Interview with Author Carolyn Howard-Johnson
1. When did you start writing?
I usually attribute my early writing to becoming a staffer for my high school newspaper, The Olympus High School Thunderbolt (-: . The writing and a new adventure intrigued me, but it was the cute ivy league guys on staff that clinched it for me!
2. What was your journey towards becoming an author like?
I was very lucky. And persistent. As soon as I had clips from the newspaper the very important newspaper with that classy name mentioned above, I started visiting my state’s major daily newspaper. Call it brassy, but it was really more about being oblivious. I did do some homework, though. I dressed professionally. Compiled a notebook of clips. Learn the name of the managing editor, and just did it with no idea that it wasn’t what anyone interested in any career in journalism would do at the age of seventeen or any other age. It worked. It got my first paid writing job before I turned eighteen. I wrote wedding stories and a regular column for teens.
3. What can you tell me about your latest book? (Feel free to include an excerpt.)
Well, this is what I have in my media kit that I hope helps authors to decide to buy it when it comes out:
THIRD EDITION: UPDATED AND
PUBLISHED BY MODERN HISTORY PRESS
By multi award-winning author,
poet, and marketer
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Available online at Amazon worldwide
Suggested Retail: $24.95 paperback / $36.95 hardcover
Also available as an e-book
Whether your publisher assigns zero dollars to your book’s campaign or thousands or you do it yourself, The Frugal Editor assures it the best possible start in life. The author, a former publicist and publicity and editing instructor for UCLA’s renowned Writers’ Program, provides what you need to snag the most suitable agent or publisher for your baby or proudly present it to the world as an example of indie publishing at its best.
I can tell you one personal thing about it, though. I worked harder on it than I did either of the earlier editions. I worked on it for nearly two years with the last six months practically nonstop. Let me tell you that writing about grammar and language in ways that can be understood by newbies and still not bore experienced writers is the hardest of all the writing I’ve ever done, and I’ve written poetry and fiction—both short stories and novels—and nonfiction about everything from retailing to marketing to fashion.
Here is a copy of the 2nd page of my sell sheet that my publisher sends to anyone we send review copies to:
(Yes! I help with that review process. I believe it’s an author’s duty to be a full partner with their publisher!)
Why a Third Edition of The Frugal Editor?
It surprises people when they learn that grammar rules change over time. Or that what they learned in high school or advanced grammar classes in college is either passé or may not apply to fiction. It also surprises them to learn that a perfectly edited book is never perfect because there are always so many disagreements among experts. And even experts are often misinformed. The worlds of grammar and style choices are filled with myths and misinformation like, “Never use contractions in your writing,” “Never use fragments,” and “Never end a sentence with a preposition.” As my client base grew, I kept running into more flagrant publishing world scams perpetrated by "professionals." Thus, a new edition of The Frugal Editor was a must! So here is a smattering of what is new:
The Third Edition has been reorganized and my publisher tells me I outdid myself with about 50% new (helpful!) material including new “Editor’s Extras” based on my own school of hard knocks!
Authors will love the all-new sections including:
o Beta readers and peer reviewers
o What you probably don’t know about custom dictionaries
o Up-to-date rules for accommodating gender-specific and other cultural needs
o A chapter for word-lovers and poets
o Quickie reviews of word processors for you
o What even traditionally accepted front and back matter can do for your book sales, your career, and your readers
o Political Correctness considerations change and grow with each passing day. So, yes! Lots of updating here!
o And a few new grammar terms I coined for the sake of making it easier to understand--and more fun.
The Third Edition of The Frugal Editor still includes the basics that make you into an on-your-own editor when you must be. Few writers other than Stephen King can afford to hire an editor for every query letter, every media release, every media kit, every blog post. So until your career is so star-studded you can afford a publicist and editor on a retainer basis, writers need to know both the basics of editing and the little-known secrets.
The third edition is still loaded with reader favorites like what authors need to know about book covers—but it’s updated!
New information will dispel myths like these:
o Agents are a cantankerous lot. (Nope! In The Frugal Editor, twenty-one of the nation's best tell you their pet peeves and they do it in the best of spirits.)
o If your English teacher told you something is okay, it is. (No! Language rules have changed since you were a sophomore. Anyway, your English teachers likely have no background in publishing, so apart from basic grammar, how much help can they be?
o If a manuscript or query is grammar-perfect, you'll be fine. (No! Lots of things that are grammatically correct annoy publishers.)
o Always use your Spell and Grammar Checker. (No! Some suggest you don't use it at all, but The Frugal Editor will help you make it your partner instead of your enemy.)
o It's easy to avoid agent and editor scams by asking other writers. (The Frugal Editor gives you a to-do and not-to-do lists to help you avoid being taken.)
o Your publisher will assign a top-flight editor. (Maybe, but don't count on it. The more you know, the better partner you’ll be for an editor!)
o Formatters and editors will take care of the hyphens, ellipses, and all the other grungy little punctuation marks that English teachers avoided teaching because they didn't know how to use them either. (Chances are, you'll catch even great formatters and editors in an error or two if you know your stuff!)
“Careers that are not fed die as readily as any living
organism given no sustenance.”
Carolyn Howard-Johnson,
Website: http://www.HowToDoItFrugally.com Blog: http://sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com
E-mail: HoJoNews@aol.com Phone: 818-790-0502
Amazon Profile and Book List: http://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile
By, the way, anyone who is interested in getting a sell sheet as a visual sample for their own review-getting campaign may email me at HoJoNews @ AOL dot com with SELL SHEET REQUEST in the subject line.
4. What sort of methods do you use for book promotion?
One of my favorites is writing for other authors’ newsletters. They share their audience with me, and I give something back to them in return. I even have a registered hashtag I use to help me promote those articles. It’s #SharingwithWriters. Anyone can use it. The more the merrier. Sharing is one of the things that makes writing fun!
5. Where do you get your ideas for stories?
Out of nowhere and at odd times. Usually they are related in some way to personal experience. Before Covid I traveled a lot and I really miss that—for the learning and for the inspiration.
6. What are you working on right now?
I am talking to my publisher about a possible combination memoir focused on writing experiences and how-to book. But he wants to finish the last book of my books from the HowToDoItFrugally Series of books from writers before we start on anything new. It will be a second edition of How To Get Great Book Review Frugally and Ethically, 2nd Edition.
7. Any advice for other authors?
I bet you already guessed. Persistence. And being a voracious reader. Too many good writers try to go into the publishing world for the first time without learning much about it. Nobody goes into medicine or business or carpentry without researching or studying their field of interest. I love writing conferences as a great place to start. And reading from how-to books by experienced authors is the most frugal way to learn what they need to keep themselves from falling into publishing potholes.
ABOUT CAROLYN:
Carolyn Howard-Johnson’s first novel, This Is the Place, won eight awards and her book of creative nonfiction, Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered, won three. Her fiction, nonfiction and poems have appeared in national magazines, anthologies, and review journals. A chapbook of poetry, Tracings, published by
Finishing Line Press, was named to the Compulsive Reader’s Ten Best Reads list and
was given the Military Writers’ Society of America’s Award of Excellence. Her poem
“Endangered Species” won the Franklin Christoph Prize for poetry, and her poems have been chosen for the revered Poetry Magazine, founded in 1912. She speaks on Utah’s culture, tolerance, book promotion and editing and has appeared on TV and hundreds of radio stations nationwide.
She is the author of the acclaimed HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers. Both The Frugal Book Promoter, published by Modern History Press, is in its third edition, and the soon-to-be-released The Frugal Editor, will also be a third.
They have awards from names like USA Book News, the Irwin Award, Dan Poynter’s Global Ebook Award, Readers’ Views Literary Award and Next Generation Indie Book Award. How To Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically: The ins and outs of using free reviews to build and sustain a writing career is full of ideas for what she calls “forever reviews.”
Howard-Johnson is the recipient of the California Legislature’s Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment Award, and her community’s Character and Ethics Award for her work promoting tolerance with her writing and her community’s Character and Ethics award for her work promoting tolerance with her writing. She
was also named to Pasadena Weekly’s list of “Fourteen San Gabriel Valley women who make life happen”and was given her community’s Diamond Award for Achievement in the Arts. She was an instructor for UCLA Extension’s world-renown Writers’ Program for nearly a decade.
The author loves to travel. She has visited 100 countries and has studied writing at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom; Herzen University in St. Petersburg, Russia; and Charles University, Prague. She admits to carrying a pen
and journal wherever she goes. Her website is https://howtodoitfrugally.com.
