10 QUESTIONS FOR…Carolyn Howard-Johnson, the Frugal Book Promoter!

Author interview with Carolyn Howard-Johnson, your Frugal Editor and Frugal Book Promoter (-:

Carolyn was raised by a depression-era mother, thus the Frugal thing. Her fiction is informed by The Place she grew up, beauty, warts and all. Utah. And, like Wendy, she loves to share and help writers promote their books. Find her frugal stuff at www.howtodoitfrugally.com and her fiction and poetry at www.carolynhoward-Johnson.com .

1. Tell us about your latest book.

It is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques . It was launched at the National Stationery Show at Javits Center in New York (about the time of last year’s Book Expo America) and is based on my many years as founder, owner and marketer for a chain of gift stores. Find it at www.budurl.com/RetailersGuide.

2. How did you get started as a writer?

I thought the boys on my high school newspaper staff were cute. We said “cute” back then, not “hot.” I wouldn’t have known from “hot.”

3. What does a typical day look like for you?

I look like a toadstool growing out of one of those ergonomic chairs that sit in front of computers. In the afternoons I got to movies, a habit born out of the days when I reviewed film for the Glendale News-Press. Movies also inform my writing.

4. Describe your workspace.

Messy, very messy. If you’d like a photo, I’ll send it to you. It was taken a couple of years ago. It’s worse now. There is still room, however, for my Great Dane to spread out on the floor.

5. Favorite books (especially for writers).

Oh, so many. Wendy, I’m reading yours. Just got it. One of my favorites these days is an e-book by Larry Brooks on story structure. www.storyfix.com. It’s the best I’ve ever seen on that subject.

6. Tell us 3 interesting/crazy things about you.

• Mmmm. I dye my hair the same color it comes out at the roots. Go figure.
• I was a redhead before I was a blonde. Wishing made it so. You can call it silver, or gray and get a swat. You can get away with “platinum,” though I still want to be “blonde.”
• I was only 18 when I started my first writing job. You can learn how I got that job by reading the fictionalized account in my novel This Is the Place. http://www.amazon.com/This-Place-Carolyn-Howard-Johnson/dp/1588513521/

7. Favorite quote

“Careers that are not fed soon die as readily as any living organism given no sustenance.”

Carolyn Howard-Johnson

You’ll find it on my handouts for the classes I teach at UCLA, all over my Website, in th footers of some of my books, etc.

8. Best and worst part of being a writer

Oh, gosh. Best part. I love it. It cured me of cancer.

Truly, no worse part. Truly.

9. Advice for other writers

Read. Read in your genre. Read outside of your genre. Read how-to books on every subject related to writing and the marketing of books. Read more than one on each subject. Buy books for gifts.

10. Tell us a story about your writing experience.

I love your story. It’s hard to beat.  So I won’t try.

At that first job in journalism I wrote a cooking column for teenagers, using their recipes. I was also learning layout and had to write the cutlines (those little explanations beneath pictures) and it is hard to write them for one column headshots. One week I featured a brownie recipe that didn’t have to be baked from a teen in Salt Lake City. I wrote (name changed to protect the innocent), Diane Dotson . . . Easy to make while studying.” It ran in most editions. Editors caught it before the city edition hit the press. Luckily for me and for my job.

Where can people buy your books?

Oh, so many! Just know that I know my HowToDoItFrugally books will help authors make their dreams come true and that I consider even The Frugal Editor (www.budurl.com/TheFrugalEditor) important in marketing your book to a publisher, agent or anyone else. Editing is just so important. Your readers will find everything from my award-winning poetry to The Frugal Book Promoter (www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo) at www.howtodoitfrugally.com.

10 QUESTIONS FOR…book marketing guru Penny Sansevieri

Author interview with:

book marketing guru Penny Sansevieri

1. Tell us about your latest book.

It’s called Red Hot Internet Publicity – I wrote it because I felt there was a real need to get this information out to authors. The Internet is such a hot way to promote a book!

2. How did you get started as a writer?

Sort of accidentally I guess you could say, as a kid I wrote a ton of short stories and (bad) poetry. Then I started noodling with a book idea in 1997, finished it in 1999 and was published that same year. The book, a romance novel called The Cliffhanger, was my first entry into the book world…

3. What does a typical day look like for you?

I’m generally up at 5am and at my desk shortly after that. It’s an insane schedule I know. I run a pr and marketing firm and use that early morning time to catch up on emails, write out my goals for the day and visit a few blogs. I get in a run around 7am, then it’s off to Starbucks for my shot in the arm and back to work till 7pm. My day is generally filled with calls with new authors or existing clients. Sometimes I will also teach a teleclass during the day which I love.

4. Describe your desk/workspace.

A mess. Ok, I’m kidding. Sort of. I have two monitors which I just got a few weeks ago and my desk feels a bit like Mission Control. My desk has a stack of books to be read, ones I have finished and am doing proposals on and then another stack of books we’re working on. Sometimes my new 4-month old puppy (Cosmo) sits on my desk and (joyfully) disrupts my day.

5. Favorite books (especially for writers)

I am a constant learner so I love anything related to the Internet and social media, I think given how tough it is to get traditional review space it’s important for an author to immerse him/herself in this area. I would recommend:

Plug Your Book by Steve Webber

The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott

My book 🙂 Red Hot Internet Publicity

Stephen King’s book On Writing is also a must

and just for fun, The Bestseller which is a fun read about the industry by Olivia Goldsmith

6. Tell us 3 interesting/crazy things about you

I was born in Calif but grew up in Belgium where I lived and went to school for 10  years

I love cycling and am *thrilled* that Lance Armstrong is back in the race

I’m addicted to Twitter. It’s not pretty 🙂

7. Favorite quote

“Do what you love and you’ll never work another day in your life.”

8. Best and worst part of being a writer

I get to do what I love.

Worst part? Hmmm,

9. Advice for other writers

Don’t let anyone talk you out of your dream.

10. Tell us a story about your writing experience. 

I had “the deal” of a lifetime, likely the biggest deal of my career. I was thrilled, it was my claim to fame and everyone I had aspired to. On a cool November day I got a text message from the folks at “the deal” telling me the deal was off, so sorry. Unfortunately at the time I was strapped into a seat on a plane bound for New York where I was going to meet the folks from “the deal” – we were also on the tarmac. There was nothing I could do but spend the next 5 hours wondering why this had happened and debating whether or not to give up. I was honestly ready to cash it in. What was the point after all? The deal was no longer the deal, the thing I had planned on, and talked about was gone in a single moment. When I got to New York things weren’t much better but I got to my hotel room and had planned to sulk all night and be the only guest at my pity party. That’s when I decided to check email and got a note from an author (I’m sorry to say I didn’t remember who she was at first) who told me that she had seen me speak at an event and had found it so inspiring that she went out immediately and started writing. She then had encouraged her husband to put together a book of his recipes, apparently he was quite the bbq-chef and had developed a number of his own special sauces and side dishes. She told me that shortly after he wrote and published the book he was diagnosed with a terminal illness and died. The book is now the most treasured thing she has left and she thanked me for that class and that sliver of inspiration that got her going.

In the middle of my sorrow I suddenly realized I had allowed myself to be defined by a deal and I had lost sight of why I was in this industry in the first place.

Deals will come and deals will go. You’ll get a book signing only to get bumped when a celeb comes to town, you might miss out on that TV interview or maybe that radio show you were on didn’t go as well as you’d hoped. In the end, don’t let these moments define who you are or why you do this. Hang onto the reason that you got into this in the first place and make that your true north. The deal had defined me and when the deal was gone I thought my reason for being in the industry was too. But the real reason I do this had nothing to do with the deal. It’s the people, the writers, the stories – that’s why we do what we do.

Where can people buy your book?

www.amarketingexpert.com  

New blog Talk Radio Show for authors and writers

 

Teresa Morrow of Key Business Partners (http://www.keybusinesspartners.com) has combined her three passions into her business–reading, writing and connecting with others. Key Business Partners focus is about celebrating writers and authors work through various online promotion methods. Teresa will be starting her own Blog Talk Radio Show called Authors and Writers Conversations (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/keybusinesspartners) March 2009. The show is to bring together authors and writers with their audience and give them the opportunity to share their experience in writing and publishing industry.

10 QUESTIONS FOR… Mary White, author of “101 Successful PR Campaign Tips”

10 Questions for…

Author #8: Mary White, “101 Successful PR Campaign Tips”

 

Mary G. White, M.A., SPHR is co-founder of Mobile Technical Institute & MTI Business Solutions (http://www.mobiletechwebsite.com) in Mobile, AL., where she specializes in human resources, management, and public relations training, consulting, and writing. She is the author of 101 Successful PR Campaign Tips in the LifeTips book series and is a frequent speaker at conferences and association meetings.

1. Tell us about your latest book.

My new book, 101 Successful PR Campaign Tips in the LifeTips book series, book features practical PR tips based on common questions I’ve heard from clients I’ve worked with over the years, as well as from people who have attended PR and marketing seminars that I have taught. The book covers many aspects of public relations, including various types of press releases, media relations, online publicity, viral marketing, newswire services, and more.

2. How did you get started as a writer?

I have loved to write since I was a child. When I was in high school, one of my teachers told my mother, “Mary writes beautifully. She just doesn’t have anything to say.” Well, that was in a class that didn’t particularly interest me. When I’m engaged in a topic, there’s nothing I enjoy more than learning, researching, and writing about the subject.

My love for writing led me into a career in advertising and public relations, which allowed me to engage in many types of writing on a daily basis. From there, I became a professional trainer and consultant, which provides me with an opportunity to teach and write about many topics that I am passionate about.

3. What does a typical day look like for you?

For me, a typical day is characterized by multi-tasking. I do most of my writing early in the morning or late in the evening, when I’m able to enjoy quiet time. During the day, I am focused on running my business. Some days I spend most of my time teaching seminars or working on projects for clients, while others are focused on the nuts and bolts of managing and marketing a small business.

4. Describe your desk/workspace.

My work space is an organized mess. It’s rarely clear, but I know where everything is.

5. Favorite books (especially for writers)

My all-time favorite business book is Confessions of a PR Man. Everyone who is in any way involved with marketing or public relations needs to find a copy of this book and read it over and over. It teaches you how to think like a PR person, which is something that can benefit everyone.

6. Tell us 3 interesting/crazy things about you

My first job was in a machine shop.

I live in the Deep South, but love cold weather.

I met my husband in college and we’ve been married since 1991.

 

7. Favorite quote

“Pick your battles.”

8. Best and worst part of being a writer

For me, the best part of being a writer is having the ability to create training materials, articles, books, etc. that can help people develop the skills they need to reach their potential. The worst part is the fact that it’s sometimes hard to pull myself away from writing and focus on the other things that I need to do.

9. Advice for other writers

Set aside time every day to work on your writing, whether for yourself or for clients. Take advantage of freelance writing opportunities, regardless of what your “day job” might be. It’s up to you to gain the experience, bylines, and credibility that can translate into professional success. The best time to start is today.

10. Tell us a story about your writing experience. 

If you’re going to speak to people about how to write, make sure that your presentation is error free. Don’t put yourself in the position of teaching a business writing class only to notice that there are spelling and grammatical errors in the presentation you are using! I was teaching a class on business writing when I noticed that my presentation said, “Make sure to proofread you work carefully.” Talk about embarrassing moments in writing.

Where can people buy your book? 

101 Successful PR Campaign Tips is available from Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. Visit www.MobileTechWebsite.com for more information about my business. You’ll find a series of informative articles, my Success Tips blog, free training videos, and more.