Carolyn Howard-Johnson’s “The Frugal Book Promoter – How to do What Your Publisher Won’t,” published in 2004, offers authors budget-friendly strategies for promoting their books. While the book has received accolades, including the USA Book News award for Best Book 2004 and an Irwin Award, a recent review highlights some strengths and weaknesses.
Experienced authors might find some of the information familiar, as the reviewer’s extensive research already covered much of the ground. The book’s organization could be improved, with related topics, such as book reviews, consolidated into single, comprehensive chapters.
The writing style occasionally suffers from confusing sentence structure and repetitive information. While most of the provided links remain valuable, a small number were found to be inactive, a common issue due to the ever-changing nature of the internet.
Despite these drawbacks, “The Frugal Book Promoter” serves as a useful reminder of often-overlooked marketing strategies. The reviewer found renewed incentive to address weak areas in their own marketing plan and benefited from several of the provided links.
Overall, the book’s conversational tone creates an engaging reading experience. “The Frugal Book Promoter” is a worthwhile resource for novice authors seeking practical, low-cost promotion ideas, valuable links, and unconventional marketing approaches.