Hello MWSAers!
Since I'm so far behind on getting the MWSA website updated, I thought I'd get even further behind and spruce things up a bit here on our MWSA blog.
For two conferences in a row, I've noticed that there's a pretty strong need for an online meeting place for MWSA authors to share "war stories" about their authoring, editing and marketing efforts. Even those of us with years of experience and thousands of books published (not me) can learn from other MWSA members.
During our most recent get-together in Pittsburgh, for example, a small group of us had a very interesting session about marketing in general, and Amazon.com marketing specifically. At that small meeting, we promised to try and maintain the enthusiasm and initiative by using our MWSA blog to keep in touch and to share our experiences in our efforts to get the word out about our books.
With that in mind, I'm trying to facilitate MWSA members' use of this blog.
We'd love to hear from you!!!
If you'd like to participate, you can do so by responding (making comments) to existing blog entries. Or, if you'd like to get more involved, please send me your email address and we'll add you to our "approved author list." This will allow you to start your own blog comments.
Please let me know if you have any suggestions/comments/lessons learned... anything!
Let's hear from you and keep up the level of enthusiasm we all experienced up in Pittsburgh!
Thanks,
John Cathcart
MWSA Webmaster
PS. Speaking of marketing on Amazon.com, a while back I began writing a series of articles on “tricks” you can use on Amazon.com’s website. It’s a work in progress, but I think we could all share our experiences, learn together, and improve our knowledge of online marketing. The articles can be found here: http://militarywriters.com/Amazon_tricks.html. You can also find it by hovering your mouse over “Resources” (on our main menu) then “For Writers” then clicking on “Amazon.com tricks.”
Please make any suggestions/additions/comments to those articles and share your own experiences on this blog!
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
I rarely send subscribers and readers of this blog to my Frugal, Smart, and Tuned-In Editor blog. You know where it is. Ha! But today I posted a link of all links for folks who love the English language and a good laugh. C'mon. Humor me. And boost the day's readership. While you're there, leave your most aggravating homonym booboo in the comments!
http://thefrugaleditor.blogspot.com/2010/09/weingarten-reads-english-its-last-rites.html
Your sometime MWSA blogger,
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
www.howtodoitfrugally.com
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http://thefrugaleditor.blogspot.com/2010/09/weingarten-reads-english-its-last-rites.html
Your sometime MWSA blogger,
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
www.howtodoitfrugally.com
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If your fellow writers or fellow soldiers or vets would benefit from this post, please use this little green widget to pass the news to your followers at Twitter:
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Your First-Person Essay or Your New Memoir--Take Your Pick
Just dropping in to let you know about the new review I just posted at http://thenewbookreview.blogspot.com/2010/08/your-first-person-essay-or-memoir-your.html . Writers will want to know about this book, they should also know about The New Book Review. It's open to all books, all reviewers. Guidelines for submissions are in the left column.
Your MWSA sometime blogger,
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
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If your fellow writers or fellow soldiers or vets would benefit from this post, please use this little green widget to pass the news to your followers at Twitter:
Your MWSA sometime blogger,
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
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If your fellow writers or fellow soldiers or vets would benefit from this post, please use this little green widget to pass the news to your followers at Twitter:
Thursday, August 12, 2010
A War Poetry Contest for You
With the winning of contests being in the air at MWSA, I thought you all might be interested in this one from Winning Writers. It's specifically a poetry contest for poems on the subject of war. Go for it, MWSA troops!
That’s kind of you to offer. Perhaps your readers would find interesting the judge’s comments from our War Poetry Contests. You can see them here: http://www.winningwriters.com/contests/war/wa_pastwinners.php
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Submitted by Carolyn Howard-Johnson
MWSA official blogger and MWSA award winner for poetry and marketing books. (-:
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That’s kind of you to offer. Perhaps your readers would find interesting the judge’s comments from our War Poetry Contests. You can see them here: http://www.winningwriters.com/contests/war/wa_pastwinners.php
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Submitted by Carolyn Howard-Johnson
MWSA official blogger and MWSA award winner for poetry and marketing books. (-:
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If your fellow writers or fellow soldiers or vets would benefit from this post, please use this little green widget to pass the news to your followers at Twitter:
Monday, August 9, 2010
MWSA Gold Medal Winner's Book Reviewed On New Book Review!
One of Military Writers Society of America's gold medal winners appears on The New Book Review blog today. I thought you'd like to support a fellow member and research that site for possible exposure of your own book. The guidelines are in the left column.
http://thenewbookreview.blogspot.com/2010/08/military-memoir-is-military-writers.html
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Submitted by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, your faithrful MWSA blogger and author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers.
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http://thenewbookreview.blogspot.com/2010/08/military-memoir-is-military-writers.html
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Submitted by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, your faithrful MWSA blogger and author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers.
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If your fellow writers or fellow soldiers or vets would benefit from this post, please use this little green widget to pass the news to your followers at Twitter:
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Great New Opportunities (Frugally!) at Authors Den
This is news I think our MWSA subscribers and visitors will like, Joyce!
(-:
I have been a member of Authors Den (AD) for about eight or nine years. At first I just loved their free (very frugal!) way for a new author to have a Web site. Then I started using their Gold membership to publish my newsletter.
I'm not much of a date keeper but that newsletter (It goes by the same name as this blog--branding you know!) has been around for some years now! I recommended it in my The Frugal Book Promoter, of course. And I've even partnered with Authors Den at the LA Times/UCLA Writers' Faire. Cross promotion always has its advantages, but it is an especially good marketing tool when one partners with those who already have lots of contacts and a great reputation.
The point of all this is that AD has some news. And I sure love spreading good news--especially when it comes from people I feel great about recommending. My AD friend Matt Miller writes:
"The AuthorsDen Services Marketplace is Open for Business!
"AuthorsDen.com, an online literary community established in 2000, has seen the toll researching the diverse components of the book industry has taken on writers. As a result, we recently launched the AuthorsDen Community MarketPlace...
"The MarketPlace brings together authors and community service providers to create a more artful product. It looks as if it will save us authors some promotion time. Find it at
http://marketplace.authorsden.com"
I can hardly wait to try all its features. Check it out for yourself. And while you're poking around, look at the different membership levels. At a bare minimum sigh up for the free level. Even if you have a Web site of your own, all those outside links coming back to your Web site make for very good Web site opitmizaton (SEO). And it is great backup when your server gives you fits. And, think of the networking opportunities among your fellow AD authors!
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Carolyn Howard-Johnson is an official blogger for Military Writers Society of America. Carolyn is author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including, The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . She is also the author of the Amazon Short, "The Great First Impression Book Proposal". She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including 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. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use the little Green widget to let them know about this blog:
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If your fellow writers or fellow soldiers or vets would benefit from this post, please use this little green widget to pass the news to your followers at Twitter:
(-:
I have been a member of Authors Den (AD) for about eight or nine years. At first I just loved their free (very frugal!) way for a new author to have a Web site. Then I started using their Gold membership to publish my newsletter.
I'm not much of a date keeper but that newsletter (It goes by the same name as this blog--branding you know!) has been around for some years now! I recommended it in my The Frugal Book Promoter, of course. And I've even partnered with Authors Den at the LA Times/UCLA Writers' Faire. Cross promotion always has its advantages, but it is an especially good marketing tool when one partners with those who already have lots of contacts and a great reputation.
The point of all this is that AD has some news. And I sure love spreading good news--especially when it comes from people I feel great about recommending. My AD friend Matt Miller writes:
"The AuthorsDen Services Marketplace is Open for Business!
"AuthorsDen.com, an online literary community established in 2000, has seen the toll researching the diverse components of the book industry has taken on writers. As a result, we recently launched the AuthorsDen Community MarketPlace...
"The MarketPlace brings together authors and community service providers to create a more artful product. It looks as if it will save us authors some promotion time. Find it at
http://marketplace.authorsden.com"
I can hardly wait to try all its features. Check it out for yourself. And while you're poking around, look at the different membership levels. At a bare minimum sigh up for the free level. Even if you have a Web site of your own, all those outside links coming back to your Web site make for very good Web site opitmizaton (SEO). And it is great backup when your server gives you fits. And, think of the networking opportunities among your fellow AD authors!
-----
Carolyn Howard-Johnson is an official blogger for Military Writers Society of America. Carolyn is author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including, The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . She is also the author of the Amazon Short, "The Great First Impression Book Proposal". She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including 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. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use the little Green widget to let them know about this blog:
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If your fellow writers or fellow soldiers or vets would benefit from this post, please use this little green widget to pass the news to your followers at Twitter:
Friday, July 30, 2010
MWSA Member Recommends New Book on Book Promotion
I have a motto: "Reading one book on book promotion is never enough."
Thus, I recommend Michelle Dunn's Mosquito Marketing, a book full of book-marketing essentials. Here is the heartfelt recommendation I wrote to Michelle, complete with disclaimer:
Dear Michelle:
Congratulations on a job well done! In the writing. In the accumulation of knowledge. And in the production. I shall recommend Mosquito Marketing to my UCLA students and my clients--every single one of them!
Yes, you may use that as an endorsement, though you may not want to because I contributed to the book. Thus I may appear biased. The thing is, I would have said the same thing even if I had no part in it! (-:
So, it's going up on my Web site (the Resources for Writers section of www.howtodoitfrugally.com) right now! And into my recommendation list for my students. Soon. (-:
Thank you so much. Mosquito Marketing (ISBN 1453605304) will be a valued part of books I am part of--ones that I keep in a special reference (and brag!) library. Great work!
Best,
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
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Contributed by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, one of your official MWSA bloggers.
-----
If your fellow writers or fellow soldiers or vets would benefit from this post, please use this little green widget to pass the news to your followers at Twitter:
Thus, I recommend Michelle Dunn's Mosquito Marketing, a book full of book-marketing essentials. Here is the heartfelt recommendation I wrote to Michelle, complete with disclaimer:
Dear Michelle:
Congratulations on a job well done! In the writing. In the accumulation of knowledge. And in the production. I shall recommend Mosquito Marketing to my UCLA students and my clients--every single one of them!
Yes, you may use that as an endorsement, though you may not want to because I contributed to the book. Thus I may appear biased. The thing is, I would have said the same thing even if I had no part in it! (-:
So, it's going up on my Web site (the Resources for Writers section of www.howtodoitfrugally.com) right now! And into my recommendation list for my students. Soon. (-:
Thank you so much. Mosquito Marketing (ISBN 1453605304) will be a valued part of books I am part of--ones that I keep in a special reference (and brag!) library. Great work!
Best,
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
-----
Contributed by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, one of your official MWSA bloggers.
-----
If your fellow writers or fellow soldiers or vets would benefit from this post, please use this little green widget to pass the news to your followers at Twitter:
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