Remedies for Disappointing Marketing Efforts

A Consideration for Do-It-Yourself Book Promoters

 

 

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson, multi award-winning novelist, poet, and author
of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers

Every author wants their marketing efforts to be super successful.

And most of us spend an inordinate amount of time chasing big coverage in big media. That’s our dream. Trouble is, it is often a failure.

So, as a book marketing consultant, I tell my clients a little story from my early consulting days. I met June at a writers’ conference about two years after she had hit the big time with a featured four page spread in a slick, trade magazine including being its cover girl. There she was posing apparently nude but with a bathtub full of bubbles protecting her reputation—bubbles, her book, and her iPhone and were her only props. It was tastefully done. It was the perfect theme for the news cycle of the day about the advantages for working from home—and being a happily independent self-publisher. She had been the envy of many authors. Two years after that magazine was issued to tens of thousands business people across the US, she still had entire box-fulls of some 2,000 copies of the title she had published hanging around her garage. She had been absolutely sure they would sell quickly after this marketing triumph. She was for sure one disillusioned cover girl.

I gave her a 50% discount on her consultation and found myself coaching her at no charge for a year as she slid into an “I’ll-never-write-again funk.” She made a mistake familiar to authors. She reached for the stars. She did so when it seemed logical and right. She had learned to write a knock-out query letter and knew the standards for submission. She even did post promotion touting her success at events designed to help other authors. Her story was a trove of wisdom for those who long for independence.

BUT SHE ALSO VIOLATED A BASIC MARKETING RULE. GREAT MARKETING IS RARELY A MIRACULOUS COUP. MARKETING THAT INCREASES BOOKS SALES AND BUILDS CAREERS IS PROPELLED BY ENTIRE CAMPAIGNS AND REPETITION. CAMPAIGNS GROW REACH LARGE NUMBERS OF READERS  AND REPETITION REMINDS READERS TO ACT ON WHAT THEY’VE SEEN.

Here’s the saddest part.  She could have done much better with less expenditure of time and more successes that would have could have fed that repetition machine. Here the kind of media that might that might have helped her reach her sales goal as well inspire her with more positive marketing experiences--enough to keep her going for another book and then another.

Let local media keep your campaign going as your success stories proliferate including awards, local events built around holidays, local politics--whatever you can associate with different aspects of your book. 

§  Don’t neglect free media.

§  Don’t forget media from your alma maters—from newsletters to their quarterlies to their e-magazines, high school, community colleges where you took night classes...and above. 

§  Don’t ignore querying for reviews, or exclude the less prestigious ones.

§  Don’t underestimate yucky commercial stuff you find in your mailbox. Read them. Get creative. One or more could be a goose that lays the golden egg.

§  Don’t disregard throwaway newspapers found in a rack outside CVS, printed on paper that isn’t slick, edited by professionals who need tons of content to fill many pages on a weekly basis.

§  Actively seek marketing opportunities other than media. Most are great for building the kind of readers who become supporters. Have them sign a guest book complete with e-mail addresses. Then ask them to tell others. Find them at places like these:

~Seminars and readings at retailers that match your reading audience—boutiques, bars, coffee shops, yogurt shops, anyone located along the main street of your home town. Events using your personal mail list can increase their much-needed profits by 10% a day. Get them to agree to stock your book while you continue to make others aware of where to buy them, even in your e-mail signature. Have you heard of point-of-purchase sales? All they have to do is perch you book near their cash register with a little stack of your business cards and when someone looks, touches, or comments, keep the conversation going.

~ Local and not so local fairs and trade shows. 

~ Let your library’s event director know about your release. They need panelists. Volunteer for to do or help with their book displays and window arrangements. 

~ Pitch newsletters or weeklies for seniors and medical communities.

~ Don’t underestimate the reach of online entities like blog tours, articles for newsletters. You can produce your own to encourage loyal fans and readers, but a very wise Dan Poynter once told me that we reach a greater number and variety of readers—and save lots of time—when we offer content for others’ websites and blogs in exchange for nothing more than a glorious byline and bio.

~ If you are enamored with being on a big morning talk show (a danger sign by the way!), explore the local cable channel that runs your city’s meetings and determine what theme, topic, or genre of your book or your own backstory would interest their audience.

All of the editors, readers, and business leaders you meet are your future supporters. Keep accurate contact and mail lists. Using them frequently is as important as knowing how to write s smashing query letter or media release. 

Somewhere lying fallow in a musty library there is sure to be an old marketing tome—perhaps once a textbook—that would tell you about the “rule of seven.” People must be exposed to a message at least seven times before they act on it. 

If you still aren’t convinced, here’s how to combine the possibilities. Don’t think Time, Vogue, or CBS (unless it’s local CBS in a small town or region). Think obscure. Think big charities and organizations. Jim Banning, Editor-in-Chief of AAA’s Westways says the term hidden gem is a one of the most “cringe-worthy” clichés he comes across in descriptions of his free periodical. And he has first-hand experience of its value. The editors of AARP’s (American Association of Retired Persons) and the Sierra Club’s magazine editor would agree with him. They send out hundreds of thousands of magazines to their members/clients. The beauty is they’re slick, professional and did I say have a rather large distribution list? Their readers are not monolithic. If accepted an article you wrote (and pitched) would carry a credit line with its title and website address. You might also suppose they don’t hear from new authors with a great story to pitch nearly as often as The New Yorker or Playboy that might not be as impressed by your name or the title of your book—yet.

An appearance in one of these  niche periodicals expands the fairy dust around us that builds careers. But mostly their positive and frequent acceptance keeps us writing (and reinvigorated) on even our bluest days.

 

MORE ABOUT TODAY’S “WRITERS on the MOVE” CONTRIBUTOR

Carolyn Howard-Johnson is a multi award-winning author of fiction and poetry but is best known for her how-to-books for writers. Find all of that series in one place on Amazon, but it’s her poetry that addresses the ills of cultures across the world. Imperfect Echoes is her Writers’ Digest honored book. Self-published in the tradition of poets since the advent of the Gutenberg press, it defies #bookbigoty as well other biases we are experiencing after a period—decades—of progress on that front. Find a review by Jim Cox, editor-in-chief of The Midwest Book Review, and its Amazon buy page at Https://tinyurl.com/ImperfectEchoes.

Writing Goals: Front and Center

Contributed by Karen Cioffi, Children's Writer

As a writer, you have to move forward to keep up with the onslaught of books and authors in the book publishing arena. And you especially need to be sure you’re staying in alignment with your writing goals. 

This means you need to stop every now and then to evaluate your core goals and whether you’re actually heading in that direction.

Every marketer will tell you that at the beginning of each year, you need to create a list of core or major goals. It’s important to make your goals realistic and attainable, and not to burden yourself with too many.

Three is a good number of writing goals, not too few, not too many. Then, under each goal, list a few tasks that you will do on a daily or weekly basis to help you reach your objectives.

In addition to writing your goals down in a document, they need to be printed and kept visible. It’s important to put them somewhere you’ll be sure to notice every day. You might put your list on your computer, inside your laptop case, on top of your daily planner, or on the inside of a kitchen cabinet you open every day.

You get the idea: your writing goals need to be visible each and every day. Not just visible, though, they need to be read each and every day.

Why is it important to keep your writing goals front and center?

Here’s another question to help answer that question: Did you ever hear the expression, ‘Out of sight, out of mind?’

That’s your answer.

On January 1st of ‘any year,’ you may tell yourself, and maybe even write it down, that you will:

1. Write a minimum of five pages of your new book each week.
2. Effectively market your published books.
3. Submit articles to three paying magazines every month.

Okay, that’s great. But, suppose it’s now July, and you haven’t even written 10 pages of your new book, and you haven’t gone past the very basics of promoting your published books.

What happened to your writing goals?

Easy. You didn’t keep your goals list front and center, so you got sidetracked.

While you may have had the best of intentions on January 1st, if you don’t keep those writing goals visible, it’s difficult to stay on course.

Maybe you decided to add the writing of unrelated ebooks to your workload. 

Maybe you decided to do book reviews and started a critique group of your own. 

Maybe you devoted too much time to social networking and your online groups.

These additions may not necessarily be a bad thing, but before you continue on, ask yourself three questions:

1. Are these additions to your workload moving you in the direction of your primary writing goals?
2. Are they actually keeping you from attaining your goals?
3. Are they providing some kind of income?

If your answers to these questions are NO, YES, NO, then you need to step back, redirect your steps, and get back on track. If you keep your writing goals front and center, you’ll be amazed at how you automatically work toward achieving them.

And, interestingly, it seems once you have that focus, the universe somehow aligns itself with you and things start falling into place.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author, working ghostwriter, rewriter, and coach. If you need help with your story, visit Karen Cioffi Writing for Children. 

You can check out Karen’s books HERE.

Connect with Karen on SOCIAL MEDIA. 
 

 

 

Identity Creates Results—Not the Other Way Around

by Suzanne Lieurance

Many writers assume confidence is something that arrives later, once certain milestones have been reached. The book deal, the praise, the external validation, or even just a sense that the numbers finally look respectable enough. It feels reasonable to think this way because most of us are taught to look for evidence before we allow ourselves to feel secure.

The problem is that creative work doesn’t follow that order, and neither does meaningful change. What tends to shape a writer’s experience far more than talent or opportunity is the identity they are already living from. The way you see yourself quietly influences how you work, how you respond to difficulty, and how long you stay engaged when things don’t go smoothly. Over time, those patterns begin to produce results that match the identity you started with.

When you understand this, the struggle to “become confident” starts to look a little different.

The Perspective Behind the Work

Two writers can have similar skills, similar schedules, and access to the same opportunities, yet their paths unfold in very different ways. The difference often isn’t effort or ambition but the internal perspective guiding their choices.

One writer approaches the work from the mindset of someone who is still trying to earn the right to call herself a writer. She hesitates more often, questions her ideas before giving them space to develop, and looks outward for reassurance before trusting her own judgment. Writing feels tentative because she hasn’t fully claimed it as something that belongs to her yet.

Another writer sees herself as someone already engaged in the work, even while learning and refining her craft. She expects uncertainty and allows the process to be imperfect. When something doesn’t work, she treats it as information rather than evidence that she’s failing. That assumption alone changes how she moves through challenges.

On the surface, both writers may appear to be doing the same things, but internally they are operating from very different places, and that internal position shapes the outcome more than most people realize.

What Your Behavior Is Already Saying

You don’t need to announce your identity to know what you believe about yourself as a writer. Your habits reveal it clearly. The way you approach unfinished projects, your comfort level with sharing work, and how quickly you disengage when things feel uncertain all point to the story you’re currently telling yourself.

Avoiding visibility often signals a belief that your work must reach some imagined standard before it deserves space. Abandoning projects midway can reflect a fear of investing effort without a guaranteed payoff. Constant comparison usually comes from assuming you’re late to something everyone else figured out earlier.

These patterns don’t mean you’re doing anything wrong. They simply show the identity you’re practicing right now. The important thing to understand is that identity isn’t fixed. It’s reinforced through repetition, and that means it can also be reshaped through deliberate choices.

Why Results Don’t Create Belief

Many writers say they’ll feel more confident once they see tangible progress. In practice, confidence rarely appears as a reward for success. What actually builds confidence is consistency, and consistency tends to come from a quiet internal decision rather than external proof.

When a writer treats herself as someone whose work matters, she shows up more steadily. That steadiness leads to improvement. Improvement creates opportunities, and opportunities eventually lead to results. The belief didn’t come from the outcome; the outcome came from the belief being acted on long enough to gain traction.

Writers who sustain their work over time aren’t depending on constant reassurance. They’ve already decided that their commitment isn’t conditional on how things look in the moment.

Believing Without Evidence Feels Risky for a Reason

This is where many writers hesitate, because believing in yourself without visible confirmation can make you feel exposed. It can feel unrealistic or even irresponsible to take your writing seriously before the world reflects that seriousness back to you.

Yet identity is rarely built through dramatic declarations or sudden breakthroughs. It forms through small, repeated acts of trust. Sitting down to write even when motivation is low. Completing work that no one is asking for yet. Making choices based on what feels aligned rather than what feels safest.

Each of these actions strengthens the sense that writing is not something you’re waiting to qualify for but something you are already engaged in.

When Chasing Results Gets in the Way

Focusing too heavily on outcomes often introduces tension into the work. Writing becomes pressured rather than exploratory. Decisions are driven by fear of falling behind or missing opportunities instead of curiosity or clarity. Over time, that pressure makes the process feel heavier and less sustainable.

When attention shifts away from proving something and toward embodying a steady identity, the work tends to soften. You’re more willing to stay present with the process because your sense of worth is no longer tied to every single result. Ironically, that relaxed engagement is often what allows better results to emerge.

A Different Question to Live From

Instead of constantly asking how to improve outcomes, it can be more useful to ask how the version of you who trusts herself would handle the next small decision. That question doesn’t demand certainty or force change. It simply invites you to respond from a slightly different place.

Over time, those responses accumulate. You begin to live from the identity first and allow the external experience to catch up in its own time.

You’re Already Practicing an Identity

You are not waiting for permission to take your writing seriously. You are shaping your identity daily through your choices, your self-talk, and the way you engage with your work when no one is watching. When you begin to shift that identity intentionally, the results will eventually follow, not because you chased them harder, but because your way of showing up quietly changed.

You're already a writer. It's time to start living like one.  The Morning Nudge can help and it's free. Learn more here.

Suzanne Lieurance is an award-winning author with over 40 published books and a transformational Law of Attraction coach for writers at writebythesea.com.

 

 

 

Increase Your Productivity

 

By Terry Whalin (@terrywhalin)

Because I’m involved in publishing, publishers and authors will send me books to review. As a literary agent or editor, writers will send email pitches or book proposals or manuscripts in the mail for consideration. If I am not consciously organizing this material, it does not take long for the paper and books to overwhelm my workspace and bottleneck any level of productivity. 

Maybe you’ve had this experience where the piles around you grow to such a level that you can’t accomplish anything because you spend half of your time looking for a particular item. I’ve walked into the offices of some editors, and they have paperwork piled everywhere. Some can barely reach their computer and desk because of the work piled around them. These editors have learned to work in the middle of such chaos, but it doesn’t work for me. 

Another editor friend is so organized that she has each of the books on her shelf alphabetized by the author’s last name. I’m definitely not that organized! The key to productivity for your publishing dreams is to create a system to tame the paper tigers in your life, the time wasters such as physical mail and email. 

Let’s return to the basic time wasters and find a solution for each one. 

First let’s tackle your email. There is no rule that you have to read or respond to every single email. In fact, it is unrealistic to have this expectation. Also reevaluate your participation in online email groups with high volume participation. What value are you getting from this group? Can you drop out or go into a digest format and skim the responses? It is worth your examination to find a more effective way to handle these emails. 

Veteran coach and management consultant David Allen has written a best-selling book I recommend called GETTING THINGS DONE. For every email or physical mail in your in-basket, Allen recommends you determine first, “Is it actionable?” If not, it goes into the trash, begins a tickler file so you can act on it later, or is filed for reference in a place you can retrieve it. If you look at the item and decide you can take action, then in less than two minutes, handle it (do it), delegate it (to someone else) or defer it (take action at a later date and set a specific time). These three steps move the items out of the holding pattern and into action or productive steps. 

Combined with these steps, Allen recommends you process the top item first, then the other items one at a time, and you never put anything back into the “in” basket. Use these steps as you handle your regular mail as well as your email. 

It’s important for each of us as writers to experiment and adopt whichever habits will work for your writing life and increase your productivity. I’ll have more insights next month with a second part about this topic of productivity. Each of us is on a journey to discover and use what will work for our writing life. 

Tweetable:

Want to increase your productivity for your writing life? Discover some new ideas from this prolific author and editor in this article. #writinglife #pubtip (ClickToTweet)

W. Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor lives in California. Get Terry’s newsletter and a 87-page FREE ebook packed with writing insights. Just follow this link to subscribe. A former magazine editor and former literary agent, Terry is an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including  Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams and Billy Graham. Get Terry’s recent book, 10 Publishing Myths for only $10, free shipping and bonuses worth over $200. To help writers catch the attention of editors and agents, Terry wrote his bestselling Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com. Connect with Terry on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Is Your Self-Published Children’s Book Professionally Done?

 

Contributed by Karen Cioffi, Children's Writer

There are a lot of self-published (SP) children’s books that are as good as, or even better than, traditionally published books.

The authors who produce these books take care and do it right. They do everything they should to ensure their book meets the mark.

But…

There are an awful lot of SP books out there that are way off the mark.

So, what about your book? Is it professionally done? Is it a book that you’re proud to be the author of?

If not, how can you improve your books?

The top five ways to make sure your children’s book is publishable and marketable; in other words, professionally done.

1. Research.

If you’re new or newish to the children’s writing arena, study other children’s books in the genre you want to write.

Go deep into these books. Pay attention to everything from story structure and character development to pacing, grammar, punctuation, character and story arcs, sentence structure, and all other elements.

I just read a manuscript from an author who had it edited before sending it to me. Even the quotation marks for dialogue were wrong - this is basic stuff. 

If the author had taken the time to research and study books, she would have known this.

2. Don’t think you’re good to go right out of the box.

No children’s story is good-to-go right out of the box. It takes revisions to make it shine. 

Pay attention to structure, organization, consistency, focus, clarity, and flow.  

Give it a couple of drafts before deciding you can move on to the next phase. 

3. Have your children’s manuscript professionally edited.

If you want a book that looks and reads professional, you need to get it professionally edited.

Keep in mind the author I mentioned in Number 1 above. 

I’d never seen such a poorly written manuscript, and she had it edited.

Before looking for an editor, learn the basics and get your manuscript into the best shape you can. Taking this step will possibly help reduce the editor’s fee. The more an editor has to do, the more you’ll be charged.

Once you’re at the best you can do stage, research editors. Look for testimonials and samples of the editor’s work.

You can also ask around for recommendations. A good way to do this is to join the Society of Children’s Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). There are a lot of experienced writers who are happy to help.

Warning: Once you have your story edited by a professional children’s editor, don’t let a self-publishing service re-edit it.

4. You’ll need some additional pages.

Front matter:
-Title page
-Copyright page
-Dedication page (optional)

Back matter (optional):
-Author page
-Glossary (if needed)
-Reading comprehension page (optional)
-More information page/s (optional)

5. Hire a good illustrator.

Picture books rely heavily on the illustrations. They help tell the story.

Chapter books also need illustrations, as readers still need them to help grasp the story. This is why you need a good illustrator, one who knows what he’s doing.

Check out their portfolio. You might ask for a sample, though not all illustrators will provide one.

And it's not a good idea to hire an illustrator based on sketches. I worked with one who had great sketches, but the colored illustrations were boring. 

You also want an illustrator who is creative enough to see what you can’t and one who can create a grabbing cover. 

The cover is the number one contributing factor that motivates a reader to buy your book. It's a good idea to take advantage of it by having it done right. There are better places to try to save money.

This is not the place to try to save money.

At a loss to find an illustrator? You can use SCBWI to find one. I provide my clients with one or two illustrators that I’ve worked with or that my clients have worked with.

Illustration tips:

-Be sure you will own the illustrations once you pay for them.
-Be sure the illustrator will do revisions.
-Check each illustration for page accuracy and consistency throughout.
-Hire an illustrator who does the text inlay.
-Check the text inlay for accuracy. I’ve seen some terrible mistakes in this area.
-It’s important to get the individual illustrations even if the illustrator provides a PDF of the entire book.
-Review the finished work carefully before handing it off to a formatter/designer or a self-publishing service.

Hope this helps you create a professional children’s book that you’ll be proud to be the author of.

This article was originally published at: Is Your Self-Published Book Professionally Done?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author, working ghostwriter, rewriter, and coach. If you need help with your story, visit Writing for Children with Karen Cioffi. 

You can check out Karen’s books HERE.

Connect with Karen on SOCIAL MEDIA. 

Need help self-publishing your children's picture or chapter book? Check out Writers on the Move Self-Publishing Service. 

 

The Story Behind My “The more you. Know…” Motto

Making Publishing Decisions the Frugal Way

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson, novelist, poet, and
author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers

 

The internet spreads a cruel notion among new authors. They are led to believe the well-respected publisher they are “sure” to acquire employs a magical entity who will apply literary voodoo to their manuscript and come up with the perfect book they dream of. The truth is authors might achieve that dream better by publishing their book themselves like Faulkner or Hemingway did or hire someone (or many someones) to achieve that goal. To carry that idea a little further, they might have to do much of what they think they’ll avoid with traditional publishers anyway. The stories we hear about the does, don’ts, and what ifs are often fairy tales borrowed from the centuries before this new millennium.

A more practical way to make publishing choices is to make a list weighing the suitability of the title of your WIP (Word in Progress), the author’s preferences, personality, and pocketbook and then break each of those categories into as many as an author can determine are applicable to their project. The graph you build will not make the decision for you—the idea that it’s always your choice is usually a bit of a fairytale, too. But it will give you a more realistic expectation for your WIP as well gaps in learning you still need to do. That process is never ending. 

 

Your list would look something like this. 

1.The title. 
    a. Some genres—even some writing styles—are simply

more difficult to get into print; that range of difficulty can

vary with the different aspects of publishing process from

covers to formatting, to interior design, to developing 

index that librarians expect in nonfiction books.

b. Some titles depend on publication within a current

timeframe that cannot wait for the traditional search for an

agent or publisher. Once a contract with a publisher is

signed, it can easily take a year to get a book to library and

bookstore shelves.

2. The author’s personality. 

a. How honest can the author be about their own strengths 

and weaknesses.

b. How willing is an author to learn what it takes to partner

with publishers or those they must hire.
3. The author’s preferences.

a. How flexible can the author be when they meet unexpected exigencies.

b. Can the author welcome input/demands regarding their creative work, or—minimally—be willing to ask or negotiate with a publisher’s team or those they must hire.

c. Some authors go in search of an agent before they are aware that most take about 15% of the royalty a publisher allots to what they think will be the author’s “share.”

4. The author’s pocketbook.

a. In any publishing scenario, there will be unexpected expenses—sometimes insurmountable. The most disappointing is ending up with a publisher who isn’t a true publisher, that is, it doesn’t cover important needs like marketing or charges hefty fees for what the author could better do themselves.

5. Time Considerations. That would be for the tune the author needs to invest to learn more about the different aspects or the process they believe is right for their situation as well how quickly the book must be available to the public to accommodate current or coming news cycles.

a. This list is long on possibilities and includes most

everything from marketing and PR skills like speaking,

making videos, etc. to the basics of writing a successful

query letter.

b. Most experts strongly suggest that the book cover not be

one of those you hope to do yourself, even if the author is

an artist. Book covers require a graphic artist with

marketing knowledge, knowledge of printing in color and

the delicate mathematics needed to make the cover fit

many elements of a book from book dimension to weight

of the paper to width of the spine.

 

You can see that both the success and joy of your publishing journey will depend on what you know. I borrowed the phrase “The more you know…” from the hours of TV I spent watching MSNBC on a cruise when their own ad campaign took place of paid ads to meet cruise system parameters. It started to make more sense when I finally turned my computer on to tackle the self-editing project I had planned for sea days. I had already spent a few years trying to sift through rumors at expensive writer’s conferences and critique groups populated by others as new to the publishing industry as I was. I could feel the truth to that MSNBC adage through to my bones.

 

The two best ways for authors to learn is to eschew how-to books written for everyone. To learn what I needed to know to avoid the publishing potholes I had been falling in. I now tell my clients to take specific classes in writing and other aspects of publishing at accredited universities which is also expensive, but their instructors and information are usually carefully vetted. I also tell them to read books—even used paperbacks from Amazon—written by those same instructors or experts—people with lots of experience learning the stuff our traditional industry expects of us! Eventually I became one of those instructors myself (at UCLA) and started to write texts for my classes and for everyone else including the emerging do-it-yourselfers. You know, not for everybody but books precisely for the needs of publishing authors.

 

Here is a list of those books and there are more recommendations in the appendixes of each one: 

 

The Frugal Book Promoter, The Frugal Editor, The Great First-Impression Book Proposal, Great Little Last-Minute Editing Tips for Writers from Modern History Press as well as

How To Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically that was self-published and will soon be available in a second edition from Modern History Press. Hurry! Amazon was showing a 46% discount on the Book Proposal paperback! 

MORE ABOUT TODAY’S COLUMNIST

Carolyn Howard-Johnson brings her experience as a publicist, journalist, marketer, and retailer to the advice she gives in her HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers and the many classes she taught for nearly a decade as instructor for UCLA Extension’s world-renown Writers’ Program. The books in her HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers have won multiple awards. That series includes The Frugal Book Promoter and The Frugal Editor which won awards from USA Book News, Readers’ Views Literary Award, the marketing award from Next Generation Indie Books and others including the coveted Irwin award. How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethicallylaunched to rave reviews from Jim Cox, Editor-in-Chief of Midwest Book Reviews and others: 

 

“How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically [and other books in the series] could well serve as a textbook for a college Writing/Publishing curriculum.”

 

Howard-Johnson is the recipient of the California Legislature’s Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment Award, and her community’s Character and Ethics award for her work promoting tolerance with her writing. She was also named to Pasadena Weekly’s list of “Fourteen San Gabriel Valley women who make life happen” and was given her community’s Diamond Award for Achievement in the Arts. 

                  

The author loves to travel. She has visited nearly 100 countries and has studied writing at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom; Herzen University in St. Petersburg, Russia; and Charles University, Prague. She admits to carrying a pen and journal wherever she goes. Learn more about her books for writers and her creative work in the media room on her website.