Laina Turner's Blog, page 28

Top 5 Steps to Realizing Your Writing Dream

So you want to be a writer!

YAY!!!! You’ve come to the right place.

There’s nothing I LOVE more than helping other writers realize their dreams except writing myself (and blogging, doing yoga, drinking coffee, and wine…lots of wine)

I dreamed of being a writer since the 2nd grade, but it took 25 more years until I got the courage to pursue that dream and follow my true passion. To face my fear and realize I could do it.

Being a writer is seriously the BEST and one of the most DIFFICULT jobs on the planet.

But it’s so worth it! I promise you!

If you’re an aspiring author ready to get published and make a living as a writer, you’re in the right place.

If you’re ready to:

Ignore the self-publishing naysayers who say if it’s not published by one of the Big 6 it’s not real.
Work your a** off.
Be proud of your writing and shamelessly self-promote.

And the most important step????

Be ready to scream at the top of your lungs, I’M A WRITER!!!!!!!

Then keep reading this post. If that sounds scary, it’s ok. If it were easy, everyone would do it.

Being a professional writer is a long process. You need to be in it for the long haul. Here are the top five things I feel you MUST know before taking the plunge to be a writer….

Step #1 Admit you’re a writer

You might be wondering why this step is important enough to put at #1. Or even why it’s a step in the first place. In my opinion, it’s the MOST IMPORTANT step. Because if YOU don’t believe in yourself it’s going to making chasing your dream of earning a living from your writing that much harder.

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying fake it until you make it?

The biggest obstacle you will face in your writing career is yourself.

Even after I started making money with my books, I felt guilty saying I was a writer. Like I was lying. That I was a big fat imposter. But at the end of the day if you write then you’re a writer. It has nothing to do with fame or fortune.

This hang-up was all in my head. I somehow felt I wasn’t worthy.

That head trash held me back for a long time. People would ask what I did for a living, a common question people ask, and I would stammer. I had no idea what to say. I thought by telling them I was a fiction writer, a blogger, they would look at me. Laugh. And say, “no really. What do you do?” Even though that’s what I was, I was still afraid to tell people.

You have to face your fear and proudly tell people you’re a writer and to hell with what they might say. Wear your badge of honor proudly.

If you’re writing, you’re a writer!

Step #2 Be Able to Handle Criticism

As any entrepreneur knows your business is your baby. Writing is especially close and personal. Therefore, it can be scary enough putting your work out there and sharing it with people much less to hear their feedback.

The first few times I had a reader comment that my book sucked I wanted to take it the book off sale, crawl into a hole, and never write again. Thankfully, I didn’t. Hurtful comments happen. Even big name author’s get negative reviews. But as much as it can, and will hurt, your writing career is not going to be all rainbows and unicorns.

Let’s face it. Nothing in life is. Not everyone in the world is going to love my book as much as I do or someone else does. We all have our different tastes in things we like, not just books, so you can’t take criticism personally.

Plus, there are a lot of negative people out there who post mean comments just to be exactly that. Mean.

Yeah, mean people suck.

I rarely look at random comments anymore. I rely on feedback from my street team and my inner circle of friends and fellow authors to give me CONSTRUCTIVE criticism that will make me a better writer not just tear me down.

I know I’m not a perfect writer (or perfect at anything) but what I am is committed. Committed to doing the best I can and not let anyone stop me from pursuing my dream.

Step #3 Be In It For The Long Haul

Guess what? Being an author isn’t a get rich quick profession. Disappointing I know. I’m sorry to dash your dreams of writing that best seller the first time out and making millions.

Not that it can’t happen but remember what I said earlier about rainbows and unicorns. It’s better to be realistic with your sales expectations. Then if you do make millions out of the gate what an awesome surprise it will be.

Most “overnight successes” made it big after years and years of work and just made it look like an overnight success. What they all had in common is they never gave up. I enjoyed this article giving the background on a few of those authors. 

The key to financial success at this gig is to write, publish, write, publish, write….you get the picture. Being a one hit wonder isn’t impossible, but it’s not very probable either.

I didn’t start to see traction in sales until I got to my 3rd book. Had I waited until the first one took off I might still be waiting.

Continuing to write and publish shows readers you are here to stay and as new readers find you, and see you have written more than one, it increases your chances of them purchasing them all.

Step #4 Writing is only half the battle. You MUST market

I went to a writers conference years ago when I was just getting started and heard one of the speakers say, “many awesome writers never sell anything because they don’t market themselves and many mediocre authors make a living in this industry because they’re good at marketing.”

That statement is so true. You can write the best book ever in the world of books but if people don’t know it exists then it won’t sell. There is a lot of competition out there. Every day it gets increasingly difficult to stand out from all the rest.

While social media gives us authors, many low-cost opportunities to promote our books we have to keep at it consistently or the message will get buried in all the others.

Even fiction authors need to have a platform and be constantly promoting themselves and an author and their work. It’s a never-ending cycle.

I’ve known many talented authors who’ve given up because they just get frustrated with the marketing aspect. It’s hard to keep on top of because it takes a lot of time. The time that most of us writers would rather spend on writing.

But if you are committed and you really want to make this a viable career you must treat it as a business and spend quality time marketing your product.

Step #5 Treat Your Writing Like Your Job – Show Up Every Day

Author, Steven Pressfield, said in his book Turning Pro, that the difference between an amateur and a professional is a professional shows up every day.

It’s hard to show up every day. Not so much in the beginning when you’re super excited to be embarking on your new career but once the excitement of starting wears off and you’re in the doubting, oh shit what have I done stage, it can be harder than anything you can imagine.

But you owe it to yourself to show up every single day. If you don’t can you say you tried with every fiber in your body to make a career out of what you love?

As with anything, there will be ups and downs, but as I said in #3 you must be in this for the long haul if you want to support yourself and your family with your writing. Persist through the downtimes and the ups will be that much sweeter.

Have you ever wondered why someone else seems to have everything they want out of life and you don’t? I can guarantee you they’ve worked for it. They haven’t let the bad days make them quit. Another quote I love says this so well:

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. Thomas…
Click To Tweet

Ashton Kutcher made headlines a few years ago when he gave a speech (you can watch here if you have no idea what I’m talking about ) at the Teen Choice Awards saying basically the same thing that he believes that opportunity looks a lot like hard work.

And it’s true. It’s not called work because it’s easy. I love writing, but it’s freakin hard. It’s WORK.

If writing is still the career you want to pursue I support you 100%. Making the active decision to go after your dream is the first step to your fabulous success!

You got this!

Let me know how I can help here in this short survey because I want to help you live your fabulous life doing what you love. 

The post Top 5 Steps to Realizing Your Writing Dream appeared first on Laina Turner.

Achieving Goals in 2017

I am one of those people who loves to set new goals at the beginning on the year. No matter how corny New Year’s resolutions might seem to some people. Setting new goals to achieve means a fresh start, new beginnings, a clean slate. So while I am not a fan of January weather, I am a fan of the New Year, New Year’s resolutions, and working toward my new goals.

Last year was a killer of a year. I was busy with work, I got married, I was trying to diet and work out to look good in my dress, my kid’s schedules exploded (they need their own personal uber) and I just generally had a lot on my plate.

It was a harder year than I’d expected. As much as I loved wedding week, it was by far the best event of my life; I am looking forward to not having that stress this year, but life never seems to slow down.

I know you’ve been there. Right?

Reflecting back on the year one of the things that 2016 taught me is I take on too much. I already knew this; it’s no great surprise, but I’ve never been willing to change.

There was always so much I wanted to do I was afraid to slow down. What I finally realized is that yes, there are zillion things I want to do but if I don’t take the time to enjoy what I’m able to get done then what’s the point.

My kids are 15 and 10. Five minutes ago they were toddlers. They are growing up way too fast, and I don’t want to miss out on anytime I have left with them. I want to travel and make memories with them. I want to enjoy every moment of every day for my family and me.

Life is too short not to do what makes you happy with who you love.

As I’ve contemplated this the last few months since my wedding and things started to slow down a little; I decided I WOULD make a change.

And more importantly, Stick to it this time.

To keep me focused I came up with my word for the year, well actually three words for the year.

Simple – Intentional – Consistent

I could have simplified by just leaving it at Simple. However, I can’t naturally be simple. I need to work on it. I need to be intentional and not waste time on unnecessary things and be consistent in the things I am choosing to do. Not jump around with shiny ball syndrome.

To stay Simple and Intentional, I narrowed my goals down to 3 for the year. I usually have about 25, so this was a huge improvement.

1. Become debt free except the house (this will be a huge challenge and mean a lifestyle change, but it’s doable).

2. Increase my income from Laina Turner Media (books/blog) to $10000 a month.

3. Lose 25 lbs (which I lost in 2016 but need to lose again. Don’t you hate that. It’s about a lifestyle change here too.).

The old me would have looked at these goals and think, how can I accomplish these all by February. Then get frustrated when it didn’t happen. All while picking up 15 more things to do because “I can handle it.”

The new me followed the advice I give in my Reach Your Goals ebook/workbook.

That advice is slow and steady wins the race. To create overreaching goals with realistic smaller goals in a short, manageable time frame, and be methodical and consistent.

I took those large goals and broke them down into monthly goals for January, February, and March. I refuse to worry about anything past March. I will focus on the day to day, week to week, of each month and then assess for the following month. At the end of the first 3, I will then plan the next 3 and so on. I am going to focus on each moment.

January will look like this:

Debt –pay down debt by $5000 (at least). I know that seems like a lot, but I had some side projects in Nov/Dec that I won’t get paid for until the middle of January. It’s ‘extra’ money, so I’m going to pretend I don’t have it and pay stuff off. Rather than rationalize why I worked hard and deserve a new purse or shoes.

Cut the grocery bill by better planning
Eat out less




Income – increase $500 over January 2016 with my books/blog.

Work with blog coach Helene Sula on improving my blog and creating products
Release Presley Thurman mystery #12
Focus on selling 1 t-shirt/mug logo
Improve my marketing/social media engagement




Health – lose 2lbs

Bootcamp 4 days a week
Walk twice a week
Yoga once a week (I’d love to go more, but the studio schedule and my kid’s schedules don’t mesh)

Luckily I have a partner in crime for all these workout activities. Thank GOD for Kathy!

I wrote all this out in my gorgeous, Kate Spade planner, Kate Spade New York 17-Month Large Agenda – Gold Dots[image error]. I know I’m trying not to spend, but I had to have it. Looking at it inspires me.

I normally plan my week on Sundays so when I do I will then drill down even further to get my daily activities. My boot camp instructor preachers to have all your meals planned and prepped for the week. If there is no thought involved you just do it. No matter how busy you get and she’s right. I am better when I have a plan, a focus.

There are many other things I would like to accomplish this year but they will have to be secondary. I need to focus on the most important.

I still love Marie Kondo’s book,The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing[image error]. It helped me purge and organize my closet last fall which I’m still loving. It has made my life so much easier. I want to continue the decluttering throughout the house little by little and work on keeping it cleaned and organized. It makes me feel so much better.

In that same vein, I want to work on creating a capsule wardrobe. Paring down what I still have even more and making sure all my pieces work together and I have a good variety for different occasions. I can’t wear workout clothes every day.

I am planning on taking the kids to Gulf Shoes for Spring break so need to save money for that.

I’d LOVE to take them to Europe this summer before Caden gets too old he doesn’t want to travel with his mom, but not sure that will happen. I don’t want to incur any more debt when I’m trying to pay it off.

2016 was the first year in 6 I didn’t publish a book. The stress of the year stole my creative mojo. I want to correct that in 2017, and I will be writing about my production schedule on the blog soon.

I know 2017 with still be super busy. My kids make sure of that. But I already feel calmer about the weeks ahead knowing I am going to stick to my plan.

That I will say no to anything that doesn’t relate directly to my goals or is kid related that are must do’s like coaching my daughter’s 5th-grade basketball team.

Knowing that my goals are small and completely doable.

I got this.

What do you have planned for 2017? Are you ready to kick this year’s ass?

 

The post Achieving Goals in 2017 appeared first on Laina Turner.

TRAFFIC JAM WEEKEND LINKY PARTY #75!

WELCOME TO TRAFFIC JAM WEEKEND LINKY PARTY #75!

Show us your old posts and more on Traffic Jam Weekend!

Come on in to link up, share, and learn something with us.

#trafficjamweekend

 

For any newcomers to Traffic Jam Weekend, this weekly linky party is all about linking up your old posts so you can get some new comments and traffic.

To the frequent TJW visitors, thanks for always linking up.

 

 

The bloggers bringing this fabulous party to you:

Kimberly from Being A Wordsmith | Facebook (site) | Facebook (book series) | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram | Google+

Laina from LainaTurner.com | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram | Google+

Gail from Frugal and Coupon Crazy | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram | Google+

Natasha from Epic Mommy Adventures | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram

Evelyn from Eclectic Evelyn | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram | Google+ | YouTube | Tumblr

Mari from Living in Mommywood | Twitter | Pinterest | Google+ | Bloglovin’

Reuven from Marriage-Reset | Twitter | Facebook | | Pinterest | Google+ | LinkedIn

 

These are the featured posts from Traffic Jam Weekend #74…

 

 

Kimberly chose Mason Jar Gifts by Coffee Mounds & Lipstick Clouds. “What unique gifts these are! I am notorious for waiting until the last minute to get Christmas gifts. These ideas are awesome and I will be using them this year.”

 

 

 

Reuven chose How to Blog Without Getting Bored by Amber Uninhibited. “This post is full of sensible ideas while being written in an engaging manner. In addition, the suggestions presented are well explained and seem very reasonable. There is also a hint from her introduction that she may be dealing with bipolar illness in her family. This certainly provides a unique vantage point for the author. I look forward to reading more from her.”

 
 
 
 

 

 

Mari chose How to Watch Sports Without Cable & Almost Anything Else You Want by The How-To Guru. “This was my pick for the week because after a year of being afraid to cut the cord even with all the information I finally did it and yes it’s a little getting use to but it’s worth the savings!!!”

 

 

The post with the most views was This Is What You Should Do After Publishing Your Blog Post by Mostly Blogging.

 
 

Thank you guys for sharing! Your posts have been pinned to the Traffic Jam Weekend Linky Party Pinterest board. Please grab a special Traffic Jam Weekend featured button below to display on your blog.

 

 

Just a few rules for the party…

Grab a Traffic Jam Weekend button below for your site
Link up as many of your old posts as you like below
Take some time and visit the other posts
Create some traffic jam for the hosts of this party
Share this party on social media with the hashtag #trafficjamweekend

 

 

Follow Being A Wordsmith’s board Traffic Jam Weekend Linky Party on Pinterest.*Disclaimer: Adding your link to this linky party gives permission to Being A Wordsmith and co-hosts to share your posts and pictures via social media with a link back to the original source. It also gives Being A Wordsmith and co-hosts permission to contact you via e-mail or social media for networking purposes.

 

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An InLinkz Link-up

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5 Ways to Get Out of Your Own Head

You CAN get out of your head and crush any obstacles in your way.

I have goals I want to achieve, but at times they seem crazy which makes me feel inadequate.

Do you ever feel your goals are way out of reach?

Do you have a dream, a vision, and think man if only I had a magic wand I could do this?

Do you ever get super excited about something and then doubt starts to creep in and you begin to think there’s no way you can do it. That you were crazy to even think about the possibility?

I know I’ve been there. To feel doubt is to be human.

There are always going to be obstacles in the path to your dreams. If it were easy, it wouldn’t be a dream.

More than likely the ONLY thing holding you back from all you’ve ever wanted is YOU.

Most of us are our own worst enemies. Even the most successful person on the planet has those moments of doubt when they wonder if their dreams are even possible.

To be successful and live your most happy and fabulous life you need to get out of your own head. You need to stay positive and as my boot camp instructor says, ‘have that can do attitude!’ Though I will be the first to admit at 5:30 am my attitude is rarely CAN DO and sometimes I want to punch her in the face. But I don’t because she really is a lovely person and I completely agree with her point – half the battle is just showing up!

So what do you do if you’re in that funk of thinking you’re not enough, and you can’t do it?

You have to actively TAKE OUT THE TRASH.

Your head trash, so its’ festering negativity no longer has any place in your mind.

One negative thought can spiral you out of control into an entire mindset of negativity. You can’t let that happen and derail you so I thought I’d share with you some tips I use to push that negativity out and bring the positivity in.

1. Affirmations – I can’t stress enough how important daily affirmations are to your mental health. You know that saying, ‘fake it until you make it?’ It can be easier with a dose of positivity in the morning. I have audio affirmations by Louisa Hay that I absolutely love, I read a Christian devotional each morning, and have other various books and apps that I turn to depending on my mood. You might not believe you are awesome, but you absolutely should keep saying it until you do. Because you ARE! You just need to BELIEVE it!

2. Being Grateful – It can be easy to focus on all the things you don’t have or haven’t accomplished, and while we all have bad days, weeks, months, it’s easier to focus on the bad and forget all the good. Which I usually find outweighs the bad, it just doesn’t always seem that way. I write down what I’m grateful for each day. Some days are easier than others, but this process makes me realize that I have so many awesome things in my life that I shouldn’t get so caught up in what hasn’t happened yet. Because look at all I’ve accomplished thus far in life. Sometimes we get so focused on the next we don’t take the time to savor the past and use it as momentum to push us forward.

3. Have an accountability partner – That friend who can pick you up when you’re feeling down. The person who can give you the kick in the pants when needed and tell you to go get ‘em even when you don’t want to. It’s good to share your goals with someone or many someones. Nothing wrong with telling everyone you meet what your big goals are. In fact, you should. When you talk about your goals not only do they become more real, but you have people to share your journey with.

4. Listen to your favorite song – music has a way of motiving me like nothing else in a short time frame. Like in the 4 minutes 32 seconds the radio edit version of It Takes Two by Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock last. That song is a guaranteed miracle worker for me. We all have the certain song or two guaranteed to put a smile on our face regardless of what’s going on. So make sure they’re on your phone so you can plug in those headphones and jam out.

5. Take a beat – stop thinking about what’s got you freaked out and relax. Grab a latte and a good book. Take a nap or go for a walk. Anything that will distract you and take your mind off obsessing over what’s getting you down. Sometimes we are so focused on what we want that it’s all consuming and that’s not healthy. Strong focus YES obsessing NO.

Being happy, being positive, being motivated have one thing in common.

They ALL TAKE WORK! But you can do it.

I’d love to hear from you about how you get out of your own head and stay positive.

The post 5 Ways to Get Out of Your Own Head appeared first on Laina Turner.

7 Reasons Why Adulting is Overrated!

Do you ever feel like you don’t want to adult anymore? I do. It’s so overrated. I would take childhood over this any day!

Who’s with me?!

Isn’t it crazy that when you’re a kid, you can’t wait to become an adult? You think life will be such a breeze. You can do what you want. No one will tell you what to do.

FREEDOM!

Life will be easy peasy.

And then when you finally realize it’s not all it’s cracked up to be and you want no part of it. It’s too late.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my life, and I love my family. I am truly blessed and couldn’t imagine my world any better but still. Adulting is HARD! And no one will let me quit!

So for fun, I thought I’d list the reasons I find adulting hard and get your take on it.

So here we go!

1. Being responsible – not only making sure I do what I have to do but everyone else around me gets their stuff done. The days of ONLY being responsible for myself, and barely that at times, was so much less stressful. The biggest issue was finding my shoes and making sure my socks matched (my mother was a fanatic about that) or remembering to turn in my homework. A far cry from today where I had to sign a permission slip, change the bus widget so my daughter could ride home with someone else, email my son’s teacher back, coordinate rides to basketball practice, and figure out what we were having for dinner when I’m not even going to be there.

2. Metabolism slows down – remember when you could eat a Big Mac meal as a snack and still fit into pants with a waistband? Or a bag of Doritos and ice cream. Maybe even in the same sitting. I do. And that was way back when Big Mac’s were bigger (seriously, what’s happened to the size people). Now I have to work out daily just to burn off the calories in my sparkling water. Don’t even ask me what I have to do to work off a spinach leaf.

3. You need to pay bills – it was so much easier to just beg mom & dad for toys or when I got older a $20 (now they find it strange when I do). Even when I was out on my own, there wasn’t the pressure of a mortgage and car payment. Back before cell phones, it was all about beer money. Or rather 2 liters Bartle’s & James money. You know how many 2-liters you could get for $5 back in the day.

4. You have kids – I admit that kids are pretty awesome. Most of the time. Like when they’re sleeping. Or at grandmas. But the rest of the time I wonder WTF I was thinking. They require feeding and care. And now that mine are older they need a full-time chauffeur and activities director. And I do this for FREE. FREE!

5. You have to think about grown-up stuff like retirement and investing – nothing worse than lying awake at night thinking you might be working until you’re 80. Paying insurance and saving money for those rainy days when I really want to drop $1500 on a Louis Vuitton bag. #lifeishard

6. You’re more accountable for your bad ideas – there’s no ‘chalk it up to being young’ when you’re in your 40’s or “she didn’t know better’. You actually have to use those critical thinking skills and know there are repercussions for all your actions. And take my advice, Jagermeister is NEVER a good idea no matter what age you are. Just saying.

7. You can’t watch Netflix all day – it is so unfair that there wasn’t Netflix when I was in my early 20’s. Though I may have never finished college if there had been. Binge watching TV is the best thing ever. I could have watched a lot more with my part-time waitressing gig than I can now. Think of all the shows I have missed out on because I can’t devote the equivalent of full time ours to TV watching. Travesty.

8. Presents are practical – thanks mom for the socks. No more Stretch Armstrong or Easy Bake Oven. The first year I moved out on my own my parents gave me a box of canned goods from Santa (ok, I admit that was a pretty cool gift since I was broke from paying bills). The party was truly over.

I know that’s 8, but I was too lazy to change the title. Yes, I know not responsible of me (#1) but consider it a bonus.

I could have kept going, but I didn’t have time to write about the 100 more things on my list, plus it would interfere with my Netflix watching.

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A Day In The Life Of Trixie Pristine

In this short story prequel, Trixie and her friends Berklie and Sophie, considered themselves typical thirty something females until someone turned up murdered in their newly opened bookstore/wine bar. They thought they would be living out their dream in their new shop not trying to catch a killer. Who killed Sylvia and why? Or was one of them the intended target?

Purchase the ebook now for$.99. Available for Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and iTunes. Also available in paperback and audio formats.

You can check out this book and then see what else Trixie has in store with Books Aren’t Just For Reading and Cupcakes Aren’t Just For Eating.

The post A Day In The Life Of Trixie Pristine appeared first on Laina Turner.

3 Reasons Why You Should Blog as an Author

Blogging is an important marketing tool for an author and I wanted to share with you my top 3 reasons why I feel every author should have a blog.

I know not every writer out there will agree with me on the subject of blogging, but that’s ok. That’s the cool thing about opinions. Everyone has one.

I just know from personal experience that blogging has helped me tremendously in my writing career. It’s helped me grow an audience and become better at both marketing and writing.

Non-fiction authors have it much easier in my opinion when it comes to blogging. You already have a platform with whatever topic your book is centered around and you can easily expand on that through blogging.

For fiction authors, it’s not as clear-cut, but I feel it IS just as important if not more.

If you just have a book or two hanging out there blowing in the wind, there is nothing to anchor those books to YOU, the author. You want to connect with your readers.

Reason #1: Blog to Increase Your Following

All writers have a following. That’s how small potatoes grow into big potatoes. That following needs to grow so you keep gaining more and more people who want to read your work. If you grow your readership as you continue to write and publish books, the selling process gets easier. Think about it. If you have a mailing list of 100 people who are interested in your books, that’s 100 opportunities to directly entice people to buy. If you work over the next year to grow that to 1000, that’s 900 more chances. Wouldn’t you like to have 900 more chances to sell? Wouldn’t that make selling easier??

The answer is a big fat YES!

You can do that by blogging.

Reason #2: Connect with Your Readers

With a blog – your home – people can stop by (and not even call first), check out what you’ve been up to, and tell their friends to come over for a visit. A blog is a conversation, the cocktail party, the summer bar-be-que. Virtual happenings that allow you to invite people in have fun and see what you’re all about. If they like what they see, you might all become fast friends.

In the day of reality TV, we all have a little voyeur in all of us. If there is someone we like most of us want to learn more about them. Blogging is a great way to let your fans get a glimpse of your personal life. That creates a connection and loyalty between you and them. And don’t try to say you don’t have fans. We all have them. I have 6. And 3 aren’t even related to me.

Stephen King has a Facebook page where he posts like a REAL PERSON imagine that!

Give the fans what they want! http://ctt.ec/4esjn+ #creativewriting #creativebusiness #ladyboss
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Reason #3: Create a Platform

Having a platform just takes the blogging up a notch. Going a step further than giving the glimpse into your everyday life. As glamorous as that might (ha! – if you count being tired all the time glamorous)

I love Jane Friedman’s definition on platform in her post (you can read the full post here where she said: “by far the easiest explanation is: an ability to sell books because of who you are or who you can reach.”

Think of all the reality stars over the last 10 years who now can promote and market just about anything and people just eat it up. I’m not saying all these products aren’t fabulous, but that’s not why they’re selling. They’re selling because of the fame the person has. Musicians and actors don’t just play music and act anymore. They have huge social media followings and endorse products. It’s a package deal.

That’s why besides just writing blog posts on my latest fashion or cocktail I also write on writing, blogging, and the business of both. It gives me another edge, another aspect to write about and gain a following. Personally, I love working on different types of things and for me having a diverse selection of products keeps my creative juices going. That might not work for everyone, which is fine.

DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU!

If you only take one thing from this post, take that!

It’s always a mistake to try and do what someone else is doing. Be yourself. Be the original you! That’s the best one!

Having a loyal following is what can move you from non-existence to best-seller-dom. Marketing yourself IS as important as what you write. You can’t have one without the other and reach the success you want (obviously, it’s not true in every case but for most of us normal folk it is).

I blog because I want to connect with readers, potential readers, and just plain ole’ fun people even if they never read any of my books I still want them to stop by.

And don’t just take my word for it. Read a few posts by women I admire and follow, Jane Friedman and Kristen Lamb.

Should You Focus On Your Writing Or Your Platform

The Art and Business of Reader Engagement and Author Platform

When Is It Time to Start Building an Author Platform?

I will say that if you hate the idea of blogging don’t do it. It will be obvious to your readers. You need to love what you do. Enjoy life. There is no one way to become a profitable author.

The post 3 Reasons Why You Should Blog as an Author appeared first on Laina Turner.

That’s Not My Suitcase – a Sterling Towne mystery

Sterling Towne decided to take a last minute vacation to a sunny paradise to cheer herself up after a divorce. When the airline misplaces her luggage, she thinks it’s just a typical airline snafu until she gets her luggage back only to find out it’s not hers. Rather the suitcase belongs to someone who thought it a good idea to transport a gold Buddha statue via commercial airlines.

Sterling turns the statue into hotel security for safe keeping but then her room is ransacked, and she’s sure there was someone following her in town. Does the owner of the statue think she still has it? But if so, why not just ask? She’s getting nervous, and even her new friend Steve thinks she might be in danger.

Is she? Or is her imagination just working over time?

Purchase now for $.99. Available for Kindle, Nook, iTunes, and Kobo.

Happy Reading!

 

 

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What’s In A Tree?

Thanksgiving is over and it’s only a few short weeks to Christmas.

Can you believe it? The home stretch of 2016 is here.

One of the widely observed Christmas traditions is the putting up of a festive tree.

I love Christmas Trees.

Who doesn’t?

Growing up  I always knew what the Christmas Tree meant to my family and what I’ve passed down to my children  but when writing this post I thought I would use the ever useful Google and see what other meanings of the Christmas Tree were out there.

In my search I found a couple things I found of interest I wanted to share:

Evergreens were thought to represent the ever-burning fire of life. The color green signified the life force through the year. Eventually decorative balls represented the planets, while the star that radiates from the top reminds us of Bethlehem. The entire tree and decorations teach us that the universe is witness to the Incarnation.

Red at Christmas reminds us of the fire of the Spirit. Green affirms nature, and the ongoing life. And in the Incarnation, Spirit unites with nature.

In fact, the Christmas tree symbolizes to us a further appreciation of Jesus’ birth. It is a means of retelling a miracle in a colorful and beautiful way so that we can further understand and appreciate Jesus’ entering our world. Read More.

Pagan lore indicates the time between December 25 until about early-mid January are some of the coldest days of the year.  It was believed evil spirits were at their strongest during these months.  To thwart the nasties, evergreens were brought into the home as symbols of protection.  These evergreens were alight with candles, the idea here was to “light up” the darkest, coldest conditions and thereby shoo away naughty spirits.   It wasn’t until about the nineteenth century that we find Christianity absorbing the bright, cheery symbolism of the Christmas tree. Read More.

Regardless of your beliefs, the thing I enjoyed about reading many, many different symbolic reasons for the Christmas tree is because it shows how meaningful things can be and how we treasure something to believe in. Even something as simple as a sparkly tree.

I love the making memories aspect of the holidays. It’s about the people and the traditions. What’s your favorite Christmas season tradition?

 

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Accessories & Alibis – a cozy lit mystery

 Accessories & Alibis, Presley Thurman Chick Lit Mystery #10.

Presley buys failing retail boutique, Silk, and on the first day of business ownership the store manager Roxanne is arrested for murdering her boyfriend. Roxanne insists she’s innocent and asks for Presley’s help.

Presley believes her and tries to help while getting the boutique up and running just to find out someone has been paying themselves from company funds? Who is stealing from Silk and is there more to Rod and Roxanne’s relationship than meets the eye?

Purchase the ebook for $.99. Available for Kindle, Nook, iTunes and Kobo.

 

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