This group has been designated for adults age 18 or older. Please sign in and confirm your date of birth in your profile so we can verify your eligibility. You may opt to make your date of birth private.
Laina Turner's Blog, page 125
January 26, 2012
I "pressed pause"
[image error]I haven't blogged in a while. I haven't done a lot of things in the last couple weeks. Instead I took some advice and "pressed pause" on the whirlwind of daily things that were keeping me from reflecting and figuring some things out. It was interesting really. While I felt guilty (sometimes downright anxious) for not being productive I did get a chance to figure out what I missed doing and what I couldn't care less about. Don't get me wrong I'm not in this utopia of a life now living my bliss but I am more settled with where I want my path to be and did I want it enough and believe in myself enough to take the more difficult path or the easy way. While both choices come with their own set of stressors I just kept coming back to the fact I want to live my life the way I want to live my life and not do things because I think I should. Money does make some aspects of life easier but it's not the most important thing. Happiness is.
What's your happiness?
Laina
January 12, 2012
Help me make Mistletoe & Murder FREE on Amazon!
January 11, 2012
My website is broke:(
December 16, 2011
Staying on track to goals
[image error]Last Friday I spent several hours planning out my week. I was very proud of myself and what I accomplished because for the first time in a long time I was very organized. I took all the tasks I needed from writing daily, to book promotion, client work, and personal to do's.
Monday I hit the ground running and was immediately hit with an unexpected not on my list. However, because of my list I was able to easily deal with this issue and get back on track. had I not had my list I would have been so flustered I would have probably wasted the day. As it was I got most of it done, same with Tuesday, and so on. However, I am having a hard time now focusing to write. In the past I would write first and not worry about all the lists of things I also had to complete each day. But now that I know this list is going to be staring me in the face I have a hard time not thinking about it in order to write. Now I am behind about 6000 words to my weekly writing goal and as the source of my income that is stressing me out.
How can I balance all of this and not go crazy. It hasn't helped that I pulled my children out of before/after school care for the month of December so my "work days' are much shorter even though I am saving a lot of money which is a relief.
Any ideas?
Laina
December 14, 2011
Marketing idea that actually seems to be working!
So as you may know (or not) I write the Presley Thurman romance/mystery series. I currently have three full length novels out and one holiday short story. They are each priced at .99 cents although I am trying to get the holiday short to be free it just isn't an option on Amazon/B & N unless there is a lower price match, which there is on Smashwords since it's already free there but I can't force it. The big guys pretty much do what they want. Anyways for ease of holiday gifting I decide to bundle them up into a boxed set. I thought that way for a still low price of 2.99 I could get all my books out there in a easy way and hopefully get people so excited about my books they would be be anxiously waiting for the next installment of the series in 2012. Well I am thrilled to announce that it has taken off quite nicely and after almost a full week on sale I consider it a success. Just goes to show that there are many ways to package and promote the same things as different things appeal to different people.
Happy Holidays!!
[image error]
Bestselling, mystery with a little romance (nothing too steamy her mom might read this), author Laina Turner has just released a Boxed Set, featuring her first three full length Presley Thurman Mysteries plus a holiday short story. What a great way to experience all that fashionista-dectective Presley Thurman has to offer in one easy download.
This four-book set includes…
Stilettos & Scoundrels
Presley tells her boss what he can do with her job in HR and embarks on a new career as a freelance journalist. What seems like a simple interview with a Senator turns to murder when the day after her interview the Senator turns up dead. Does the fact that Presley was one of the last people to see him alive make her a suspect? Her ex-boyfriend Cooper, who was in charge of the Senators security, might think so. Presley is determined to clear her name but can she do it and resist Cooper's charms?
Necklaces & Nooses
When Presley's boss is found hanging she thinks its suicide until the police discover its homicide. Who would want to kill a boutique owner? Presley's not sure but she's determined to find out. The cute detective assigned to the case makes it all the more exciting.
Handbags & Hooligans
Presley went to Vegas to watch her friend Anna get married and the event turned into solving the mystery of her brothers girlfriend disappearance. But Ashley wasn't exactly the schoolteacher she appeared to be. Who was she and was she kidnapped?
And the holiday short…Mistletoe & Murder
In this holiday short story, Presley goes home for Christmas expecting it to be a relaxing holiday until her old boyfriend, Brian, asks for her help finding out who has been stealing from him and it turns from theft to murder. Why would anyone want to kill Tommy and what was he hiding?
Purchase for Kindle, Nook, and available on Smashwords
December 12, 2011
Editing nightmare
[image error]I am an educated person but I will be the first to admit I have absolutely no attention to detail and so when I write grammar is far from my mind. I do review my work upon completion but still because I lack attention to detail, I am not good at proofreading and editing so as a good business woman I have always hired an editor. I do what I can do best and outsource the rest. However, I read somewhere that a good editor still only catches 80% of the mistakes. Well apparently Amazon catches the remaining 20% along with some errors that aren't really errors.
This morning I received an email from Amazon that they pulled one of my novels due to grammatical errors. Ok, I will admit there were a few that slipped by myself and the editor and those were easily fixable (though rather embarrassing) what really concerned me was the couple passages that Amazon said were errors that simply were not. It was the appropriate use of a slang word that fit with the character and the context of the passage in which it was placed and then one that I still can't begin to figure out what they were thinking. I made the corrections, with the exception of the two I just discussed, and sent an email to Amazon about the others. I will be nervously awaiting their response, as I am not sure what to do about those non-errors.
Such is the life of a writer!
Laina
[image error][image error][image error][image error][image error]
December 1, 2011
Free books boosts sales
I came across this fabulous post by D.D Scott, an author I admire, who posts frequently about her journey in the indie epublishing world. It's about her pricing strategy and to many of us authors pricing is such a crap shoot. But before we can worry much about price we need to worry about exposure. Our book can be the best price out there but if no one knows it's for sale it won't do us much good. D.D. celebrated one of her milestones by pricing her first book in the Bootscootin' series as free and watched her sales SOAR!!!!!
Read the full article about how she achieved her success here.
[image error] [image error] [image error] [image error]
November 30, 2011
Christmas Bling
[image error]I love Christmas, I mean who doesn't? I love the decorations, the festivity, buying (and receiving presents), holiday food, and the sheer joy on my kids faces at all I just mentioned. I don't want to spout religion but I am also thankful for what Christmas represents besides all the fun stuff.
This week my family and I have been playing Christmas music and decorating the house. It's been great fun. It gave me the idea that I needed to "Christmas up" my website so I went and found tons of great free Christmas wallpapers and changed the background of my website to reflect my holiday spirit. Now I realize many would argue that I shouldn't be messing with my site as it's my brand – yada, yada, yada, and I do agree BUT it's Christmas. I want to decorate!!
Here are a couple good links to some Christmas bling!
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/beautifu...
http://www.fabuloussavers.com/xmas.shtml
Happy Holidays!
Laina
November 29, 2011
I fell off the wagon
I sincerely apologize to my readers for falling off the daily marketing bandwagon. I have no excuse. Well actually I have a lot of excuses that I would like to use but I don't want to seem whiny. I did however get laid off from my day job and took the couple weeks I was absent from my blog to drink a lot of coffee, watch a ton of Law & Oder re-runs, and figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up.
You'll be happy to know that I went through a one pound bag of Dunkin Donuts pumpkin spice coffee, got to episode 101 of Law & Order on Netflix instant stream, and realized that what I wanted to be when I grew up was what I have always wanted to be – a writer. Now I have a few books out there but it's been more of a hobby and a longing rather than something I focused 24/7 or rather 32/8 on. When I thought about the aspect of finding another job and still putting my dreams on hold versus going all out and taking the leap to achieve my dream of making a living being an author I realized how much I needed to take this opportunity and reach for my dreams. While giving up a steady paycheck makes me nervous I am thrilled at the upcoming prospects. The world is mine for the taking and I know I can accomplish whatever I set my mind out to do.
To update you on my marketing/sales I did slow down on the marketing front the last two weeks but had a Kindle Nation Daily push on Nov. 20th for Necklaces & Nooses that gave me a boost. I then uploaded to Amazon my 3rd Presley Thurman book, Handbags & Hooligans, and my holiday short, Mistletoe & Murder, and experienced the greatest period of consistent sales to date. Every day I cross my fingers that it continues.
Have a great day!
Laina
November 22, 2011
Mistletoe & Murder cover choices
Help me choose the cover for the short story Mistletoe & Murder!!!!! Post your opinion on which cover you like best in the comments. Once we choose the cover I can upload on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes. This is my Christmas present to my readers and will be FREE!!!!
[image error]Choice #1 Large Swirls
[image error]Choice #2 Small Swirls
![[image error]](http://www.lainaturner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/k3554261.jpg){kind=link}