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Showing posts with label the frugal editor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the frugal editor. Show all posts

Saturday, August 5, 2023

Celebrating the 3rd Edition of The Frugal Editor

The Frugal Editor
Third Edition
Subtitle: Do-It-Yourself Editing Secrets
Author:  Carolyn Howard-Johnson 
Publisher:: Modern History Press
Hard Copy: 9781615996018, $41.95, 296pp
E-book: $8.95
Paperback book: $26.95
Review from Midwest Review may now be seen on Midwest’s Writing/Publishing Shelf  

Reviewed by Jim, Editor in Chief of Midwest Book Review


Synopsis: Whether you are a new or experienced author, this updated and expanded third edition of "The Frugal Editor: Do-It-Yourself Editing Secrets-From Your Query Letters to Final Manuscript to the Marketing of Your New Bestseller" by veteran author, editor and book marketer Carolyn Howard-Johnson will dramatically assist aspiring and experienced authors to present whistle-clean copy from a one-page cover letter to their entire manuscript in ways that will convince those with the power to say "yea" or "nay" to their book.

This third edition of "The Frugal Editor", is part of Carolyn's multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of Books for writers and has been awarded accolades from Reader Views Literary Award, Dan Poynter's Global Ebook Award, the coveted Irwin Award, and many others. This fully updated edition includes the new help you need from managing gender pronouns to maximizing the usefulness of front and back matter. Altogether, "The Frugal Editor" now provides 50% more information designed for the success of an author's title.

Critique: Speaking as the editor-in-chief of the Midwest Book Review, one of the most common problems that self- published authors exhibit is a lack of much needed editing with respect to the books they present for my review and for sale to libraries and the general public.

While this newly revised and expanded third edition of "The Frugal Editor: Do-It-Yourself Editing Secrets-From Your Query Letters to Final Manuscript to the Marketing of Your New Bestseller" should be considered as mandatory reading for beginners, and even the more experienced authors will benefit substantially from the experience, expertise, wit and hard earned wisdom of writing and publishing expert Carolyn Howard-Johnson.

While also available for personal reading lists in a paperback edition (9781615996001, $26.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $8.95), "The Frugal Editor" is a seminal and unreservedly recommended addition to professional, community, and academic library Writing/Publishing instructional reference collections and supplemental Writing/Publishing Workshop curriculum studies lists

Editorial Note: Carolyn Howard-Johnson (www.HowToDoItFrugally.com) was the youngest person ever hired as a staff writer for The Salt Lake Tribune where she wrote features for the society page and a column under the name of Debra Paige. That gave her insight into the needs of editors, the very people authors must work with to get free ink and the ones likely to spot unprofessional editing when they see it. Being familiar with the way news is handled helps her see how different books fit into different news cycles.

Later in New York, she was an editorial assistant at Good Housekeeping Magazine. In the Big Apple she also handled accounts for fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert who instituted the first Ten Best Dressed List. There she started writing media releases (then called press releases) for celebrity designers of the day including Pauline Trigere, Rudy Gernreich, and Christian Dior instead of being one of those dreaded gatekeepers of releases who get to say yay or nay.

Carolyn has worked as columnist, reviewer, and staff writer for the Pasadena Star-News, Home Decor Buyer, the Glendale News-Press (an affiliate of the LA Times), and others. She learned marketing skills both in college (University of Utah, and University of Southern California) and as founder and operator of a chain of retail stores. That molded her understanding of how authors might best collaborate with retailers to affect both of their bottom lines. Carolyn's experience in journalism and as a poet and author of fiction and nonfiction helped the multi award-winning author understand how different marketing techniques might be used for each genre.

She was an instructor for UCLA Extension's renowned Writers' Program for nearly a decade and earned an instructor's certificate from that school. She studied writing at Cambridge University, United Kingdom; Herzen University in St. Petersburg, Russia; and Charles University in Prague.

Carolyn turned her knowledge toward helping other writers with her HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Her marketing campaign for the first edition of this book won Reader Views Award, USA Book News Award, and the marketing campaign for it won the Next Generation Indie Award for marketing.



 

Sunday, June 4, 2023

Dawn Colclasure Lauds Carolyn Howard-Johnson's "The Frugal Editor"

I love author-edited newsletters like the one below from Dawn Colclasure below for information, yes, but especially for networking and building a loyal base.  You'll see from the "More About the Author" that Dawn is not only a prolific author, but among her books are career-boosting how-tos for writers--and you (my SharingwithWriters and TheNewBookReview subscribers and visitors) know how I am about books being the most frugal way (and often the most credible way!) to build writing careers. Today's post was a surprise from Dawn, perhaps my first quite like this. It is what I will call and "editorial review" or recommendation.  It will become a vital part of my celebration of the release of the 3rd edition of my #TheFrugalEditor. Here it is! Along with a sample of her newsletter!  


Welcome to the latest issue (the of the 

Thirteenth!) of the SPARREW Newsletter!


An Assortment of Dawn Colclasure's Poetry, Fiction, and About Anything
and Everything Else! 


The free monthly newsletter for self-publishers, authors, readers, reviewers, editors and writers! I am happy to have you aboard! Thank you for subscribing! And welcome to new subscribers!



Thanks to her lovely contributions to this newsletter, Carolyn Howard-Johnson’s newest release, the third edition of The Frugal Editor: Do-It-Yourself Editing Secrets-From Your Query Letters to Final Manuscript to the Marketing of Your New Bestseller is not an unknown book to me. If you’d like to read about Carolyn’s thoughts on why the update of this book was necessary, you can check it out in my article in First Chapter Plus here: On pages 16-17

 

But aside from getting new nuggets of editorial wisdom from this book, I was surprised by how Carolyn’s reminder to edit query letters really hits home. I have reviewed many rejected query letters and realized that, after some thought, they definitely could use some editing. Carolyn’s book can help whip those query letters into shape! It’s definitely a must-have book for every writer serious about making their work shine.

 

We got a great issue put together for you this month.

 

In a recent issue of The Wordling newsletter, I learned about self-publisher Paul Millerd. After reading about his success as a self-publisher, I knew I had to interview him for my own newsletter! Despite his VERY busy schedule, Paul was able to find some time to answer my questions. Check out his sage advice about self-publishing below!

 

The author interview is with an author I have know for some time: William Meikle. I met William decades ago, through the Absolute Write Water Cooler. Even though it’s been many years since I’ve participated at the Water Cooler, I kept track of William through other online platforms – mainly, social media. When I learned he had books coming out this month, I wanted to interview him so he could share all about them! Don’t miss my interview with William and learn all about his journey in becoming an author.

 

And finally, the writer interview is with another fellow scribe I have known for many years: Shanta Everington. I met Shanta when I was writing for a parent publication based in England, and we kept in touch on and off ever since. Shanta graciously took some time to answer questions for the writer interview and to share her wisdom about all things writing.

 

This month’s feature article is from a fellow author who I recently crossed paths with. After I won a book drawing through Jessica McCann’s newsletter, I wanted to return the nice gesture and asked her if she would like to contribute a guest post to this newsletter. Thankfully, Jessica agreed to do so, and I loved how her ideas for writing puts a nice spin on the process! Please check out her article to find out just how she does it!

 

I hope you enjoy this issue! Feel free to drop me a note or connect with me on social media! I'd love to connect with you!


Enjoy this issue!

Click Here to Read the Full Issue!

Feature Article:

Writing Bass-Ackwards

"My daughter and her circle of friends love Manga -- Asian graphic novels that you read from back to front, right to left. She gave me one to read once, one with a story she thought I would love. I tried to read it; I really did. Just couldn’t do it...."

Read More



More About  Dawn Colclasure's Newsletter and Other Projects 



Her SPARREW Newsletter is a free monthly newsletter for self-publishers, authors, readers, reviewers, editors and writers! Subscribe here: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/oQMfjTl/spring. See a sample of her newsletter in this post and an image of her published books near the top of this post. 


More About #TheNewBookReview Blog

Help me celebrate the release of the 3rd Edition of "The Frugal Editor"


 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Authors, readers, publishers, and reviewers may republish their favorite reviews of books they want to share with others. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read and love. Please see submission guidelines in a tab at the top of this blog's home page or go directly to the submission guidelines at http://bit.ly/ThePlacetoRecycleBookReviews or to the guideline tab at the top of the home page of this blog. 

 Authors and publishers who do not yet have reviews or want more may use Lois W. Stern's #AuthorsHelpingAuthors service for requesting reviews. Find her guidelines in the right column of this blog  home page (a silver and gold badge and threee silver-gray circles beneath it. 

Carolyn Wilhelm is our IT expert, an award-winning author and veteran educator, she also contributes reviews and posts on other topics related to books. 

 Reviews, interviews, and articles on this blog are indexed by genre, reviewers' names, and review sites so #TheNewBookReview may be used as a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. As an example, writers will find this blog's search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. #TheFrugalbookPromoter, #CarolynHowardJohnson, #TheNewBookReview, #TheFrugalEditor, #SharingwithWriters, #reading #BookReviews #GreatBkReviews #BookMarketing

Saturday, February 25, 2023

Veteran Educator Carolyn Wilhelm Reviews Third Edition of The Frugal Editor

Title: The Frugal Editor
Edition: 3rd edition
Publisher: Modern History Press
ISBN: 9781615996001
Available on Amazon
Pages 279 including Index
Awards: Reader Views, USA Book News, Irwin Award, and more

Reviewed by Carolyn Wilhelm originally for Amazon

Technology changes and changes - a reliable book to keep up with the times. Like the addition of the chapter on making back-matter work harder for authors. Yes, please.

Why is it so difficult to find mistakes in our own writing? Why is editing so difficult? Why do writers need editors - many in fact. It is because writers and authors know what they mean to say. Our brains fill in the missing words and fix errors as we try to edit our own work. It is really difficult to notice our own mistakes. Having taught first grade, I see how children learn to read and write - with plenty of errors. And teachers could not understand children’s writing without filling in mistakes and making sense of it.

Veteran Educator Carolyn Wilhelm Reviews Third Edition of The Frugal Editor

Carolyn Howard-Johnson understands the great difficulty of perfect final drafts, and even books published professionally. Using tools like Word in specific ways (but never relying only on Word) she helps writers and editors by giving strategies to catch gremlins and typos. Even library books might have 5% of errors.

I was in a writing group where members would divide and conquer by separating editing tasks. One person reads for understanding, one for punctuation, one for consistency, and so on. But there are tools and tricks to weed out problems before paying professional editors. Carolyn Howard-Johnson knows them all!

Avoid publishing scams, hire help after most of the editing is done, and adapt the included sample query letters to your own style.

Great book to keep on your writing desk ad use as a reference during your writerly life.


More About the Reviewer

Carolyn Wilhelm is a veteran educator with a pile of academic letters behind her name as well as a frequent reviewer for Midwest Book Review, Amazon.com, and others. Find her teaching aids on Pinterest at WiseOwlFactory, many of them free.

More About #TheNewBookReview Blog 

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Authors, readers, publishers, and reviewers may republish their favorite reviews of books they want to share with others on her The New Book Review blog. Find guidelines for submitting to that blog and other free services in the tabs at the top of the home page of this blog or go to https://bit.ly/ThePlacetoRecycleBookReviews. It is open at no charge to authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read and love.

Authors and publishers who do not yet have reviews or want more may use Lois W. Stern's #AuthorsHelpingAuthors service for requesting reviews. Find her guidelines in a tab at the top of the home page, too. 

 Reviews, interviews, and articles on this blog are indexed by genre, reviewers' names, and review sites so #TheNewBookReview may be used as a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. As an example, writers will find this blog's search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. #TheFrugalbookPromoter, #CarolynHowardJohnson, #TheNewBookReview, #TheFrugalEditor, #SharingwithWriters, #reading #BookReviews #GreatBkReviews #BookMarketing

Saturday, July 1, 2017

Andrea's Bookshelf at Midwest Book Review Recommends Writers' How-To Book

How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically
Subtitle: The ins and outs of using free reviews to build and sustain a writing career
Series: The multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally.com
Author: Carolyn Howard-Johnson
HowToDoItFrugally Press
www.howtodoitfrugally.com
9781536948370 $17.95 pbk / $9.95 Kindle 

Available as a paperback and e-book on Amazon

Reviewed by Andrea Kay for her bookshelf at MidwestBookReview.com


The third book in the "How to Do It Frugally" series by award-winning author Carolyn Howard-Johnson, How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically lives up to its title, as an instructional guidebook for maximizing publicity from sources of free reviews in order to build a sustainable writing career. Chapters discuss how to avoid scams (especially pay-for-review scams), how to create a query letter for reviews that stands out from the pack, what to do with good reviews once they're obtained, how to respond to negative reviews or manage Amazon reviews, and much more. "Authors should not ask professional reviewers or journalists, 'Are you interested in an interview, too.' Just like literary agents prefer you to pitch one book at a time in your query letter, reviewers, too, will be more easily convinced if you focus on the review." How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically is an absolute "must-have" for any aspiring or practicing author! Also highly recommended are the previous books in the series, "The Frugal Editor" (9781505712117, $17.95 pbk / $3.99) and "The Frugal Book Promoter, second edition" (9781463743291, $17.95 pbk / $5.99 Kindle).


MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG



 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ). This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

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

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

How To Beat Six Million Other Writers to the Publish Line

The Frugal EditorPut your best book forward to avoid humiliation and ensure success.
by Carolyn Howard-Johnson
ISBN 978-0-97851-7-4
Red Engine Press
Reviewed by Billie A Williams
Listmom at Word_mage@yahoogroups.com

In this day an age, when according to some studies, over 81 percent of Americans feel they should write a book and more than six million of them actually have at least written the manuscripts. What are your chances of getting published when that is just over two percent of the population? Most of these manuscripts however, are doomed to failure because they don’t understand the intricacies of polishing (read that as editing) their manuscripts before sending them out, and/or hiring an editor to give it the final tweak before they send them off.

According to a recent article by Robert McCrum in The Observer and I quote,
“…according to the New York Times, there's a new book published in the United States every half an hour, and - wait for it - that's just fiction. RR Bowker, the company that compiles the Books in Print database in the USA, has calculated that no fewer than 175,000 new titles were published in 2003. That's one book roughly every 20 seconds.” And as you can imagine that trend has only increased since then. As McCrum says, the new books have the shelf life of yogurt, but that quality will always stand above the rest and will persevere. So how do you bring that quality to your own work?

The Frugal Editor by Carolyn Howard-Johnson is like having an editor in a box, or more correctly, between two covers of a book. Concise down-to-earth advice about how to edit your manuscript before you even begin to think about sending it out into the red pencil world of publishers, where their editors get the first chance to evaluate your hard work.

Frugal Editor is a veritable thesaurus of how to spot the gremlins that can mess up your prose. If edits and editors paralyze you with fear, take heart. Carolyn Howard-Johnson makes the whole process palatable. She intersperses her directives with light hearted humor making the whole process nearly enjoyable.

If there is an error your manuscript could contain, you’ll find the method for search and eradication in this delightful book. You’ll want to read it cover to cover, but then you will keep it by your side as you write, rewrite and edit so you can be frugal when you do decided to hire that editor to give it one last polish before you submit it anywhere. As Howard-Johnson says; “The lesson here for all of us is that attention to detail and craft counts, and that even experienced writers can flub an opportunity if they don’t pay attention to the last great step toward publishing, a good edit.”

Howard-Johnson explains the difference between and editor and a typo hunter. She also cautions that “…no matter how skilled an editor is, the author needs to know a lot about the process too. The cleaner the copy you hand over to your editor, the more accurate she can be and her edit may cost you less in time and money.” When Howard-Johnson says frugal in her book titles she means it and she goes to great lengths to insure the reader gets her/his money worth by providing resources with links, examples of the often scary Query letter construction, and more. She doesn’t leave the reader high and dry at any point. Further advice or learning is a matter of using the comprehensive index to find the detail you need and then following the advice, link or resource mentioned to guide you in your search for excellence.

The twenty plus pages of appendices is not mere fluff or padding of book length or word count, it is more than a bibliography of recommended reading (though it also contains that). You will find samples and links such as the query letters mentioned above, helpful groups to investigate, grammar helps and books. It’s hard to believe more could be contained in any book on your shelf. Spare no gremlin—search and destroy, polish and perfect before you send out your hard work. This book is the tool to help you do that. I highly recommend this power house of methods and means that will not only enhance your chances of publication, it will help you make any publishing house sit up and take notice – perhaps even pushing your book to the coveted best-seller lists faster than you ever imagined.