Professional Marketer Gives Frugal Book Promoter Five Stars

The Frugal Book Promoter, Second Edition
Subtitle: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher.
Published by HowToDoItFrugally
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Cover by Chaz DeSimone, www.chazdesimone.com
ISBN: 9781463743291
Order at www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo
Also available for Kindle

Reviewed by

Eric V. Van Der Hope (Fox Hills - Culver City, California) originally for Amazon

This review is from: The Frugal Book Promoter: Second Edition: (Paperback)

My first `introduction' of Carolyn Howard-Johnson was after reading her first edition of `The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't' back in 2007. Definitely a book full of useful ideas, strategies & techniques to implement a promotional `plan of attack' for any book! Many authors don't have the means necessary to afford big advertising campaigns to fund their marketing, promotion or publicity. Carolyn is able to share with her readers how they can be just as effective with publicity without having deep pockets. This book was one of my first marketing/publicity resources that I purchased before publishing my first book and it's one of the reasons why my own book Mastering Niche Marketing' has seen the success it has.

If you can compare a book to something of value, I'd say that Carolyn's First Edition was like Silver! However, Carolyn's Second Edition of `The Frugal Book Promoter: Second Edition: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher' can be compared in value to GOLD.

This edition is an update to her first book (128 more pages full of valuable content) that contains additional promotional and marketing techniques that can be used on a limited budget but doesn't take away from the effectiveness. Carolyn is able to draw from her own experience in the industry and reveal how authors can do their own promotion more effectively, better than that of the publisher (who probably wouldn't do it at all) and even a professional publicist. It's been said that the author of a book knows their book best and thus they'd probably be in a position to know what their readers are searching for. `The Frugal Book Promoter: Second Edition: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher' should be one of the first books on your list to get if you wish to promote your book successfully. It's practical and full of useful techniques and strategies that even well-seasoned publishers, authors and publicists would benefit from!

What are you waiting for . . . ? Still undecided . . . ? Then the 100+ reviews from Carolyn's First Edition of `The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't' should be a motivating factor that this book should be read, studied and used (put into action)!

~Reviewer Eric V. Van Der Hope is a  publisher and #1 Best-selling Author of 'Mastering Niche Marketing'

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It 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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Guest Post: The Big Lie About Book Reviews

Today's guest post by loannis Tsiokos debunks one of those myths authors hear about reviews but also offers a new resource--one you don't want to miss! Watch for future guest posts on this blog from this new force in the world of book reviews. If you are having trouble getting book reviews, try #TheNewBookReview's Lois W. Stern's free book-review-getting service by going to https://bit.ly/FreeBookReviewMatchingService on this blog. Use the link or go to the tab at the top of the home page. It's part of Lois's #AuthorsHelpingAuthors project.

 

The big lie about book reviews

By loannis Tsiokos

Here is the big lie they told you about book reviews.

“You need sales to get reviews”

You most certainly need reviews to get sales, but the reverse is not true. In fact, book sales is the slowest process when it comes to reviews.

To get reviews you must put your book in the hands of Book Reviewers. That simple.

The three kinds of book reviewers.

Professional reviewers, book bloggers and casual reviewers.

Book bloggers and casual reviewers are almost always interested in the content of a book. They don’t care much about the publication year or publisher’s name.

The good news is that, although professional reviews can be a lot harder to get, casual and blogger reviews can be just as valuable.

The bad news is that finding casual reviewers to review your book on Amazon is still not easy.

That is perhaps because, you are not supposed to find them.

They need to find you.

Sure, you can give a book to somebody and ask them to review it, but if they were not already looking for that kind of book (and the chances of that are slim), getting them to read it and review it (for free as per Amazon’s terms) is not going to happen.

Note that I did not say that it’s hard to give away free books to people and ask them for reviews. People will happily accept freebies, but you will need to push several thousands of copies to get a handful of reviews. And to do that, you need marketing dollars and marketing knowledge.

Don’t get me wrong, there is no way to avoid marketing. The idea is to make is cost effective and worth the effort.

So, how do you get reviewers to find your book?

Think of the perfect reviewer. No, that’s not the one who would leave you a five-star review although I see where you are coming from. The ideal reviewer is the person who would have bought your book even if it was not a free review copy. Therefore, the ideal reviewer is nothing more than your target reader.

Once your target readers finds your book, you can offer them a free copy and ask for a review. You cannot offer a free copy “in exchange” as per Amazon, so be careful of the language you use here.

By free copy, I mean one of three things. You can either send them the ebook file or you can send them a Prepaid Amazon link, or a Gift Amazon link. The first one is self-explanatory. Amazon pre-paid and gift links are basically secret Amazon links where somebody can claim a free Kindle version of your book.

Prepaid and Gift links are not the same although they appear to be. One important difference is that prepaid links cannot be exchanged for credit whereas gift links can. Therefore, with prepaid links you can be 100% sure that the recipient will get the book (and you will also get the royalty payment back). However, prepaid links result to Unverified reviews whereas Gift links result to Verified reviews.

Getting your review copy to the hands of your target reader will also require a marketing budget and marketing knowledge. However, you will end up spending way less per review.

So, what’s your next step?

Unfortunately, you cannot use Amazon ads to offer free review copies in exchange for reviews. BookPub does not allow links to lead funnels so that can be restrictive. That leaves you with Google and Facebook ads, but you have to know what you are doing.

If you use Google, you will have to host a page where you kindly ask for a review and offer a free review copy.

If you use Facebook, you could ask for people to get in touch with you through your page. A better strategy is to ask readers to simply comment on a post and have a bot reply back to them with the review copy. This process, and even the follow up, can be automated entirely.

Finally, you might just want to try Fiveabook, a website that I started to help authors and publishers get reviews for their books.

MORE ABOUT TODAY’S GUEST BLOGGER

Ioannis Tsiokos is a programmer, author, book publisher and entrepreneur. He has published over 100 non-fiction titles. He owns and is managing director of Fiveabook.com,  a website that connects authors who want reviews for their books with readers that enjoy free books. Find him on Twitter @fiveabook.

MORE ABOUT THE BLOG, THIS BLOG AND ITS BENEFIT FOR WRITERS

 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 everything 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 a badge similar to this one to use in your own Internet marketing. Give Wilhelm the link to this post, too! 

Marketing for Writers Book Gets 5-Star Review from Veteran Reviewer

The Frugal Book Promoter

Subtitle: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Author's Web site: www.howtodoitfrugally.com
Genre: Nonfiction/How-to/Business/Book Marketing/ Book Promotion/PR
Available paperback/Kindle www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo

Reviewed by Robert Medak

The Frugal Book Promoter is a book every author needs in their library for consultation when promoting their book without spending every dime in their piggy bank.

This copy of The Frugal Book Promoter is a revised and expanded work by Carolyn that tells it like it is as only she can.

This reviewer read and reviewed the original copy of The Frugal Book Promoter, but his copy holds even more information than the original with links to more information, people you might want to contact for help with book covers and marketing your book, which authors need to take on in today’s publishing environment.

It is a sad fact, that publishers are not what they used to be as far as publicity and marketing for your book. More responsibility rests on the shoulders of authors for getting out and making your book sell. The more you can do on your own will save you money, which most authors do not have for hiring a publicist or marketer. It is now up to the author to learn how to do this.

Yes, authors are no longer just authors. They are authors, salespersons, marketers, publicists, and anything else to get their book into the hands of readers.

In The Frugal Book Promoter, authors will find frugal ways to market and promote their books.

Authors need to add The Frugal Book Promoter to their required reference books in writer’s library.

This reviewer highly recommends The Frugal Book Promoter as a must read for anyone thinking of writing a book and getting it into the hands of readers.

The Frugal Book Promoter receives a five out of five star rating from this reviewer who is adding it to other reference books in his library.

~Robert Medak, Freelance Writer/Editor/Reviewer/Marketer

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It 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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Basics for Authors Considering DIY Publishing

Publish Like the Pros: A Brief Guide to Quality Self-Publishing and an Insider's Look at a Misunderstood Industry (Paperback)

Reviewed by

Carolyn Howard-Johnson "Author 'This is the Place,' 'Harkening,' 'Tracings' and 'The Frugal Book Promoter'" originally for Amazon

Well, here it is. In a little 79-page nutshell. The basics for any writer thinking about publishing a book on his or her own. It dispels the idea that anyone can or should self-publish. As Author Michele DeFilippo says, "It ain't easy." She then provides a roadmap--indeed a very succinct Mapquest directional--to the basics an author needs to know in order to produce a professional product (and yes, a book is a product!). Indeed, it will help authors evaluate whether this is a project they really want to tackle. And to avoid some pitfalls many first-time authors fall into when they decide to go for it.

"Publish Like the Pros" is a little short on resources, but a book can't be everything to everyone. This book calls itself a "Brief Guide." It also uses the words "QUALITY Self-Publishing." Generally speaking, this is the perfect way to get started. "Brief" and "Quality" being keywords.

There are tons of other books to delve into that cover any all aspects of self-publishing once an author has determined he or she wants to go that route. That includes books like:
Aiming at Amazon: The NEW Business of Self Publishing, or How to Publish Your Books with Print on Demand and Online Book Marketing on Amazon.com,

From Word to Kindle: Self Publishing Your Kindle Book with Microsoft Word, or Tips and Secrets for Formatting Your Text in MS Word and Converting Your Document to a Kindle Ebook (Version 2),

The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing: Everything You Need to Know to Write, Publish, Promote and Sell Your Own Book,

The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success (How To Do It Frugally series of book for writer),

Book Promo 101: Learn the basics of Book Promotion,

The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly  free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher,

1001 Ways to Market Your Books (1001 Ways to Market Your Books: For Authors and Publishers),

From Book to Bestseller: An Insider's Guide to Publicizing and Marketing Your Book!

Mosquito Marketing for Authors: How I self-published an award-winning book that is a consistent best seller in its category
and dozens of others.

The reason I'm recommending other books as well is that, though the author of this book is the owner of a service that helps writers publish and do it professionally (This little book is proof of that!), I worry that many beginning authors overspend on both production and marketing. They often spend more than they will ever earn unless they are among the very talented and very lucky few. Thus it is is wise to start with this very, very valuable overview. And--once committed--to learn as much as possible the frugal way (with books!) in order to determine what they might learn to do themselves or at least better understand how to hire the best at the best possible price.


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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It 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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Tony Eldridge Reviews Dana Lynn Smith's E-Book on Twitter

Twitter Guide for Authors
by Dana Lynn Smith
Revised and updated February 2010
Category: Publishing – Book Marketing
E-book



Reviewed by Tony Eldridge at Marketing Tips for Authors


If you ever wanted to learn Twitter, then you need to know about Dana Lynn Smith's revised edition of her Twitter Guide For Authors. This guide will take you through the process of opening a Twitter Account, but it will do a lot more than that. It will teach you the decisions you need to make early on in order to have a great experience on Twitter.

In this revised edition, Dana discusses Twitter's newest major feature: Twitter Lists. If you know how to use these lists, it can be a great productivity tool for you. She also has added a valuable troubleshooting section that can help you if you run into issues with your Twitter account.

The thing that makes the Twitter Guide For Authors such a useful resource for authors (or anyone else who needs to be on Twitter for that fact), is the simplicity in which the material is presented. If technology is not your cup of tea, then you don't have to worry. This guide can be read and understood by the least technical savvy of us. But what it will help you accomplish is far from simplistic. You will be able to get into the nuts and bolts of Twitter and use it like a pro.

When you get the Twitter Guide For Authors, you will have a resource that will help you with the following:

Common Networking Mistakes
Managing Your Time Effectively
Choosing Your Twitter Name
Networking Effectively
Twitter Tools

This list just scratches the surface of what you will have available to you in this guidebook. You'll learn everything you need to know about using Twitter in your marketing plan and what issues to avoid. Dana even includes action plans throughout the guidebook to give you step-by-step instructions of how to proceed to accomplish specific task and goals. If Twitter has made you nervous, or if you think that you may not be using Twitter to its full potential in your marketing plan, then check out Dana Lynn Smith's Twitter Guide For Authors. If you're like me, it will be a reference you keep handy to refer to time and time again.

Dana Lynn Smith is a book marketing coach and author of The Savvy Book Marketer Guides
Book Marketing Resources
Blog: www.TheSavvyBookMarketer.com
Newsletter: www.BookMarketingNewsletter.com
Savvy Book Marketer Guides: www.SavvyBookMarketer.com
Networks
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BookMarketer
Facebook Profile: www.facebook.com/DanaLynnSmith
Facebook Page: http://bit.ly/a4OEaj
Facebook Group: http://bit.ly/SavvyMkt
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/DanaLynnSmith


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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It 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 loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index 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.
And while you're at it, as a courtesy to the author, please retweet this post:

Christian Book Marketing

Title: Your Guide to Marketing Books in the Christian Marketplace,
Second Edition
Author:Sarah Bolme
Website: www.marketingchristianbooks.com
Category: Nonfiction: Marketing
ISBN:978-0-9725546-8-8
Publisher: CREST Publications



Synopsis:

This book provides a blueprint for authors and publishers to promote their books in the Christian marketplace. The book covers three areas:

1) Launching Your Book including gathering endorsements, garnering reviews, and pursuing book awards;

2) Selling Your Books with information on reaching Christian retailers, connecting with churches, promoting to Christian consumers, and harnessing the Internet;

3) Special Markets for selling your books to the homeschool market, the Urban market, and e-books.

Review:

Reviewed by Mary Battle

Sarah Bolme has distinguished herself as a leading publisher and author in her latest book, Your Guide to Marketing Books in the Christian Marketplace, Second Edition. In her book, Bolme reveals the secret to successful marketing for authors and publishers alike. She unveils countless valuable tips, web resources, and easy to follow instructions on marketing in the Christian book industry. As an African-American author, I found the ‘Targeting Special Markets’ section a priceless gem. This book is an essential tool for all Christian authors and publishers.
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Sarah Bolme is an author and speaker. She blogs at http://marketingchristianbooks.wordpress.com
and tweets at http://www.twitter.com/SaraBlome
Buy the book at www.marketingchristianbooks.com



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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It 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 loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index 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.

Writers on the Move Guru Karen Cioffi Reviews Third Edition of The Frugal Book Promoter

The Frugal Book Promoter

Subtitle: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher

Edition: Three

Awards for all editions: Winner USA Book News, coveted Irwin Award

Award, USA Book News winner, silver medal from Military Writers Society of America, honored by Global Ebook Awards

Publisher: Modern History Press

Publisher’s Website: www.modernhistorypress.com

ISBN: 9781615994687

ASIN: 978161594694

Available in hard cover, print and ebook onAmazon

Reviewed by Karen Cioffi-Ventrice originally for Amazon

Marketing and promotion are changing all the time, from the best ways to get visibility for you and your book to maintaining an effective search engine optimized website.

Continually striving to give her readers the most helpful book promotion tools possible, Carolyn Howard-Johnson has created The Frugal Book Promoter – 3rd Edition.

This third edition provides authors with the latest promotional information and resources. And, it's been reorganized for easier reading.

What's best about The Frugal Book Promoter – 3rd Edition - is that along with well researched tools and tips, it's filled with Carolyn's own marketing experiences. This includes booboos from her early marketing days when her Wiki page was taken down when she was booted off of Facebook.

As Carolyn is a well-known expert book promoter, these tips, insights, and warnings are invaluable.

This latest edition includes everything from writing a query letter to copyright information to using QR codes to backdoor methods for getting reviews. And' there's lots on "You and the Media."

Plus, there are lots and lots of samples, including sample query letters and even a sample blog entry. 

My favorite line in the book is in Chapter 10:

"You can’t count on your publisher. Publishers focus on their next big profit maker when sales of your book dwindles."

This says it all. 

If you're questioning the need to promote your book, even if you're traditionally published, the answer is, YES. It’s essential. And, I can't think of a better book to help you do this than Carolyn Howard-Johnson's The Frugal Book Promoter – 3rd Edition. 

More About the Reviewer

Karen Cioffi is a children’s ghostwriter and author/writer online platform instructor with WOW! Women on Writing. She is also the founder and editor of Writers on the Move.

Learn more about her ghostwriting services at https://karencioffiwritingforchildren.

For her online platform classes, visit:

http://www.articlewritingdoctor.com/content-marketing-tools/

MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER, THIS BLOG, AND ITS BENEFITS FOR WRITERS

 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 everything 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.

Links to All Lois W. Stern's Articles Posted Here - So No Need To Go Fishing

YOU CAN FIND ALL MY ARTICLES HERE

by Lois W. Stern 

Your TheNewBookReview Review Acquisition Coordinator

Creator of Tales2Inspire®

Click on any title below to read that article.

Linda Barnett-Johnson Finds Frugal Book Promoter a Help with Her Book Tour

The second edition of my The Frugal Book Promoter was recently reviewed on Amazon by Linda Barnett-Johnson and I thought I'd use it as an occasion to remind subscribers and visitors to this blog that this multi award-winning book makes a lovely gift for any author or aspiring author because it's a gift that keeps giving, keeps contributing to his or her writing career. This review makes it clear that it is one of those books one can keep referring to again and again.

Title: The Frugal Book Promoter

Second Edition

Author: Carolyn Howard-Johnson

Author's Web site

Available as paperback or e-book on Amazon

Awards: USA Book News, winner business category; Global E-Book Awards, honorable mention; BPSC Irwin Award

Cover by Chaz DeSimone

Reviewed by Linda Barnett-Johnson, originally for Amazon

I am always in the market for books on helping my author clients in promoting their books.  The Frugal Book Promoter is one of those books that I bought. What I like about this book is the easy format; table of contents; easy to find categories; how-to’s and much more.

I love the word “frugally” because that in itself is what I am. I don’t have the big bucks to buy ads or other marketing strategies. I like giving my authors reliable information and tactics without them having to pay high dollar for it.

I was interested in the social marketing and blog marketing and “The Frugal Book Promoter” was there to help. Since I have never done a “book tour” before, it was easy to read and follow. I had my first book tour in March.

There are many interesting subjects:

Amazon - How to set up your books and much more;

Blogs;

Book launches;

Book tours;

Contests;

E-mail marketing;

Resources and Reviews;

And don’t forget “writing”

 

Anything from A-Z. She has researched and used her methods and it shows.

 

There are many quotes and anecdotes from other authors and writers.

 

If you want your book promotions to go easier, I would recommend her books. I have them all and will use them over-and-over.

 

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Linda Barnett-Johnson

Editor/Virtual Assistant for Authors

www.lindabarnett-johnson.com

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It 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.

Online Book Launch / Book Tour Resource: How It Works

Many visitors to The New Book Review are authors and reviewers as well as our very welcome readers of books! (Not to say authors and reviewers aren't also readers! Ahem!). At any rate I though most would be interested in online book tours and online book launches--a subject I cover extensively in The Frugal Book Promoter (www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo) but that is of special interest to me right now because I just did one with the great guidance of Denise Cassino (www.BestsellerServices.com) , an expert on the subject if there ever was one. 

Of course, online book tours and launches don't work if they don't go viral. That's part of the fun. Thus, this is part of that viral effort, too.  Click on the link in the great page Denise did for me below and see how great bonuses add to the fun and to the value of such an online promotion. My bonuses came from some greats in the industry like Kathleen Gage, Dan Poynter, D'vorah Lansky, Bookbuzzr.com, and about a dozen other book promotion smarties. 

So, check it out! And help me celebrate the new Kindle edition! (Remember, Kindle e-books can also be read on your computer!). All the while you rake it great benefits for yourself.

CAROLYN HOWARD-JOHNSON

Here's the book you writers have been looking for!

The second edition of The Frugal Book Promoter is an updated version of the multi award-winning first edition. It has been expanded to include simple ways to promote books using newer technology--always considering promotion and marketing techniques that are easy on the pocketbook and frugal of time. It also includes a multitude of ways for authors and publishers to promote the so-called hard-to-promote genres. The award-winning author of poetry and fiction draws on a lifetime of experience in journalism, public relations, retailing, marketing, and the marketing of her own books to give authors the basics they need for do-it-yourself promotion and fun, effective approaches that haven't been stirred and warmed over, techniques that will help rocket their books to bestselling lists. You'll also l earn to write media releases, query letters and a knock 'em dead media kit--all tools that help an author find a publisher and sell their book once it's in print.

When you buy the book today, you'll receive more than a dozen great bonuses for writers1 Click here to Buy the Book!

PO Box 1223, Conifer, CO USA

You, too, can get help from Denise. Here is how to learn more about her and contact her:
Denise Cassino

Publicist and Book Marketing Specialist
303 838 3399
skype: denise.cassino
www.BestsellerServices.com
www.spiritoftheseasoncatalog.com
www.mybestsellerlaunch.com
Follow me on Twitter @DeniseCassino
Friend me on Facebook Denise.Cassino

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It 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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

An Author's Complete Guide for Using Book Fairs to Market Books

Title: Book Fairs for Authors
Subtitle: How to Leverage Book Fairs to Build Your Author Platform
Authors: Larry DeKay with Peggy DeKay
ISBN: 9780983414438
Genre: Nonfiction: Writing, Book Marketing, Reference
Publisher: Darby Press
Bonus Materials: Lists of book fairs, book festival, resources for authors, book expos and trade shows

 

 

Marketing whizzes Larry and Peggy DeKay have published Book Fairs for Authors: How to Leverage Book Fairs to Build Your Author Platform. Here’s what I love about it above and beyond what I wrote about book fairs in my The Frugal Book Promoter: The couple includes a lot of resources including lists of book fairs, book festivals, book expos, and trade shows and tells how book fairs can “impact speaking opportunities.” Peggy says, “Your book is not your baby… your book is your business.”

 

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Larry DeKay is a marketing strategist and event planner for The Business of Writing Today (Darby Press) and the Business of Writing Summit. He is also cohost of The Business of Writing Today podcast heard in over eighty countries. Peggy DeKay, award-winning author, speaker, and book coach, is his business partner.  

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage thse 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.

Jim Cox Calls The Frugal Book Promoter "Unreservedly Endorsed"

The Frugal Book Promoter, third edition

Subtitle: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher
Series:  First in the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers
Author: Carolyn Howard-Johnson (https://howtodoitfrugally.com)
Publisher: Modern History Press (http://modernhistorypress.com)
Awards: USA News Best Book Award Winner, Business category; Irwin Award, USA Book News winner
ISBN: 978-1-61599-468-7 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-61599-469-4 (hardcover)

ASIN (e-book): B07X2CCTGL
Pages: 292
Endorsed by the legendary Dan Poynter and hundreds of others.
Includes: Index, Bibliography, Appendix, References
Suggested Retail: Hard cover: $36.95; Ebook: $6.95; Paperback: $24.95
Available Worldwide on Amazon (http://bit.ly/FrugalBookPromoIII)

Reviewed by Jim Cox, Editor-in-Chief Midwest Book Review 

Synopsis
Simply stated, this newly updated third edition of "The Frugal Book Promoter" by Carolyn Howard-Johnson assures even the most novice of authors to get their book gets the best possible start in life, whether their publisher assigns zero dollars or thousands to their book's marketing campaign. Carolyn is a former publicist and draws upon her years of experience to enable authors provides no-nonsense basics to build the essentials needed to build a time-saving social media campaign and knock'em dead lists of influencers that will be more effective than anything paid advertisement you could buy. Authors can pick and choose from dozens of ideas for promotions that Carolyn developed or refined through extensive (and award-winning) book campaigns of her own. There are campaign ideas, techniques and strategies to match any pocketbook and personality considerations.

Critique
It should be noted that the Midwest Book Review is positively cited three specific times as a valuable and valued resource for an author's book marketing campaign, along with a positive endorsement citation for Carolyn's work on her previous 'how to' books for authors and publishers. That said, this new third edition of "The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher" continues to be an unreservedly endorsed and recommended addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library Writing/Publishing instructional collections. Thoroughly 'user friendly' in organization and presentation, it should be noted for personal reference and reading lists that this new edition of "The Frugal Book Promoter" is also available in hardcover, in a paperback edition (9781615994687, $24.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $6.95).

Editorial Note
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 How To Do It Frugally series of books for writers have won multiple awards. including from USA Book News, Readers' Views Literary Award, the marketing award from Next Generation Indie Books, and the coveted Irwin award among others

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

Of particular interest for the publishing community is a complete listing of her published works which can be found at:

http://www.howtodoitfrugally.com/published_works_almanac.htm

Admitting to carrying a pen and journal wherever she goes, Carolyn's website is www.howtodoitfrugally.com. Those interested can subscribe to her free #SharingwithWriters newsletter by sending an e-mail with "subscribe" in the subject

#TheFrugalBookPromoter #CarolynHowardJohnson #HowToDoItFrugally

Reviewer for Night Owl Reviews Gives How-To Book for Writers Five Stars

  How To Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically is Great for Authors in Search of Reviews!By Carolyn Howard-Johnson

How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically
Series: The multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Genre: Nonfiction: How-to, business, writing
CreateSpace, 2016340 ppg.ISBN-13: 978-1536948370ISBN-10: 1536948373Available as an e-book or paper 

Originally Reviewed by Dawn for her blog Dawn Reviews Books (old or new)

Any author with a new book out is often faced with a dilemma: The desire to
want to solicit reviews of his/her book but also not wanting to be a pest or 

end up “spamming” people for reviews. In this case, it would be a good idea 
to check out How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically by 
Carolyn Howard-Johnson. Carolyn has many books under her belt and 
years of experience in soliciting reviews of her books. She knows the ins 
and outs of getting her books reviewed and she has learned many 
lessons the hard way during her journey as an author. Guess what?
 She has taken the time to share all those lessons learned in this book, 
and she wants to let you know about mistakes to avoid in your quest to 
get reviews of your book. It is definitely a good idea for an author to read
 this book if you want to know just what those mistakes are!

When I learned about this latest book, I immediately snapped to attention. This is definitely
 a touchy issue for many authors. I have had both good and bad experiences in trying 
to get reviews of my own books, and as a book reviewer myself, I was interested in 
just what Carolyn had to say.

One big issue that both authors and book reviewers wonder about is whether it makes
 any difference if a book is reviewed in a major media outlet or not. Carolyn actually had 
something to say about that: "I have a traditionally published friend whose book was 
reviewed by Newsweek (back in the days when it was published worldwide in print and 
its reach was arguably unparalleled), and her book still did not earn royalties over her
 advance." (pg. 38) So I guess it really doesn’t make much difference where a book 
review is published. I don’t know many authors with similar stories to tell and I can’t really 
say either way, either. Still, this information does have more strength to it so I think we 
should stop beating ourselves up if we don’t get a review in the New York Times or
 Parents Magazine.

If you think that as an author of a book published months ago you would not find such
 a book helpful to you, think again! As Carolyn says, "[I]t is almost never too early—or too
 late in this new age of publishing—to start working on the review process for your
 book." (pg. 39) She shows you just how to get reviews for your old book! There is
 definitely a way for authors to make an old book new again through the book review 
process. As someone who reads both old and new books (and reviews same books here),
 I don't think the date of publication is a problem unless your book contains 
outdated or obsolete information.

Carolyn also touches on the dangers of sending out review copies of your book to 
reviewers. When I was working for a publishing company, I offered to review some
 e-copies of their books. The publisher sent them to me. Unfortunately, there were 
formatting mistakes in the ebooks. Pages were cut off at the bottom and I was 
unable to read entire chapters. I let the publisher know but she never responded 
to my emails and she never sent fixed copies of the books. Unfortunately, because 
I could not review the ebooks since they were unreadable, I was probably seen as 
someone looking to score a free ebook. It was such a shame, too, because I enjoyed 
what of the stories I was able to read!

Another issue addressed is how there is a major preference for sending out e-copies to 
review rather than print. I used to be a huge e-book reader but, for some reason or another, 
that changed. I stopped reading e-books for a long time and mostly read print books. 
Any publisher or author who contacted me asking what format of a book I wanted to 
review was told “print” and of course they bowed out in sending that review copy. But the 
problem was that print was more convenient for me. My life was crazy-busy at that time, 
and without any e-reader of any kind to keep with me, I could only spend most of my time 
reading with a print book. These days, I am making time for reading e-books (starting with 
this one), but if a reviewer says they prefer a print copy, then either send them a print or miss
 out on their review. That is just the way it is. As Carolyn says on page 118: "And don’t try 
to convince reviewers to accept the e-copy over the paperback. It’s insensitive; if they accept
 your book, they should be able to read it in whatever form they prefer."

However, I understand the hesitation of sending a print book because a review cannot 
always be guaranteed. I have sent out print copies of my own books to reviewers in the 
past and I never got a review on many of them. Of course I was angry at the time, but
 then I considered it a lesson learned in researching potential reviewers. (And even 
with reputable book review sites, like Night Owl Reviews – which I review books
 for – there is still no guarantee a book will get reviewed. Some print books I have sent
 to NOR never got a review. It happens!)

And again, there may be a reason why a book does not get a review...

As it stands, a reviewer really cannot guarantee that he or she will indeed review your book. 
Aside from the formatting problem that I mentioned earlier, other issues with a book may hurt
 its chances of getting reviewed. I had another situation in which someone contacted me 
through Twitter asking me if I’d review his book. The information he provided about his book 
sounded interesting so I agreed and he sent me an e-copy of his book. Unfortunately, 
I discovered that there was an inappropriate scene in the story of children and nudity. 
I let the author know that I really don’t like reading suck books and decided not to review 
it after all. He did not take it well. Most authors probably expect a reviewer to review his or 
her book if he or she agrees to do so and they go to the trouble of sending it, but the reality
 is that a reviewer IS NOT under an obligation to write that review. There will always be 
something that can prevent it from happening.

This is pretty much why I limit the books I review on my book review blog
 (http://writedmc.livejournal.com/) to books that I have personally come across and want 
to read. Sometimes, my daughter will recommend a book to me and I just may review 
that book, too. But ultimately, the books I review on DRB are my own personal selections. 
This is why I note on the profile that I do not accept pitches from authors to review their books.
 I cannot guarantee a book will be reviewed. If a book grabs my interest and they send it,
 great! But I cannot and will not promise them a review on this site. Also, I may take some 
time to read a book. I am not a fast reader. Most authors want their reviews yesterday. 
This is also not something I can promise them. But I do promise an honest, fair and 
FREE review. Take it or leave it.

I don’t agree with the general idea (or her opinion) that “hack” is a dirty word. (Page 95) 
It doesn’t have to be! Thanks to Life Hacks and several articles on “parenting hacks” or 
“study hacks,’ the word “hack” is fast becoming synonymous with smart, crafty, quick and
 inspired. I love Life Hacks and also the “parenting hacks” because those kinds of 
sites, memes and articles are brimming with ideas on how to save time, money and your 
strength. In the past, I felt bad having the “hack” label as I worked as a freelance writer 
and as a ghostwriter and wrote about various topics, but these days a “hack” in no longer
 necessarily “bad.” So fly your hack flag proudly!

Many authors may not be sure of who to contact or where to send queries in soliciting 
reviews of their books. Take heart! There’s a handy list of book reviewers, both large 
and small, included in this book. That’s awesome! However, I think she should 
add Night Owl Reviews

When I was working in marketing for a publishing company, I regularly pitched book 
review bloggers who invited such solicitations about the authors I was representing to 
see if they wanted to review any of their books. I never considered such mailings a 
“query” though Carolyn does in this book. As someone who has also worked as a 
freelance writer, I could see how calling such a letter a query. This is, after all, a 
professional correspondence meant for business purposes. You are not trying to socialize
 with a reviewer or try to all of a sudden be their BFFs. No, queries mean business, 
and the author should approach the process of soliciting reviews of his/her book as such.
 I like how she walks the author through the process of crafting the query letter. 
The newbie author faced with the task of getting reviews for her book might freeze in terror, 
unsure of what to say. Here Carolyn takes the author’s hand and guides them 
through the process each step of the way, in words that are easily understood and 
brimming with hints for ideas.

This book shows you not only how to get reviews but also what to do with them – and 
how they can go a long way in making your book look great! That can also help boost 
sales even if the reviews do not.

I like the suggestion to thank a reviewer for a nice review. Myself, I don’t really care
 if an author thanks me or not, but the thank you notes are nice to receive. On the other 
hand, I do thank people who review my book, if I am able to. It is just good manners to
 say thank you! However, I don’t agree that a thank you note should always be on paper 
and sent through land mail. First of all, I absolutely, positively DO NOT want to give out 
my mailing address to just anybody. I feel safer giving out my email address. Second, 
it is really unnecessary to get a thank you note by land mail when an email can be 
sent instead. I really don’t care either way. Lots of authors have contacted me via email 
with a thank you note for reviewing their book, and I was just fine with this. It did not bother 
me at all. The same goes with authors who thank me in a comment on a blog post or in a 
tweet. They are still saying "thank you" and that is what matters. It is even better whey 
they share the link to a review of their book on social media. (That right there is a great 
way to show your gratitude for a review!) So, while Carolyn feels such notes MUST 
be on paper and go through land mail when thanking a professional reviewer for a review, 
I disagree and feel that an email should be just as good, too. I also don’t think sending 
a small gift as a token of appreciation is a good idea, either – but that is just my opinion! 
Even so, she recognizes this is not always possible and offers alternative methods for
 expressing your thanks for a review, and I think that they are good suggestions too. 
I like the Twitter suggestion – which is also always nice!

I found the section of the book discussing what criteria Amazon uses to pull a review 
for a book a very interesting read. I have heard a lot of discussions from disgruntled 
authors AND reviewers who had a legitimate book review deleted. They always said 
that Amazon gave them some vague reason for deleting the review. I have reviewed 
many books on Amazon, as well as other products I have bought from there (like a 
diaper bag!), and never ran into any problems. One of the things Carolyn noted is that a
 professional book reviewer can also be suspect according to Amazon and that Amazon 
may pull such a reviewer’s review. I review books for Night Owl Reviews but have never 
had any of my reviews of other non-NOR books pulled from Amazon. I never post my 
 reviews on there (per NOR’s guidelines) and all of the reviews I have posted on Amazon
 were ALWAYS for things I bought directly from Amazon. This is my own personal policy. 
If I did not buy the item from Amazon, I just won’t post a review of it on Amazon. 
This is why I started my blog. I wanted to share reviews of books, but some of those books
 I have read were NOT Amazon purchases! So I post my reviews of such books here. 
All the same, like I said, I have never had problems in getting a review I posted on Amazon 
deleted for some reason or another. I know they probably wish I would post more reviews 
of books I bought from them more often but I am just a slow reader buried with books to 
read!

Also, Carolyn shares what you can do about reviews that disappear from Amazon. 
My advice? Don’t freak out. As Carolyn explains in the book, there could be a number 
of reasons why a review disappeared. She tells you what actions to take and how to cope
 with such a situation. The big thing she (and I) want authors to keep in mind during a situation
 like this is to not automatically fire off a negative and angry email to TPTB. 
As Carolyn says, “You aren’t required to put negative energy into the universe.” (pg. 234)

And while we’re talking about the downsides of book reviews, let us not ignore the fact 
that some authors may thumb their noses at getting their book reviewed by an amateur 
reviewer or by a book review blogger with no following. I don’t think it’s a good habit 
to do such a thing, although I understand such authors’ reasons for taking this stance. 
However, it’s really a judgment call. Carolyn reminds us that it might still be a good idea to 
consider paying attention to such review requests, As she writes in this book, "Don’t turn 
your back on an opportunity until you know what you might be gaining—or losing." (pg. 249)

I know that I personally do not have much of a readership on this blog (can’t find out that 
info for my reviews appearing on NOR), but I do like the opportunity to review new books 
here. I usually only contact authors that I know, however, because they won’t refuse to
 send me a copy of their book to review just because I have a low readership. I would not
 do such a thing to them, either.

I like the Q&A section and the sample letters at the back of the book are also very 
helpful. There are also tons of ideas on how to get reviews for old books. Her
 “Never say never!” attitude can get authors of books published a year or more ago to put 
on their marketing caps and start thinking of new ways to get old books out there again 
with new reviews that just might give their books a second life. I love the catalog idea! 
I have authored and co-authored many books so I definitely could use something like 
this to promote my books.

How To Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically is a book that offers up a ton 
of useful information to an author trying to get reviews of a book. It won’t tell you 
how to put together your media kit (you will need to get her other book, The Frugal Book 
Promoter, for that info), but it gives authors a really good jumping point on how to solicit 
for reviews without looking like a pest. And if anything, this book will arm authors with 
the information they need to get reviews for books and how to make those reviews 
go the extra mile in order to generate more interest, more publicity, and hopefully more
 sales! This is certainly a book that every author should keep handy and one I know 
I will be referring to again for later use.
Five stars.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book to review for this blog.

Tags: book review, book reviews, books, reviews

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. It 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.