Customer Reviews

The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't

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I love authors who practice what they preach. Author and former publicist Carolyn Howard-Johnson has been one of my role models when it comes to book promotion, so I was elated to find that she now has a book on the topic. And a goldmine of a book it is.

This book is jam-packed with resources (many of them online), publicity protocol advice that'll make you feel like an instant insider, and creative techniques to publicize your work.

"Don't do what every other author does," she advises on page 35, and goes on to give us great examples of unusual strategies some authors have used to get attention for their books.

She tells us how to evaluate how well our efforts are paying off in a quantifiable manner, something I've never done before. She teaches us about branding, and why it's more important for an author to have a "brand" than to publicize one book at a time.

If you need to know what belongs in a media kit, where to submit articles for promotion, what to bring to a writers' conference, how to use promotional gifts and where to get them on the cheap, how to build mailing lists, where reviewers hang out, how to do a TV interview, even how to make your own ARCs... it's all here.

Book publicity is an enormous topic, and one of the things I liked so much about this book is that it's not overwhelming. It doesn't attempt to give you every detail of every technique you might ever use. Instead, it gives overviews and examples, always in a straightforward, no-fluff-added way. By the end, you'll have a good sense of the possibilities that exist and can investigate further any ones that interest you in particular.

This book earns my highest approval and I believe it will be of great help to authors, whether self-published or traditionally-published.

--Jenna Glatzer
Author of MAKE A REAL LIVING AS A FREELANCE WRITER
and editor-in-chief of AbsoluteWrite.com

Humans are social animals. We like to associate with others to share our thoughts, blessings, and woes. But above all this, we love to express our opinions and demonstrate our knowledge about matters both mundane and extraordinary. Over the eons our penchant for giving advice has led to a phenomenon called the how to book. There are how to books on subjects ranging from the simplest household tasks to how to be a good parent or an amazing lover.

Authors are no exception to the rule, and are very eager to give advice to each other from how to write and publish your first novel to publicizing that novel and promoting yourself. Being an author, I know how important publicizing ones work is and how necessary it is to promote oneself. Because other writers know how eager their colleagues are to place themselves in the public eye, there are many books in the market place that offer publicity and promotion tips. More often than not, these suggestions require great expenditure and that is something most underpaid writers can't afford.

However, "The Frugal Book Promoter" by Carolyn Howard -Johnson offers solutions that cost more in time than money, and time is something any committed writer must be prepared to spend. The author admits at the start of the book that some of her advice is based on her opinion, but this is an opinion garnered from years of being in public relations and from successfully promoting and publicizing her first two books.

The book starts off with some simple and helpful hints. The author speaks about branding yourself instead of publicizing yourself. Later she goes on to explain this more fully. Every time an author writes an article, short story, or book review and publishes it in a magazine, newspaper, ezine or website, he or she should end with their tagline. A tagline can be the author's name and works, for example, Gloria Fox author of One Missing Shoe along with email and website address.

In the first chapters, Howard-Johnson addresses normal author concerns such as plagiarism: how often it is really done and how to guard against it by copyrighting. She also discusses P.R or how to publicize your book through media releases, publishing excerpts from your book, and author interviews among other things.

"The Frugal Book Promoter" is so filled with information that it would take several pages to describe. Howard-Johnson spends time elaborating on the things to do before the book comes out, building a Media Kit, entering contests, making contacts by attending conferences and how to decide which ones to attend and what to do while there. She discusses the importance of having your own website and how to have one built for a reasonable fee. She gives you a list of websites to go to that will teach you how to build one or help you get ones for free. She also explains the necessity of making a personal mailing list of family, friends, co-workers, your church group and so on.

The author takes you through the process of what to do when you get a publisher's contract, the questions to ask and the pitfalls to avoid. She also gives advice on what to do after the book is published, how to get reviews, the importance of book signings and book fares, how to use the media including internet radio and public announcements in local papers. Her section on Amazon.Com is excellent. She explains how to establish a free account and how to use tools such as Listamania, book reviews, and the All About Me section.

One of the aspects of this book that I thought most valuable was the list of websites included in every chapter. They ranged from websites that help you with the mechanics of writing to review sites, and sites that help you sell and promote the book. There is also an appendix filled with wonderful things, like sample query letters.

As a writer, I found this book a very useful tool. Even if you don't agree with some of the author's opinions, the share amount of research that went into this book will awe you. One of the results of this extensive research though, is that the book can seem overwhelming. The solution to this is to treat it as a toolbox. When you need a tool, open the box and take it out, or study the specific chapter or chapters in this case. Beginning authors will find this an enlightening how to book and even old veterans might learn some things they never knew. I did.

Where does a new author go for help on promoting her book? Sure, there's the usual word of mouth, advise from fellow writers, reliance on agents, publishers and publicists. But if you really want to understand the process, and make educated decisions about promotion - read The Frugal Promoter. Howard-Johnson's fertile brain has delivered for us a book that manages to surprise in all its specificity and breadth of information. She's translated her hard-earned experiences, the ups and downs of promotion, into a highly readable how-to, a master blueprint for novices and veterans of the PR wars alike. Don't be fooled by the word "frugal" in the title. It belies a generous spirit. This is a colleague who truly wants others to succeed.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson has received rave reviews for her latest book, THE FRUGAL BOOK PROMOTER, and for a good reason. This book is chocked full of excellent ideas to help all authors market and promote their books. I found a ton of wonderful ideas, and my background is marketing! If you only purchase one book for your marketing needs, be sure it's this one!

Linda Morelli, author of SHADOW OF DOUBT and FIERY SURRENDER

If you are a frustrated author because you have written a great book but it isn't selling, Carolyn Howard-Johnson's book holds the key to changing your life.
Not only is this little book packed with great ideas, you don't have to hold the key to Ft. Knox to make them work. All you need are the ideas, some determination, an internet connection and the will to work. She quotes from many sources who have proven track records for their books, and you can learn the tricks of the trade in a few short hours.
If you are not an author, but you know one, this book should be the answer to what-to-give gift ideas. No author should be without it.
As an author myself (Janet Elaine Smith, author of 13 published novels), I am extremely proud to be included in this magnificent volume. Well done, Carolyn!

The Frugal Book Promoter is a fun-to-read, easy-to follow book with step by step instructions on how to promote your book easily and inexpensively. Carolyn Howard-Johnson ,a professional publicist and award-winning author, shares her expertise.
She tells how to get the most from the book, "Consider everything offered as if you were testing desserts at a smorgasbord; then select what suits your book, your personality and your pocketbook."" Indeed, there is good advice here for every author.
"Publicity is a matter of style," according to the author. Her style is original, and exciting and humorous. She gives us most of the essentials about promotion, publicity and public relations
"Traditional markets count dollars; guerrilla markets count relationships," she says.
Author Howard-Johnson gives details on how to get an editor's attention, how to build relationships with the media, editors, readers and librarians.

She says the most powerful promotion tool today is the internet. She teaches us how to set up and use a Web site, how to use search engines, e-groups and chat rooms and how to use She explains how to use Amazon.com to publicize and sell your book, She summarizes, "The best way to get that publicity is to know your book, know your audience and know what's happening in the world." She shows authors a quick path to this point. I would recommend The Frugal Book Promoter to any author who ever hopes to have a book to promote.

The Frugal Book Promoter is a handbook full of tips you'll read over and over. It'll never wear out its welcome on the bookshelf if it ever leaves the top of the desk at all. You'll always want it at your fingertips. The steps within the chapters are clear and proven to work by the author herself. The text behind this cover is so much more than just `look good' topics. The techniques work, and the book is set up in a way to help those new to the industry ease into a sometimes unpleasant area of a career-marketing. And it does so while holding interest and adding a touch of humor to all. I definitely recommend this title to both new and the experienced book marketers.

I can't think of a better book promoter than Carolyn Howard-Johnson. She really practices what she preaches, sending out ceaseless media releases, making every word she writes counts, branding herself through the judicious and regular use of the byline, and networking in a kindly, and effective way that extends way beyond the boundaries of her immediate location. If you think that this kind of promotion is an incidental part of your new book's life, think again. As Howard-Johnson knows better than anyone, it simply isn't enough to rely on a publisher to publicise your book. Small publishers can't afford to, and large ones will only spend big dollars on famous names. As with all of Howard-Johnson's work, The Frugal Book Promoter is written in clear, down to earth prose which will make you feel as though you've known the author all your life. The book is full of handy, easy to remember tip sheets and ideas which can be as simple as pulling out an old piece of work, reworking it, and sending it off to a new market, or as complex as managing an entire book launch, or putting together a media kit:

How does this writing and publishing help you promote your book? It's all about something called branding (see chapter two). Every time your byline appears, you are making editors, agents, webmasters, and other writers aware of you and what you do. Every time you are published, for pay or not, your tagline appears complete with a link to your website, your e-mail address or a bookseller's site. Every time you are published, that achievement becomes part of your résumé, part of your media kit, part of the confidence you need to promote with your chin up and a brave smile on your face.

The Frugal Book Promoter covers things like the nature of Public Relations, the all-important concept of self-branding, taglines, pulling together a pitch, a step by step guide to building a media kit, building credentials, using other forms of writing to sell your book, creating a newsletter, using writer's conferences, networking, setting up a website, creating mailing lists, working with contracts, whether you should hire a publicist, how to design a good book cover, using blurbs, getting a professional photo, using promotional items, how to capture the publicity editor's attention, using postcards, obtaining and using book reviews, getting media interviews, television and radio, book expos, reading groups, book signings, using free e-books, and lots more. Throughout the book are quotes and suggestions from well known self-publicists and experts in the publicity field, along with a wealth of anecdotal information from Howard-Johnson's own considerable experience. There are lots of examples, as well as some practical templates that readers can modify to suit their own needs, checklists, and a wealth of hyperlinks to other sources, some well known and some fairly secret.

There aren't many books on this topic on the market, and Howard-Johnson's is a very practical and easy to use guide which every new author should have. Don't wait until your book is on the market before you get hold of the Frugal Book Promoter. Howard-Johnson makes the point that it is never too early to begin branding yourself and working the media, and suggests putting your media kit together before you finish your book. Nor do you need to spend a fortune to get your name and book out in the public eye. The low cost, and even fun suggestions in this book are worth media gold.

As a published author myself who has been left to do the vast majority of the legwork to promote my book, I speak with some authority as to the validity of the ideas outlined in the Frugal Book Promoter. The text is chock full of outstanding suggestions and recommendations for elements all along the book publishing/promotion timeline for both traditional and non-traditional publishing paths. I don't think there's a single page that doesn't offer something extremely useful, and oftentimes multiple nuggets of wisdom to get your book in the public eye. I've got several in mind to help expand my own efforts.

Here's my gripe, though. The formatting of the book is awful. It would have been so much more readable had the author or someone else taken the time to clean up the presentation. I can't help but conclude that the book was just a cut and paste job from a website or ebook. There are long, underlined URLs all over the place. The book employs a great deal of bullet lists, but the lists are crammed together. There are also all kinds of alternate formats used in a less than elegant fashion making for a very clunky looking work.

I give the content a 5, but the formatting a 1. That would average a 3 for a score, but since the material is so useful I'll weight that higher and give it a 4.

Many authors are convinced that if they can just get the words on paper, publishers will want to sell their book, media will fall in love with their prose, and readers will beat a path to their door.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson knows these are myths, and teaches authors that book promotion is their responsibility. After all, if you sell your book, you ARE in business.

This book focuses on low cost promotions with a lot of attention to working with other authors and the media. As a book marketing expert, I encourage authors to work more directly with readers, going direct to the consumer. The concept of building a mailing list was very good. I would add that this should start with a mailing list of the real target market the readers. She misses "direct to reader" promotions and "recurring sales" entirely.

I'd recommend this book as one part of the arsenal of ideas for any author to build your own mailing list, and the many other resources listed in The Frugal Book Promoter. Buy it and use it.