Carolyn Wilhelm's Review of Deeper Into the Pond Just Right for Women's History Month

 Celebrating Women’s History Month with a Poetry Chapbook

Title: Deeper Into the Pond

Subtitle: A Celebration of Femininity

Award: Bronze Medal from Military Writers Society of America

Authors: Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Magdalena Ball

Artwork: Jacquie Schmall 
ISBN: 9781461159384

Available in print and as ebook on Amazon

Reviewed by Carolyn Wilhelm originally for Midwest Book Review

 

The Celebration Series of Poetry Chapbooks covers many aspects of life, seasons, and holidays. Deeper into the Pond: A Celebration of Femininity is about life as experienced and thought of by women. Poetry would be the perfect Mother's Day gift for critical thinkers. 

As Howard-Johnson writes, progress has been made in women's lives while not in an orderly fashion. Progress isn't always in a straight line. Younger women do not realize what has been achieved. As Howard-Johnson writes:

"Let us be measured

Not for height or at the hip

But for our roles."

Howard Johnson's poems are about topics like a midlife crisis, narcissism, and her closet as a psychological profile. Hmmm, yes, closets (clothes) reveal much. I have never thought of writing a poem about such thoughts. She says memory has two voices which is a profound statement.

Ball writes of Lady Godiva and her mother burning a bra and how the word freedom is misused. She writes about hypergraphia (who knew?) and compulsion. A brave woman has her wig blowing in the wind due to cancer, a discarded dress in a landfill, and Jupiter's moons are other topics she addresses. Not everyday conversation!

The book offers readers much to contemplate and appreciate.

More About the Reviewer

Carolyn Wilhelm is an educator and author. She is a frequent contributor to this blog with study guides for selected books, for the Sharing with Writers blog, and Midwest Book Review. Learn more about her on Twitter @wiseowlfactory and on Pinterest. 

More About #TheNewBookReview Blog 

 #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

 

 

 

MORE ABOUT MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW

 

 Midwest Book Review has been a staple review site (and review opportunity) since the early days of the computer (by my memory).  They send letters like this to the author whose book has been reviewed. And to their extensive newsletter list. Notice that it gives permission to reprint which allows author, publisher, reviewer, and even readers to republish credited reviews. This one includes a  slightly update version of Carolyn Wilhelm's review of the featured book in this post along with other information about the Midwest Book Review's free book review website and its satalites. So, if you are a reader thinking about reviewing, you may easily contact him with the information in this addendum to Carolyn Wilhelm's review.  (I have copied the email verbatim.). If you are an author thinking about upping your marketing game with more and better reviews, you may submit either paper or ebooks to him according to his guidelines. 

Caveat: Only paper copy reviews are recommended by the author of this blog on the basis of their being free). See more about the reasons why I take this stance in my How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (bit.ly/GreatBkReviews). 

Note:  I have deleted the review that Cox included in his letter. It is in the original post of this book. See it above. 

"Dear Carolyn:

 

"I'm very pleased to announce that the April 2021 issue of our online book review magazine "Reviewer's Bookwatch" features a review of "Deeper into the Pond":

 

 

"Reviewer's Bookwatch: April 2021

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief

Midwest Book Review

278 Orchard Drive, Oregon, WI 53575

 [Find the review on Carolyn Wilhelm's Bookshelf at Midwest Book Review, 

http://www.midwestbookreview.com/rbw/apr_21.htm#carolynwilhelm. Or scroll back to the first part of this post.]

  

"Additionally, this review will be archived on our Midwest Book Review website for the next five years at http://www.midwestbookreview.com

"Incidentally, we have amended our bylaws to allow authors and publishers who want to make a gesture of support and appreciation for what we try to do here at the Midwest Book Review to donate postage stamps "for the cause".

 

"So if you'd like to send U.S. stamps, a check, a money order, or a PayPal contribution as a donation to our Midwest Book Review postage stamp fund, please feel free (but not obligated!). Our designated email address for accepting PayPal gifts is

 

"SupportMBR@aol.com

 

"Please note, the SupportMBR email address is not used for correspondence.

 

"I look forward to your next title!

 

"James A. Cox

Editor-in-Chief

Midwest Book Review

278 Orchard Drive

Oregon, WI, 53575, USA" 

Carolyn Wilhelm's Early Learning Interracial Adoption Story

Title: Alex Asks About Auntie's Airplane Day
Subtitle: An Adoption Day Story
Author: Carolyn Wilhelm
Illustrated by: Pieter Els
An Easy Reader Book (2017)
ISBN: 9780999776612
Reviewed from a paperback copy.

Forever the teacher, Carolyn Wilhelm writes not only for the story but also to build vocabulary. Interest builds as children ask, "What is an airplane day?"  Ever the teacher, Wilhelm also introduces a child to terms they may not have yet learned like "lug wrench."  This story will help any young reader or listener know more about adoption, understand it better, and helps prepare them for accepting diversity no matter what their color, too.

The illustrations are reminiscent of color paper cutouts, colorful and graphics.

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The idea for this book occurred to Carolyn Wilhelm when she saw her two-year-old grandson watch his Auntie Betsy from South Korea and seemed to wonder how she fit into the otherwise white family. Wilhelm says, "who knows shat he was thinking, but it appeared he was noticing Auntie
s eyes and skin color.  Wilhelm decided a book could help her grandson and other young children with older, adopted relatives understand a little about adoption. The author runs Wise Owl Factory, LLC, Minnesota. Readers, teachers, and parents will find her Wise Owl teaching materials, many of them absolutely free on Pinterest. Learn more about the author at www.thewiseowlfactory.com

MORE ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR

Pieter Els also illustrated "Surfer Kids Clip Art." "Jeffreys Bay," and "South Africa." Learn more at www.surferkiddies.com

In the time-honored tradition of the publishing industry, the reviewer of this book received a copy of the book at no charge..

MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG AND GETTING REVIEWS

 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 ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everithing from Amazon vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

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.

Carolyn Wilhelm Reviews "Flash Fiction for Animal Lovers"--an Always-Free Ebook

Title: Flash Fiction for Animal Lovers

Author: Theodore Jerome Cohen

Genres: Flash-Fiction, Animal Fiction

Available free at Amazon

Flash Fiction for Animal Lovers is always and permanently free! 

The eBook is FREE from Amazon, B&N, and Kobo. 

Reviewed by Carolyn Wilhelm

Dr. Theodore Jerome Cohen begins his book with a photo to inspire his flash fiction writing. Often the stories he imagines from the pictures are from actual historical or cultural events. They are from different time periods and countries, as well. Each piece ends with a zinger to ponder. 

Flash Fiction for Animal Lovers is always and permanently free! The eBook is FREE from Amazon, B&N, and Kobo.  Cohen uses both footnotes and end-notes, and this last section in his books are as entertaining and interesting as the stories. For instance, in Flash Fiction for Animal Lovers, the writing piece “Valor” (about a bomb-sniffing dog) has the following footnote. [iii] Valor U.S. Marines from 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, Regimental Combat Team 8, carry Drak, an injured bomb-tracking dog, to an awaiting helicopter at Forward Operating Base Jackson, Afghanistan, on September 8, 2011. Both Drak and his handler, Sergeant Kenneth A. Fischer, were flown out of the country for surgery and recovery. Eventually, in line with military custom, Fischer will adopt.

English teachers will be able to use this free eBook as a mentor text for writing students when teaching flash fiction. Students may think a short piece is easy to write but that is not necessarily so as the writing must be concise and thought-provoking. 

More About the Author

Theodore Jerome (Ted) Cohen is an award-winning author who has published more than ten novels--all but one of them mystery/thrillers--two books of short stories, eight flash-fiction anthologies, and an anthology of short stories and flash fiction. 

More About the Reviewer 

Carolyn Wilhelm is the author of The Wise Owl Factory site and blog. She has an MS in Gifted Education, an MA in Curriculum and Instruction K-12. She also offers free Twitter social media images to participants on this blog with permission for them to use in their marketing campaigns. Reach her at 

cwilhelm (at) thewiseowlfactory (dot) com

 Tweet with her @WiseOwlFactory.

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. 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 on the left of this page and in a tab at the top of this blog's home page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites so it may be used a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. 

Carolyn Wilhelm is a blog associate who contributes study guides for books and film suitable to be used as teaching aids. She has an MS in Gifted Education, an MA in curriculum and Instruction K-12. 

Lois W. Stern, also an associate,  edits an anthology series and is an educator. She provides a free service for authors to find new reviewers and reviewers to find new books to read. Find her submission guidelines in a tab at the top of the page of this The New Book Review blog. 

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

Carolyn Wilhelm Offers Book and Movie Guide on Life on Our Planet

Title: A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future

Author: Sir David Attenborough

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (October 6, 2020)

Publisher Website

Publisher Contact

ASIN: B089CKYNT9

ISBN-10: 1538719983

ISBN-13: 978-1538719985

Pages: 272

Price: Kindle $14.99, Audio Book $12.99, Hardcover $23.40, Audio CD $26.00

Format: Kindle, Audiobook, Hardcover, Audio CD

Film: Available on Netflix

 

Sir David Frederick Attenborough is an English broadcaster and natural historian. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC.

Discussion Guide Instant Download Link

A Life on Our Planet describes his lifetime and the climate changes he witnessed first-hand. It is an autobiography not of him but planet Earth during the Holocene and Anthropocene. The Holocene, he says, was 10,000 years of our Garden of Eden. The Anthropocene is the next period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment, most likely since the 1950s. And, you have probably guessed, it is the time of global warming and could end in the disappearance of human civilization. He says we need to save ourselves, not the Earth. The Earth has survived five previous mass extinctions and will continue.

Discussion questions based on the book: 

1.     How is humankind different from all other species, and why did this cause the climate difficulties we are now facing? 

2.     Homo Sapiens, people, are no longer changing physically, so what is changing about us now? Provide an example. 

3.     What does Attenborough say about human mistakes and bad planning (at the beginning and end of the book)?

4.     What is the true tragedy of our time? 

5.     What is one dire possible outcome? What consequences could cause mass migration by 2100?

6.     What is a better and still possible outcome? What do we need to do to have this better ending?

7.     Are solutions available now? What are some examples of countries demonstrating progress?

8.     Why is modern life unsustainable? What is the definition of sustainability?

9.     Why is eating meat and dairy such a problem for the climate?

10. What are the leading causes of climate change and global warming? 

 

His latest movie, also his mission statement, A Life on Our Planet, may be his best work ever. Oblivious to climate change as a young man, he realized the importance of saving the planet – wait, not the Earth, but ourselves. The planet will continue. We may not. 

He provides simple answers to correct the course we are on, damaging Earth, animals, biodiversity, and ourselves. We already know what to do to save life on Earth. Will we do so?

Discussion questions based on the book:

1.     Attenborough states Earth is a life support machine. What does he mean? 

2.     He mentions biodiversity many times. What are some examples he provides of how are we dependent on biodiversity? 

3.     Ice at the poles helped during the Holocene Epoch (the past 10,000 plus years and currently). What did they do for our planet? 

4.     Attenborough says there was a stable air temperature in the 1990s. The Earth was actually warming as something was masking the problem. What is his explanation? 

5.     Discuss: 15 billion trees are cut down each year on Earth. Did you know before watching the film?

6.     How do no fish zones increase fish populations? What country’s policies illustrates this truth?

7.     In a single day, he said there is more than enough solar power from the sun to do what? 

8.     How does eating meat impact climate change? What does he say a person is “saying” when he or she eats meat?

9.     The Netherlands was held up as a country using innovative farming techniques as they do not have more land. They used fewer chemicals to grow more food. What else did you notice in this segment? 

10. Attenborough says we need to work with nature, not against it and mentions several methods of doing so. Have you noticed efforts in this direction? Why are they important?

Thank you for reading, Carolyn Wilhelm

More About Carolyn Wilhelm:

Carolyn Wilhelm, a veteran educator, owns Wise Owl Factory LLC  and reviews for Midwest Book Review  and The New Book Review where she occasionally writes study guides for film and books like this one.  She is the author of  Change Captives 2035 and Project SAVE . Learn more about her:

About Carolyn

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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. 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 form at https://www.bit.ly/FinishedReviewSubmissions. Authors and publishers who do not yet have reviews or want more may use Lois W. Stern's "Authors Helping Authors" service for requesting reviews. Find her guidelines in a tab at the top of the home page, too. And know that Carolyn Wilhelm, our IT expert, award-winning author, and veteran educator, makes an award image especially for those who volunteer to write reviews from Lois's review-request list and post them in the spirit of her "Authors Helping Authors" project. 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

Carolyn Wilhelm Reviews Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Magdalena Balls' Christmas Poetry

Title:  Blooming Red

Subtitle: Christmas Poetry for the Rational 

Series: Celebration Series of Chapbooks
Author: Carolyn Howard-Johnson, Magdalena Ball
Publisher: Indy 
Publisher Website Address: https://howtodoitfrugally.com 

Author Email Address: HoJoNews@aol.com

ISBN-10: 1449948243

ISBN-13: 978-1449948245

ASIN: B004GXB4AW

Price: $5.95 Paperback, $2.99 Kindle
Page Count: 60 pages
Formats: PB, Kindle

Reviewed by Carolyn Wilhelm

 

Profound and moving poetry reflecting the reality of Christmas, which may not be that of commercials and photos. Early rising when the children are young, aching for those times when they are grown and perhaps have moved away. Howard-Johnson writes of the "echoes of foil tearing, and crushing of frail tissue." She writes the baby in the nativity set is always the first to go missing. 

 

Ball writes about how time is different for children, and "we touched each moment with tiny, trembling hands." She was a child six million years ago, according to one of her poems. She says, ". . . after hours at the mall, belief wears thin." 

 

The poetry is so beautiful, and my review cannot begin to do justice to the writing. This is a book to read again and again. It is the right size to add to a holiday card and would make a perfect present. 

More About the Reviewer

Carolyn Wilhelm reviews for Midwest Book Reviews and The New Book Review. She is a veteran educator who builds teaching aids for parents and teachers, many of them free and available on Pinterest. It is an especially valuable time during these long months of teaching via Zoom and working in isolated situations. 

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. 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 form at https://www.bit.ly/FinishedReviewSubmissions. Authors and publishers who do not yet have reviews or want more may use Lois W. Stern's "Authors Helping Authors" service for requesting reviews. Find her guidelines in a tab at the top of the home page, too. And know that Carolyn Wilhelm, our IT expert, award-winning author, and veteran educator, makes an award image especially for those who volunteer to write reviews from Lois's review-request list and post them in the spirit of her "Authors Helping Authors" project. 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

Carolyn Wilhelm Loves Tips in How To Get Great Book Reviews

Title: How Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically

Subtitle: How to get and use book reviews as part of a biable and ongoing campaign for self-published and traditionally published books

Author: Carolyn Howard-Johnson

Published: HowToDoItFrugally Publishing

Series: The multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers

ISBN: 9781536948370

Purchase as e-book or paper on Amazon 

Reviewed by Carolyn Wilhelm originally for Amazon

I like the writing style of this book as it has some humor. 

The author asks, “WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO REACH REVIEWERS ON YOUR LIST? I’m glad you asked.” There is specific and down to earth advice such as: “Don’t say your book is “entitled.’ That’s the wrong word.”

I appreciate the index which makes the book quickly searchable. Put it in the research section. 

Reviews have no value if they can’t be trusted. This book is not about how to manipulate the system. It’s about how to up your chances of getting reviews. Howard-Johnson suggests not sending you romance book to a highly literary reader of Russian poetry, for instance. 

Terms you have maybe heard but do not understand are covered such ad print-on-demand (POD), sell sheets, industry standard, what metadata includes, how to emulate the process that big publishers use, and what great ratings can do for your book and how to manage them. She explains what Amazon Vine is all about, too. What is a praise page? How to quote with permission, and when is permission necessary? 

Should you allow the look inside feature for your book on Amazon? Perhaps there are worries about plagiarizing—but think about it. In stores, people can open and read books. Should you pay for ads or not? What is a digital footprint on search engines? How should negative reviews be handled? What is the Amazon toolbox and how can it help? Do you know how to register a hashtag? How can you get a press pass? Authors want to know.

What is the right category for your e-book on Kindle? What about voting on Amazon? You have a choice to vote helpful (or not). Actually, voting “helpful” for reviews is Karma. What to do if a book is badly written or not worthwhile? What about catalogs — how-tos advantages and disadvantages? 

The Q and A section is very helpful and is like having a conversation with an expert.

The author says a great cover design is essential, but it will be more effective if you use a three-dimensional one. She gives access to an offer to her readers — a special price to create one.

Remember, honesty is especially important in a business that abounds with scams.

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Carolyn has a BS in Elementary Education, an MS in Special Studies of Gifted Children, and an MA in Curriculum and Instruction K-12. She has been providing mostly free educational materials online since 2008. Carolyn is a wife, mom, and grandmother, and an advocate of life-long learning.

Carolyn Wilhelm Curriculum Writer and Blogger, Wise Owl Factory cwilhelm@thewiseowlfactory.com The Wise Owl Factory | Reminiscing Writers

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.

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

Thinking About Self-Publishing? Try Carolyn Wilhelm's UDEMY Book for Very, Very Beginners

My clients come in two sizes: Those who struggle with finding readers for their books or who are spending too much money publishing and marketing them and those who are toying with the idea of self-publishing but know nothing about it. Until now, I had no inexpensive resource for the latter to learn a bit more before taking the publishing plunge. But when I found this video (read that "video!") course at UDEMY.com today, I couldn't wait to let my #TheNewBookReview visitors and subscribers know about it. Please do any newbies you know a favor and let them know Carolyn's (another Carolyn, not me!) online tutorial. It's easy and truly very basic and quite all-encompassing view of what they need to know to get started--or to know what aspects of publishing they want to hire someone to help them with. 

Here is the course at UDEMY for you to peruse:

https://www.udemy.com/course/self-publishing-from-the-very-very-beginning/

And here is more information on Self-Publishing for the Very Very Beginning Writer: 

This course has video demonstrations, templates, and instructions for the beginner to create eBook and paperback manuscripts, learn some ways to get additional online links to the book sales page, prepare a cover as a print-ready PDF, learn how not to compress images in Word, and learn about ISBN's and copyrights. Adobe Pro is used in a few lessons but alternative methods are described. 

Step-by-step printable direction PDFs for working with book templates are included.

Easy templates include the following:

Chapter Paperback Word Doc Template 

Chapter eBook Word Template

Children's Picture Book PowerPoint Template for a Paperback and an eBook (8.25" X 6" paperback with bleed)

Children's Picture Book 8.5" X 8.5" Paperback Word Template

Videos include the following and more:

Free Accounts for Self-Publishing

There are several free online accounts that will allow you to publish eBooks and paperbacks. This video discusses Kindle Direct Publishing, the sales page, Amazon Author Central, Goodreads as a reader, and Goodreads as an author. 

Quick Overview of Social Media for a Book

Social media can be carefully used to provide links online to your book sales page. Quick overview.   

Copyrights

When the manuscript is finished (or finished and published) it should be copyrighted within 90 days. 

Begin with an End Plan

Begin with the end in mind so that decisions made later will not require revisions and extra work. Start out with a plan to be most efficient and reach your goals. 

Be Consistent with Metadata

Be careful to use the exact same title, subtitle, and author name on all documents to be published such as eBook manuscripts, paperback manuscripts, and covers.

Copyright Page 

Word Doc and PDF provided to edit for your own book. 

Set-up Word so Images will not be Compressed

If your book has photos or art, before typing the manuscript, Word should be set up to not compress images.

Set-up Acrobat Pro 

If using Acrobat Pro to create PDFs, set up Word so that images will not be compressed when saved as a PDF.

Prepare the Kindle Manuscript

This video has a demonstration of preparing a Kindle eBook Word document from scratch. A generic Word Doc is provided which meets the new requirements. 

Table of Contents for Kindle 

Learn to insert a table of contents that will have links for eBooks, learn to update it, and see how to see/check your work by downloading the Kindle previewer for PC or Mac. Two supporting documents are included in this lesson.   

Online Cover Creators

Kindle Create to Embellish Manuscripts

Convert Paperback Manuscript to eBook Format

Fonts in eBooks

Paperback Manuscript How to and Free Template 

Create your own paperback manuscript using the directions and lesson resource template.

Table of Contents for the Paperback

The Table of Contents (TOC) for a paperback is different from the eBook format.

Create a Full-bleed Children's Paperback with PowerPoint

This video shows how to use a PowerPoint file sized to publish a 8.5" X 6" children's paperback.  Template provided.

Create a No-bleed Children's Paperback with Word

This lecture has a video about creating a children's paperback using Word (no other software is required) to make an 8.5" X 8.5" book. A sample Word doc is provided. 

Use Word and Adobe Pro to Create a Full-bleed Children's Paperback

This lecture has a video, a step-by-step guide, and a Word document that may be used to create both a paperback and an eBook from the same file. For this paperback, Word, Adobe Acrobat DC Pro, a story, and illustrations are required.

There are 41 videos in all. Other topics include figuring out which is the left-hand and right-hand page in documents, finding the financial information reports in KDP, uploading to KDP, and some troubleshooting. 

Also, students may ask questions and a video may be created which could be added to the course. 

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Carolyn Wilhelm is the is an educator and author of an acclaimed Young Adults novel, Climate Change Captives 2035 and Project Save. She offers teaching aids, many of them free on Pinterest and is a great retweeter on Twitter @wiseowlfactory.  

MORE ABOUT BLOGGER AND WAYS TO GET THE MOST FROM 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 ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everithing from Amazon vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

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.

Note: Participating authors and their publishers may request the social sharing image by Carolyn Wilhelm at no charge.  Please contact the designer at:  cwilhelm (at) thewiseowlfactory (dot) com. Provide the name of the book being reviewed and--if an image or headshot of the author --isn't already part of the badge, include it as an attachment. Wilhelm will send you the badge to use in your own Internet marketing. Give Wilhelm the link to this post, too!

 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