August 5, 2015 by Lori L MacLaughlin

IWSG — Books Over Breakfast!

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.

My insecurities were in full force this morning as I was driving to the local WCAX TV station to do the Books Over Breakfast interview. I didn’t know what questions the news host would ask, so I’d spent some time the night before coming up with answers to possible questions and kept running them through my head. Needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep.

I’d been told to arrive at the station by 6:30 for make-up and to talk a little bit about the interview, which was scheduled for 6:55. I arrived at 6:25 and went in to find the station deserted. It looked like no one was there. Then Gary Sadowsky, the weatherman, came out from the studio where they were filming the early morning newscast. I told him why I was there, and he said to just wait where we were (my kids were with me), and someone would come get me. We sat in the waiting area, and he went back into the studio.

I got more nervous as the minutes ticked by and no one came out. I wondered if they had forgotten about the interview. (It had originally been scheduled for next Wednesday, then changed to today.) We could see on the TV screen the newscast being filmed live. Around 6:40, a cameraman came out and brought me into the studio. He gave me a microphone to attach to my shirt and said the newscaster who would be doing the interview would be over to talk during a break in the broadcast. I asked about the make-up session. He said he didn’t know anything about that and didn’t think there was anyone there in that department.

At 6:45 or so, Eva and Ali, the newscasters introduced themselves, and Eva took about 30 seconds to run her intro and a couple of questions she’d planned to ask by me. Then they had to hurry back in front of the camera for their news wrap-up. A few minutes later, Eva led me to a nearby set with two comfortable chairs facing each other, we sat down, and were on the air live at 6:55. She did her intro and asked her questions, most of which I was prepared for.

In three minutes, we were done. She thanked me again for coming and went on to her next gig. I took off the microphone and gave it back to the cameraman. We exited through the empty lobby and drove away.

The whole thing was such a whirlwind experience. As I was driving home, I tried to replay it in my mind, but found I couldn’t remember what I’d said. The kids had watched from backstage, so I asked them how they thought it went, i.e. did I look okay, did I sound intelligent, etc. They assured me everything looked and sounded fine to them. They were happy it went well and thought it was cool to be in a TV studio.

I couldn’t wait to get home and watch the broadcast for myself. I was glad to see I didn’t look as nervous as I felt, and I was happy not to have stumbled over my words, though I did say “um” a few times. Next time won’t be nearly as hard.

But just the same — whew, I’m glad it’s over with!

Here’s a link to the interview:

WCAX Books Over Breakfast!

July 28, 2015 by Lori L MacLaughlin

Barnes & Noble and Bookstock

What a crazy time these last several days have been, running around advertising, trying to get everything together for the big events, and trying not to get too stressed out over them.

Barnes & Noble was up first on Friday night from 6 to 7 pm.

I had a case of nerves ahead of time and stressed over last-minute things. Once the event started, though, I calmed down. About a dozen people came throughout the event, all friends and family (thank you!!!), which gave it a much more relaxed atmosphere and helped me not to be as nervous. I sold 8 books, and it was fun signing them. The store wasn’t busy, and I don’t think anyone came to the Marvel Fangirl event that was supposed to run after my event. It was a nice night weather-wise, so I imagine most people were out enjoying it. It may not have been a packed house, but it worked for me, getting my feet wet for the first time. It was a great experience.

When setting up the event, I had the choice of sitting near the front of the store at a table and just being available to sign books or using the event space on the second floor to have a book discussion, in addition to the book signing. The event space was an open space on one side of the selling floor with a podium and chairs set up for an audience. I decided to go with the latter and have the discussion. I’ve heard that straight book signings can be awkward, and I didn’t want anyone to feel pressured into buying my book. I also thought a discussion would be a better way to engage potential readers and get them interested in the book. I don’t know if it was the right choice or not, but it seemed like the right one at the time.

The Bookstock Literary Festival was another interesting experience, even though I didn’t sell any books. I manned the League of VT Writers table to promote books by League members, including my own. Part of the reason for no sales, I think, was the location of the table. The festival organizers had canopy tents set up along a walking path on the green. The tables that fronted the walkway got a lot of business, but those around the sides didn’t get as much traffic. The LVW table was on the side and also toward the back, close to the used book sale tent. By the time the people got to our end of the green, they saw the big “Book Sale” sign and made a beeline for that tent. In their defense, I probably would have done the same thing, though I would have gone back and checked out the places I’d missed afterward. Oh, well. I’ll have some good feedback to give them about the experience, anyway.

On to the next event!

July 22, 2015 by Lori L MacLaughlin

League of VT Writers Meeting Recap and Barnes & Noble Prep

I really enjoyed the League of VT Writers “Into the Words” Retreat and Member Showcase I attended last Saturday. The Northeast Kingdom of Vermont was just lovely, and the rain held off until right after the close of the meeting.

VT poet Jerry Johnson’s restored schoolhouse home in Albany, VT
Photo Credit: Jerry Johnson

By the time I arrived and got my table set up with my book display, the meeting was already in full swing. Unfortunately, I missed the first round of seminars/workshops, but I still had three more sessions with four or five workshops each from which to choose. I brought my teen son with me, and he did a great job manning the table, so I could lose myself in a wonderful literary summer camp.

In “Blogging Boot Camp,” VT author J.P. (Joy) Choquette went over the basics of blogging, the various platforms, and how important social media is to a good marketing strategy. I learned there is a tool called a Website grader that will analyze your site and tell you what’s up to snuff and what needs work. Here are a couple of links that list several graders: https://blog.bufferapp.com/website-graders-content-scores and http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/29274/HubSpot-Launches-Free-Marketing-Grader-Tool-to-Replace-Website-Grader.aspx. I haven’t tried any of them yet, but I plan to at some point.

“Performance Techniques for Writers” with retired theater arts and public speaking teacher J.S. Grant was chock full of tips and tricks on how to prepare yourself for a public reading of your work. J.S. showed us muscle relaxation techniques, such as shoulder rolls and gentle neck stretches, and deep breathing techniques to help with nervousness and projecting your voice. Saying “me mo me mo…” and “fa-da-da-da” repeatedly is an old actors’ trick that helps loosen your lips and tongue.

J.S. was engaging and funny as she led us through these preparations and then had us practicing our articulation with tongue-twisters. I discovered that I am incapable of saying, “The sea ceaseth us and sufficeth us.” And spitting is good. It means you’re enunciating your “t’s” and “p’s” properly. One other great tip — if you are doing your reading in front of a microphone, always inhale through your mouth. If you inhale through your nose, everyone in the audience will hear it.

In the last workshop I attended, author M. Larose read from her YA fantasy novel, The Flower Eater. Keeping in mind what I had just learned, I thought she did a great job. Later, she and I swapped books with promises to read and review. I sold four books, in addition to the swap, and I also picked up a copy of Stella Rose, by Tammy Flanders Hetrick. She was the author I had observed at her Barnes & Noble book signing in May and later blogged about it HERE. It was fun meeting her (she had found my blog and commented on it), and we shared a laugh over it.

And speaking of Barnes & Noble, I’ve been contacting area newspapers and other media outlets and submitting press release info for my book signing event Friday evening. I wrote the release info with the who/what/where/etc. in three formats: bullet form, paragraph form, and as an ad, to fit each media’s requirements. I put up fliers around town. Don’t be afraid to ask about putting up fliers. You never know who will say yes. Besides the library, the local Hannaford grocery store put one up on their bulletin board right where everyone leaving the store can see it. Even the dentist I’ve been going to for years said they’d put one up for me.

I’ve also been getting my swag together. I have book cards, personalized pens (with book title and author name) from PenFactory.com, and I’m in the process of making cord necklaces with gold and silver sword charms, which I love. What’s really neat is that the swords fit into the hands of my Lego book characters. (I made Lego people that look like my three main characters.) Now if I could just figure out what I’m going to wear, I’ll be all set. 🙂

July 17, 2015 by Lori L MacLaughlin

Celebrate the Small Things!

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

It’s been another busy week in the book marketing and selling departments, and it’s going to be a busy weekend, too. Things I’m celebrating:

I did a fun interview on Celine Jeanjean’s blog, Down the Rabbit Hole.
I sold five books in 2 ½ hours at the local Farmer’s Market Craft Day! Whoo hoo! Three people paid cash, and two paid with credit/debit cards. The Square worked perfectly and was quick and easy to use. Thank you to everyone who suggested I get one!!
I sent press release/calendar event info to the surrounding newspapers and put flyers up around town for the Barnes & Noble book signing coming up. I don’t know how many of the papers will actually include the info, but it was a good exercise in publicity.
In a fit of madness, I called the local WCAX TV news station and got myself on their Books Over Breakfast program, which is a brief segment where the news person talks to authors about their books. It’s scheduled to air on August 5^th at 6:55 AM. Eeep.
On Saturday, I’ll be going to the League of VT Writers Summer Retreat and Member Showcase in Albany, VT, to attend some interesting workshops and hopefully sell more books.
On Sunday, I’m taking my son, the NASCAR nut, to the Sprint Cup race in Loudon, NH, as an early birthday present. My daughter gets to spend the weekend with grandparents, and she’s excited about that.

I also enjoyed some lovely weather this week.

What other celebrations are going on out there?

July 16, 2015 by Lori L MacLaughlin

Guest Interview on Celine Jeanjean’s Blog

Today I’m being interviewed by the fabulous Celine Jeanjean on her blog, Down the Rabbit Hole. The interview is part of her “What interesting things did you find while researching your book?” series. Hop on over to read about spooky swamps and having fun with swords. 🙂

Here’s the link:

https://celinejeanjean.wordpress.com/2015/07/15/an-interview-with-lori-maclaughlin/

Hope to see you there!

July 10, 2015 by Lori L MacLaughlin

Celebrate the Small Things!

I’m celebrating big news this week. I scheduled a book-signing event at Barnes & Noble! It’s coming up on July 24^th. Whoo hoo! I’m excited and nervous and wondering what on earth I’m going to wear. B & N is ordering my books to have on hand, and the event is listed on the store’s website: http://stores.barnesandnoble.com/store/2776?page=1&size=10&month=Month&day=Day&type=all

How cool is that!!

I’ve also signed up for three more book events coming up: a local Farmer’s Market Craft Day on July 16^th, the League of VT Writers Summer Retreat and Member Showcase in Albany, VT, on July 18^th, and the Bookstock Literary Festival in Woodstock, VT, on July 25^th. It’s going to be a crazy month.

More celebrations for the week — spending a Sunday afternoon swimming and visiting with good friends, cooling off at Sandbar beach on Monday, and celebrating IHOP’s birthday on Tuesday with 57-cent pancake stacks!

All in all, a pretty good week.

What other celebrations are going on out there?

July 3, 2015 by Lori L MacLaughlin

Celebrate the Small Things!

Some great things to celebrate this week, not the least of which is sunshine!! June was such a rainy month here that it hasn’t felt at all like summer.

My first book event last Sunday, The Craft of Small Publishing in Vermont at the River Arts Center, went well. It was a small venue, which was great for me for a first event. I wasn’t half as nervous as I thought I’d be, and I sold a book! Yay! I know one book doesn’t sound like much, but for me it was a success. I like to set small goals, so I’m less likely to be disappointed.

I visited Bear Pond Books in Stowe, VT, yesterday and dropped off two copies of my book for their shelves. Hooray for independent book stores!

We stopped at the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory on the way home from Stowe and got ice cream cones to celebrate. I can personally attest to the fact that B & J’s salted caramel blondie ice cream is delicious!

Looking forward to the Fourth of July parade tomorrow and good times with friends at the fireworks. Happy Birthday, America!!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

What other celebrations are going on out there?

July 1, 2015 by Lori L MacLaughlin

IWSG — Library Records for Self-pubbed Books?

I donated a copy of my self-published book, Lady, Thy Name Is Trouble, to my local library. They said they’d be happy to include it in their inventory, but they need it to have a library cataloguing record out there somewhere, such as in the Library of Congress or on WorldCat.org, for them to download into their system.

I’ve spoken with people at the Library of Congress (LOC), and unless you apply for Cataloguing in Publication or a Preassigned Control Number from the LOC before the book is published, the only way to get LOC cataloguing information for your book is to send them print copies through the copyright registration process and be fortunate enough to have the LOC select the book for inclusion in the Library. No acceptance, no cataloguing info.

I’ve done some research online and found a few companies who will create library Publisher’s Cataloguing-in-Publication (PCIP) / Machine Readable Cataloguing (MARC) records for a price.

For anyone who has self-published a book — how did you obtain library cataloguing info for your book? Did you go through the LOC ahead of time or use some other method? I’d love to hear about it!

June 24, 2015 by Lori L MacLaughlin

The Square and Upcoming Book Event!

Based on the overwhelming advice I received on a previous post (thank you!!), I ordered a Square credit card reader from their site: www.squareup.com. After several days, the Square arrived in the mail! I attached it to my Android smart phone through the headphone jack, downloaded the Register app, and set up the register with my items and tax percentage. It was really easy to set up and has the simplicity of e-mailing receipts to customers. I did a $1.00 test run charge on my credit card, and it worked perfectly. Very quick and easy.

I hope to get a chance to use it this weekend. On Sunday, I’ll be participating in The Craft of Small Publishing in Vermont event at the River Arts Center in Morrisville, VT. It’s a celebration of small publishers, self-publishers, and book artists and illustrators from around the state with presentations and activities for all ages. I’ll get to mingle with the writing community and maybe sell a book or two. Even if I don’t sell anything, it will be a great learning experience. I like that it’s a smaller venue, since I already know I’m going to be nervous. We’ll see how it goes. Thinking positive thoughts! 🙂

June 5, 2015 by Lori L MacLaughlin

Celebrate the Small Things!

I can’t believe another week has flown by. Today, I’m celebrating:

Final editing and proofreading work on Book 2 has begun! Yay!
I attended a seminar on cyber security for small businesses. That was an eye opener.
One of the libraries we go to will be giving away free books this weekend! We are so there.
National Donut Day! This year I celebrated with a maple crème filled sugar donut. Absolutely delicious! (The Boston Crème wasn’t bad, either.) 🙂

What other celebrations are going on out there?