Carolyn Howard-Johnson on Capitalization, CAPITALIZATION, and capitalization!

My guest this week is Carolyn Howard-Johnson, award winning novelist and author of the The HowToDoItFrugally Series for authors. Today I'm asking her questions about her book The Frugal Editor.

Welcome back Carolyn. First I have to tell you how much I love your subtitle Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success and using the word “frugal” for your series is brilliant. (I also love your unforgettable last name.) As my regular blog readers have figured out, I interview in order to ask the questions I want answered. 

When I was in junior high (tough school) the English teacher decided only 3 students wanted to learn and instead of teaching how to diagram sentences taught only capitalization. I still don't understand diagramming and it doesn't seem to affect my writing life but I got very good at capitalization. This was enforced later in my career as a librarian where capitalizing had special rules we kept secret from the ordinary public.

So, Carolyn, tell me, when did the rules change and why wasn't I informed?

First of all, the rules don't suddenly change. They change over time and they change because we (meaning lots of people) start to use something (like capitalization) in a different way. Thus, we have several style books and all of them are "right" and they all disagree on many, many issues. Newspapers tend to use the AP Stylebook,book editors tend (but not always) use the Chicago Manual of Style. All are listed as good (-: reading in the Appendix of The Frugal Editor.

How about these examples?

"President Obama said..."

"The President of the United States said..."

"The president said.." (not just any president)

"I toured the Chicago Public Library's collections..."

"The library's collection included..." (not just any library)

In both the library and the president instance, you are referring to one specific place/person. But it is not part of a title in either of the third choices. Thus, no cap would probably be used in most cases. But anyone who faulted you for using a cap probably would be equally confused about the difference between style choice and rules. Throw a little extra something in there, too. Rules have become more lax. 
Oh, and one thing more. Often English teachers teach us wrong. I was confused about the verbs "to lie" and "to lay" by the time I'd been through 15 different teachers with 15 different ideas and explanations and examples I wanted to cry. The thing is, it's really soooooo simple. They just didn't know how to teach it.

Oh, and one more confusing thing. Different rules apply in creative writing. It's OK to use grammar incorrectly in, say, dialogue or when you are trying to create a voice.

So, any secret tricks to getting it right? 

If you're a creative writer sign up for an online subscription to the Chicago Manual of Style. Or buy a real copy (a new one--not something that's 20 years old because it's cheap). And use it.

And read books by respected MODERN editors. That probably doesn't even include the venerated Fowler's, that everyone considers holy. That book can confuse a creative writer learning rule-oriented grammar. In fact, it generally does and that's exactly what happened to you, Amber.

We get caught up in the rules, confuse one rule with another, try to memorize a catalog of rules (impossible!). I have one dictionary of English (just English--not other languages except for some borrowed words from French, German, Latin, etc. that we've made our own) that is over 1 foot tall. I have at least a dozen grammar and style books on my desk. English just isn't simple enough to boil down to a few rules and a few verbal guidelines like the one that tripped you up here.

The rule you were taught went something like this: If the word refers to a specific thing (library or president) always capitalize. See? Kids, adults (and writers) tend to over think rules like this.

Some style books argue that without the actual name and/or title, it isn't a specific thing. Thus no cap. Other style books argue the opposite. The more casual approach is winning.

How do you not get in too much trouble until your editor makes a final decision?

Basically the trick is to decide what kind of material you're writing, and choose the style book (from the two I mentioned above) that most closely matches where your end product will appear.

Lacking the wherewithal for that, choose the more casual approach. That would put you in good company with "rules" like serial commas, commas after dependent clauses, etc. etc.

Oh, and one more warning. Never, never correct someone else's grammar. Even when you're sure. Ha! You could be wrong. Even if you looked it up! 'Cause that other person looked it up somewhere else.

Well now I know I am not alone. Thanks, Carolyn for stopping by!

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Fugal Promotion Tips

My guest this week is Carolyn Howard-Johnson, award winning novelist and author of the The HowToDoItFrugally Series for authors. Today I'm asking her questions about her book The Frugal Book Promoter.


Welcome Carolyn, first I have to tell you how much I love your subtitle HOW TO DO WHAT YOUR PUBLISHER WON’T and using the word “Frugal” for your series was brilliant. (I also love your unforgettable last name.)

Ahhh, subtitles. That alone is a subject I love. Many have noticed that they are getting longer. That's because readers find books these days by using keywords. So savvy authors will try to work more keywords into their titles and subtitles so that they are found more often on, say, Amazon's search engine. Also, a good subtitle that shows benefits and maybe even tells people (scares them a little bit?) what they will miss if they don't read the book.

Thus, if I were writing The Frugal Book Promoter today, I might lengthen that subtitle a tad--and spice it up a bit. The next in that series is The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success.  When I'm speaking, writers tend to laugh at the "humiliation" part.  But they laugh because they know its true.

Maybe that is a place to start. How does the author know what a publisher will do for them?

Well, first they read the publisher's Web site. If they have an agent, they ask them. That's the agent's job. An agent should negotiate for more. And they ask the publisher questions before they sign the contract.  But after all that, an author shouldn't expect much until their name has an Ann LaMott or John Grisham ring to it.

Is it in the contract?

Sometimes and sometimes not. Things can change quickly at publishing companies and contracts can be misleading. It's best to have an attorney specializing in publishing look the contract over. But better insurance is to learn how to do publicity yourself. Because it's an almost 100% chance that you will have to do it--at least in part. You can be a better partner for a house publicist should you be so lucky to be assigned one.

How does an author avoid duplications and misunderstandings?

After years of consulting with authors, I think this is almost an impossible expectation. New authors tend to have stars in their eyes and therefore miss or misinterpret the details. That's why I tell authors to learn as much as they can by reading and taking classes and getting outside help when possible. And, by the way, choose those sources carefully, too. There’s lots of misinformation going around the Web.

The best antidote for avoiding trouble going into a new venture is trying to see the publisher's side of any situation. Money is tight. The publishing industry changes daily. If you have a traditional publisher, they are the ones taking all the monetary risks and deserve to make a profit. Yes, they do. (-: 

One more question. You tell fiction authors to think like a non-fiction author to find ways to promote. Can you give me an example?

Look at the different themes in your book.  There are angles there you can exploit when you’re talking to editors. My first book, THIS IS THE PLACE is sort of romantic (a romance Web site will like it) but it is also set in Salt Lake City, the site where the winter games were played in 2002 and, though that’s a reach, I found sports desks and feature editors open to it as Olympics © fervor grew and even as it waned because they were desperate for material as the zeal for the games wound down.


And One more question. I’ve seen lists telling new authors what to do. You know, get a website, join loops, blog, twitter, print bookmarks, etc. etc. How does a fiction author with a small online publisher know what is working?

I use Google's Analytics feature and StatCounter.com. But here's the danger. Marketing campaigns are about a whole lot more than statistics. Success can't even be measured in sales because you are building a writing career, not selling books. And because marketing is an entity, not one small part. And with the Web working so interactively, it's important not to give up on something because you don't think you see any results. Everything is not cut and dried. Perserverance and motivation (meaning choosing the promotion you enjoy) are key. Repetition, too.


That's a great way to look at promotion. Thanks for sharing so much with my readers. 

I hope your readers will subscribe to my newsletter. It's interactive so there are opportunities to get exposure and to help others. And it's full of tips and articles to help write and promote better. Send me an e-mail with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line to HoJoNews@aol.com.  
Or go to www.howtodoitfrugally.com and look for a subscription box near the top of the home page.

Another help for your readers is the Resources for Writers pages at www.howtodoitfrugally.com. Find great lists of contests, media release disseminators, article banks, helpful books to read and on and on.