Christmas in July

Little Known Poetry History: Chapbooks, a tradition in the poetry world since Elizabethan times, are named after the itinerant chapmen who travelled from village to village selling their goods.

My writing partner Carolyn Howard-Johnson and I figure nothing is more meaningful at any holiday than a poem—a real poem, not sing-song impersonal verse from the shelves of card shops (I've always disliked that kind of card). we've also noticed that many people order imprinted holiday greetings (very expensive ones!) in July. With that in mind we're offering a great Christmas-in-July incentive to those early birds who want to gift a chapbook Blooming Red: Christmas Poetry for the Rational to cherished friends. .

But how would poetry lovers, literature lovers and those who just like something different and beautiful to use as mini gifts or greetings know if this little booklet is for them?

We've arranged to get the e-book version for 50% off until August 6. That means your sample comes to you for a mere $1.98 using the special coupon code ZZ47S when you go to http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/45393

Then, when you fall in love with the exquisite poetry and the beautiful artwork by award-winning California watercolorist Vicki Thomas, you can order 25 full paperback booklets for only $3.00 each. This is a substantial discount from Amazon’s price of $6.95 each. They become your card and gift in one and orders of 12 or more come autographed by Carolyn. That’s got to be more personal than an imprint.

You just send your shipping address with your check or money order to:

Carolyn Howard-Johnson

PO Box 1101

LaCanada-Flintridge, CA 91012-1101

Include $6. Ship charges for the continental US and $12 worldwide, any quantity. Please order before August 15^th.

Blooming Red includes my science-inspired and Carolyn’s nostalgic poetry. It also includes some humorous poems for fair measure.

For more information on any of the chapbooks in this poetry series, contact either Carolyn or me, or visit media rooms at www.howtodoitfrugally.com or www.magdalenaball.com. To learn more about artist Vicki Thomas and to see her selections of her work, go to www.vickithomasartist.com

Celebration Series iPad ready

Technology is ever changing.  It’s almost impossible to keep up with the latest news, gadgets, and trends, especially when it comes to e-books and reading habits. Authors Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Magdalena Ball are always keen and ready to meet their reader needs, and when Smashwords announced its new deal with Apple to produce formats suitable for the iPad and Apple’s new iBookstore, the authors immediately agreed, and jumped into action, pulling together the appropriate formatting  for all of their celebration series books and putting them forward for conversion.

The celebration series has been designed specifically to replace the trite, cliché sentiments of greeting cards, at prices that are little more than the cost of a high end card.  Many of the books are beautifully illustrated with paintings or photographs, with poetry designed along themes that focus on mothers (She Wore Emerald Then), fathers and other men (Imagining the Future), and love Cherished PulseMore books are in the works.  Hard copies of all the books are available at Amazon, or you can pick them up in whatever format suits, including the iPad, Kindle, Epub (Stanza reader), .pdf, LTF (for Sony reader), and more at Smashwords.  As far as Howard-Johnson and Ball are concerned, whatever format suits their reader suits them.  It’s all good.