Standing Tall with Roots in Giving

Reviewed by Linda Ballou


Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of The Frugal Book Promoter, and the Frugal Editor, comes from giving. She gives freely of her vast knowledge in marketing to an ever growing list of loyal readers. Whether you are considering subsidy publishing, self-publishing or a traditional publisher her books provide you with a roadmap and the tools to get your book into the public eye. A former publicist for a New York PR firm and a marketing instructor for the UCLA Extension’s Writer’s Program she tells us to put our best blossoms forward. “Think of your work as a bouquet that you arrange to its best advantage.”

The talk she gave at the San Fernanco Chapter of the Calfironia Writers Club (CWC) focused on how to create an effective media kit. Branding yourself, rather than your book, is critical in creating a lasting image and impression on editors. Collecting lists for distribution should be a part of your daily life. Developing an awareness of where opportunities to network lie will facilitate getting the word out about your book. Although she encourages creativity in presentation, editors do not want to search for information. They want it handed to them in an easy to use format that fills already established slots in newspapers and magazines. High points of her talk on how to build a media kit are detailed in the Frugal Book Promoter.

“Don’t be proprietary.” She warns us. “We want to share. We want people to know about what we think and feel.” Carolyn does not worry about people stealing her material. In fact, she invites editors to download articles off her site and to use them for free as long as they give her a byline. She gets more than dollars out of what she is doing. “Besides, she quips “Who wants to stay home watching I Love Lucy reruns?”
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Reviewed by Linda Ballou –Adventure travel writer and author of Wai-nani—High Chiefess of Hawai`i—Her Ancient Journey www.LindaBallouAuthor.com

Calfornia's Erma Bombeck Sees the Funny Side

title: Who, Me? Paranoid? Humor Humor Everywhere
author: Erica Stux
genre: Humor
ISBN: 978-1-58736-676-5
reviewer: Lenora Smalley, former president of California Writers Club, San Fernando Valley chapter
review first appeared on www.lenorasmalley.com



Erica Stux has a new book whose title immediately gives readers an idea they have found a funny and entertaining collection. In a style reminiscent of the late Erma Bombeck, Erica writes about events and relationships which confront us all. There are entries with intriguing titles such as The Care and Feeding of Dishwashers, HairDo's and Don'ts, New Math for the Family, May I Have My Attention, and an especially humorous tirade on Phantoms in My Fridge.

We have dibs, dabs, little jars or packages hiding in niches and corners in our refrigerator. I loved Erica's comment, "There could be a jar in one of those niches containing, for all I know, a hitherto unknown Dead Sea Scroll." She writes about many things we all know to be true. How major appliances such as dishwashers and washing machines always break down on weekends, especially long holiday weekends. How stoves usually quit on Christmas or New Years Eve. She extols the virtues of a good plumber or handyman, saying we should hang on to them because they are "worth their weight in drill bits."

I laughed reading the episode The Dinner Party I'd Most Like to Forget. It was one of those times when anything that could go wrong did, including spilling a drink on a guest and having the coffee pot blow a fuse, crashing the party into temporary darkness. She writes about events that make us want to laugh or cry, but Erica makes us laugh and helps us see the funny side. Read this book and the next time the groceries fall out of the bag onto the sidewalk or the ice cream scoop drops off the cone, remember Humor Humor is Everywhere.