The New Book Review

This blog, #TheNewBookReview, is "new" because it eschews #bookbigotry. It lets readers, reviewers, authors, and publishers expand the exposure of their favorite reviews, FREE. Info for submissions is in the "Send Me Your Fav Book Review" circle icon in the right column below. Find resources to help your career using the mini search engine below. #TheNewBookReview is a multi-award-winning blog including a MastersInEnglish.org recommendation.

Showing posts with label Nonfiction:. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nonfiction:. Show all posts

Monday, July 15, 2019

D-Day Girls: The Spies Who Armed the Resistance, Book Review

D-Day Girls
Subtitle: The Spies Who Armed the Resistance, Sabotaged the Nazis, 
      and Helped Win World War II
Author: Sarah Rose
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Crown; 1st Edition (April 23, 2019)
ISBN-10: 045149508X
ISBN-13: 978-0451495082 
Purchase on Amazon

Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton originally for BookPleasures.com

D-Day Girls: The Spies Who Armed the Resistance, Book Review
With D-Day Girls,  Sarah Rose has provided us with a valuable service not only in terms of setting the historical record straight for the women of the  S.O.E. (Special Operations Executive), but for the history of the treatment of women in general even when they gave their countries the very finest in the way of self-sacrifice, courage, and heroism. 
The stories of three women saboteurs, in particular, demonstrate just what skilled and brave women contributed during the occupation of France by the Nazis from 1939 to 1945.  We are told about scrappy Andrée Borrel, a demolitions expert  eluding the Gestapo while blowing up the infrastructure the occupying German army relied on. The "Queen" of the S.O.E. was Lise de Baissac, a fiercely independent Parisian who lost everything due to her wartime service. And there was my favorite heroine of the bunch, Odette Sansom, who saw S.O.E. service as a means to lead a more meaningful life away from an unhappy marriage.  While she finds love with a fellow agent named Peter Churchill, she ended up being a two year prisoner, horribly tortured by the Germans.   These women, along with their compatriots both male and female, helped lay the groundwork for D-Day by innumerable acts of sabotage, orchestrated prison breaks,  and the gathering of intelligence for the allied war effort.
But D-Day Girls  has a much deeper and wider canvas that three biographies.   The stories of the three spies are painted against a detailed backdrop that includes the policy making of the Allies leadership, how the chiefs of the S.O.E. came to involve women in their behind-the-lines operations, and how the changes in the war effort shaped what the various operatives were and were unable to accomplish.   We learn about their training, the reactions of male superiors to the use of women at all,   the bungles as well as the successes,  the very human dramas the women became involved in,  the competition between the various intelligence agencies, how the spy networks were unraveled by the successful Nazi infiltration, and the very vivid settings from which the women operated. We learn about the costly mistakes some operatives performed, the lack of following the procedures they were taught,     and the process of getting the materials and new agents parachuted in from RAF planes.
Rose is able to avoid a dry retelling of all these events with almost a novelist's descriptive eye.  For example, she doesn't merely tell us about an explosion resulting from a well-place bomb--she gives us a sensory breakdown of what happened moment by moment, second by second in color, smell, and sound.   She doesn't merely tell us about the black parachute drops,  but how they took place out in the quiet French countryside.

It's difficult to lay this book down as we revisit often forgotten corners of World War II history with often fresh perspectives. Many revelations are only possible now that many formerly classified documents have been brought to light and many misogynist  points-of-view have been replaced by what actually happened.

In many ways, the tales of what happened to these women after the war ended are the saddest passages in the book.   Because they were not part of any official military service, they were denied   the full recognition and appreciation they deserved.  Even though they had been indispensable during the war, after VE day they were relegated to the second-class status of women everywhere. There's more than one lesson in all that.

So readers who love spy stories, those interested in World War II,  devotees of women's studies, and those focused on D-Day celebrations  this year shouldn't be the only audience D-Day Girls should enjoy.  It's a wonderfully vivid and descriptive multi-layered account that should engage any reader who likes well-written non-fiction.

Note: I'm aware that this year a related book, Madame Foucade's Secret War: The Daring Young Woman Who Led France's Larges Spy Network Against Hitler by Lynne Olson was also published. It's on my summer reading list as well. Spy buffs, stay tuned--


ABOUT THE REVIEWER
  
Dr. Wesley Britton is the author of The Beta Earth Chronicles and a regular reviewer for 
 BookPleasures.com. Learn more about his: 





  
MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER, THIS BLOG AND ITS BENEFIT FOR WRITERS

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everything from Amazon Vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.



Note: Participating authors and their publishers may request the social sharing image by Carolyn Wilhelm at no charge.  Please contact the designer at:  cwilhelm (at) thewiseowlfactory (dot) com. Provide the name of the book being reviewed and--if an image or headshot of the author --isn't already part of the badge, include it as an attachment. Wilhelm will send you the badge to use in your own Internet marketing. Give Wilhelm the link to this post, too! 

Monday, July 1, 2019

North Street Book Prize Grand Prize Winner Shares Endorsements for Her Graphic Memoir

Title: Our Last Six Months
Author: Emily Bracale
Genre: Nonfiction: Memoir / Graphic Memoir / Health / Death
Grand Prize Winner: Winning Writers' #NorthStreetBookPrize 
IISBN-13: 978-1-947758-03-2
400 cartoons and illustrations


SYNOPSIS:

This is a nonfiction book about cancer and deaththat reads like a graphic novel, with 400 cartoons and illustrations. Author and illustrator Emily Bracale started creating Our Last Six Months while taking care of a family member who was dying of cancer. It is inspired by Roz Chasts cartoon memoir, "Cant We Talk About Something More Pleasant? If youve ever taken care of someone who was dying, her book will be very affirming. If youve not yet assisted a loved one through this transition, her book will help prepare you. In 2019 Our Last Six Months won the grand prize out of 997 entries in the prestigious Winning Writers North Street Book Competition! 

ENDORSEMENTS: 

"Your book had me laughing one minute and crying the next. Your honesty was refreshing and your drawings added a visual component to the everyday drama of it all. I hope others will be able to use your book as a survival guide or at least appreciate that they are not the only ones in this situation. Dying is not quick or easy for anyone involved, it is a LOT OF WORK.” — Nurse Jan

“I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your book. I found it highly compelling, sad, honestly raw and helpful even. Although my experience was different and a few years old, I was glad to see the similarities in our reaction to so much beyond our control, a response that included anger. Thank you! I’m so glad I bought it! All the best to you.” — Susan MacLeod

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Emily Bracale is also the author of In the Lyme-Light: Portraits of Illness and Healing (2014), a book to help Lyme patients communicate their experiences and needs. Please find it online at www.inthelyme-light.com. She lives in Bar Harbor, Maine, where she teaches art classes for all ages. Her new cartoons and an excerpt from her award-winning book are on medium.com/@emilybracale

MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER, THIS BLOG AND ITS BENEFIT FOR WRITERS

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everything from Amazon Vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.



Note: Participating authors and their publishers may request the social sharing image by Carolyn Wilhelm at no charge.  Please contact the designer at:  cwilhelm (at) thewiseowlfactory (dot) com. Provide the name of the book being reviewed and--if an image or headshot of the author --isn't already part of the badge, include it as an attachment. Wilhelm will send you the badge to use in your own Internet marketing. Give Wilhelm the link to this post, too! 

Friday, February 15, 2019

A Book About Depression for Everyone!

Title: From Depression to Contentment: A self-therapy guide
Author: Bob Rich, Ph.D.
Reviewer: Theresa Hortley I
Genre: Nonfiction: Psychology self-help
ISBN-13: 978-1-61599-435-9 
Rating 5 stars


Reviewed by Theresa Hortley 

I don't suffer from depression, but read this book because I am privileged to be one of Bob Rich's beta readers. All the same, "From Depression to Contentment" has proven to be immensely useful to me personally.

Depression is everywhere. Every year, a distressingly high proportion of the kids I teach are obviously depressed. Friends, relatives, colleagues -- it's all around me. Now, I can understand where they are coming from, and can be more effective in helping them, though not as a therapist of course.

But this is far more than a self-help book. It is an inspiration. One sentence late in the book has captured me: "knowingly or unknowingly, all of us are apprentice Buddhas."

Depressed or not, if you read this book, you will become a better person.

You wouldn't expect a book about depression to be humorous, but in typical Bob Rich style, he got me chuckling time and again. Just one example: a patient told Bob that he'd known all his life that he didn't matter. Bob's reply: "Right. You crawled out of the womb believing you didn't matter?"

All of Bob's novels I've read are full of therapeutic lessons. Here is a book designed as a set of therapeutic lessons that is as enjoyable to read as any novel.    

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Theresa Horley is a high school teacher of English which makes her a formidable beta reader.

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Bob Rich, Ph.D. earned his doctorate in psychology in 1972. He worked as an academic, researcher, and applied scientist until “retiring” the first time at 36 years of age. Later, he returned to psychology and qualified as a Counseling Psychologist, running a private practice for over 20 years. During this time, he was on the national executive of the College of Counselling Psychologists of the Australian Psychological Society (APS), then spent three years as a Director of the APS. He was the therapist referrers sent their most difficult cases to.

Bob retired in 2013, but still does pro bono counseling over the internet. This has given him hundreds of “children” and “grandchildren” he has never met, because many of these people stay in touch for years. His major joy in life is to be of benefit to others, which is why he wrote a book that’s in effect a course of therapy.
You can get to know him well at his blog, "Bobbing Around," https://bobrich18.wordpress.com. Follow him on Twitter @bobswriting and find his newsletter at https://bobrich18.wordpress.com. 

from-depression-to-contentment-book-review-on-Carolyn-Howard-Johnsons-New-Book-Review-blog


MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG AND GETTING REVIEWS AND ANOTHER FREEBIE


 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everithing from Amazon vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.



Note: Participating authors and their publishers may request the social sharing image by Carolyn Wilhelm at no charge.  Please contact the designer at:  cwilhelm (at) thewiseowlfactory (dot) com. Provide the name of the book being reviewed and--if an image or headshot of the author --isn't already part of the badge, include it as an attachment. Wilhelm will send you the badge to use in your own Internet marketing. Give Wilhelm the link to this post, too! 

Monday, November 20, 2017

Literary Journal Shares Carol Smallwood Poetry Review


Interweavings
By Carol Smallwood
Shanti Arts Publishing, Brunswick, ME.
2017
ISBN 978-1-941830-46-8 
paperback, $16.95, 162 pages.


Reviewed by Kathrine C Aydelott, MLIS, PhD., Dimond Library, University of New Hampshire originally for Big Muddy: A journal of the Mississippi River, Fall, 2017

As Lynn Z Bloom writes in “Living to Tell the Tale: The Complicated Ethics of Creative Nonfiction,” “Because writers of creative nonfiction are dealing with versions of the truth, they—perhaps more consistently than writers in fictive genres—have a perennial ethical obligation to question authority, to look deep beneath the surface, and an aesthetic obligation to render their versions of reality with sufficient power to compel readers’ belief” (278). Carol Smallwood brings us into her world, shares her perspective, and we believe her.

Smallwood, well known in library circles for her volumes on libraries and librarianship, including ALA published titles Library Management Tips that Work (2011), and Bringing the Arts into the Library (2014), is also widely acclaimed for her poetry, in titles such as Compartments: Poems on Nature, Femininity, and Other Realms (2016), which was nominated for the Pushcart Prize, and for the well received In Hubble’s Shadow (2017).

She is as adept at creative nonfiction, as demonstrated by her recent volume, Interweavings (2017), a series of forty-three short essays, separated into seven categories: Visits, The Feminine Side, A Sense of Place, A Backward Look, Things Literary, Strands, and Observations. Conversational and sometimes intimate in tone, the book reads easily, like letters from a friend. The essays are often very short, almost to the point of being sketches, and like musical refrains, elements brought up in one story circle back again later in the collection, tying the whole together.

Libraries, texts, and learning are prominent in these essays and it’s clear that Smallwood has a deep love for words, for education, for science, and for books. But for me, the motif of time passing predominated my readings. In retirement, Smallwood has moved to a small college town from a larger city, and her private thoughts and public encounters center around moments of connection and disconnection, of nostalgic looking backwards and of the necessary moving forward. Smallwood is on the cusp of the rest of her life, and many of the familiar elements of society are taking new shapes in the face of war, technology, aging, and of transition generally. Like Sarah Orne Jewett’s nineteenth-century short stories of Maine, or Virginia Woolf’s twentieth-century musings in Mrs. Dalloway, in Smallwood’s work we see a familiar world coming to an end and a fragile new era about to begin.


For example, in the first essay, “The Library Visit,” Smallwood, writing this time in the third-person, is struck, Alice-like, by a college campus’s renovation of a traditional institution. The building’s newness makes her feel foreign in a familiar place. The library itself is in a period of transition. If the books “didn’t have the answers, they’d done their best,” and the reference area is “deserted” (16).  The “psychedelic” carpet evoked the seventies, while the technology of the expanding bookshelves “encouraged a wariness of being smashed when you walked between them” (20). In Woolfian stream-of-consciousness, asking herself questions discursively, she muses on the architecture inside and the environment outside, all while the library’s new atrium windows evoke a beautiful panopticon, where all of nature is staring back at her, beckoning the author in spite of the rain, to return to an arena that is familiar and unchanging.



Thinking in snippets of lyric language, Smallwood both locates the reader in the present and simultaneously makes clear that there is a discomfiture of time and place. A feminine zeitgeist predominates. In the essay “Women and Time,” Smallwood remarks that “Perhaps their monthly cycles give women an accurate sense (call it intuition) that everything is in flux as they revolve on a planet that’s still forming” (40). As such, Smallwood’s details depict everything as new, and we enter the author’s mind that is observant in all of the senses.



Although her tone is often gentle and wistful, the author travels lightly along in the current of change. In “Karen’s Visit,” she thinks her friend’s voice “had such sadness in it that I wanted to show her it was possible to have dreams” (33). In “Women and Time” Smallwood even admits that “Time is an illusive, slippery, chimerical companion, exasperating to understand especially as one gets older and no closer to finding wisdom long thought to accompany age” (40-41).



Some of the essays are ultimately too short and read more like blog entries than finished pieces. I would have been happy if many of these had been longer, as it is a pleasure to spend time with the author as she considers her life’s triumphs, her reading, and her memories. The strongest essays are in the beginning, I feel, in Visits, where the writing shines and the words are most compelling. But don’t overlook the final essay, “They Will Come,” which masterfully closes the volume. This essay speaks of spring, and renewal, and here Smallwood acknowledges what she does not know, and is confident in the ambiguity. She states, “Yes, I will capture spring this year. Or, like aging, will it be too gradual and immense to grasp?” (159). Interweavings is an attempt to understand what it means to age, in all of its gradations and immensity. 


Philip Gerard, in Creative Nonfiction, defines the genre as “stories that carry both literal truthfulness and a larger Truth, told in a clear voice, with grace, and out of a passionate curiosity about the world” (208). Carol Smallwood’s writing epitomizes this definition.





1.     Bloom, Lynn Z. “Living to Tell the Tale: The Complicated Ethics of Creative Nonfiction.” College English, vol. 65, no. 3, 2003, pp. 276–289. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3594258.



2.     Gerard, Philip. Creative Nonfiction: Researching and Crafting Stories of Real Life. Cincinnati: Story, 1996.











MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Friday, May 5, 2017

Ghostwriter "Highly Recommends" How-To Book on Getting Reviews

Title: How to Get Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically
Subtitle: Reviews as part of a viable and ongoing campaign for self-published and traditionally published books
Series: The Multi Award-Winning Series of books for writers
Author: Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Genre: Nonfiction: How-to/Writing/Marketing 
ISBN: 13: 978-1536948370
Available as Paperback and E-Book at http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews

Reviewed by Karen Cioffi, originally for her WritersontheMove blog and Goodreads

How to Get Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically is another powerhouse tool from Carolyn Howard-Johnson for authors to be used as part of their book marketing strategy. 

From Section I on through the Appendices and with her tons of experience, Carolyn has created an invaluable book to help authors not only get reviews but also make the most of them. As a bonus, it includes lots of information on how to write reviews for other authors (she tells you the marketing benefits in doing this).

In addition to getting and writing reviews, there’s information on how to ethically use an excerpt of a review, dealing with criticism, how to boost your Amazon ranking (hint: reviews are a part of it), what to do when your book sales get musty, and so much more.

Here’s one eye-opening tidbit in Chapter Two on why reviews are so important:
“Reviews grow footprints on Google, Bing, and Goodsearch. You can use free services like Addme.com to get your Web site listed on these and other search engines.”

What I especially liked about this Frugal book is Carolyn has included her own helpful quotes at the beginning of each section and chapter. The one in Section 1 is my favorite:
“Experience is a very good teacher, but contrary to belief, perhaps not the best. Learning what we need before we fail has obvious benefits.” 

Another tidbit from the book in Section III that I love is:
“I wish all authors knew--deep down in their bones--that marketing tools are the magic that makes bestsellers.”

As an author, ghostwriter, and online marketing instructor, I have and truly appreciate all of Carolyn Howard-Johnson’s ‘Frugal’ books. I found How to Get Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically jammed-packed with usable information that I’ll taking advantage of. I highly recommend it.

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author, ghostwriter, and online marketing instructor. For tips on writing for children or help with your story, visit http://karencioffiwritingforchildren.com Check out the DIY Page also.

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Carolyn Howard-Johnson brings her experience as a publicist, journalist, marketer, and retailer to the advice she gives in her HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers and the many classes she taught for nearly a decade as instructor for UCLA Extension’s world-renown Writers’ Program. The books in her HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers have won multiple awards. That series includes both the first and second editions of The Frugal Book Promoter and The Frugal Editor won awards from USA Book News, Readers’ Views Literary Award, the marketing award from Next Generation Indie Books and others including the coveted Irwin award. How To Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically is the newest book in her HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers.

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. 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.  Her Web site is http://HowToDoItFrugally.com and she tweets @FrugalBookPromo. 

MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Jan Peregrine Reviews How to Get Great Reviews Frugally and Ethically

How To Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically
Subtitle: The ins and outs of using free reviews to build and sustain a writing career
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Nonfiction: Writers/HowTo/Marketing
ISBN: 978-1536948370
Available on Amazon as E-book and Paperback 

Reviewed by Jan Peregrine originally for Facebook

The title and subtitle of this book live up beautifully to their claims! Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi-award-winning How to Do It Frugally Series of books for writers, emphatically reminds me of yesteryear book titles with that nonfrugal use of words in her title/subtitle! The generous text carries on this theme with six sections, appendix, and close to 300 pages. This ARC e-book, free until it's print-published, is my introduction to the author and it won't be the last book of hers that I read. We're FB friends now and she published my White Trash book review on her blog. Not only a cool lady, but a very helpful one!

Howard-Johnson's latest e-book is the kind of self-help book that serious writers need. I sure do. While I have the book-writing part down, nary a writer's block to dog me, I unfortunately am messing up big time on the promotional part. Maybe I should blame the former dysfunctional review site I wrote for. Not making much money for my writing has become second nature to me...or something like that.

First she shows us the ropes to build the backdrop of our artistic performances to the reading/listening public That means getting to know who's out there who may help us to promote our books. There are lists we can make of people, reviewers, and publishers who are potential interested parties, especially if we hook them with a blurb about our book. I'd never thought of that. Also she encourages writers to review books where other similar authors will likely read them. That's a great suggestion and Howard-Johnson knows of review opportunities I've never heard of.

She really has a lot of useful tips and links, but I have one for her. Recently I read a young adult novel by Sonya Sones and since she included her email address on the back flap, I emailed her about my concerns regarding her story. I was thrilled to hear back from her right away! She had the erroneous impression that I hated it and would give it a bad review. While I did email back and clarified my impressions, I'll be more careful the next time I email an author. Brief reviews via email don't seem like a good idea.

So now I feel more confident that I'll be better able to promote my own books with effort put into it, even if they're self-published, because Howard-Johnson knows of reviewers who welcome self-published books and are not book bigots, heh.

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Jan Peregrine writes reviews for Amazon, Goodreads and her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/jansbooks/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel. She plans to be a fequent contributor to The New Book Review.



MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Friday, February 10, 2017

Review and Mini Essay from Midwest Book Review


I am doing something a little different for this review. I am reprinting with permission a review of the newest in my multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers, How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically. I was notified via Midwest Book Review's newsletter and what a surprise that was! But it also a fantastic example of what those personal contacts (like Letters-to-the-Editor and thank yous) I recommend to clients and readers of my books can do! I hope it will encourage you to do more of this kind of thing for and with your fellow authors and your readers! 
"Dear Publisher Folk, Friends & Family:

'We all know that book reviews can impact and influence librarians and the general reading public. What is perhaps underestimated is the impact and influence book reviews can have on the author. Last month I was vividly reminded of this fact while reading my review copy of "How To Get Great Book Reviews Frugally And Ethically" by Carolyn Howard-Johnson.

'Here's what I came across in the introduction on page VIII:

"We have all had disasters if we've been around very long. My book of poetry, "Imperfect Echoes" (bit.ly/ImperfectEchoes) was released just after my husband broke his back trouncing around on our roof to save $140 on solar repairs. I became a full time caretaker and part time writer and had not time to market my book. I did occasionally send out a query far a review and one was so special that it made up for the sad reality that few will read the book because few will have heard about it. So, thank you to Jim Cox, Editor-in-Chief of Midwest Book review for that memorable gift."

"I had no idea at the time who Carolyn was or anything about her circumstances. It was just another self-published book of considerable merit by an unknown author and I was trying to establish the Midwest Book Review as a champion of just such folk.

"Since then Carolyn has gone on to a career of writing 'how to' books for authors and publishers and we became 'cyber-space pen pals'. When I thanked her for her very kind words in her introduction, she noted that we first met in person at a BEA convention in Chicago back in 2001. But as I was meeting hundreds (no exaggeration) of folks at that event I didn't remember her specifically.

"But I did recall meeting Carolyn at John Poynter's ebook publishers convention in Santa Barbara, California in 2012 when I was awarded that Life Time Achievement in Publishing award.

"I think she was also in the audience for my 'workshop' at that event -- I recall that one was 'standing room only' it was so crowded in that huge room. A few folks couldn't physically get in because there was no more room -- there was even a line of people standing along the back and side walls of the room. 

"Incidentally, that John Poynter convention was also the first time I met in person my managing editor Diane Donovan who for many years prior to our meeting in the flesh had (and continues to be) the editor for three of my nine monthly book review publication: The Bookwatch; California Bookwatch; Children's Bookwatch. Up until then she was a just a voice on the phone and an email correspondent only.

"I'm now in my 41st year as the editor-in-chief of the Midwest Book Review. That means at the age of 74 I have now spent more than half my life in this position!

"Every now and then I get an email or a letter expressing heartfelt appreciation for myself and the Midwest Book Review from authors and publishers for what we try to accomplish in their behalf. It's those messages of support and thanks that give me a reason to keep doing this job for as long as my health, my wife, and my daughter will allow.

"Here is the review of Carolyn's most recent publication and the one that started me down memory lane:"

How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically
Series:3rd in the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers, 
Author: Carolyn Howard-Johnson
HowToDoItFrugally Publishing
Genre: Nonfiction: Writing/Book Marketing
www.howtodoitfrugally.com
http://facebook.com/carolynhowardjohnson
9781536948370, $17.95, PB, 340pp, www.amazon.com

In the pages of "How To Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically", Carolyn Howard-Johnson draws upon her many years of professional experience and expertise spent helping writers to avoid pitfalls, misconceptions, and out-and-out scams perpetrated on unsuspecting authors -- and helping them reach their dreams of obtaining great reviews, going on great book tours, and experiencing great launches.

Simply stated "How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically" comprises the complete, comprehensive, and core manual for obtaining reviews and utilizing them in a practical, effective, and successful marketing campaign that includes all those things and for building the readership necessary for a financially prosperous and emotionally satisfying writing career.

Covering every aspect of the book review process from solicitation to exploitation, "How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically" is thoroughly 'user friendly' in tone, content, commentary, organization and presentation.

Basically, "How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically" is classified as a "must" for the instructional reference shelf of any and all authors and publishers be they novice beginners or seasoned professionals. While an essential and unreservedly recommended addition to community, college, and university library Writing/Publishing collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically" is also available in a Kindle format ($9.95).

ABOUT THIS BLOG

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Midwest Book Review Recommends Book on Eastern Thought



The Gospel of Thomas for Awakening


Subtitle: A Commentary on Jesus’ Sayings as Recorded by the Apostle Thomas

Author: Abbot George Burke (Swami Nirmalananda Giri)
Genre: Nonfiction: spirituality, religion, Christianity, esoteric, Eastern thought



Midwest Book Review

Book available at Amazon: http://a.co/1dO6G3k

Small Press Bookwatch: February 2016
Midwest Book Review

"An extraordinary work of theological commentary by Abbot George Burke (who is also known as Swami Nirmalananda Giri), "The Gospel of Thomas for Awakening" is as informed and informative as it is inspired and inspiring

"Very highly recommended to clergy and non-specialist general readers with an interest in The Gospel of Thomas, this outstanding volume is very highly recommended for seminary, church, community, and academic library Christian Studies reference collections in general, and The Gospel of Thomas supplemental studies in particular. 
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PRESS


MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.