source: http://www.bookbuzzr.com/blog/book-marketing/what-to-keep-in-mind-when-publishing-ebooks/

Guest: Andrea Susan Glass

According to Forrester Research, digital book sales tripled to $966 million in 2010 and are set to almost triple again by 2015. Last summer, Amazon said sales of ebooks for its Kindle reader had far eclipsed hardcover book sales. In about 2007, Amazon introduced its Kindle ereader and Barnes and Noble soon followed with the Nook. Then iPhones got an app to read ebooks, and next it was the iPad and other copycats. You can even read an ebook on your PC or Mac with the free software Kindle for PC (or Mac). And now the libraries are offering electronic books that are being converted by a company called Overdrive.

Don’t you think it’s time for you to write your ebook?!

I always suggest authors keep several things in mind when planning to publish an ebook. First is determining the author and reader motivations. Why do you want to write an ebook, and what’s in it for the reader? You might write fiction because you have a story to tell; or nonfiction to share your passion or expertise teaching a skill or solving a problem; or to build your visibility for your business; or to add an income stream. The reader is generally motivated to buy the ebook because of entertainment or education—they’ll enjoy your novel or they’ll learn something from your nonfiction.

Second is determining if you should publish an ebook, a pbook (print), or both. Ebooks have a lower cost to publish, are quicker to write because they can be shorter, are more profitable, have a targeted market—and they’re hot! Your only costs are editing, formatting, and a book cover. You can accomplish these for under $500 in most cases. Ebooks are faster to write because they can be shorter and generally you’re writing about an area you know well, so you can write like you’re talking to someone. You make a decent profit because you have little invested and you can sell them for around $2.99 to $9.99 with Amazon taking only 35%. Additionally, you write an ebook for a targeted market so they’re easy to locate and that makes your promotion more effective.

Third is determining which format. Right now there’s Kindle which uses a Mobi format, and Nook and all the others which use ePub. You can go to https://kdp.amazon.com and sign up for a Kindle account, follow the formatting guidelines, convert your book from Word to Mobi, and upload it to Amazon. You can also go to www.smashwords.com and convert your book to ePub for the other readers. Or you can hire someone who specializes in ebook conversions, an emerging industry! This depends on your level of patience!

Fourth is determining your keywords so readers can find you. You’ll want to use them in your title or subtitle, your ebook description, your bios, book reviews, websites, advertising, and marketing. You can find good keywords using the Google keyword tool at https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal.

Lastly, think about how you’re going to market your ebook. Who is your ideal reader and where can you find them? Marketing ebooks in the virtual world is much more effective than marketing books in the real world. No longer do you have to show up for a book signing and speak to a crowd of three people! No longer do you have to get up at 4:00 am to do a two-minute spot on your local TV cable station. The world is at your fingertips when you want to market your ebook online. Find your readers and tell them why they should buy your book. It’s that simple. You can use any one or several of these promotional methods: blogs, podcasts, online radio, social networking, websites (yours and others), teleclasses (yours and others), articles, press releases, and email blasts. I’m sure you can find something that matches your skills and personality to the best method to get in front of your reader.

Jump into the ebook explosion now! It’s the quickest way to get that book that you’ve always wanted to write, finally written—and published!

Andrea Susan Glass is owner of WritersWay, a ghostwriting and copyediting company for personal and professional development books and ebooks. Andrea is an award-winning author who’s written or edited over 100 books or ebooks. She teaches classes on how to write and publish ebooks for several San Diego universities and is launching her online university in 2012 at www.TheEbookAcademy.com. Find out more at www.WritersWay.com.

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source: http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/there-are-no-rules/the-persistence-of-the-author-brand

by: Phil Sexton

There was a time, in the pulp-era of publishing, when authors put out a new book on a monthly basis. Many of these books were written under “house names” that belonged to the publisher and very often multiple writers contributed to the brand. Perhaps the best example of this is The Shadow, by Maxwell Grant. “Grant” was the house name used by Walter Gibson, who famously wrote nearly 300 Shadow novels over twenty years. (In March 1941, a decade into his run, Gibson wrote an article for WD on the topic entitled “A Million Words a Year for Ten Straight Years.”)

You might expect that kind of regular exposure generates author recognition among readers pretty quickly. But Gibson was an excellent writer and his success was something like lightning in a bottle. Perhaps only one other pulp house name - Kenneth Robeson – developed so fervent a following so quickly. Pulp fiction publishers tried again and again to replicate that level of success with their author brands, but rarely succeeded. (Brands are valuable, but rarely established without quality writing and/or an effective platform.)

In later decades, the 1970s and 80s in particular, the practice of developing an author brand was continued with monthly series like The Destroyer, or Mack Bolan – generally men’s adventure fiction that again used house names to ensure new books on a monthly basis. In the 21st century, this model of publishing appears to be fading away.

In reality, the practice simply took on a different form. The new era of author branding uses a famous author as the billboard and very carefully positions a secondary contributor as the actual writer of the piece. James Patterson is, of course, the master of this sort of publishing. But other well known authors – Clive Cussler and Tom Clancy, for example – also utilize this model. And from the publisher point of view it’s brilliant. Sales of books that have the names of bestselling authors attached are more predictable than books from new authors, so publishing houses seed their list with such titles in order to better ensure a certain portion of revenue. Using James Patterson as an example, the best I can measure is that 31 titles were released under his “brand” in 2011. That doesn’t include multiple editions of the same book (hardcover, mass market paperback, audio, etc). Soon, I suspect, there will be James Patterson dish towels, lunch boxes, and running shoes. What a great tagline for that last one - “Run for your life with James Patterson Sneakers!”

The traditional model for developing a new author brand assumed perhaps one new release a year. The first book would come out and publishers would cross their fingers that it was a success at some level. Then they’d release a second book a year later, with the hope that readers would remember the author’s name and first book. Then a year later, a third book would come out, and so on.

In the past two years or so, we’ve seen the emergence of another strategy for building author brands. These are books by the same person, but released within a relatively short span of time, so that a new work is regularly on display and suggests to consumers that the author is both prolific and popular (even if they are not).

This new model enables publishers to circumvent the traditional period of delay between books, helping to ensure that readers are seeing a new release from the author, just as they’re finishing the previous one. Here are two examples from 2011:

Andy McDermott was an established author in the UK whose books hadn’t yet been published in the U.S. Bantam/Random House picked up the series and released the first book in the U.S. in September ’09, the second in October ’09, the third in March ’10, the fourth in April ’10, the fifth in September ’10, and the sixth in March ’11. This expedited release schedule meant that within one year, McDermott had four books on bookstore shelves – and each one went on display at the major bookstore chains. Voila, instant brand. McDermott’s seventh book was just released last September. Seven books in two years. Not bad.

Similarly, Zoe Archer was a relative unknown when Kensington Publishing executed the same strategy with her work. Archer was a good writer who had written two books for Leisure Books in 2006. Neither title made much of an impact from a sales point of view. Regardless, Kensington must have recognized something in her work that made them confident enough to take a big gamble. In September 2010, they launched Archer’s Blades of the Rose series, with new books following in October, November, and December of that same year. All four books went on display at the major chains and Archer now owns nice little section of the romance bookshelf and has a substantial following.

These “instant brand” strategies required a greater-than-normal leap of faith on the part of the publishers involved, but in both cases it seems to have worked. Outside-the-box thinking about release dates, marketing, consumer awareness, and consumer shopping habits have proven out.

But these are exceptional cases, with both authors having been published previously, and one – McDermott – having a strong track record of sales overseas. Additionally, both Archer and McDermott focused on writing series, with storylines and characters that consumers would be compelled to invest in and revisit again and again, much like the pulp series of the 1930s and 40s. But it’s extraordinarily rare for publishers to buy multiple books in an unpublished series from an author with no track record.

As a writer, what can you do to improve or enhance your author brand? Odds are you won’t get a multi-book publishing deal like the ones detailed above. But if you’re considering some form of self-publishing, how your books are presented and the frequency of their release is entirely in your hands.

If you are self-publishing, are you writing a series? Consider releasing the individual books fairly close to one another (if you can afford it). Have your designer incorporate unified design elements into each cover. Give the books a series name and use it on each cover. Even if you’re not writing a series, consider giving your author name the same type treatment from book to book. Check out the shelves of your local bookstore and you’ll see that many houses use this technique to help give multiple titles from one author a unified look. For a good example from the world of e-book self-publishing, check out the cover treatments for books in J.A. Konrath’s Jack Daniels mystery series. Each book is instantly identifiable as being connected.

Self-publishing your work in e-book format also gives you control over price. You can sell your first book at a low retail, attracting target readers with a low-risk purchase, then take up the price on subsequent books once you’ve proven to them you have something worth paying for.

Additionally, e-books enable you to bundle sets of books into a single purchase option. Do you have three books in a series? Bundle them together at a discounted rate so that consumers have the option of buying them all at once. You don’t need to wait for a traditional publishing house to create a “boxed” set – there’s very little chance they will in any case.

You can also use Amazon.com’s “Listmania” service to group all of your titles together under one theme. For example, a fan of your work could create a list of “Favorite mysteries by Beverly Stanton” (or whatever your genre/name is). As consumers search for mysteries on the site, Listmania recommendations will pop up automatically in the sidebars. Encouraging fans, friends, or family to make such lists using your books, provides your books with additional exposure, even when readers aren’t looking for your work specifically. This suggestion works for any traditionally published books as well.

These are a few basic ideas that are easy to execute. But the important thing is to ask yourself the following questions: What am I doing to promote my brand? What am I doing to lead my readers from one book to the next? How am I getting the word out about my brand and what it represents (i.e. what readers can expect from a book by you)?

Keep in mind, building an author brand is not the same as building a platform. A platform connects you to people and tells them who you are. It’s a personal effort that enables you to influence how people perceive you and your work. A brand is a marketing tool. It’s an umbrella that ties your work together and suggests to readers what to expect – it doesn’t replace a platform and without a platform, won’t do you that much good.  For some excellent information on platform building, check out this post from Christina Katz and also her now book The Writer’s Workout.

Keep writing!

Phil

Phil Sexton - Publisher, Writer’s Digest – Twitter @psexton1

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Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/publishing-articles/typecast-how-book-marketing-can-make-or-break-a-self-published-book-5496359.html

Written by: K. Leeds

It is often said that self-publication should be a last resort. Many will tell you that self-published books go nowhere; that self-published books are for desperate authors of weak books, and that self-publication is feeble attempt to become a legitimate author. Do not believe it. The bane of good literature is NOT self-publication; it is a lack of proper book marketing. If no one knows about your self-published book, no one will buy it, regardless of who puts it out in print!

What is this book marketing of which you speak?

Simply put, book marketing is a set of specific strategies employed to raise awareness of your book. With proper marketing, you can sell anything. This holds just as true for self-published books. Set up events, network, talk to bookstore owners and bibliophiles. You are your own book marketing dynamo. Don’t let anyone tell you that you won’t succeed just because you’ve self-published books.

How much is this going to cost me?

That depends. You can do your own book marketing, or you can hire a professional book marketing campaign group to take the ball and run with it while you self-publish more books. Nearly every publicist you check out will give you a different quote and itemized list for their services, and of course, it depends on the content and page count of your self-published book. Every book marketing campaign is different because every book is different.

I advertise extensively, what’s the difference?

A book marketing campaign is very different than advertising. With advertising, you pay for your information to get noticed by readers. You govern how that information is distributed, and to whom. With book marketing, no one knows what media entities will respond, how they will react to your self-published book, or whether or not they will even cover you. There are no guarantees. Book marketing and publicity of your self-published book is wholly dependent upon the interest of the public in your work. Greater public response equals greater publicity. Media coverage equates to credibility; anyone can pay for an ad, but when an editor or producer takes interest, it gives an author instant credibility.

Important note:

It is still much more difficult to generate buzz and interest about a self-published book than one through a publishing house, but difficult doesn’t mean impossible. The biggest key to your success is you. If your self-published book has merit, intriguing subject matter, high readability, and a new, bold flavor, you are much more likely to be successful. You will get out of any book marketing campaign only what you put into it. Dedicate yourself to your work as much as you believe in it, and you will be a successful self-published author.

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Source: http://www.bookbuzzr.com/blog/book-marketing/new-years-resolutions-for-marketing-your-book-say-yes-to-new-things/

Guest Expert: Phyllis Zimbler Miller

Thanks to the Internet, the release date of our published or self-published books no longer matter as long as the books are available online. We can continue to market our books indefinitely.

And this is a great time of year to look ahead and commit to trying new promotional opportunities.

Here then are some ideas to help you promote in 2012. Choose a couple of them to try out in the new year.

• Sparkabook.com – a site for selling rights that includes the ability to upload video and audio.

• Booksforfilm.ning.com – ask to be accepted for this site that promotes books ready for film.

• Join the “Book Marketing” group on LinkedIn to ask questions and exchange information. (Please follow the guidelines for the group.)

• Try out the new QuickQuiz feature on BookBuzzr – see http://www.freado.com/quickquiz.

• Participate on tweetchats on Twitter – there are weekly tweetchats on a variety of topics; consider book/writing topics as well as topics related to the subject of your fiction or nonfiction books.

• If you have been using your book cover as your social media profile photo, consider switching to your own headshot. People relate to people – usually the relationship comes before the interest in the book.

• If you are only using the initial of your last name instead of your full last name on your LinkedIn profile (assuming the profile name is your author name), switch to using your full name. As an author, you want to promote name recognition.

• If you do not yet have ebook versions of your books, get them now! The year 2012 is going to be the year that ebooks, already exploding all over the place, are going to explode exponentially because of the introduction of more and more ereaders and tablets. You can do the ebook conversion yourself or hire an ebook converter. Just make sure that your ebooks are formatted correctly so that they look good on ereaders and tablets.

• If you are self-publishing books or ebooks this year, consider hiring a professional editor if grammar, punctuation, and spelling are not your best skills. Do NOT rely only on your computer’s spell check and grammar check. If you get people to sample your book, you want them to read the entire book. You don’t want them to stop reading because of annoying errors in the book.

• Whenever you notice someone is having a contest and asking for prizes to give away, consider if the contest is appropriate for you to donate copies of your books. If your books are in digital format, this is very easy.

• Listen to marketing webinars, including the ones that BookBuzzr sponsors, for promotion ideas.

• Check that your Amazon public profile and your Amazon Author Page are current. If you have new information to add (or new blog post feeds), do so. (You can also now get a customized Amazon Author Page URL.)

• Final tip: If you want to use one service (there’s a free option) for scheduling your social media updates, check out Hootsuite.com .

The above are some ideas for possible New Year’s resolutions for promoting your books in 2012. If you have other ideas to suggest, please leave a comment below.

Remember, we authors are NOT in competition with each other. The more we encourage people to read the more readers there are for all of us.

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is the co-founder of the marketing consulting company MillerMosaicLLC.com, which works with clients including book authors to effectively use social media, blogging and WordPress websites.

She is also the author of fiction and nonfiction books and has a new website at www.PhyllisZimblerMiller.com about her books and her volunteer activities.

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Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/writing-articles/book-reviews-for-multiple-book-sales-1506426.html.

Written by: Alana Johnson

Book reviews are great ways to promote your book and increase you book sales.  When formulating your book marketing plan include a creative way to use book reviews.  A good book review can land you on a best seller list or put you into the seven figure bracket for sales profits.  What is your current or planned use ofbook reviews ?  Are you submitting your book to websites, book groups or newspapers?  Focus on connecting with any niche associated with your book’s genre or its subject matter addresses.  Once you’ve identified these resources, reach out to them and try to establish a relationship that will create multiple sales.  Here are three examples of uncommonbook reviews:

• Schools – Educational institutions whether grammar or collegiate are a great source of book promotion.  If your book is student friendly consider contacting your local board of education.
• Corporations – Depending on the topic of your book, you can contact one or several companies and suggesting the benefits of their employees reading your book and the effect it will have on morale and productivity within the company.
• Environmental – Any books offering information or stories on camping, backpacking, boating etc. can be marketed to and through stores, companies and websites that support that lifestyle.

Schools offer an uncommon and irregular channel through which you can sell your book.  If you get your book into the right hands at the board of education, you can then get your book into several hands throughout your school district.  Contact the board of education and find out who is responsible for accepting books into the school system. If your book is not child friendly but would appeal to education professions offer a discount to the employees that work for the school system.

Corporations can provide a new way to advertise your book.  A few years ago I worked for a global insurance brokerage firm.  During a department meeting our manager announced that we would all be reading a book entitled Who Stole My Cheese.  Some of us welcomed the opportunity while others shunned the book.  Each of us who read the book was transformed into an individual marketing tool.  Even those who chose not to read the small book filled with change embracing techniques became advertisers inadvertently.  Simply by being exposed to the book on a corporate level had us all talking about the book and of course we took our conversations and reviews outside of our cubicles and work environment.

Environmental companies, stores and websites are great places to promote your book.  They can purchase the books outright for themselves or promote it for you through their various mediums.  When you think about your book, its audience, the niche, its genre or the benefits it offers, try to identify where it could fit in as an addition to some other product.  Is your book a chick lit?  Why not sell it retail to companies that offer gift packages for women?  Be creative and try to think outside of the box.  I apologize for the cliché, but it works.

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Sure advertising doesn’t come cheap. Everything in this planet does not come cheap at all.

But if there’s one thing that’s worth investing, it’s got to be advertising.

Being a self-published author requires you to be a tough player. You don’t have that much capital just to experiment and flush all your money down the drain. You have to be sure that everything you do, whether advertising or publicity, can make a significant impact on your book marketing campaign.

As a single independent player in the self-publishing industry, you have to make the strongest efforts for your book marketing campaign to succeed. If you believe that your book can sell, then you have to be ready to reinforce with marketing tools. And if you think that your book can still make it even without advertising and publicity, that’s never going to happen.

Agree or disagree, self-publishing involves a lot of taking risks. It also involves investing a significant amount of money. But it’s not just all about money. It’s actually more of planning and “unplanning” a book marketing campaign until you realize that you have reached your goal. Success in self-publishing is about writing a great book, knowledge, planning, strategy, timing, hard work, guts, dedication, and having a bottomless supply of optimism within your veins.

So why should you advertise when everyone is experiencing the fiery global financial crisis?

For one, print advertising never gets old fashioned. Yes, there are tons of more affordable marketing strategies online. But you have to admit, book lovers are more inclined with something that is tangible compared to what’s not. Your main objective above everything else is to sell books. People who love to buy books read newspapers, magazines, and rush to book stores. And even if almost ¾’s of the globe has embraced digital media, still, more and more people are subscribed to print media.

Print media is not considered SPAM.

Print media can never offend recipients.

Print media will let you gain respect.

Print media will let you achieve an international impression.

When the market has fewer ads, your message will be more likely to be noticed. Don’t loose your temper when your friends think you’re just wasting money for a print ad. They just don’t understand how a single ad can make a big difference in your book marketing campaign. Advertising will help convince your prospective readers that you are serious in your career. You will gain a lot of confidence from your readers.

The current economic donwnturn can be an incredible opportunity to create rapport, build market share, and increase sales. Even though generating income has become rough, the economy will still continue rolling.

And last but definitely not the least, recession is the best reason for you to spend your money. If your in doubt, you can ask the experts in economics. They will tell you why.

So go, and reserve your advertising slot now.

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Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/online-promotion-articles/self-published-books-and-authors-are-gaining-credibility-and-popularity-through-book-marketing-5404095.html

Book publishing and marketing has been in existence in the United States since publishing began. At that time, it was mostly the task of small local booksellers or printers. As print technology and transportation began to improve, publishers were able to distribute books on a national level rather than just a local level. By the Civil War, publishing had grown significantly. Today, the U.S. book publishing industry continues to steadily grow and consists of approximately 3,000 establishments. Current book publishing options also include worldwide book marketing through modern technology and such marketing tools as Facebook, Twitter, Kindle, online games, and mobile devices. Authors are now gaining credibility and popularity by marketing their own self-published books.

Self-published Books are Gaining Worldwide Acceptance

Self-publishing once meant employing a publishing team (i.e. editor, book designer, cover artist, printer) to publish a book. Authors were, in essence, setting up their own personal publishing houses. They handled the entire book publication process, including printing, distribution, and marketing. This type of publishing, also referred to as independent publishing, was quite costly often resulted in amateurish books. Over the last decade, self-published books are more acceptable as self-publishing has become more credible and professional. Today, thanks to the Internet, authors can upload a word document or PDF file to an online company who will print and distribute the book for them worldwide at an affordable price. Self-publishing (not to be confused with vanity publishing) is gaining more credibility every year. Online self-publishing services have given authors an affordable way to create, publish, and promote their work.

Book Marketing of Self-published Books through Social Media

Authors are turning to self-published books for various reasons including:

• Continual rejection from a traditional publishing house
• The desire for full book control
• A fast turnaround of delivery
• The ability to keep more of book profits

The advent of the ebook has brought electronic publishing to the foreground, and many authors are now choosing this option for the publishing of their material.

Social media marketing also is becoming more and more popular in today’s digital world. Online book marketing is definitely a viable option for book marketing and an effective way to create a buzz and generate book sales. Social media book marketing allows authors to effectively reach a target market while connecting with readers and fans in online communities. With online marking, authors can build a worldwide reader base.

As an author, it’s important to keep abreast of emerging trends and technologies to gain the best advantage of publishing and book marketing opportunities. Such self-published authors as James Redfield (The Celestine Prophecy) and Peter Bowerman (The Well-Fed Writer) have proven there can be success with book marketing of self-published books.

Loraine D. is a freelance writer for Smith Publicity. Smith Publicity offers effective book marketing of self published books and publicity of their authors. We know how to secure the kind of media exposure formerly reserved only for traditionally published books. From non-fiction and novels to poetry and memoirs, Smith Publicity understands what it takes and can deliver the goods. Visit us online today.

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Source: http://www.authorinsider.com/article.php?subaction=showfull&id=1150388889&archive=&start_from=&ucat=7&

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Source: http://www.bookbuzzr.com/blog/book-marketing/have-a-holly-jolly-promotion-season-for-your-book/

Or How to Jazz Up a Writing Career with Holiday Promotions
Expert: Carolyn Howard-Johnson

Have you heard of The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans?

It was originally self-published. Evans believed in himself (and his book) when big publishers didn’t. When it did well, “lo and behold,” as they say in the Christmas stories. Someone saw the light.

The motto here, for writers, is “Seasonal material sells.” Especially things that can be given reasonably inexpensively during gift-giving seasons. Seems that books fit the bill. They’re generally $15 dollars or less. They lend themselves to the inspirational (always high on the list of gifts people like to give). And they lend themselves to great cover and book design including religious, whimsical, cartoons, and on and on. Oh, and books are easily and inexpensively mailed or e-mailed!

So, are you using the seasons to build your writing career?

There are all kinds of ways to do it. Magdalena Ball and I are seasonal poetry partners. That is, we have written the Celebration Series of chapbooks. She contributes half the poems, I the other half. And we also share publishing and marketing skills. Blooming Red: Christmas Poems for the Rational is the Christmas entry for that series. We also have entries for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day and even one with a feminist theme to celebrate women for—maybe their birthdays?

Gordon Kirkland is a humorist (Canadian, bless his little soul!). He has written a couple of very funny (and extremely giftable!) books including Holly Jolly Frivolity and The Plight Before Christmas. I met him when we both spoke at a writers’ conference and I know he believes in marketing almost as much as he loves writing.

And that brings me to using seasons to market any of your work. Here are some ideas for doing that, even if you don’t have an entry in the seasonal category (Yet!)

• Write articles (like this one?), using your own themes related to your books or whatever else strikes you. They can be used as guest posts on others’ blogs or on your own blog or Website.
• Offer a discount on a book to be used as a greeting card or casual gift. See how Magdalena and I did it for Blooming Red.
• Cross promote with a fellow author on a book in your genre. People who read cozy mysteries likely read more than one a year. And they often love to give them as gifts. Both authors’ contact lists should be full of people who read cozy mysteries so offer them all a two-for one special—a new one for themselves and another for a gift.
• Share a list of holiday (or Easter or Valentine’s) gift book ideas. Post it on your blog. Put it in your newsletter. As an example see Karen Cioffi Ventrice’s list. A list like this is Zen. Help yourself. Help other writers. There is even a way to make this idea into a seasonal catalog and produce it as an income-producing venture in the new edition of my award-winning Frugal Book Promoter on page 340 (but also check the index for other ideas for using catalogs). It is also a way to benefit the publishing industry.
• Write a little seasonal poem, story, or article to include with your holiday letter or greeting card.

Do you have ideas of your own? Please leave a comment (with your e-mail address) and I’ll add them to this article to use next season, to promote my books—and yours.

Have you heard of Charles Dickens? Do you know Scrooge—in person or as a character in A Christmas Carol? If so, how can you argue with what writing for the season can do for you?

Carolyn Howard-Johnson has several decades experience in journalism, retailing (authors are retailers, too!), in publicity, and as a marketer of her own fiction and poetry. She is also author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books—one series for writers and one for retailers. Learn more about all her books and services at http://www.howtodoitfrugally.com.

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