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Frugal Book Promoter Reviewed for Literary Site

 

By David Herrle, editor of SubtleTea

Permission given to reprint with credits to author and SubtleTea.com.

 

"John Grisham's story about selling books - store to store, person to person, out of the trunk of his car - is legend, if not letter-perfect true," says Carolyn Howard-Johnson in Frugal's foreword.  Indeed this anecdote exemplifies the obscure beginnings of many now-esteemed authors (and artists in general), from Whitman to Woolf (both former self-publishers).  And since book publishing has only become more complicated, frustrating, tribal, and crystallized by corporate rump-kissing and profit-mongering, a comprehensive guide to contending, planning, and navigating through the difficult (and often desolate or hostile) literary arena is all the more necessary and desirable.

 

Bottom line: Frugal delivers.  Unlike those crappy Discovery Channel specials that promise to disclose some major secrets about some cold case (like Marilyn Monroe's mysterious demise) or some historical event but either never deliver or reveal a flimsy, trivial, non-conclusive tidbit - Frugal's package doesn't simply tease for the sake of readers.  Many so-called guides and self-help books toot big horns but prove themselves limp from page to page.  "Ok, Davey!" you cry. "We get the point!  The Frugal Book Promoter rocks!  Tell us about the bleepin' thing!"  Want to be frustrated?  There's not much to tell.  The book speaks for itself.

 

How so?  Well, the complete title gives it all away: The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't.  There.  That's what the book provides.  It shows a BOOK PROMOTER how to be FRUGAL while DOing WHAT his/her PUBLISHER WON'T (or probably won't) do.  That's what's to tell.  Expecting a rather brief overview sprinkled with several decent tips, I ended up quite impressed.  And I like to give credit where it's due.  

 

Each section and chapter prefaced with a pertinent quotation which often serves as a tip in its own right, Frugal provides detailed, empirical information and advice about publicity, pitching, media kits, credential building, writer's conferences, Internet utility, mailing lists, publishing contract matters, publicist questions, book cover design, promo items, editor etiquette, book reviews, TV/radio spots, extra publicity tactics, book signings/readings, libraries, much ado about Amazon, e-books, sales concerns, keeping a book from fading away, and an appendix with sample media release, reader list form, and queries.  (I'm disappointed that a sample query letter for agents/fiction editors isn't included, but I understand that Frugal is primarily about self-promotion and not the seminal process of courting presses.)  Unsure of how to compose an official media release?  Carolyn provides "Puzzle Pieces" to explain the proper procedure (down to fonts and font size).  An index for the nervous, cut-to-the-chase folks like Yours Truly is also provided.

 

Carolyn once wrote in a NAWW newsletter: "Good PR is carefully targeted.  It is PR in which the recipient feels cared for, PR that is repeated - with love and expertise - over and over again.  These are the essentials and they work."  She quotes a Joyce Jillson horoscope: "It's all about momentum."  Frugal brims with supportive examples of careful targeting and repetitive methods for promotion and maintaining momentum.  Carolyn might have titled the book The Art of PR (which even sounds like Sun Tzu's The Art of War).  Instead, as I've already said, she chose to be ultra-straightforward in title and content.  The book might be nicknamed The Frugal Promo Bible.  Fittingly, it contains commandments - not ten, but nineteen: "19 Commandments for Getting Free Publicity."  (I'm sure the impropriety of using God's name in vain at a book signing or during a radio interview is self-evident.)  Carolyn doesn't hog the show.  She allows a wider context, frequently referring to other writers/veterans in the field, from Rolf Gompertz' Publicity Advice and How-To Handbook, Jonathan Treisman's The Writer's Hollywood Toolkit, Carolyn See's Making A Literary Life, Vicki Hinze's All About Writing To Sell, etc., to a step-by-step example of how colleague (Raleigh Pinskey) conducts a media pitch by phone.  For those of us who freeze on phones as if we were nude atop the Washington Monument (ouch), this is a worthy resource.

 

Carolyn has astutely devised an informative, helpful promotion guide that delivers what it advertises - which is the general ethic for being a good self-promoter.  You must believe in yourself and your work in order to genuinely plug a worthy product.  Too often, publishers do the bare minimum for their authors unless they're dealing with Sandra Brown or Tom Clancy.  And books can be considered living things, so to speak, because they can certainly die.  Drawing on multiple sources including her own experience with her books This Is The Place and Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered, Carolyn gives hope to those who fear book death.  The Frugal Book Promoter is a reliable life-support system.

 

 

Frugal Book Promoter as Profit Generator for Publisher

 

By Susan Vogel ~ Published on Amazon and publisher's website

Full of useful information, March 1, 2005
This book is useful for small publishers as well as authors. As I read through it I made notes in the margins as to new things I need to do to better market my authors and their books. I ended up with about 100 new ideas! What I like about Carolyn's approach is that she does not just give general ideas, as do some books, but practically does the work for you by giving samples and websites as well. As a publisher for the past ten years, I can tell you that a huge factor in the success of a book is the author's ability to market herself and her book. I have given up on books when the author simply is not "out there" selling herself. My most successful authors are devoting several hours a day to promotion including doing many of the things Carolyn suggests in her book. I highly recommend this book for authors and small publishers.

Susan Vogel
Pince-Nez Press
www.pince-nez.com
Publisher of God's Brothel, by Andrea Moore-Emmett, who recently appeared on The O'Reilly Factor promoting her book!

 

Frugal Book Promoter as Author's Lifeline

Review by Frances Lynn, author of Frantic and Crushed ~ First Published on UK's Amazon site ~ Permission to publish credited with author's byline and book credits.

Anyone who wants to publicise their books on the cheap need look no further than The Frugal Book Promoter. I'm a newly published author and it's my Bible. Carolyn Howard-Johnson tells her readers How to Do What Your Publisher Won't. Her book, which is worth buying for the useful URLs alone is the Mecca of how to launch and market for next to nothing. It deals with everything you want to know about promotion, networking and beyond. She gives succinct advice on everything to do with marketing and publishing, including copyright, Psychology, pitching and most of all, how to get publicity for your new book for free - or for peanuts.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson stresses that even if a book publicist is assigned to publicise your book, it's still imperative to do your own self-promotion as well. She points out, you know your book and yourself better than anyone else, and that includes a professional publicist from a conglomerate publishing company. If your book is self-published, The Frugal Book Promoter is a lifeline. Glue yourself to it, and follow Howard-Johnson's ingenious and generous advice, step by step. It's full of important advice, like having to start publicising your books at least twelve weeks before publication date.

Carolyn's marketing ideas are unique. 'Using Free and Low Cost E-Books To promote' is one chapter heading - proving that she is way ahead of the promotional game. Not surprising, as she used to be a professional publicist. Her advice on how to write a Media Release and build your own Media Kit is priceless. She also gives invaluable tips on every publication topic you can think of: public speaking, your launch, libraries, writing contests, your Website, internet radio - tips for your TV/radio appearances. Even how to link yourself in Wikipedia.

If you want help on how to promote and publish your new book for virtually nothing, then 'The Frugal Book Promoter' should be your sole choice for a desert-island book. I'm not going to let it out of my sight.

"The Frugal Book Promoter" at amazon.co.uk

"The Frugal Book Promoter" at amazon.com

 

Promotion Tip: Carolyn with the Complete Writer's Journal which she co-edited with Pat Avery and Joyce Faulkner. A journal for all writers and sketchers, it is also a cross-promotion effort for its contributors and a income producer for authors everywhere. Learn more at www.redenginepress.com.    Find at least one tip on writing, promotion or tech on every page of this website.