IWSG

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IWSG — The Waiting Game

Today’s the day for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG) where, on the first Wednesday of every month, writers get together to share their insecurities and offer encouragement. The IWSG was created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, and you can learn all about it and sign up for it here. IWSG_Badge

I had hoped to be celebrating my book release at this point in February, but unfortunately, things are not working out as planned. Between the communication issues and the variety of problems my cover designer is having, the cover still isn’t done.

I feel bad for her, as it’s been one thing after another — things breaking down, computer crashes, kids getting sick. Dealing with life’s snarls is obviously more important than publishing a book, but, man, it is frustrating to be so close and not be able to get there.

So for now, I’m sending positive thoughts and energy her way in hopes that it might help smooth things out on her end. After all that’s happened, she deserves a break! And it’s a great lesson in patience for me.

Is anybody else out there playing the waiting game?

 

 

 

© Lori L. MacLaughlin and Writing, Reading, and the Pursuit of Dreams, 2015. All rights reserved.

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IWSG — Less Than A Month Away — Aaaaaaaah!

Today’s the day for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG) where, on the first Wednesday of every month, writers get together to share their insecurities and offer encouragement. The IWSG was created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, and you can learn all about it and sign up for it here. IWSG_Badge

We were asked to introduce ourselves today, so here goes. I’m a writer of fantasy adventure who lives in Vermont with my kids, two of the best teenagers ever. I’m working my way up the self-publishing mountain, and I’ve almost reached the summit, which makes me giddy — or maybe it’s just the thin air up here…

I’m planning an early February release date (my target date is the 3rd) for my fantasy adventure novel, Lady, Thy Name Is Trouble, providing I can accomplish the rest of what needs to be done by that time. All the usual first-time-author insecurities are plaguing me more than ever. Sometimes I feel like I’m sitting on an over-stuffed suitcase, trying to close it, while the monsters of insecurity are trying to force their way out. I know all aspiring authors go through this, and I just need to persevere. I’ve been waiting so long for this dream to become a reality. I’m not going to let my insecurities stop me from reaching my goal of becoming a published author.

On that note, if anyone would like to help by reading e-ARCs for reviews, posting about my book on the release date, hosting me on your site with an author interview or whatever format you like, and/or sharing the news of the book’s release in other ways — Facebook, Twitter, or whooping and shouting to the rooftops (sorry, that’s what I’ll be doing 🙂 ), I’d be super grateful! Just let me know either in the comments or through the contact form, and I’ll send you whatever materials you need.

Thanks so much to everyone who has supported me on this journey! I know 2015 is going to be awesome!

 

 

 

 

© Lori L. MacLaughlin and Writing, Reading, and the Pursuit of Dreams, 2015. All rights reserved.

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IWSG — To Review, Or Not To Review…

Today’s the day for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG) where, on the first Wednesday of every month, writers get together to share their insecurities and offer encouragement. The IWSG was created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, and you can learn all about it and sign up for it here. IWSG_Badge

I will soon be sending out ARCs and requesting advance reviews for my fantasy adventure novel, Lady, Thy Name Is Trouble. I know that getting reviews is vital if I want my book to rise above the obscurity that self-publishing can bring. A solid word-of-mouth campaign is essential for an Indie book to succeed.

So it stands to reason that if I’ll be requesting reviews, I should be willing to give them in return. I’ve never written a book review because of the horror stories I’ve heard about authors who took offense at not-so-shining, albeit honest, reviews and retaliated by trashing the reviewers’ books, giving them terrible one-star reviews on all the online sites, and having their friends do the same.

The thought of going through something so devastating has persuaded me to keep my opinions to myself. However, I don’t feel that it’s fair of me to ask other writers for reviews if I’m not willing to reciprocate.

I would love to know how other writers feel about this. Do you write reviews? Do you ever worry about the bad apples out there trashing your books?

I would also like to thank the IWSG for putting together the Insecure Writer’s Support Group Guide to Publishing and Beyond – Available Now! Thank you! Can’t wait to read it!

 

 

 

© Lori L. MacLaughlin and Writing, Reading, and the Pursuit of Dreams, 2014. All rights reserved.

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IWSG — Best Time To Publish? and New Book Release: Wickedly They Dream

Today’s the day for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG) where, on the first Wednesday of every month, writers get together to share their insecurities and offer encouragement. The IWSG was created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, and you can learn all about it and sign up for it here. IWSG_Badge

I’m getting close to publishing my fantasy novel, Lady, Thy Name Is Trouble. If all goes well, the big event will happen this winter.

Realizing this, I began to wonder, in general, what the best time was for new book releases. What month or time of year for a release date generates the most sales? Or does it really make a difference? I’d love to hear about others’ experiences with this and why they chose their publishing dates for their books.

And on this line of thought, today’s the exciting release date for Cathrina Constantine’s new book:

**Happy Release Day**
**GIVEAWAY**

 Wickedly They Dream
Genre: Paranormal Thriller/Fantasy
Publisher: Black Opal Books
Grab it today for only 99 cents! 
HERE

 How Far Will Jordan go to rescue her mother. It will cost her everything–even her angel, Markus!

Buy Links: Amazon
Black Opal Books

Author Cathrina Constantine resides in Western New York. When not with her family, you’ll find her in the forest behind her house walking the dogs and conjuring a new tale.
You can find Cathy Here:
Amazon
Facebook
Goodreads
Twitter
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

 

 

 

© Lori L. MacLaughlin and Writing, Reading, and the Pursuit of Dreams, 2014. All rights reserved.

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IWSG — Book Trailer Photos

Today’s the day for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG) where, on the first Wednesday of every month, writers get together to share their insecurities and offer encouragement. The IWSG was created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, and you can learn all about it and sign up for it here. IWSG_Badge

I’ve been working on my book trailer and have a script and music I’m happy with. However, the photos/videos to incorporate are giving me a problem. I have a lot of ideas of what I’d like, but translating them into photos I can take myself is a challenge. I’ve looked at a couple of royalty free photo sites and read both good and bad reviews about them. I’m on the fence about trying to take my own photos or go with a service. I need to make a decision.

So, my questions for today: for anyone who has made a book trailer, did you use your own photos/videos or use a service such as iStock.com, canstockphoto.com, or something else? If you used a service, were you happy with the results? Did you have any problems with the service? I know of one person who has used iStock and is, so far, happy with it. Or did you hire someone to do the trailer? How did that turn out? As always, any and all advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks so much!

 

 

 

 

© Lori L. MacLaughlin and Writing, Reading, and the Pursuit of Dreams, 2014. All rights reserved.

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IWSG — ARCs

Today’s the day for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG) where, on the first Wednesday of every month, writers get together to share their insecurities and offer encouragement. The IWSG was created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, and you can learn all about it and sign up for it here. IWSG_Badge

This is going to be short and sweet. I’ve been thinking about advanced reader copies (ARCs) and wondering what is the best way to get them out there for reviews. Do I use the traditional sending out of personal requests via e-mail, blog, etc., or go with something bigger like NetGalley? I’ve read differing opinions on NetGalley, both good and bad. Has anyone tried NetGalley or any other review site? I’d greatly appreciate hearing what other writers have used successfully or not so successfully. Any and all advice is welcome. Thanks so much!

 

 

 

© Lori L. MacLaughlin and Writing, Reading, and the Pursuit of Dreams, 2014. All rights reserved.

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Wonderful Team Member Readership Award!

After a stressful week of car problems and being under the weather, I received a delightful pick-me-up from amazing blogger Sue Archer from Doorway Between Worlds. She nominated me for the Wonderful Team Member Readership Award! Thanks very much, Sue! I’m honored to be included.ReadershipAward_08092014

The Readership Award salutes bloggers who regularly visit and leave thoughtful comments on other blogs in support of the blogosphere community. I particularly appreciate this award right now as I’ve been lamenting not being able to do much reading or blogging lately because of time constraints and the general craziness that so often crops up in life. I very much enjoy my interactions with people in the comments of so many blogs. For me, it’s the best part of blogging, and it’s great to know that my commenting makes a difference to others. I know it makes my day when people comment on my posts. I’d like to give a huge “thank you!” shout out to everyone who has visited, commented on, or liked my blog. I really appreciate it!

One of the rules for accepting this award is to finish the sentence: A great reader is… To me, a great reader is one who reads everything enthusiastically and with a positive attitude, one who takes the time to mull over what s/he read and leave a meaningful and supportive comment that encourages the writer to keep going. A great reader is an integral part of the community that makes the blogging world go round.

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I would like to nominate for the Wonderful Team Member Readership Award the following great readers who have made my blogging life so much fun:

Caffe Maggieato, who I met first through the Insecure Writer’s Support Group and then through Celebrate the Small Things Friday blog hop, regularly stops by with good cheer and encouragement. I find Maggie’s blog title inspirational — Just Get It Written. Thank you for all the support you give to me and to all writers!

Loni Townsend over at Squirrel Talk, another IWSG member, has given me some great suggestions and advice, along with useful links that broadened my knowledge of fonts. Thanks so much for sharing!

Heather McCubbin, who I’ve enjoyed conversing with over our writing processes, is also an IWSG member. She is an aspiring writer, like me, and writes about her journey on her blog, Pushing the Pen. Thanks for the support and encouragement!

Mishka Jenkins, who blogs at A Writer’s Life for Me, is another writer who stops by quite often like a friendly neighbor. Her comments are like a warm smile and a wave from a comrade. I appreciate your taking the time to visit!

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Here are the original rules if you wish to accept this award. You can follow them as they are, or follow them in your own way. 🙂

  1. The Nominee of the Wonderful Team Member Readership Award shall display the logo on his/her post/page and/or sidebar.
  2. The Nominee shall nominate 14 readers they appreciate over a period of 7 days (1 week) – this can be done at any rate during the week. It can be ALL on one day or a few on one day and a few on another day, etc.
  3. The Nominee shall name his or her Wonderful Team Member Readership Award nominees on a post or on posts during the 7 day (1 week) period.
  4. The Nominee shall make these rules, or amended rules keeping to the spirit of the Wonderful Team Member Readership Award, known to each reader s/he nominates.
  5. The Nominee must finish this sentence and post: “A great reader is…”

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Thanks again, Sue, for nominating me for this award!

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IWSG / Font-tastic Dilemma

Today’s the day for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG) where, on the first Wednesday of every month, writers get together to share their insecurities and offer encouragement. The IWSG was created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, and you can learn all about it and sign up for it here.

* * * * *

Click here to see this post with the various fonts.

Click to see this post with the various fonts.

I’ve been playing with various fonts, trying to decide which one to use for my book cover title. But it seems like there are a zillion fonts out there. How on earth does one choose?

My novel is romantic fantasy adventure. The romance element inspires thoughts of flowery and curvy script like Vivaldi from my computer’s font files or like this free file I found online called A Yummy Apology. Fantasy should be more exotic like Endor or Half-elven or Immortal, while the adventure element needs something strong and bold — Bodoni MT Black, Stencil, and Impact are all possibilities.

Swordplay is essential to the plot as well, which draws me toward a serif font that is clean and sharp like a blade. I really like Castellar and Imprint MT Shadow because of the added depth of the lettering. There is so much more to the main character than even she knows and in my mind, the shadowed depth of the letters symbolizes this.

So many choices. And once I figure out the title font, I need to decide if I’m going to use the same font for both title and author or choose another for the author.

Lori L. MacLaughlin (Cardinal), Lori L. MacLaughlin (Slender Gold), Lori L. MacLaughlin (Celtic) …

Which will it be? Sigh …

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Celebrate the Small Things

Celebrate The Small Things is a weekly celebration created by VikLit to celebrate the happenings of the week, however small or large. You can learn all about it and sign up for it here. CelebrateSmallThings_Badge

I love the idea of focusing on the positive and taking time to think about the good things that have happened, so for this week I’m celebrating:

  1. Finished going through the proofreading edits for my book! Now on to cover design…
  2. Had great conversations and met several new blog friends from my first Insecure Writer’s Support Group post on Wednesday.
  3. Actually got caught up with some of my household chores.
  4. Celebrated National Donut Day today with a Boston Crème donut. Absolutely delicious!

What other celebrations are going on out there?