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Jim Cox Report: June 2014

Dear Publisher Folk, Friends & Family:

The Midwest Book Review has been a going concern for some 38 years now. One of the side effects of that longevity is that when you Google the name Midwest Book Review you turn up thousands of hits. I think that a lot of them are uncovered by those 'cyber spider' searches by engines like Google or Yahoo or Explorer, etc.

I like to punch in the term Midwest Book Review into Google every few months just to see what turns up. I was alerted by Lee Van Ham (author of "Blinded by Progress: Breaking Out of the Illusion That Holds Us") that he had recently written about his experience with the Midwest Book Review in his blog. So that triggered my latest Google exploration out there in the wonderful world wide web to see what I could find -- starting with his blog entry about us. In case you are interested, here's the link to that particular hit:

http://theoneearthproject.com/blog/a-story-about-low-profile-folks-helping-one-anotherespeciall.html

This particular item got me to thinking about the value of the internet as a publicity and promotion tool for authors, publishers, and book reviewers -- especially for those operating on what I call a "shoestring / no-string" financial budget for marketing their books.

There are a lot of excellent 'how to' instruction manuals and guides available to the novice publisher and the newly self-published author on what has been termed 'guerilla marketing' strategies offering a wealth of tips, tricks, techniques, and strategies for those of limited financial means. You will find them reviewed and listed at:

http://www.midwestbookreview.com/bookbiz/pub_shlf.htm

There you will find such informative and "every author/publisher should read this" titles like:

1001 Ways to Market Your Books by John Kremer
52 Ways To Sell More Books! by Penny C. Sansevieri
The Author's Guide To Publishing And Marketing by Tim Ward & John Hunt
Book Marketing De-Mystified by Bruce Batchelor
Book Promotion Made Easy by Eric Gelb
Brilliant PR by Cathy Bussey
The Complete Guide To Book Publicity by Jodee Blanco
The Economical Guide To Self-Publishing by Linda F. Radke
The Frugal Book Promoter: 2nd Edition, by Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Grass Roots Book Marketing by Rusty Fischer
Grassroots Marketing For Authors And Publishers by Shel Horowitz
Grassroots Marketing: Getting Noticed in a Noisy World by Shel Horowitz
Grumpy's Guide To Global Marketing For Books by Carolyn Mordecai
Maverick Marketing by Lisa Messenger & Mel Carswell
Maximum Exposure Marketing System by Tami DePalma & Kim Dushinski
Mosquito Marketing for Authors by Michelle Dunn
Musings Of An Online Bookseller by John Landahl
Online Book Marketing by Lorraine Phillips
Publicize Your Book! by Jacqueline Deval
Publishing For Profit by Thomas Woll
Red Hot Internet Publicity by Penny C. Sansevieri
Sell More Books! by J. Steve Miller & Cherie K. Miller
Sell Your Book Like Wildfire by Rob Eager
Selling Books as Premiums & Incentives by Marilyn & Tom Ross
The Selling Of An Author by Bruce E. Mowday
Simple Guide to Marketing Your Book, by Mark Ortman
The Step-by-Step Guide to Self-Publishing for Profit! by C. Pinherio & Nick Russell
Why, When, Where, & How To Write, Publish, Market, & Sell Your Book by Bill Thurwanger
Write, Publish & Market Your Book by Patrika Vaughn
You Can Market Your Book by Carmen Leal

There are a lot more titles where these came from. I take a justifiable pride in the Midwest Book Review web site as having the largest writing/publishing bibliography data bases in all the world!

By the way, as a frugal person with a great regard for my own limited finances, I advocate that you first seek to obtain any of these books for free from your local community library's "Interlibrary Loan Service". Read them with pen and paper at hand to make notes. If a particular book seems so worthwhile that you'd like to have it as a permanent reference, then you can go out onto the internet and buy a copy from the publisher (or as a last resort, from Amazon).

Here are two new books of special interest to writers and publishers:

My Guide: How To Write A Novel
Claire Pickering & Rebecca Richmond
Richard Pickering Ltd.
Carpenter Court, 1 Maple Road
Bramhall, Stockport, Cheshire SKY 2DH, UK
www.richmondpickering.co.uk
9780957237209, $15.99, www.amazon.com

A lot of people have ambitions to write the next 'Great American Novel', but very few of them have any idea as to how to go about it. That's where "My Guide: How To Write A Novel" by the team of Claire Pickering and Rebecca Richmond comes into play. This 340 page compendium is a complete and comprehensive instruction manual that is so well designed and presented that it is an ideal, almost step-by-step instructional guide that anyone can follow in creating a novel that will be publishable -- and profitable! Beginning 'Developing Your Craft (an opening chapter on how to get started), "My Guide: How To Write A Novel" is organized offers informed and informative chapters on Research and Preparation; Laying the Foundation for Your Novel; Crafting Your Storyline; Characters; Adding Power; Dialogue; Grammar and Other Important Factors; Spelling, Punctuation and Other Important Considerations; Consolidating and Final Polish. One great distinction that sets "My Guide: How To Write A Novel" above other 'how to' writing manuals is an entire chapter specifically devoted to 'Seven Steps to Publication'. An extraordinarily well crafted instruction manual that is ideal for anyone with no previous experience as a novelist, "My Guide: How To Write A Novel" is very highly recommended for personal, community, and academic library Writing/Publishing instructional reference collections. Ideal as a curriculum textbook for Creative Writing classes, it should be noted that "My Guide: How To Write A Novel" is also available in a Kindle edition ($8.35).

Market And Sell Books: A My Guide
Claire Pickering & Rebecca Richmond
Richard Pickering Ltd.
Carpenter Court, 1 Maple Road
Bramhall, Stockport, Cheshire SKY 2DH, UK
www.richmondpickering.co.uk
9781910141014, $15.00, www.amazon.com

There are a lot of high school and college classes on writing. A great many Creative Writing Workshops pretty much anywhere in the country. But almost none of them preparing aspiring authors on how to go about being published -- and even fewer that tackle the very real and competitive world of marketing books to the reading public. That's why "Market and Sell Books: A My Guide" will prove to be an invaluable addition to the reference collections of anyone who would seek to become a financially successful author regardless of whether they are writing fiction or non-fiction. This 232 page compendium is the collaborative effort of Claire Pickering and Rebecca Richmond who distill their years of experience and expertise in creating a number of self-help books into a thoroughly 'user friendly' instruction manual that covers every aspect of marketing a book to its intended readership. Beginning with 'Why People Buy a Novel', and covering such essential issues as selecting a title, choosing a cover, setting a price, the role of endorsements, blurbs, and the author bio, to marketing tools ranging from the use of social media including Facebook, Twitter, :Linkedin, YouTube, Pinterest, web sites, and blogging. Basically a complete course of book marketing under one cover, "Market And Sell Books: A My Guide" will teach authors (and novice publishers as well!) everything needed to create, implement, and evaluate a book marketing promotional campaign. One very special feature are the 'Summary: Key Points & Next Steps' sections that conclude each of the ten major chapters. Enhanced with a 'Final Note From the Authors', a Glossary, and an Index, "Market And Sell Books: A My Guide" should be considered mandatory reading for anyone wanting to bring their work to the attention of reviewers, booksellers, librarians, and the general reading public. Especially recommended for any Creative Writing Class supplemental reading list, it should be noted that "Market And Sell Books: A My Guide" is also available in a Kindle edition ($1.65).

Here is "The Midwest Book Review Postage Stamp Hall Of Fame & Appreciation" roster of well-wishers and supporters. These are the generous folk who decided to say 'thank you' and 'support the cause' that is the Midwest Book Review by donating postage stamps this past month:

Laury Kaufman
Violeta Barrett -- "Angel in Disguise"
Dellen Cooney -- "As Above So Below"
Joy Rains -- Key Seminars
Kathy -- Wildwood River Press
Nan Wisherd -- Cable Publishing
Amy Alspach -- Little Devil Books
Jerome Tiller -- ArtWrite Productions
Lee Jackson -- Images Unlimited Publishing
Dahlynn McKowen -- Publishing Syndicate LLC
John R. Guevin -- Biographical Publishing Company
Ellie Pelto -- Concierge Marketing
Barbara C. Wall -- The Barrett Company
Elizabeth Waldman Frazier -- Waldmania!

In lieu of (or in addition to!) postage stamp donations, we also accept PayPal gifts of support to our postage stamp fund for what we try to accomplish in behalf of the small press community. Simply log onto your PayPal account and direct your kindness (in any amount and at your discretion) to the Midwest Book Review at:

SupportMBR [at] aol.com

(The @ is replaced by "[at]" in the above email address, in an attempt to avoid email-harvesting spambots.)

If you have postage stamps to donate, or if you have a book you'd like considered for review, then send those postage stamps (always appreciated, never required), or a published copy of that book (no galleys, uncorrected proofs, or Advance Reading Copies), accompanied by a cover letter and some form of publicity release to my attention at the address below.

All of the previous issues of the "Jim Cox Report" are archived on the Midwest Book Review website. If you'd like to receive the "Jim Cox Report" directly (and for free), just send me an email asking to be signed up for it.

So until next time -- goodbye, good luck, and good reading!

Jim Cox
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive, Oregon, WI, 53575
http://www.midwestbookreview.com


James A. Cox
Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129
phone: 1-608-835-7937
e-mail: mbr@execpc.com
e-mail: mwbookrevw@aol.com
http://www.midwestbookreview.com


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