Writers Tricks of the Trade Issue 3, Volume 8 | Page 15

HOW TO DO IT FRUGALLY
AND O THER V ALUABLE A DVICE
C AROLYN H OWARD -J OHNSON
With this issue we welcome Carolyn Howard-Johnson as a regular columnist with her How
To Do It Frugally column...in other words Carolyn will give you wonderful tips on how to save
money as you develop and market your books. Book promotion (and life!) has changed
since The Frugal Book Promoter was first published in 2004—particularly in ways that have to
do with the Web, but in other ways, too. Carolyn, an award-winning author of poetry and fic-
tion, draws on a lifetime of experience in journalism, public relations, retailing, marketing, and
the marketing of her own books to give authors the basics they need for do-it-yourself promo-
tion and fun.
I
added a new section to the second edi-
tion of my book The Frugal Edi-
tor because ampersands seem to be so pop-
ular these days. It’s especially important for
editors and those who publish books to
both know a little about their history, how
to use them, and how readers of Lynn
Truss’s famous zero-tolerance approach to
grammar might view them. So, I thought I’d
share this excerpt with you, even though
it’s only one tiny part of presenting our-
selves and our books in the most profes-
sional light possible.
AMPERSANDS: PRETTY IS
AS PRETTY DOES
The ampersand is a real pretty little
dude, but it isn’t a letter nor even a word.
It’s a logogram that represents a word. Its
history goes back to classical antiquity, but
interesting history and being cute are no
reason to overuse it in the interest of trying
F ALL 2018
to separate one’s writing from the pack.
Better writers should concentrate on the
techniques that make a difference rather
than gimmicks that distract. Here are some
legitimate uses for the ampersand.
The Writers Guild of America uses the
ampersand to indicate a close collaboration
with a writing (or other) partner--closer
than a situation in which one writer is
brought in to rewrite or fix the work of an-
other. For those in the know it is a conven-
ient way to subtly indicate that one writer
has not been brought in to rewrite or fix the
work of another.
Newspapers, journals and others
choose to use it when they are citing
sources. That’s their style choice, not a
grammar rule.
In similar citings, academia asks that
the word and be spelled out.
Occasionally the term etc. is abbreviat-
ed to &c,