Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #430896 in Books
• Published on: 2004-07-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Customer Reviews

The Frugal Book Promoter: How to do What Your Publisher Won't
I'm a newly published author, so "The Frugal Book Promoter" is my Bible. I'm indebted to Carolyn Howard-Johnson for life, for she tells writers how to ingeniously promote and publicise their books on the cheap.

'How To Do What Your Publisher Won't,' she says. If your book is self-published, then "The Frugal Book Promoter" - worth buying for the useful URLs alone is a necessity. Glue yourself to it, and follow Howard-Johnson's ingenious advice, step by step.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson stresses that even if a professional book publicist is assigned to publicise your book, it's still imperative to do your own self-promotion as well. She rightly says that you know your book and yourself better than anyone else, and that includes a publicist from a conglomerate publishing company.

"The Frugal Book Promoter" deals with everything you want to know about promotion and beyond. Carolyn Howard-Johnson gives fascinating advice on everything to do with marketing and publishing, including copyright, Psychology, pitching and most of all, how to get publicity for your new book for free - or for peanuts.

Everything in "The Frugal Book Promoter" is invaluable, especially the part about Amazon's advantageous perks. Howard-Johnson's promotional ideas are unique. 'Using Free and Low Cost E-Books To promote' is one chapter heading - proving that she is way ahead of the promotional game. Not surprising, as she used to be a publicist.

For me, "The Frugal Book Promoter" is priceless - especially her advice on
how to build your 'Media Release'. I have always hated writing releases - but no more. Carolyn Howard-Johnson explains in clear detail how to write one. She says that the phrase, 'press release' marks 'you as a novice or woefully behind the times,' illustrating how five steps ahead of the promotional game she is. Besides instructing the reader how to build a Media Kit, she gives invaluable tips on every publication topic you can think of: public speaking, your launch, libraries, writing contests, your Website, internet radio - tips for your TV/radio appearances. Even how to link yourself in Wikipedia.

If you want help on how to promote and publish your new book on the cheap, then 'The Frugal Book Promoter' is your number one desert-island book. I'm not going to let it out of my sight.

The Author's promotional bible. Always keep it close it times of need.
What can I say about this book that hundreds of other authors haven't? As a writer and self-publisher, the onus has always been on me to promote my own books; a task I've always found extremely difficult and laborious. I'm a writer and photographer, not a sales and marketing expert. I hate feeling like I'm talking to someone just to sell them something, or boast about my fantastic book. I always imagine them thinking, "Of course you would say it's good, you wrote it!" And like most writers, I want to write, not be a salesman.

But Carolyn Howard Johnson has shown me a whole new way to not only promote, but make it fun and tie it in with the thing you are passionate about: writing!

The Frugal Book Promoter shows us how you need to brand yourself as an author, and publicise yourself as much as your work. You don't have to boast about your work, just simply let people know it's there. If your book is good, others will boast about it for you. Exposure is the word Carolyn uses often. She teaches us that the trick is to simply brand yourself as an author and let people know who you are, and what you write. Carolyn shows us a prolific amount of ways to do this, from writing articles for free to blogging, joining discussions groups, writing book reviews and so much more. It's so simple, and in most cases completely free. I often hated the thought of writing articles for free, but the book emphasises that although you may write for free, the tagline at the end could well result in book sales, so effectively you are likely to get paid indirectly. Think about it, these publications wouldn't have paid you anyway, and you would have to pay for advertising, so effectively you are working for your advertising. And of course you are writing, which is what a writer wants to be doing.

This is just one example of the priceless advice offered in the Frugal Book Promoter. This book is an absolute treasure chest of useful information, and not only inspires you to get up off your backside and start promoting, but is also packed full of useful websites for you to get started. I've committed the ultimate sin with this book by folding over numerous page corners (something I never do with a book) to bookmark all the useful reference points. The websites listed here, often lead on to other useful sites.

I'd always dreamed of the day when I would snag a major publisher so they could do all the promotion for me, but the Frugal Book Promoter has taught me that even with a major publisher, the onus will still be on me to promote my books; after all, ultimately the author cares more about the book than the publisher. So now I plan to forget about that and march best foot forward into a new world of endless promotional opportunities that this book brings.

If you are an author then this is one book you cannot afford to be without. Written with Carolyn's free-flowing and easy prose, the Frugal Book Promoter stands out head first above the rest and is the sort of book that you will always want to refer back to.

I don't know how I ever survived without it.

Reviewed by Ian Middleton: Travel Writer & Photographer
Ian is the author and photographer of four books, his latest being a travel guide to Ireland's ancient myths and legends, Mysterious World: Ireland.

The Frugal Book Promoter
The Frugal Book Promoter: How to do What Your Publisher Won't is a comprehensive guide to marketing for writers. This book contains helpful lists such as One Dozen Publicity No-Nos and the 19 Commandments for Getting Free Publicity. The author has also included numerous chapters containing hints and tips for building a media kit, building up name recognition, and creating mailing lists. Furthermore, this book illustrates realistic ways to improve your marketing strategies at writing conferences, book expos, on the web, and during media events.

Each of the informative sections contained in this book contain very complete and realistic solutions to marketing for writers. Many of the chapters include examples and samples associated with each appropriate idea. Often the author even includes blank or skeleton form letters with these resources. In this way, the reader can easily take his or her new found knowledge and adapt these resources directly to his or her own marketing needs.

The Frugal Book Promoter: How to do What Your Publisher Won't will be a useful reference to any writer, whether he or she is a newbie or an old hand at promoting his or her work. To this end, the author illustrates the tried and true common sense methods of book promotion for those new to marketing but also adds a wide array of novel ideas for those wanting to add a new dimension to an exiting marketing strategy. Moreover, this book demonstrates that as a writer it is important to think and plan a marketing strategy long before a book is published.