The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won't

Rating:
Summary: A "how to" guide packed with resources!
Review:

October 13, 2004

Need the tools to sell your book(s) more effectively?

Whatever path you chose for your book, whether it's published by a major publisher, co- publisher, self-publisher, Office Depot and Kinko's, or your handy lap-top and HP laser jet printer, no one will know about it unless you are ready to take the next step; marketing and promotion.

Marketing a book can be a very complex process. Author Howard-Johnson, a former publicist, award-winning author and instructor for UCLA's world-renowned Writers' Program shows you how to use promotional gifts, how to get an editor's attention, how to build relationships with the media, editors, readers and librarians. How to gain exposure through radio, television, magazine and newspaper book reviews. Included is a step-by-step guide to building a media kit.

THE FRUGAL BOOK PROMOTER contains everything you need to write, print and promote your book-faster, easier and cheaper. This book will show you a clear, well-mapped path for distinguishing your work from the crowded clutter of the publishing industry. In fact, savvy individuals should take advantage of this author's know how!

Reviewed by Betsie


Rating:
Summary: Want Ink? Get this book!
Review:
Carolyn Howard-Johnson has penned one of the most comprehensive marketing guides an author could ever want in her latest release, The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't. Chock full of timely, solid advice, FRUGAL is head and shoulders above the garden variety of marketing guides targeted to book authors. Howard-Johnson applies her years of experience as both a marketing specialist and a book author, showing readers the pitfalls to avoid and the opportunities to embrace. She is someone who has been on both sides of the fence. Her encouraging publicity tips instruct readers that the grass isn't greener somewhere else, but in fact she leads them to realize the greenest pastures are right within their grasp.

FRUGAL sits on my night stand. Just like the Bible in every hotel across the world, this book deserves a place on every author's shelf.

Christine Louise Hohlbaum, American expat author of Diary of a Mother and SAHM I Am: Tales of a Stay-at-Home Mom in Europe, http://www.diaryofamother.com and http://PRDiva.bravehost.com.


Rating:
Summary: A Must Read for New Authors
Review: A friend of mine once told me that he'd log on every night to admire his book on Amazon. Bookless at the time, I figured he'd caught a nasty internet virus that would wear off as he became used to his new status as published novelist. Now I know that I was wrong. The Amazon bug doesn't go away with time or antibiotics. It's an illness fed by royalty checks and rankings. The savvy author should put that virus-induced fever to work selling books, but most of us don't know where to start. Fortunately, Ms. Howard-Johnson works in Amazon-eze as a painter works in oils. From cooperatively using the `listmania' function to promote your own work and that of others to exploiting the `So You'd Like to' function, Ms. Howard-Johnson teaches and inspires with one good idea after another.

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Summary: total package! total satsifaction
Review: Approaching the marketing of my book was a terror soon soothed by Carolyn Howard-Johnson's wise and complete guide to getting the job done. This is the first and last guide for any author -- or producer of any kind-- wanting to get a handle on how to move their own work into the world. Generous and up to date. Congratulations and many thanks!

Susan Merson, author, YOUR NAME HERE: An Actor and Writer's Guide to Solo Performance

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Summary: FRUGAL will ease your promotional fears.
Review: Ever wonder what should go into a media kit? How to market yourself? Well ponder no more. Carolyn Howard-Johnson's book FRUGAL tells you in an easy and understandable format. She has taken her years of struggling experience in making a name for herself and turned FRUGAL into a 'must have' promotional guide book. All the what/when/where/how/why's are chapterized with detailed points and guides that will suit every genre writer.

She tells you ways of how to `brand' yourself. Often than not, we make the mistake of promoting ourselves by a single book we've written. Carolyn explains why this should be turned around and concentrated on us, the writer, instead.

Never made a speech? FRUGAL even touches base on this subject with added info on where to find speaking engagements.

An abundance of links for additional information on how to promote and market yourself is given in details that go beyond any other promotional book that I have ever read.

If ever a writer `feared' the promotional and marketing aspect of their career, rest assured that Carolyn has touched base with every element that is needed to make a name for yourself. No rock has been left unturned. This book is tipping over with ideas and suggestions written in an easy to follow format.

Follow her outlined methods and it's like seeing success right in front of you. It's no wonder she is the prolific writer and reviewer that she is.


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Summary: Frugal wins the USA Book News "BEST BOOKS 2004" Award
Review: From Star Publish:

Star Publish author Carolyn Howard-Johnson wins the USA Book News "Best Books 2004" Award in the Professional Category for her book, "THE FRUGAL BOOK PROMOTER: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't." All winning titles will be LIVE! on USABookNews.com and announced nationally beginning mid-November.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson was named Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment this year by the 43rd and 44th District of the California Legislature. Her first novel, "This is the Place", and her book of creative nonfiction, "Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered", are both award winners. Her fiction, nonfiction and poems have appeared in national magazines, anthologies and review journals. She speaks on Utah's culture, tolerance and other subjects and has appeared on TV and hundreds of radio stations nationwide.


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Summary: A Book filled with useful Information
Review: Humans are social animals. We like to associate with others to share our thoughts, blessings, and woes. But above all this, we love to express our opinions and demonstrate our knowledge about matters both mundane and extraordinary. Over the eons our penchant for giving advice has led to a phenomenon called the how to book. There are how to books on subjects ranging from the simplest household tasks to how to be a good parent or an amazing lover.

Authors are no exception to the rule, and are very eager to give advice to each other from how to write and publish your first novel to publicizing that novel and promoting yourself. Being an author, I know how important publicizing ones work is and how necessary it is to promote oneself. Because other writers know how eager their colleagues are to place themselves in the public eye, there are many books in the market place that offer publicity and promotion tips. More often than not, these suggestions require great expenditure and that is something most underpaid writers can't afford.

However, "The Frugal Book Promoter" by Carolyn Howard -Johnson offers solutions that cost more in time than money, and time is something any committed writer must be prepared to spend. The author admits at the start of the book that some of her advice is based on her opinion, but this is an opinion garnered from years of being in public relations and from successfully promoting and publicizing her first two books.

The book starts off with some simple and helpful hints. The author speaks about branding yourself instead of publicizing yourself. Later she goes on to explain this more fully. Every time an author writes an article, short story, or book review and publishes it in a magazine, newspaper, ezine or website, he or she should end with their tagline. A tagline can be the author's name and works, for example, Gloria Fox author of One Missing Shoe along with email and website address.

In the first chapters, Howard-Johnson addresses normal author concerns such as plagiarism: how often it is really done and how to guard against it by copyrighting. She also discusses P.R or how to publicize your book through media releases, publishing excerpts from your book, and author interviews among other things.

"The Frugal Book Promoter" is so filled with information that it would take several pages to describe. Howard-Johnson spends time elaborating on the things to do before the book comes out, building a Media Kit, entering contests, making contacts by attending conferences and how to decide which ones to attend and what to do while there. She discusses the importance of having your own website and how to have one built for a reasonable fee. She gives you a list of websites to go to that will teach you how to build one or help you get ones for free. She also explains the necessity of making a personal mailing list of family, friends, co-workers, your church group and so on.

The author takes you through the process of what to do when you get a publisher's contract, the questions to ask and the pitfalls to avoid. She also gives advice on what to do after the book is published, how to get reviews, the importance of book signings and book fares, how to use the media including internet radio and public announcements in local papers. Her section on Amazon.Com is excellent. She explains how to establish a free account and how to use tools such as Listamania, book reviews, and the All About Me section.

One of the aspects of this book that I thought most valuable was the list of websites included in every chapter. They ranged from websites that help you with the mechanics of writing to review sites, and sites that help you sell and promote the book. There is also an appendix filled with wonderful things, like sample query letters.

As a writer, I found this book a very useful tool. Even if you don't agree with some of the author's opinions, the share amount of research that went into this book will awe you. One of the results of this extensive research though, is that the book can seem overwhelming. The solution to this is to treat it as a toolbox. When you need a tool, open the box and take it out, or study the specific chapter or chapters in this case. Beginning authors will find this an enlightening how to book and even old veterans might learn some things they never knew. I did.


Rating:
Summary: The Frugal Book Promoter: How to do What Your Publisher Won'
Review: The Frugal Book Promoter: How to do What Your Publisher Won't is a comprehensive guide to marketing for writers. This book contains helpful lists such as One Dozen Publicity No-Nos and the 19 Commandments for Getting Free Publicity. The author has also included numerous chapters containing hints and tips for building a media kit, building up name recognition, and creating mailing lists. Furthermore, this book illustrates realistic ways to improve your marketing strategies at writing conferences, book expos, on the web, and during media events.

Each of the informative sections contained in this book contain very complete and realistic solutions to marketing for writers. Many of the chapters include examples and samples associated with each appropriate idea. Often the author even includes blank or skeleton form letters with these resources. In this way, the reader can easily take his or her new found knowledge and adapt these resources directly to his or her own marketing needs.

The Frugal Book Promoter: How to do What Your Publisher Won't will be a useful reference to any writer, whether he or she is a newbie or an old hand at promoting his or her work. To this end, the author illustrates the tried and true common sense methods of book promotion for those new to marketing but also adds a wide array of novel ideas for those wanting to add a new dimension to an exiting marketing strategy. Moreover, this book demonstrates that as a writer it is important to think and plan a marketing strategy long before a book is published.


Rating:
Summary: Great, Great Book!
Review: This book is absolutely packed with valuable information any writer can use--whether a brand new writer just starting out or a pro who's been writing for years. There is so much great information that I found myself making "To Do" lists at the end of every chapter. Highly Recommended!

Rating:
Summary: A guide to the basics of building a media kit
Review: Written by former publicist Carolyn Howard-Johnson, The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't is a no-nonsense guide to the basics of building a media kit and media release, forming a solid mailing list that is far more effective than any that could be bought, a wealth of promotional ideas to choose from, suggestions for tailoring a promotion campaign to one's pocketbook and personality, and much more. Also available in an ebook format, The Frugal Book Promoter is an excellent resource for any aspiring small press or self-published author looking to get the word out and unafraid of elbow grease.