Carolyn's Newsletter and Multi Award-Winning Blogs:
Your Resources for Greater Success
in the World of Publishing

Scroll down for an article on how to successfully start a blog and keep it growing!

Unsolicited Endorsement:

"I love your newsletter. It keeps me in the loop about important things I should know about. For example, I didn't know about Judith Briles' free Alphabet Soup e-book until I read it just now! (How could I not have known that?)"
~Joan Stewart, AKA The Publicity Hound

 

Please Subscribe to my
#SharingwithWriters Newsletter

A newsletter that is also a community. Share your ideas. Learn from theirs.

"Bettering writers' careers with how-tos, tips, and publishing news since 2003."

Sharing with Writers and Readers
sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com
"Looking for cheap ways to promote your book? Carolyn Howard-Johnson shares tips to get your book out to the world at a low cost. Sign up for her free e-newsletter to have most of the information delivered right to your inbox."
~ Writer's Digest

"This is a thank you and a love note. I've been copying your newsletters each week and I have them strewn all over the place with pages turned back and stuff marked etc.  So much good information, some I may never get to." ~Norma J. Sundberg author of An Odd Fable, with Esther Leiper, illustrator.

~~~~~

"Your newsletter is chalk full of valuable tips and I'm happy to be privy to it, Carolyn. For one thing,  I had no idea Amazon offered the writer so much. I had no idea about a lot of good things until reading the letter for the first time. Guess I better get busy utilizing the tips in order to be ready for the next letter. LOL. Thanks for giving me a boost and a chance to gain momentum in my writing."
Pee Wee (S.K. Hamilton) ~ author The Kahills of Willow Walk.

 


Please Subscribe

You are invited to subscribe to my newsletter. It is published semi-monthly except when I'm on deadline for a book or traveling (a girl has to live, after all!)  It is a place where authors come to learn, to share what they know . Subscribe by clicking here.

You know you want to!

Bonuses include semi-annual editions of the popular AllTips editions and occasional special AllTips editions on targeted subjects like writing craft, book marketing, and editing--even tweeting!   

Sharing with Writers is proofed by Mindy Phillips Lawrence of MPL Creative Resources (www.freewebs.com/mplcreative).  Contact her at mplcreative1@aol.com for editing help. New formatting by Samanthi Fernando, poet and subscriber.

Subscribe to
Carolyn Howard-Johnson's Sharing with Writers Newsletter

and get a FREE e-copy of
Great Little Last-Minute Editing Tips for Writers


Endorsements

What People Are Saying
Printed with permission of the writer, Joe Kelley

 Dear Carolyn:

One of the reasons I like you so much is this incredible e-mail [Sharing with Writers].

This kind of information is not only tantamount and compelling...it reveals your secrets, the secret of all of your success(es). It basically tells us, "This is how you can win."

 Almost everything from you and about you, if scrutinized closely enough, will be hints, ideas, thoughts, etc. that tell us either how to START winning or how to train our minds to think more like yours.

 

Tip

The Internet is traditionally a place where freebies abound. To assure traffic to your site, give something away. E-books are a good way to start because they cater to our need for instant gratification (and information!) Find many free articles on assorted pages of this Web site and free articles to simply read or to reprint as content on your own blog or Web site on my free content page. 

Find at least one tip on writing, promotion or tech on every page of this Web site. 

.  

 I've always considered you a marketing and promotional genius. It not only seems to come naturally, but it involves the tons and tons of footwork you've always been willing to do.

 So when I get a missive from you, any missive, I study it and it always teaches me.

 I've yet to meet you. But you've taught me more about the business than anyone else I've ever met, and I've met/know a lot of successful writers and show business people.

 The fact that you're so willing to share with us makes you even more incredible to me. Lots of people with your information prefer to keep it to themselves.

 Frankly,  I've been one of them.

 You've encouraged me to start giving back. In this vein, I contacted the LAPL [Los Angeles Public Library] about leading a writing  group on a volunteer basis.  It's going through the administration as I write but it's been pre-approved.

 I've also offered to lead or teach writing groups at a few Northeast Los Angeles senior centers, because I've always felt seniors had so much sensational material buried deep within. Once they begin writing, seniors find it a joyous and fulfilling thing . . . .~ Joe Kelley, screenwriter.

 

From the Editor of the Wisconsin Writers' Journal
on the Effectiveness of Sharing with Writers

 Thanks to a favorable mention of the Wisconsin Writers’ Journal in an earlier edition of Carolyn's newsletter, Sharing with Writers, we’ve already had two new memberships. She noted the importance for new writers trying to break into publication of clips from Journals such as WRWA’s. That led two people in Wisconsin! who’d never heard of WRWA to write me and request membership applications.

It’s called networking, people. Bread cast upon the water doesn’t always become soggy and sink to the bottom. Networking is a vital writer’s tool.
~
Boyd Sutton, editor of the Wisconsin Writers' Journal


Award Winning Blogs

    Carolyn's Sharing with Writers  blog is a
    Writer's Digest 101 Best Website

       June, 2008, Issue, p. 52)

 

 

Carolyn's blog, The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor is
Best Blog of the Day
July, 2008

The New Book Review blog is
1. recommended for writers and readers at The Midwest Review
2. a Brillante WeBlog Premio award winner
3. Nikki's Leigh's Starbuckled award

 

 

A Brillante Weblog peer award for
The New Book Review
blog. Nominated by Nikki Leigh.

also

Nikki Leigh's Starbuckled Peer Award

for The New Book Review.

Blog of the Day
For
The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In-Editor blog.

Carolyn's New Book Review Blog Featured...

...as essential site at
MastersInEnglish.Org

and
Online Universities'
101 Book Blogs You Need to Read

Blogs are social media, as you know.
Please join me on my other social media sites, too. 


Amazon Connect:
The Best Place to Feed Your Blog!

Call it what you will, Amazon's AuthorConnect(TM) is a wonderful tool that lets authors stay tuned to people who have bought their book(s) at this (mostly) author-friendly site. Eacj author writes his or her blog and Amazon sends  it out. To sign up for it,  go to anyone of my book's pages, scroll down the blog section until you see a little gold, oval button and click. Any of my books' pages will do just fine, but I'm giving you the one for This Is the Place, because I don't want you to think the only thing I write is how-to books. (-:

Find at least one tip on writing, promotion, or tech on every page of this Web site. 


Essay

 

My Blogspot Blogs

I credit Allyn Evans, author and speaker, with nudging me into blogging.

I needed one more tech headache like I needed one more thing to do. She led me through the process at Blogspot.com and I found it very user-friendly.  In less than a couple sessions at the computer I was using RSS Feeds, building lists so I could link with readers and writers, and generally loving how this blog place is connected to Google--a powerful thing indeed.  Thus my...ahem...real blog was born, but it connects to my Amazon plog, also called AmazonConnect (tm) and just plain "blog' (see the gray tip box above). It does at least a dozen other snazzy things that newsletters can't do (or at least mine can't!)  When you go visit, you'll want to learn from it but also you'll also want to  blast a bit about yourself into the Networld. You do that by leaving a comment and including your Web site address and a little about what you like to read or about the book you wrote.  Ta Da!! Here it is: http://www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com

And then came another -- The New Book Review -- that helps writers extend the life of their best reviews (and readers find exciting new material.  Please read the guidelines on the left side of the page before submitting.

Then came another. How I love blogs! Here's a way for you to get your editing questions answered. www.thefrugaleditor.blogspot.com.

Blog of the Day

 

For The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In-Editor blog.

Among my favorite topics, tolerance. And how the lack of it results in wars and other world ills. Check our www.warpeacetolerance.blogspot.com.

 

 

Promotion Tip:

Blogs, plogs, and newsletters can be tons of work. I put off editing a newsletter for a long time because I knew it would be. But here's the thing. A newsletter is arguably the single best way for you to connect to a loyal audience, the people who read your books and become your friends. 

I resisted writing a blog as well as a newsletter. Same reasons. Now, here's the tip. You can let what you write do double or triple duty. Write something for one, publish it, let it languish for a while and then republish it.  Or connect your articles and blogs with the miracle of RSS feeds. That will give each one power beyond anything you can imagine and all about as frugally as you can get.

 Find at least one tip on writing, promotion, or tech on every page of this Web site. 

  

Carolyn with Paula Abdul and a trade ,magazine she writes for.
Photo courtesy of Debra Gold of Gold & Co.


Click here for Carolyn's first person essay, "Beating Time at Its Own Game."

See below for an article on making blogs the best they can be. 


Article

PRILL’S BLOGGING BASICS

By Prill Boyle

Blogger and author of Defying Gravity. 

WHY A BLOG?

I’m serious  Why do you want a blog?  Do you have something to say that others might want to hear?  Do you have some expertise or experience you’d like to share?  These are important questions.  If all you want to do is sell a product or promote a book, there are easier and better ways to do so.

YOUR BLOG VOICE

The blogs I like best have a strong point of view and distinctive voice.  Both what you have to say and how you say it should make your blog stand out from the multitude.  Be clear about your niche before you begin.  Generally, the narrower, the better.

GETTING STARTED

Both Blogger (www.blogger.com) and WordPress (www.wordpress.com) offer free, easy-to-set up blog templates.  With almost no effort at all, you can be up and running in five minutes.  Ten tops.  Once you’ve created a Blogger or WordPress blog, you can link it to your Web site, Amazon, Facebook, etc.

HOW TO KEEP POSTING WHEN YOU’RE OUT OF TOWN OR NOT IN THE MOOD:

The more you post, the more traffic you’ll get.  To gain a following, you need to post at least once a week. If you can’t or don’t want to blog that often, consider writing several entries at once and post-dating them to space out their publication. In Blogger, here’s how to post-date entries:

  1. While in either the "Compose" or "Edit Html" mode of Blogger, click on "Post Options" at the bottom left of your screen.

  2. In the "Post Date" and "Time" blanks, fill in whatever date and time you'd like your post to appear.

  3. Now click on the "Publish Post" button.  Your post will not be published until the date and time you've specified.

TRACKING YOUR VISITORS

If you're already taking the trouble to blog, it’s worth the extra effort to install StatCounter or Google Analytics to find out how many people are visiting your site, what they’re clicking on to get to you, which state or country they’re logging on from, how long they stay, what they download, etc.  You can also track how many unique visitors you have versus returning ones.   All this information is invaluable in terms of creating content to maximize your readership.

To install StatCounter, go to statcounter.com and sign up.  It’s a free service with easy-to-use tracking features. 

To sign up for Google Analytics, you first need to create a Google account.  Go to Google. com and follow the directions.  Or Google “Webmaster Tools” to access the site and proceed from there. 

PROMOTING YOUR BOOK, PRODUCT, BUSINESS, ETC.

Add a link to the sidebar of your blog so that people can easily click on a picture of whatever you’re selling and purchase it.  If you have a business, write some advertising copy and post it in the sidebar as well.  Make sure to provide contact information so that visitors can easily reach you, keeping in mind that whatever you post will be available for anyone to view. 

Note:  Be clear that a blog provides some sort of ongoing narrative.  Its primary purpose is not to sell goods or services.

INCREASING TRAFFIC

Add value

Give visitors a reason for coming to your blog.  You might install a Shelfari widget to display recommended books, provide exercises of some type, review articles related to your topic, etc.  Put yourself in your readers’ shoes and ask yourself what information they might enjoy receiving from you.

Use Multimedia

Making your blog visually interesting and fun to visit will also increase traffic.  Add photos to your posts, insert YouTube clips, create Flickr slideshows, etc.  In Blogger, you add page elements by clicking on the “Layout” tab of the Dashboard.  To add photos to your posts, click on the “Posting” tab. 

Blogger makes it easy to do almost everything listed above, except for creating slideshows.  Here’s how to do that:

  1. Go to www.flickr.com and set up an account.

  2. Once you sign in, you should end up at your home page.  Click on the "upload photos" button.  (Note:  Photos in your Flickr Photostream will appear in the order of the date you post them.  So if you want a particular photo to pop up first in your slideshow, post it LAST!)

  3. Now go to http://flickrslidr.com and fill in the blanks to create your slideshow.  For the URL of your set, copy and paste the URL from your Flickr Photostream page. Leave the Tags and Text blanks empty.

  4. Press the "Create Slideshow" button.  In the bottom half of the screen, you'll see an "embed code"--the html code youl'l need to cut and paste into your blog.

  5. NOTE:  I cut and paste all these codes and links into a Word document so that I don't have to keep going back and forth, searching for the right pages, etc. as I try to post all of this on my blog.

  6. Now...go to your blog "Layout" page.

  7. Click on the "Add a Gadget" button.

  8. Scroll down the gadget list until you get to "Slide Show" and click on the button.

  9. Fill in the blanks:

  10. Title the slideshow whatever you want.

  11. For "source," use thge drop-down menu and click "Flickr."

  12. Under "option," click "user."

  13. And for "username"--and this is the trick--you need to use a number like this:  89979909@N00.  To find the number that corresponds to your slide show, go back to the Flickr Slidr html code you created (and saved in a Word document) and look for something similar in it.  Then copy and paste it in the "username" blank.

  14. Then...finally...press SAVE.  Your show should appear on your sidebar.

In general, keep your postings short

 Reading on-line is different than reading hard copy.  Less is more.  People are busy.  Do them a favor and be concise. 

 Be smart about titles

 Think of the keywords people will likely type into a search engine to find the topic you’re addressing in your post.  Use those words in your post titles and, even more importantly, in the title of the blog itself.

 Hyperlink to any and everything you can

 Link to any person, place or thing you possibly can.  In Blogger, you’ll find a link button in “Compose” mode.  Just click on the button and type in the address of the Web site to which you want to link.  Whatever you link to connects you to that entity on search engines.

Link to your Web site.  (This goes without saying, I hope.)

Encourage people to comment on your blog

 Activate the “comments” feature.  Consider forming of a group of like-minded bloggers to comment on each others’ posts.  Comments increase your search-engine rankings.

 Comment on Other People’s Blogs

 Google your subject and see what sites come up.  I signed up for a Google Alert (if you don’t know what this is, Google the term) for the phrase “late bloomer” so that I’m notified when others post on this topic and I can what they’re saying.  I frequently end up commenting on others’ posts this way.  Keep in mind that your comments on others’ sites will often appear in search engines when people type in your name.  If you use Analytics or StatCounter, you’ll see firsthand how much commenting brings traffic to your site

Link Your Blog to Others with Similar Subject Matter

 Reach out and invite others to do reciprocal links. 

Invite others to do guest posts.

 Have other authors or experts in your field write a guest-post—a win-win providing exposure for both of you.

Consider teaming up with others to do a blog. 

 If you have a team, everybody shares the responsibility.  In other words, each person can post less often.

Maximize Social Networking Tools

Install a FeedBurner subscription box.

 Go to Feedblitz.com and follow directions.  (Note: I like FeedBlitze because it gives me statistics on my subscribers.)  You can also use the handy subscriber "gadget" that blogger/blogspot. provides.

List your blog in blog directories

 Listing your blog in common directories helps increase your search engine ranking and bring more visitors to your site.  Start with the following ones:

  • Blogarama:  Go to www.blogarama.com and click on the words “add yours now!” 

  • BlogCatalog:  Go to www.blogcatalog.com and click on the tab titled “Submit Your Blog”

  • Blogged:  Go to www.blogged.com and click on “Submit a Blog,” (at the top right of the home page).

  • Technorati.  Go to http://technorati.com and click on “Blogs.”  Then click on “Claim Your Blog” and follow directions from there.  (From their Web site:  “Technorati was founded to help bloggers to succeed by collecting, highlighting, and distributing the online global conversation. As the leading blog search engine and most comprehensive source of information on the blogosphere, we index more than 1.5 million new blog posts in real time and introduce millions of readers to blog and social media content.”)

Put a Facebook badge on your blog (using Blogger):

  1. Go to your Facebook profile

  2. Scroll down to the very bottom of the profile page and click on "Create a Profile Badge."

  3. Wait a few seconds for the embed code to appear in the box.  (It should start with <script src="http".)

  4. Highlight the code; then go to "Edit" on your menu bar (at the top of the screen) and click "Copy."

  5. Open up the Dashboard of your Blogger blog.

  6. Go to "Layout"

  7. Go to "Add a Page Element"

  8. In the Page Element box, type "Facebook" in the Title box and paste the code in the Content box.

  9. After you click "Save," your personalized Facebook badge should appear your blog

Note:  If in the process of going from your Facebook page to your Blogger page, you lose the code you've highlighted to copy, just repeat the first four steps and save the code to a Word document.  Then you can paste the code from that same Word document into your Blogger page.

Use Blogcast to publish your blog on Facebook.

Simply go to your Facebook page, add the Blogcast application, and follow directions. 

If you have a book on Amazon, publish your blog on their site as well.  

Go to Amazon and find and AmazonConnect.  (Note:  First you need to sign up for an Amazon customer account.)

If you’re on LinkedIn, add a LinkedIn button to your site so that visitors can have access to your resume, etc.

If you’re an author, consider sharing the first chapter of your book

This works best with self-published works because the rights are exclusively the author’s. Go to www.startatbeginning.blogspot.com and follow the directions.

Install an “AddThis” button to your blog.

This helps people share your posts with others and gives your writing a chance to potentially “go viral.”  Go to addthis.com and click on “Get Your Button.”  Select the option for the particular button you want to appear at the bottom of all your posts.

Add labels to your blog and sidebar.

Labels make it easier for visitors to navigate your blog and find postings on subjects of interest to them.  A list of labels in your sidebar becomes an index of sorts. 

To create labels in Blogger:

  1. Create labels in either the "Compose" or "Edit Html" mode.

  2. After you finish typing a post, simply fill in the "Labels for this post" blank at the bottom of the screen.  Keep in mind that any label you choose will end up on your label list.  I believe that it's best, therefore, to put yourself in the mind of your readers and think about what labels would be useful to them.

Once you've created a few labels, there's a second, amazingly useful tool that you can use to add to, subtract from, and/or change both your list and your individual labels. 

To manage your list, do the following:

  1. On the Blogger Dashboard, click on the "Edit Posts" tab near the top of your screen.

  2. On the left-hand side of the screen, you should see a list of all the labels you've created.  To the right of this list, you'll see an inventory of all the posts you've written arranged from newest to oldest.

  3. To delete a label from your label list, click on the label itself.

  4. Then on the list of postings that appear, select any or all of the ones you no longer want to have that label.

  5. In the drop-down menu box titled "Label Actions," scroll down to "Remove Label" and click on the label you want to remove.  It's that simple.

  6. Play with this same function to teach yourself how to add labels or change them.  (It's a similar process for both.)

Once you're happy with the list of labels that appears on the left side of the "Edit Posts" screen, you're ready to create a label list that will appear on the sidebar of your blog.  Here's how to do this:

To creating a Label List/Index on your blog sidebar:

  1. Go onto your Blogger dashboard.

  2. Click on the "Layout" tab (at the top of the screen)

  3. Click on "Add a Gadget" (on the right-hand side of the screen)

  4. Scroll down the list of gadgets until you see "Labels."

  5. Click on the "Labels" button.

Cross promote!  Link to your blog from your newsletter, columns, e-mail signature, Web site, WikiHow article—any and everything you can.

Here’s what Carolyn Howard-Johnson (http://carolynhoward-johnson.com), author of The Frugal Book Promoter, has to say about newsletters (much of which applies to blogs as well): 

Why have a newsletter?

  • Because regular newsletters build loyalty. To an organization, to an author, to a product. They do that by offering content that their subscribers want..

  • Because newsletters educate. They give information to subscribers that the sponsoring organization or editor wants them to have.

  • Because newsletters can actually recruit. (By the way, too many newsletter editors are too eager to trim away subscribers who are not also active participants. In this electronic age, it costs nothing for a newsletter to go to people who once showed an interest; that person's interest might be kick-started again by a new project featured in the newsletter or by the subscriber's own personal needs. Let the subscribe opt out! Don't just trim them away!)

  • Because the content in newsletters can be the seeds for publicity in other places. Local newspapers, other organizations, etc. might be interested in articles published in your newsletter.

  • Because newsletters can bring a group together by offering interactive opportunities. In other words, subscribers who are encouraged to participate in the workings of a newsletter can help others while branding themselves and marketing their product or business.

  • Because newsletters encourage frequent contact with its audience. In marketing, frequency counts.

Google Yourself

Here’s what Carolyn Howard-Johnson has to say about self-Googling:

“I Googled myself this morning, just for the heck of it, and found more than 30 pages of Web sites, articles, discussion boards, blogs and other places where my articles appear or where people are talking about me.

“Then I Googled a few of my competitors to find out where they're showing up and I discovered some places I should be targeting. It was an interesting exercise--one you should do too.  If you're trying to position yourself (your book), your CEO or your client as an expert, try the Google experiment.  “Are you ‘all over the Internet’ or do you still have a lot of work to do when it comes to spreading the word about your product, service, cause or issue?”

FOUR VERY DIFFERENT AUTHOR SITES TO CHECK OUT:

Mary Carroll Moore’s blog:   http://howtoplanwriteanddevelopabook.blogspot.com/  (MCM is a novelist who is also a writing coach, workshop leader, etc.)

NY Times bestselling novelist Jane Green’s blog:  http://www.janegreen.com/. A very personal blog about Jane’s life.  She has a distinctive voice and point of view.

Novelist Ann Patchett’s Web site: www.annpatchett.com.   She doesn’t bother with a blog and it doesn’t seem to have hurt her sales.  (Patchett wrote Bel Canto and won the Penn Faulkner.)

 And, of course, check out my blog:  http://defyinggravitynow.blogspot.com. (I try to practice everything I’ve preached above.)

----
Prill Boyle is the author of Defying Gravity: A Celebration of Late-Blooming Women. Learn more about her at www.prillboyle.com. Check in on her blog at http://defyinggravitynow.blogspot.com.


Buy Links for Carolyn's Book

Great Fiction
Purchase THIS IS THE PLACE
and
HARKENING at Amazon in their new and used feature.
Both of these books are out of print. They are available only on Amazon's New and Used feature for about $1.

Great Poetry
Purchase TRACINGS (Finishing Line Press) at Amazon.
IMPERFECT ECHOES: Writing Truth and Justice with Capital Letters,
lie and oppression with Small

Give the gift of poetry with a chapbook from Magdalena Ball's
and
My Celebration Series

CHERISHED PULSE: Unconventional Love Poetry
IMAGINING THE FUTURE: Ruminations on Fathers and Other Masculine Apparitions
SHE WORE EMERALD THEN: Reflections on Motherhood
BLOOMING RED: Christmas Poetry for the Rational
DEEPER INTO THE POND: Celebration of Femininity
SUBLIME PLANET: Celebrating Earth and the Universe
 

HowToDoItFrugally Series for Writers
Purchase THE FRUGAL BOOK PROMOTER,
THE FRUGAL EDITOR
Second Edition
GREAT LITTLE LAST MINUTE EDITING TIPS FOR WRITERS
GREAT FIRST-IMPRESSION BOOK PROPOSALS
HOW TO GET GREAT BOOK REVIEWS FRUGALLY AND ETHICALLY

Survive and Thrive Series of HowToDoItFrugally Books for Retailers
A RETAILER'S GUIDE TO FRUGAL IN-STORE PROMOTION
FRUGAL AND FOCUSED TWEETING FOR RETAILERS
YOUR BLOG, YOUR BUSINESS

Most of Carolyn's books are also available for the Kindle reader.
Did you know that with the Free app, Kindle can be adapted to any reader--even your PC!

 "Careers that are not fed die as readily as
any living organism given no sustenance." 
~
Carolyn Howard-Johnson

Studio photography by Uriah Carr
3 Dimensional Book Cover Images by iFOGO
Logo by Lloyd King

 

To subscribe to Carolyn's FREE online newsletter send an e-mail.

Learn more about Carolyn's newsletter and blogs.

 

Other Links

 

Carolyn's Commercial Acting

 


Celebration Series of Poetry Chapbooks
 

 

This is the Place, a novel

 

Speaking

Tracings, a chapbook and memoir in one

Harkening, true short stories

Carolyn's Poetry

Helps For Retailers

Helps For Writers

Full Published Works Almanac

Travel and Poetry

Published Books

 

 

Kindle E-Books Aren't
Just for Kindle Anymore

Did you know that Amazon’s Kindle e-books are a low-cost/no-cost way to access books even if you don’t have a dedicated Kindle reader? You can read Kindle's e-books on smartphones, desktop computers and any e-device in between. You can even store the books on the Amazon cloud.

~ Quote from Diana Schneidman, author and marketer


Subscribe to
Carolyn Howard-Johnson's Sharing with Writers Newsletter

and get a FREE copy of
Great Little Last-Minute Editing Tips for Writers

"I have been a professional writer 40 years, and am also a tenured full professor of journalism. Carolyn's Sharing with Writers newsletter is  most useful for me--and for my students. I emphasize to them that while research is 90% of writing, and the actual writing is about 10%, there's another 100% out there called promotion. Carolyn shows numerous ways to get the message to the mass media."
~Walter Brasch, author and educator


Carolyn's Consulting


Find Carolyn on the Web

  writers retailers

Carolyn's Blogs

Sharing with Writers
All things publishing with
an emphasis on book
promotion. Named to
Writer's Digest
101 Best Website list.


The New Book Review
Great way for readers, authors, reviewers and publicists to get more
mileage out of
a great review.


The Frugal Editor Blog
This is the Frugal, Smart
and Tuned-In Editor blog.
Covers editing, grammar, formatting and more.
Get the answers you need.



Other Social Media

Find my favorite social media on the
social media page.

While You're Browsing...

You will find at least one promotion, writing or tech tip on every page on this site. Sometimes you'll find, two or three! Happy browsing and collecting.


Endorsements

..it was your conference workshop and newsletter that got me started with Stories for Children Newsletter for Writers and all my other writing endeavors. It's the least I can do to repay you for all the help and support you've given to me.
~ VS Grenier , founder & owner Stories for Children Publishing, LLC
 


"Even though I'm not on the 'author' side, I find the information [in the Sharing with Writers newsletter] incredibly valuable ... as well as a great way to keep my sense of what's going on in the literary world! ~ Terry Doherty, editor of The Reading Tub
 



Your comments [in Sharing with Writers] are so supportive and encouraging to aspiring writers and experienced ones. I subscribe to many newsletters and find yours unique, in a most positive way, amongst them. "Sharing" with writers has certainly become your trademark in my view. Thanks for all your efforts in putting out the newsletter regularly. ~
Hugh Rosen, author of Silent Battlefields

"After I bought the Frugal Book Promoter, I had the privilege of meeting Carolyn Howard-Johnson at an authors' event. Later I subscribed to her newsletter, Sharing with Writers, and watched her Web site ... grow. Through her advice, recommendations, hints and leads one can tell that Carolyn ... revels in sharing her acquired wisdom with the world. Her newsletters contain tons of practical and useful information, keeping pace with technology... the quintessential teacher reveling in the development of her students. I often benefit from her leads and make time to read Sharing with Writers to the last sentence, sometimes copying paragraphs for future use. Carolyn conveys ideas much faster than I can implement them. She is to be commended for carrying on an Internet classroom for a smile." ~ Mary Zerzian, author The Immigrants' Daughter.|


In an unsolicited e-mail, Liz Babcock, editor of Ridgecrest California Writers Club's newsletter says, "As always, I enjoy your newsletter, which invariably has something in it that gives me fresh ideas, contacts, or viewpoints."


Carolyn's Awards

Awards for Carolyn's Books, Blogs and More

The New Book Review
Named to
Master's in English.org Online Universities'

101 Essential Sites for Voracious Readers

Writer's Digest 101 Best Websites
for
Sharing with Writers blog.

 


Best Book Award for The Frugal Book Promoter (2004) and The Frugal Editor (2008) and the Second Edition of The Frugal Book Promoter (2011).

 

Reader Views Literary Award for The Frugal Editor

New Generation Award for Marketing and Finalist for The Frugal Editor

Book Publicists of Southern California's Irwin Award

Military Writers Award of Excellence for
Tracings, A Chapbook of Poetry.


A Retailer's Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotion wins author Military Writers Society of America's Author of the Month award for March, 2010

 

Gold Medal Award from Military Writers Society of America, 2010. MWSA also gave a nod to She Wore Emerald Then, a chapbook of poetry honoring mothers.

The Frugal Editor Named #! on Top Ten Editing Books list.

Finalist New Generation Book Awards 2012, The Frugal Book Promoter; Finalist 2010 The Frugal Editor;
Winner 2010 Marketing Campaign for the Frugal Editor


The Oxford Award
recognizes
the alumna who exemplifies the Delta Gamma precept of service to her community and who, through the years, devotes her talents to improve the quality of life around her.

The Frugal Book Promoter is runner-up in the how-to category for the Los Angeles Book Festival 2012 awards.

Glendale City Seal
Winner Diamond Award for Achievement in the Arts
Glendale California's Arts and Culture Commission and the City of Glendale Library,
2013

And more than a dozen other awards for Carolyn's novel, short story collection and poetry. See the awards page on this site.


Site Sponsors

Click on the logo to see the trailer in action!

Authors Broadcast for reasonably priced and thoroughly professional video book trailers.


Promotion Tip

Online marketing is among the most frugal means of marketing for books, retailers, or anyone with a product or service to sell. Learn how to make blogging work for you, no matter what business you're in with Your Blog, Your Business. Learn more about other marketing techniques with retailing books.

Find at least one tip on writing, promotion or tech on every page of this Web site. 


Published Works Almanac


Other Interests

Acting
Speaking
Travel


Carolyn's Poetry

Tracings
Celebration Series
Travel


Carolyn's Literary Works

This is the Place
Harkening
Published Shorter Works


Carolyn's How to Do it Frugally Series

For Writers
For Retailers


Advertising

Site Sponsor

Writing heals. Whether you are a current, former, or long-distance caregiver for a parent, spouse or special needs child You Want Me to Do What? Journaling for Caregivers can help you process stress and find solutions. Click on You Want Me to Do What? to order the book/


Proud Member

www.wrwa.net
Honorary Member



ABWA is a group of highly skilled networkering women in business.

Military Writers' Society of America

Also, honorary member of Publishers and Writers of San Diego, Greater Los Angeles Writers Society (GLAWS), IWOSC, and Publishers Association of Los Angeles (PALA)


Book Publicists of Southern California (BPSC)  Pix: Proud Irwin Award Winners
Carolyn and Janet Goliger.


Carolyn Blogs on
War, Peace,Tolerance

Let's Say Thanks

Read more about more ways to support our troops at
my WarPeaceTolerance blog.


Proud to Support

World Wild Life
Fund

with Sublime Planet
book of poetry
celebrating
Earth Day

Featured in
Pasadena Weekly
Arts and Entertainment Section

All Proceeds to be donated to the World Wildlife Fund


Website Sponsor

As Featured in Publishers Weekly

This unique book paints a revealing picture of America for those foreigners who will benefit from a better understanding of America. Endorsed by ambassadors, teachers and editors, it even examines our culture, customs and language.

Available on Amazon bookstores worldwide, at Vroman's in Pasadena and other fine bookstores.


A Selection of Carolyn's Past Speaking Engagements

National Stationery Show May 17-20, 2009 Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York, NY Consider this a business essential.

Presenter 2009, 2010

Presenter, 2008, 09, 10, 11

Panel moderator, 2007

National Span College
presenter 2002

Fellows presenter, 2007, 08

Co-sponsor and presenter,
2007, 08, 09, 10, 11

University of Dayton Erma Bombeck Writers' Conference, 2006, 2008

Sisters in Crime,
Pasadena, 2009

On the Los Angeles Valley College Campus 2012, Rancho Library 2013,
Valley College Spring 2014

Wisconsin Regional Writers Association
Presenter, Keynote 2010

Book 'Em, NC,
Three Panels 2013


Presenter, 2013


Seminar Speaker, 2014


Keynote, 2013; 2014


Secrets of Great
Dialogue, 2015

Digging Up Memories and Bringing the Dead Back to Life
2015


Frugal Book Promotion.
Judith Briles' Extravaganza,
Denver, CO, 2016


Philadelphia, Nov. 2017

Learn more about Carolyn's conferences.


Sponsoring Site

If you love my 3D book images, you can have one done for your book, too!

Try Gene Cartwright's iFOGO
village and Amazon List Network
3D book cover service.