January 7, 2015 by Lori L MacLaughlin

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.

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 3^rd) 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!

December 17, 2014 by Lori L MacLaughlin

The 777 Challenge

Last week, Loni Townsend over at Squirrel Talk participated in the 777 Challenge. The idea is to pick one of your WIPs, go to the 7^th page, find the 7^th line, and post the next 7 lines or so. At the end of her Challenge, she wrote: “If you would like to participate, consider yourself tagged.”

I thought it sounded like a fun idea, so I decided to take her up on it and post the appropriate 7 or so lines from page 7 of my soon-to-be published fantasy novel, Lady, Thy Name Is Trouble, which, to me, will be a work-in-progress until I hold it as a book in my hand.

So here goes…

*****

The clash of battle began to fade.

Tara headed for the door. “Now is our chance to escape. This is not the time for vengeance. There are too many of them. We need to get away and warn Faragellyn. I doubt the Sulledorns intend to stop here.”

Kaden pounded the edge of his fist against the wall. “I will not be driven from my own castle!”

An ear-splitting scream rose above the battle sounds.

“Aurelia!” Prince Kaden cried.

“Wonderful. That’s all we need.” Tara whipped out her sword and dashed into the corridor.

*****

What did you think of this snippet?

Since I wasn’t specifically tagged for the Challenge, I’m not going to officially tag anyone else, but I’ll say the same thing that Loni did: If you’d like to give it a go, consider yourself tagged. 🙂

December 3, 2014 by Lori L MacLaughlin

IWSG — To Review, Or Not To Review…

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!

November 21, 2014 by Lori L MacLaughlin

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.

I actually had some time to wind down this week, which was really nice for a change. I’m celebrating:

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug extended edition! It arrived in the mail a couple of weeks ago and I finally had a chance to watch it.
The cover design for my upcoming fantasy novel is almost done!
Thanksgiving vacation from school! My brother and his family are coming up again from PA, so we’ll be spending a few days with them.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

What other celebrations are going on out there?

November 19, 2014 by Lori L MacLaughlin

My Big List of Book Reviewers

Laekan Zea Kemp very kindly shared her list of indie/self-published book reviewers that took her many, many, many hours of work to compile. I would like to personally thank her for her generosity!

As an indie author I know how difficult promo can be when you’re doing it all on your own. I spent the past three months sending out hundreds of emails, prepping blog posts, creating media kits, formatting review copies, and corresponding with readers and bloggers in preparation for my book tour for The Girl In Between and it’s during times like these that I’m reminded why self-publishing is not the easy way out. I’m mentally and emotionally exhausted but promo is just another part of the job and an important one seeing as obscurity is an indie author’s greatest adversary. The good news though is that there is an entire community out there of book-lovers turned bloggers who are willing to help authors in any way they can.

When I started sending out review requests for my first novel two years ago I had no idea how difficult it would be…

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November 16, 2014 by Lori L MacLaughlin

Celebrate the Small Things: More Video!

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.

I know Friday is long gone, but this week I would like to celebrate more video! I made another trailer for my fantasy novel, Lady, Thy Name Is Trouble. This one is more of a character study, rather than a preview of what the story is about, like my last trailer which you can see by clicking here.

I thought this would be a more interesting way of introducing my main character, Tara Triannon. Any and all feedback/comments are appreciated. Thanks!

What other celebrations are going on out there?

November 5, 2014 by Lori L MacLaughlin

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

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:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

November 3, 2014 by Lori L MacLaughlin

Book Trailer, Take Two

Based on comments on my first attempt at a book trailer for my fantasy novel, Lady, Thy Name Is Trouble, I did some more Photoshop work, swapped out a couple of photos, and added text to the pics that had none.

Is this an improvement? Or should I just leave it the way it was? If you have time to watch both, please let me know what you think in the comments.

Here’s a link to the first one: https://lorilmaclaughlin.com/2014/10/28/book-trailer/

Thank you!

October 31, 2014 by Lori L MacLaughlin

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.

It finally stopped raining for a few minutes so I was able to get my lawn mower cleaned up and get my outdoor things put away before the big freeze that I know will be coming soon. We’re supposed to have snow showers this weekend. Ugh. Not something I want to celebrate. What I would like to celebrate:

Happy Halloween! We’ll be out trick-or-treating with good friends.
I finished my first book trailer! You can see it here: https://lorilmaclaughlin.com/2014/10/28/book-trailer/
A trip to IHOP — my favorite place to eat — to celebrate the trailer’s completion!

What other celebrations are going on out there?

October 1, 2014 by Lori L MacLaughlin

IWSG — Book Trailer Photos

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!