Review
Howto Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically,
by Carolyn Howard-Johnson
This third volume in Carolyn Howard-Johnson's "How to do it frugally" series is written in her usual clear, chatty style. Like the other two books in the series, it is not a read-and-put-away book, but a detailed instruction manual. You cannot learn from reading but only from doing, and Carolyn offers step by step recipes for what to do when, and how to do it.
Clearly, I am not going to give a synopsis of 340 pages of helpful advice, and the title says it all. This is a map to guide you along the journey of obtaining and using reviews as part of book promotion. It is however full of gems worth reading in their own right. Here are just three examples:
1. Her advice on plagiarism is so good that I asked her if I could reproduce it on my blog "Bobbin' Around."
2. Then there is the idea, new to me, that lists of neighbors, fellow parents at your kids' school, generally, members of groups you belong to, are all potential lists of reviewers. Brilliant!
3. How about this advice when contacting a potential reviewer: "Please let me know if there is anything else you need. I have a media kit I can send by post or attachment, high and low res cover images and headshots, and a sell sheet with complete metadata if you wish."
I've been writing and seeking reviews for many years, and simply didn't know about all the many aspects book covers. Mind you, publicity hound (let's be polite, publicity expert) Carolyn uses this book to direct the reader to her previous publications. Depending on your point of view, this could be a negative, or a shining example.
My overall assessment is that this is a very useful tool in a writer's tool kit. Review by Dr. Bob Rich, author and editor
A review of How to get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically by Carolyn Howard-Johnson by Magdalena Ball, owner and editor of the Compulsive Reader Web site:
Frugality is Howard-Johnson's stock-in-trade, and since none of her suggestions involve a large outlay, I'd say that picking up a copy of this book is about the most frugal and valuable thing a new author can do in order to generate inexpensive and highly credible publicity. The book is easy to read, and rich with Howard-Johnson's own considerable experience. Above all, I think the point that she makes about treating the acquiring of reviews, not as an ancillary activity, but an integral part of the promotional campaign and one that cannot be skimped on, is key.
"Unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, college, and university library Writing/Publishing instructional reference collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $5.99)." ~Reviewed by Jim Cox, editor-in-chief of Midwest Book Review
From the Author
I honed my review-getting skills using marketing basics and found a fewtricks of my own when I managed to get reviews from the likes of The Library Journal after the publisherof my first novel neglected to query the big New York review journals. Aformer journalist, retailer, marketer, and publicist, I brought all myknowledge from these past lives to the task of building a battery of reviews for my fiction and poetry--the genres professionals keep telling us are the hardest to market. I am proud that I returned to my writing roots when most are thinking about retiring and that I was the recipient of theCalifornia Legislature's Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment Award. I was also awarded my city's Diamond Award for Achievement in the Arts and itsCharacter and Ethics Award for my work promoting tolerance with my writing.I was named to Pasadena Weekly'slist of Women Who Make Life Happen and was an instructor for theworld-renowned UCLA Extension Writers' Program for nearly a decade. My work marketing my books led me to learn more about speaking and acting and I have appeared on hundreds of TV and radio stations and on occasional commercials forthe likes of Apple, Blue Shield, Lenscrafters, Time-Life CDs, and Disney Cruises (Japan).
From the Inside Flap
No inside flap.
From the Back Cover
SUBTITLES
Front Cover: The ins and outs of using free reviews tobuild and sustain a writing career to be released this fall.
Back Cover: How to get and use book reviews as part of a viable and ongoing campaign for self-published and traditionally published books. SERIES
This is the third in the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers . Bookbaby calls the first in the series, The Frugal Book Promoter, a "classic."
BLURBS/ENDORSEMENTS FROM BACK COVER
The most comprehensive book on getting book reviews I've ever come across. In her usual warm and easy-to-follow manner, Howard-Johnson outlines everything you need to know to maximise your book's chances . . . an excellent resource that both beginning and seasoned authors can return to again and again
~ Magdalena Ball, owner of the prestigious review site,CompulsiveReader.com "Getting Great Book Reviews is another HowToDoItFrugally winner! Both new authors and seasoned veterans will get a lot out of this book! I put several of Carolyn Howard-Johnson's tips into practice while I was reading and with great results.
~ L. Diane Wolfe, author, speaker, and owner of Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C.
About the Author
Carolyn Howard-Johnson brings her experience as a publicist, journalist, marketer, and retailer to the advice she gives in her multi award-winning 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. How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically is the third book in her multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series. That series includes both the first and second editions of The Frugal Book Promoter dubbed a "classic" by Bookbaby.com and winner of the coveted Irwin Award. Second in the series, The Frugal Editor won awards from USA Book News, Readers' Views Literary Award, the marketing award from Next Generation Indie Books and others. Howard-Johnson, a poet and fiction writer, is the recipient of the California Legislature's Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment Award and her community's Character and Ethics award for her work promoting tolerance with her writing. She was also named to Pasadena Weekly's list of "Fourteen San Gabriel Valley women who make life happen" and was given her community's Diamond Award for Achievement in the Arts. The author loves to travel. She has visited eighty-nine countries and has studied writing at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom; Herzen University in St. Petersburg, Russia; and Charles University, Prague. She admits to carrying a pen and journal wherever she goes. Her Web site is www.howtodoitfrugally.com and she loves to tweet #MovieReviews and #HowToDoItFrugally writing tips @FrugalBookPromo.
