A Novel
This Land Divided
Being Shopped
by Agent Terrie Wolf of AKA Literary |
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Prepublish Award for This
Land Divided |
This Land Divided won
B. Lynn Goodwin's Writer Advice.com annual Scintillating Starts contest
for 2016. The first chapter begins with:
Isla Eidson had every reason to believe in herself
and every reason to know she didn’t. Why else would she be
sitting
in the old ’49 Buick convertible she shared with her mother as if she
were in hiding. Isla patted the steering wheel rhythmically out of
affection and nervousness. Old but cute. She didn't care that its
fenders were riveted with decay from the salt they used on Utah roads in
winter, that the color was rusted down to a washed matte-maroon that
practically camouflaged it against the foothills. Still she wished for
something else right now. Something less tank-like. Less
distinguishable. If she hadn’t put the top down, it would be easier to
hide out. She turned the radio off and sat in silence looking at her
grandparents’ house at the edge of Holladay, a small farming community
turning suburb at the edge of Salt Lake City. She felt exposed even with
shadows of giant lilac bushes and cottonwood trees shuttering the late
afternoon light. It was a simple task, one she often did. All she had to
do was walk across the lawn, open the door and deliver sheet music from
Eldridge Music Store to her grandmother, but she didn’t want to do it.
You can read the rest of the
first chapter on the Writer Advice archives at:
https://www.writeradvice.com/archives/21-flash1902
The vintage photograph is of
the author's grandmother who inspired the fiery red-haired grandmother
in This Land Divided and whose piano and music inform the novel
as well.
For Carolyn's personal essay
"Beating Time at Its Own Game."
It includes the path taken through denial and cancer to
This Is the Place.
For a sample of
Carolyn's Short Stories. |
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Tip
Genealogists abound in Utah. I urge fellow lovers of family
history everywhere to follow their leads; in fact, go one step
farther than most of them do. Turn that history into a
biography, a memoir, or fictionalize it -- just as I did
with This
Is the Place and
Harkening. Records may be preserved but the history brought alive in a book lives
on forever.
Find at least one tip on writing, promotion, or
tech on every page of this Web site.
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Biography
For Carolyn Howard-Johnson |
(Searching for something more complete?
Check out the links on
this page for an assortment of focused media
kits.)
Carolyn Howard-Johnson’s several careers prepared her for promoting
her own and others’ books. She was the youngest person ever hired as
a staff writer for the Salt Lake Tribune—”A Great Pulitzer
Prize Winning Newspaper.” Writing features for the society page and
a column under the name of Debra Paige gave her insight into the
needs of editors, the very people authors must work with to get free
ink. Being familiar with the way news is handled helps her see how
different books fit into different news cycles.
Later, in New York, she was an editorial assistant at
Good Housekeeping Magazine.
She also handled accounts for fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert who
instituted the first Ten Best Dressed List. There she wrote media
releases (then called press releases) for celebrity designers of the
day including Christian Dior, and produced photo shoots for
Lambert’s clients.
She also worked as columnist, reviewer, and staff writer for
the Pasadena Star-News,
Home Décor Buyer,
the
Glendale News-Press
(an affiliate of the
LA Times),
Myshelf.com, and others and has appeared in commercials and on
dozens of TV and radio shows.
She learned marketing skills both in college (University of Utah,
and University of Southern California) and as founder and operator
of a chain of retail stores. That molded her understanding of how
authors might best partner with retailers to affect both of their
bottom lines.
Carolyn’s experience in journalism and as a poet and author of
fiction and nonfiction helped the multi award-winning author
understand how different genres can be marketed more effectively.
She was an instructor for UCLA Extension’s renowned Writers’ Program
for nearly a decade and earned a certificate from that same school’s
Instructor Development Program (2005). She also studied writing at
Cambridge University, United Kingdom; Herzen University in St.
Petersburg, Russia; and Charles University in Prague.
She turned her knowledge toward helping other writers with her
HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Her marketing
campaign for the second book in that series,
The Frugal Editor
won the Next Generation Indie Best Book Award. She also
has a multi award-winning series of HowToDoItFrugally books for
retailers.
Howard-Johnson was honored as Woman of the Year in Arts and
Entertainment by California Legislature members Carol Liu, Dario
Frommer, and Jack Scott. She received her community’s Character and
Ethics award for her work promoting tolerance with her writing and
the Diamond Award in Arts and Culture from her community's Library
and Arts and Culture Commission. She was named to
Pasadena Weekly’s list of fourteen women of “San Gabriel
Valley women who make life happen” and Delta Gamma, a national
fraternity of women, honored her with their Oxford Award.
Carolyn is an actor who has appeared in ads for Apple, Lenscrafters,
Time-Life CDs, Blue Shield, and Disney Cruises (Japan) and is a
popular presenter at tradeshows (retail and writing) and writers’
conferences.
You may want to refer to her growing
list
of resources on Utah and tolerance on this Web site.
Media Kit for
Poetry, Literary
Recent Media Releases
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Buy Links for
Carolyn's Books |
"Careers
that are not fed die as readily as
any living organism
given no sustenance."
~
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Studio photography by
Uriah Carr
3 Dimensional Book Cover Images by iFOGO
Logo by
Lloyd King

Frugal
E-Book Tip |
Kindle E-Books
Aren't
Just for Kindle Anymore
Did you know that Amazon’s Kindle
e-books are a low-cost/no-cost way to access books
even if you don’t have a dedicated Kindle reader?
You can read Kindle's e-books on smartphones,
desktop computers and any e-device in between. You
can even store the books on the Amazon cloud.
~
Quote from
Diana Schneidman, author and
marketer |
To
subscribe to Carolyn's FREE online newsletter send an
e-mail.
Learn more about Carolyn's
newsletter and blog.
Read
past issues of Carolyn's
Newsletter. |
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Carolyn's Awards |
Awards for Carolyn's Books, Blogs and More The New Book Review
Named to
Master's in English.org Online Universities'
101 Essential Sites for Voracious
Readers

Writer's Digest 101 Best Websites
for Sharing with Writers blog.

Best Book Award for The Frugal Book Promoter (2004) and The Frugal Editor (2008)
and the Second Edition of The Frugal Book Promoter
(2011).

Reader Views Literary Award for The Frugal Editor

New Generation Award for Marketing and Finalist for The Frugal Editor

Book Publicists of Southern California's Irwin Award
Military Writers Award of Excellence for
Tracings, A Chapbook of Poetry.

A Retailer's Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotion wins author Military
Writers Society of America's Author of the Month award for March, 2010

Gold Medal
Award from Military Writers Society of America, 2010.
MWSA also gave a nod to
She Wore Emerald Then,
a chapbook of poetry honoring mothers.
The Frugal
Editor
Named #! on Top Ten
Editing Books list.

Finalist
New Generation Book Awards 2012,
The Frugal Book
Promoter; Finalist 2010
The Frugal Editor;
Winner 2010 Marketing Campaign for the Frugal Editor

The Oxford Award
recognizes
the
alumna who exemplifies the Delta Gamma precept of
service to her community and who, through the years,
devotes her talents to improve the quality of life
around her.
The Frugal
Book Promoter is runner-up in the how-to category for
the
Los Angeles Book Festival 2012
awards.

Winner Diamond Award
for Achievement in the Arts
Glendale
California's Arts and Culture Commission and the City of
Glendale Library,
2013
And more than a dozen other awards for Carolyn's novel, short story collection and poetry.
See the awards page on this site.
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A
Selection of Carolyn's Past
Speaking Engagements |

Presenter
2009, 2010

Presenter,
2008, 09, 10, 11

Panel moderator, 2007

National Span College
presenter 2002

Fellows presenter, 2007,
08

Co-sponsor and presenter,
2007, 08, 09, 10, 11

University of Dayton Erma
Bombeck Writers' Conference, 2006, 2008

Sisters in Crime,
Pasadena, 2009

On the
Los Angeles Valley College Campus 2012, Rancho
Library 2013,
Valley College Spring 2014

Wisconsin Regional Writers Association
Presenter, Keynote 2010

Book 'Em,
NC,
Three Panels 2013

Presenter, 2013

Seminar Speaker, 2014

Keynote, 2013; 2014

Secrets of Great
Dialogue, 2015

Digging Up Memories and Bringing the Dead Back to
Life
2015

Frugal
Book Promotion.
Judith Briles' Extravaganza,
Denver, CO, 2016
Learn
more about
Carolyn's conferences. |
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