MyShelf’com’s Kristin Johnson sat down with Utah-born LA transplant Howard-Johnson and discussed matters of promotion, controversy, book banning (!), karma, and book sales.

Kristin: While This is the Place and HARKENING--which are both excellent--got some ingenious press thanks to your columns, reviewing, and the Olympics in Salt Lake City, I understand that because of the books' portrayal of the Mormon Church, they are unofficially banned in Utah.  Talk more about that.
 
Carolyn:  Some people would disagree with my assessment because, certainly, many people in Utah have read both books.  But a huge number of those copies were sent into the state directly from me.  At first my books were stocked at Walden’s Book but disappeared from the shelves very quickly.  My friends and relatives tried to order them but were told that they were “out of print.” At the state’s huge Deseret Book store chain (owned by the Mormon Church), they were kindly refused that accommodation. Then people started calling me with orders of six and twelve for themselves, relatives and friends.  I don’t sell my own books.  They are listed with Ingram, Baker and Taylor and other distributors.  But I started buying some myself and sending them on.  I also started referring everyone to Amazon.com who, apparently, have a better notion of the importance of freedom of the press than many others.  I may be paranoid, but what would you think? 
 
By the way, I don’t think either book is controversial. I think I paint a reasonable picture of subtle prejudices in the entire community. I’m sort of an equal-opportunity finger pointer! After all, none of us is entirely free from prejudice no matter how hard we work at it. 

Kristin: Controversy does sell!  How did you get around the Mormon Church? 
 
Carolyn: You know how I feel about promotion!  I got busy and found interviews are more than 300 radio and TV stations.  Syndicated.  Cable.  Network.  You name it.  Word got out.  This is the Place was given the Mille Club award by my publisher.  It’s awarded for sales and marketing.

Kristin: What advice do you have beyond the treasure trove in The Frugal Book Promoter?

Carolyn:  Funny you should ask.  I sent my fellow writers a note only this week because I found a tip in Joan Stewart’s The Publicity Hound.  I would have included it in The Frugal Book Promoter if I could have but it has just gone to press.  It seemed using my rather unofficial, casual newsletter, Sharing with Writers, was the second best way to do it. 
 
The reason I'm so intense about sharing this information is that my writing friends are always cautious about overkill when it comes to promotion.  This little treasure came from Publicist Jill Lublin and here it is:
 
"When following up (to a release or query), remember The Rule of 7. That means you should follow up seven times, using a combination of phone calls and emails (and fax), before you stop contacting journalists. But always be ready in case they call you." 
 
You can learn more about Jill, Joan and this rill from a great publicist at: http://www.publicityhound.com/.  You can sign up for Joan's newsletter at the Publicity Hound site while you're there. To subscribe to Joan’s Publicity Tips send a blank email to mailto: join-publicitytips@lists.publicityhound.com, and, if you’d like to get my little newsletter now and then, send me an e-mail at HoJoNews@aol.com.  Be sure to put Sharing with Writers in the subject line. 

Kristin Johnson: Describe some of your more memorable publicity moments.  Joyce Spizer once described riding in a police squad car to an author appearance.
 
Carolyn: I think my most memorable is more nostalgic than sensational and it involves you.  It was when Peter Kulevich interviewed me on ABC TV.  I had just met you and we sat at the bar at The Chart House in Palm Springs with my sweet Mormon friend from Utah (maybe the first time she had ever sat at a bar!) because that was the only place we could find a TV set and eat, too!  We got acquainted and watched the little screen up in the corner. Waiting. Waiting. For the 6 p.m. news. I remember how hard it was to get the bartender to switch the station from a sports station to something as mundane as the nightly news and books. And how surprised he seemed when we ordered three Perriers!

Kristin: That was funny and memorable!  Let’s digress from promotion.  You're a well-respected columnist on literary trends, such as the Noble Prize for Literature.  What do you think of the publishing market today?
 
Carolyn: I think it is a tough business but I think every business is tougher than it was three decades ago.  Business models are different and there is more competition.  Having said that, I am a perennial optimist and I think writers who are motivated, persistent and do what is necessary to keep whittling at the fine craft of writing and the exciting process of promoting their work will succeed. 

Kristin: Your first two books were published with PublishAmerica, my publisher also thanks to you.  Why did you choose Star Publish for The Frugal Bok Promoter?
 
Carolyn: Kristin, your book is a memoir and my first two are also creative works. I believe traditional publishing suits creative prose better than others. The media views traditional publishing with an unjaded eye and tend to lump anything published another way as amateurish.  I don’t condone those attitudes and I think they are slowly changing, but I know that they are realities that authors must deal with.  Publish America juries its books and pays an advance to its authors. It is not subsidy nor self-publishing and I think my books (and yours!) got a better start in life because of that. 
 
The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won’t is a different bag altogether.  It is nonfiction. It is a how-to.  Authors of these kinds of books can make more gross profit on each book sold--much more-- if they choose a less traditional route.  I also needed to release it before my fall classes at UCLA started. I wanted my students to have access to it.  Star Publish is a brand new house headed by a friend of mine.  I wanted to be there for her, to help direct traffic to her new site.  And I knew that she would give my new baby all the loving care I would.  Whew!  A mixed bag of reasons, huh? 

Kristin: We do what’s best for our babies.  I understand that you're working on a new novel.  Have you begun marketing already?  What's the status of the novel?
 
Carolyn:  Its working title is Labyrinth.  I have been sleeping on it for a while since Frugal has taken up so much time.  It is different from anything I have done before. It is based on a true story.  It is set in Los Angeles but has a parallel story set in Crete.  The Greek myth of King Minos and the Minotaur will influence both stories.   I plan to go to Crete for inspiration and to polish it next summer.  So you see, there is lots of work to be done. 

Kristin: Sounds like my kind of work!  You are also a gifted poet whose poems, “Olvera Street,” for one, have been widely published.  Talk more about that.
 
Carolyn: I simply ache to write poetry.  Metaphor and symbols seem to permeate my life.  At first I applied them to prose but when I realized how important they were to my soul, I started to write poetry.  I am hoping to have a small chapbook out soon that will include all of my published poems plus a few others.  Again, it is a matter of sharing.

Kristin: Speaking of sharing, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Yarrow Brook Press and MyShelf.com, two sources that you have an ongoing relationship with.  Talk more about the importance of relationships.
 
Carolyn: Ahhh! One of the major themes in Frugal!  It’s all about Karma. A book on promotion may seem an odd place to find such information.   If we offer service to others, the love cycles back to us. The subject of public relations is widely misunderstood.  Put the emphasis on “relations” and we begin to see how our lives--both external and internal--can benefit. 

Kristin: Carolyn, thank you so much.
 
Carolyn:  Thank you, Kristin.  One of the blessings of writing is finding and nurturing friendships like yours.
 

   When Joyce Spizer's Irwin Award winner Power Marketing Your Novel debuted in 2000, writers everywhere realized how much they didn't know about book promotion.  How effective is Spizer's book?  Even stellar promoter/self-publisher Dan Poynter gave it raves.
After reading Spizer's book I thought I'd need no other book on book marketing.

    I was wrong.

   Novelist/poet/columnist/reviewer Carolyn Howard-Johnson's new book, The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't, picks up where Spizer leaves off.   Armed with both Spizer and Howard-Johnson, writers can actually capture book sales.
Do you know about writing book reviews and articles--often for free--to get your name and your book out there in the press and, more importantly, into the minds of the vampire fans/bodice-ripper devotees/true crime aficionados you want to capture? 

   Harlan Ellison once famously said, “Don't give it away!”  As Howard-Johnson explains, you aren't giving anything away, although with mailings, you'll be spending your own money.  Oh, and creating a press kit.  And doing your own Web site.  Don't have one yet?  Get one.  Send out advance review copies--your publisher won't.   For that, you’ll need your own media contact list.

    Howard-Johnson offers a hot tip that even seasoned writers forget: Meet the media face to face, from the crime beat reporter to the lady who writes a gardening column--for that matter, you can start your own column.  Or blog.  (If you're working up to that, Howard-Johnson advises doing the next best thing, using Amazon.com to promote yourself, by writing reviews, lists in Listmania, and “So you'd like to...” guides, features I only began using as marketing weapons after my third book came out).  But when you take a breather from all this promoting, invite your neighborhood reporter to lunch. Howard-Johnson makes the point that relationships sell books.

    Oh, and when you’re writing articles and reviews, don’t forget to add your tagline with information about your book, like my sample tagline in this review.  Free publicity may not be free, but you can start spending your publicity dollars wisely by buying The Frugal Book Promoter.

      For more information, visit www.carolynhowardjohnson.com.