more about this year's conference, October 13 to 19th, and how you can assure your spot in 2008. We will present an all - new program soon. Carolyn will do a seminar on "Query Letters! Editing them perfectly for a great first impression." Go to: www.freewebs.com/themuseonlinewritersconference/presentersregistration.htm

To see the growing list of presenters go to: http://www.freewebs.com/themuseonlinewritersconference/2007workshops.htm

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Sign up to receive a copy of my Sharing with Writers blog in your e - mail box. It is a focused blog on all things related to writing and publishing. Go to www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com. Sign up in the left hand column. Find related resources by scrolling to the bottom of the blog.
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TIP: Calling all Young Adult and Children's Authors: Consider pitching American Girl Books. American Girl is a subsidiary of Mattel, Inc., and their dolls (and, yes! books) are for girls age 3 to 12. My granddaughters are crazy about them. They publish a magazine as well as books. http://www.americangirl.com/corp/guidelines.html

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Wordstuff ™

Something to Make Writers Smile

(Definitions in the next few newsletters are from www.butlerwebs.com/jokes/definitions.htm.You might have some favorite neologisms, metaphors or similes that make you smile. If so, please contribute.)
"RUBBERNECK: What you do to relax your wife."
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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.

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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