Laura Teagan's Blog, page 27

Behind The Scenes

Welcome, welcome, welcome. I am so excited to have everyone here. With just a week to go until the release of my book, The Assassin, today seems like the perfect day to share a little peek behind the scenes. I have to admit, I borrowed this idea from Kristen and Nicole, so be sure to check out their posts as well.

Without further ado, here’s a look behind the scenes.

WHERE DO YOU WRITE?

Mostly, I try to write at my desk. Because I’m in school and move a few times a year (to school, home for the summer, back again, etc), I have to be pretty adaptable to writing anywhere. My desk is my favorite spot though.

WHEN DO YOU NORMALLY WRITE? NIGHT, AFTERNOON, OR MORNING?

Oooh, this is a tough one. During the summer when I was working from home all day, I wrote in the morning and mid afternoon. Now that I’m back at school and my schedule is more chaotic, there’s no telling when I may write. With NaNoWriMo beginning again, I’m trying to get into the habit of waking up earlier to write and set that schedule.

IS THERE A CERTAIN SNACK YOU LIKE TO EAT WHILE WRITING?

Not particularly. I do always have a drink, though. If it’s not water, it’s Dr Pepper.

HOW OFTEN DO YOU WRITE A NEW NOVEL?

Well….I’ve been working on The Assassin off and on for eight years, but I’ve written a few other books in the middle…. I don’t have an answer for that one.

DO YOU LISTEN TO MUSIC WHILE YOU WRITE?

Sometimes. This is going to sound really strange, but I actually listen to news on TV while I write. It’s mindless enough that I can use it as background noise. An actual TV show makes me feel like I need to pay attention, but with news, I don’t have to listen. I can always read the news later.

WHAT DO YOU WRITE ON? LAPTOP OR PAPER?

Back in eighth grade when I started writing The Assassin, I wrote on paper. Now, I write exclusively on my laptop, 95% of that is in Scrivener. I do occasionally use my iPad to write scenes if I’m out without my laptop, and then I’ll use Evernote on my iPad.

IS THERE A SPECIAL RITUAL YOU HAVE BEFORE OR AFTER YOU WRITE?

You mean besides waste half an hour on social media? That would be my big crutch. Social media. I also love to spend time on my blogs before I write. I’m trying to cut out all these distractions before writing and push them off to be an after writing ritual.

WHAT DO YOU DO TO GET INTO THE MOOD TO WRITE?

I don’t think I do anything. Eventually, if I just force myself to write long enough (maybe a couple hundred words an hour), I get it into it and it’ll happen. The problem is having enough time to force myself to get into it. So, I force myself to write. That’s all.

WHAT IS ALWAYS NEAR THE PLACE YOU WRITE?

A drink. My phone (that carries all my notes about writing and plot). My phone also has Pinterest, where I have boards for my books, including The Assassin, and other books I hope to write someday.

DO YOU HAVE A REWARD SYSTEM FOR YOUR WORD COUNT?

Nope. I’m not a big self-rewarder. I know that sounds bad, but it’s true. I’m a person that just keeps going and going. I don’t stop until I’m about to pass out. If anything, it would just be the ability to get a Route 44 Vanilla Dr Pepper from Sonic, but that would be it.

IS THERE ANYTHING ABOUT YOUR WRITING PROCESS THAT OTHERS MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT?

I’m thinking way far ahead. Right now, I more or less have a lot of the Cassie Morgan Mysteries planned out, and I’m already thinking about spin-off books. Now, most of that stuff isn’t set in stone, but I still have very loose ideas about what’s going on in those later books. But, of course, right now, I’m focused on the release of The Assassin, and writing Double Played. 

 

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Social Writer: Pinterest

I’ve talked in the past about how Pinterest can help authors with plotting, but Pinterest can do a lot more for authors. Since deciding to publish The Assassin under a pen name, I’ve created a new social media account for Laura Teagan on every platform.

Let me be honest, for the Ginger & Co. brand, Pinterest is by far my favorite and most popular platform, but I don’t feel like I ever took to a specific strategy to pinning.

For Laura Teagan, I created some pretty specific boards for different types of writing – plotting, general craft, editing, etc. I also had some story boards from my first Pinterest account that I added Laura Teagan to, and I’ve been pinning a lot to my TA board.

Because Pinterest is so visual, I feel like there’s a lot more room to have fun on Pinterest. I love discovering new things, and that’s what Pinterest is – a visiual search engine.

Looking to use Pinterest as an author and writer? #socialwriter
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Pinterest now has this “smart feed” that shows you pins based on what it considers to be a “good pinner.” To be a good pinner, you want to have repins and pin content that’s popular. For a craft stand point (creating story boards), this isn’t all that critical, you should have fun with that.

But for building a following, you need to share content. There’s some great blogs about writing that you can share from (I can only hope mine is one of them, right?), and this is really where you get noticed.

When it comes to writing, people are always looking for advice and techniques to try. By sharing pins that cover these topics, you’re going to have them discover you, and follow you.

Another fun thing is that Pinterest has recently launched “buyable” pins. I haven’t looked into it too much, but I think it would be really cool to eventually link my books up to that and have people be able to purchase a book on Pinterest.

If there’s a social media platform that you can just have fun on and not necessarily “Follow stragedgy,” I’d say it’s Pinterest. So, go, create some boards with advice, create some boards with plot ideas, and have fun.

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Coming Soon to an E-Reader Near You

Yep, totally just tried to act like the movie announce guy, but it’s time that we let the news out! After months of delays, years of sweat, tears, and a little bit of blood, it’s time for a book to come out.

Yes, The Assassin is coming out soon. Like, in two weeks soon. November 10th! There’s a few details that I do want to cover here before the release day.

The Assassin will only be available on Kindle. Once the sequel is out, both books will be available on all platforms. You will be able to order a signed copy of the book (paperback only). If you want to get one of the first paperback copies, fill out this form so you can get it soon.

For more information about The Assassin, Double Played (the sequel), and more book news, be sure to sign up for #TeamTAB (this is different than the Book Club).

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Social Writer: Instagram

I’ll be honest, out of the big social media platforms Instagram is probably my least favorite. I feel like I never have any cool photos to post, and when I first launched my Laura Teagan instagram account (and even to this day), I sometimes forget to post on it. Because that account is so specific (books and writing related), I’m having to come up with creative ways to share news. Either way, here’s what I’ve learned in the two months of having the Laura Teagan Instagram account.

1. The Writer Community is super nice. Most of the people I’ve followed have followed me back and often like my photos. I feel like it’s much smaller and close-knit compared to the blogging community my blog account is involved with.

2. People Love Sneak Peeks of Your Writing. And I’m not talking just pictures of your manuscript or computer screen, though you can use those. If you look at my instagram account, the first three pictures are all looks at what I’m working on for the book. 

3. Hashtags. Hashtags. A few of mine include book hashtags (#theassassinbook, #tabdoubleplayed), #writersofinstagram, and #amwriting. I know I need to add some more, and I fully intend to come back and make a whole list of them for later on.

5 Thoughts about Instagram for Writers.
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4. Don’t Be Afraid to be Proud. On my Ginger & Instagram account, I’ve always felt a little weird about sharing book news. Here, I’m able to brag a little about all the hard work the past eight years have brought. Yes, I shared the book cover on both accounts, but I keep most of the book stuff on this account.

5. Have Fun. If you’re like me, you may not always like Instagram, but you need to find a way to make it fun!

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Editing Etiquette

Today, I’m super excited to have Ginger & Books’ first guest post, by Jami Montgomery. Jami just happens to be the Editor for The Assassin.

Writing and editing go hand-in-hand. If you’re a writer of any kind, whether you’re a blogger, a novel writer, or even a songwriter, chances are you’ve had to deal with editing. But not everyone understands that the abilities to “Self-edit,” as well playing nice with your editor are essential to the writing industry.

​Self-editing is the process of reading through your own work and fixing as much as you can. Wrong word choices, spelling errors, and run-on sentences should all be focused on during this stage of the writing process. There are plenty of tools out there to help with word choice and spelling: google, autocorrect, dictionaries, and your writing software of choice all offer definitions and spell check. There’s really no excuse for misspelled words once your writing makes its way to the editor.

​Now, I know for some people, self-editing is a challenge (Like Laura). That’s why, when I edit for someone, I try to give tricks and tips to make self-editing easier. For instance, reading your book aloud to yourself will help fix flow, make dialogue sound more natural, and help you find run-on sentences. Reading aloud to someone else can help, too, but sometimes writers are too nervous about their own work to do that, and that’s perfectly okay! The most important thing is to make the book as good as you can get it on your own before you send it off to an editor. It will save you (and the editor) a lot of headaches.

The second ability that comes in handy, playing nice with your editor, is sometimes more difficult than self-editing. Mainly because a lot of writers believe they don’t actually need any help. In the past couple of weeks, I have come across several people who ask for my help, then throw all of my suggestions back in my face. That’s a big no-no when someone is trying to help you. Especially when someone is taking time away from their writing and their family to help you for free.

Sometimes, editors and authors butt heads. Some simple Editing Etiquette on both sides can make…
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Remember this, writers: If someone is taking time out of their busy life to help you out, just say thank you if you don’t agree with what they’re saying. Don’t insult them (this happened to me three times in a week), tell them you’re going to consult a real professional (twice in the same week) and that you don’t edit because you don’t think it’s important (yes, someone actually told me this).

For one thing, I am a professional editor. I do all of my own editing for the books I self-publish, and I edit for friends who self-publish as well. While I may miss one or two things occasionally, as is to be expected when you read a novel so many times that you practically have it memorized, I don’t appreciate it when people assume that just because I’m not an international bestseller, or just because I don’t hold a creative writing degree, that my work isn’t “on par” with what they’re wanting.

Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like these days, people just want to hear “Your work is perfect! It needs no work!” They ask for editing help, but they don’t actually want you to do any editing. And I don’t understand that. The best reviews, and the best critiques, are the ones that give helpful advice on how to make your story better. Especially if you’re just starting out on a writing website like Wattpad or Inkitt and you don’t have a lot of practice under your belt. Thinking back to my inkpop days, I was always ecstatic when I got a review that taught me new comma rules or gave me better word choices. Nowadays, everyone wants to be the next big bestseller, but they don’t want to do the work to get there.

​What I’m trying to say is that editing is important. I edited for our dear friend Laura here, and while our edits didn’t always match up, we always worked out a way that made us both happy with the style. We were very civil about it. No name calling, no throwing “I’m going to ask a real professional” in either of our faces. And that’s the way editing a book with someone should be. There should be a sense of comradery there, an understanding that both of you just want the book to be the best that it can be.

Which doesn’t mean writing a first draft and considering yourself finished. I feel sorry for the people who missed out on inkpop. It was a great community filled with people who wanted to succeed but who also wanted to help you succeed. It was a family that grew together, finding our styles and reading into the late night hours to help out friends. Wattpad, Inkitt, even WriteOn, are all missing that vibe, for the most part. (Of course there are exceptions) I’m so thankful that I still have my Inkiesaround to help me continue to grow in my craft and to encourage me to keep going.

 

Jami Montgomery is a twenty-something writer from small town South Texas. She writes in a wide range of genres, including sci-fi, historical fantasy, supernatural, and, most recently, contemporary. She has two published works: Knight’s End, a NA historical romance, released in 2012, and Otherworldly, an upper YA supernatural ghost story, released in 2013. In her free time, Jami loves making cupcakes, playing with her dogs, reading, and beating her fiancé at video games. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter. 

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Social Writer: Twitter

Twitter, oh Twitter, where do I begin? It seems like marketers and “public figures” (I use that term loosely) love it, but other people don’t seem to quite understand where to begin with it.

As a writer, here’s the basics of where you should begin to grow.

1. Bio and Header. I talked about this in the branding page, but make sure you have a bio and a header. You want consistency with this across all platforms. For your bio, you should include what you do (write), your book’s name (preferably a hashtag, too), and a link to your mailing list. I’ll talk about mailing lists at a later date, but you want a mailing list.

2. Follow People You Know. You’re going to know people before you enter the twitter-verse. Whether they’re friends, readers, other writers, they’re going to be the key to finding new people to follow and connect with. Yes, a following is always nice with twitter, and as you grow, you won’t be able to connect and have a personal relationship with everyone online, but you need to be able to reach out to people and connect with them.

3. Twitter Chats. I’ve written about twitter chats before, but I can’t tell you how much twitter chats have helped my twitter game. This is a huge way to create community, not just following.

Twitter can be a great weapon in your social media arsenal. But as a writer, do you know where…
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4. Share Content from Others. Yes, this may mean investing in a program to schedule stuff out, but this is so worth it. Sharing content from others is the way of reaching out to people online. It also looks good when it’s not always about you. I love to share articles about writing, self-publishing, marketing, etc. Things related to my audience of writers and readers.

5. Tweets Have Short Lives. Tweets have a short life-span, so it’s okay to tweet a lot. Obviously you don’t want to tweet every single minute of the day, but even having a tweet every hour and a half is okay. As long as you share relevant content, questions, thoughts, it’s okay.

Twitter is a fast paced social-media platform, and it can seem hard to navigate, but stick to meeting new people, and making new friends, and the rest will just happen.

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How TV Shows Can Help Plot Your Series

I am a series girl, through and through. I love series and the chance to really understand characters. The downside of being a series writer is that it can be hard to plot out a whole series.

Trust me, I’m in this boat right now. Right now, my book series (The Cassie Morgan Series – yes, I’m lame when it comes to series names, and yes, I did change her last name) is probably going to be about ten books. The nice thing about indie publishing is that if I feel like the series won’t be that long, I can end it, if I want it to be longer, I can keep going.

Either way, plotting series can be hard, but thankfully, there’s something you can use as a resource for plotting that series: TV shows.

Think about it, TV shows are basically book series being played out on TV. TV shows may even inspire you, and you may find that you pick up bits and pieces of the show and see them show up in your series. A few weeks ago, I had a big realization while watching my favorite TV show, Castle. 

As a quick synopsis of an eight season show, Castle is about a writer (Rick Castle) and a cop (Kate Beckett). They solve murders together, and Castle has a thing for Beckett.

Looking a bit deeper, one of the overarching story themes of the show is the murder of Beckett’s murder, which was originally labeled as an assault gone wrong. Over the show’s history, Castle encourages Beckett to take another look at her mother’s murder, and we learn that Beckett has struggled to not let that consume her. She put her mother’s murder behind her because if she kept digging, she knew she would never be able to live her life.

TV shows can be great study guides to pacing a book series.
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This story with her mother’s murder is a story that has taken eight seasons to evolve and develop, which is a great example of sprinkling details throughout a series. In my book series, Cassie is a foster child who doesn’t know what happened to her parents (she knows her mom died, but that’s it). Later in the series, there are events that’ll happen to send Cassie on this journey to discover more about her mom.

Overarching themes in a series like this help tie the books (or TV shows) together and bring a sense of unity. Another one: The Blacklist. The Blacklist is about working with an FBI agent working with a criminal to bring down other criminals. It’s a very loose idea, but it’s one that shows up in my book series, too.

This isn’t a post saying you should steal from TV shows, don’t do that. This is a post about how you can identify similar themes through your series and TV shows (there will never be an original idea, that’s just the way the world goes around), and how you can see the pacing in these shows to help plot your novel.

With large storylines, don’t devout a whole book to just that big storyline, unless it’s the end and you’re wrapping it up, but some of the best overarching ideas make little appearances throughout each book.

The next time you’re watching your favorite TV show, take some time and think about the series overall and if it has any similarities to your book. TV shows (especially longer ones) can be great study guides for pacing that book series.

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Social Writer: Facebook

Facebook is a bit of a sucker these days. It’s one of the most used social media platforms out there, but when it comes to Facebook pages, that’s absolutely pointless. Facebook is a pay-to-play platform, which means if you want people to actually see your posts oyou have to pay for advertising.

Before we get any further, let me cover some basic Facebook lingo (if this stuff confused you, don’t worry, it confuses a lot of people):

Profile: This is what most people have. You add your photos, your basic information, and your friends here. Your timeline is where your profile is at.

Page: This is what you like. So when you go and like your latest author, you’re probably “liking” their page. Pages are designed to give people a place to have a following while still maintaining their privacy. If you don’t want random strangers friending you on Facebook, you’ll want to set up an author page.

Setting up your author page is simple, and you can follow this tutorial to set up your page. Once you get there, you’ll need to add a profile picture, a cover photo, and invite your friends to like the page.

But before you set it up, we need to decide, is it worth it anymore? With an average of 5% (if that much) of your “fan base” seeing a post, you need to have thousands, if not millions, of people liking your page to see a lot of outcome. So, in a lot of ways, it may not seem like it’s worth the effort.

And it’s really not, but this is Facebook, and you want to have a place for potential readers (and buyers) to find you. So, set on up. Your best bet is to go ahead and use a scheduling service. Yes, it may feel less personal to use a scheduling service, but when five people are seeing your posts, is it that important?

You want to update your Facebook page, but don’t put any time into it that’s more than necessary. Facebook is going to have to change it’s ways sooner or later when people start ditching it and the whole system begins to collapse on itself.

Having a face on the platform is good, but don’t throw all your social media credit at it.

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Refresh

Last week was a big week for the book and I, at least on the public front. I’m hoping to finish the final round of edits this week, too. Y’all this is getting real.

If you missed my interview with Kristen on She’s Novel last week, you missed a pretty special gem, so I figured I’d share it today, along with some other fun tidbits. 

Cassie Dreandry is one of the brightest young stars in the FBI. Her latest assignment? Investigating Connor Anders, a rogue agent who is considered a living legend to some.

After a run-in with Anders goes wrong, Cassie is given a unique opportunity. Anders offers her a deal, hoping to keep the FBI off his own back. If he helps Cassie catch a serial killer known as The Assassin, she’ll stop investigating him. But working with on the other side of crime has consequences, and soon Cassie finds herself on The Assassin’s radar.

Now, Cassie and Anders must locate the killer and bring him down, all while keeping their partnership a secret and hiding Cassie so she isn’t The Assassin’s next victim.

I’m so excited for this upcoming month because there’s so much going on with this book. If you want to get some exclusive extras before the book comes out, be sure to sign up for #TeamTAB.

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Laura Teagan

Well, hello October! I can’t believe there’s only three months (if you count this month) in the year. So many changes are happening in my life right now, some are a natural transition in life, and some are changes I’m creating and causing. It’s awfully exciting.

Back in August, I wrote a post about , and then kind of dropped at the end that I was adopting a pen name. Since then, there’s been a few questions, so I wanted to take some time to talk about what brought on the pen name, after eight years of attaching my name to my book.

The biggest reason? My last name.

The second biggest reason? Seperation between the “Ginger &” Brand and my author brand. For a long time, I tried to hold them together, but they just didn’t work.

Ginger & Books is in a unique position because it’s a blog about writing, but it’s stsill in the “Ginger &” brand. If there’s anything that bridges Ginger & with Laura Teagan, it’s this blog.

When I decided to adopt the pen name, I stuck it to my books, but not my blog, and that’s okay. I’m not making it a big secret that Laura Toeniskoetter and Laura Teagan are the same person. But it’ll be a lot easier for people to find Laura Teagan on Amazon or Barnes & Noble, than it would be to find Laura Toeniskoetter (even I forget how to spell it every now and then – I blame thyroid brain). It’s part of a marketing strategy, having a name that people can at least guess on spelling.

I wasn’t worried about changing my name on the blogs because typically, people aren’t finding Ginger & Co. or Ginger & Books by searching for Laura Toeniskoetter. People find the blogs by searching for the blogs.

Hopefully, people will find the book(s) eventually because they are a fan of the author, Laura Teagan. The Ginger & brand is a brand built on the content, and almot the persona. Not to say that my books won’t be built on content, but the person and the name feel much more in the front for my author brand.

Splitting these two major things in my life is hard, I run two social media accounts for everthing, because I’m trying to keep them separate, as much as they sometimes run together. But, in essence, Laura Teagan is Laura Toeniskoetter.

I also suggest that you go check out She’s Novel today for some awesome Laura Teagan things. Okay? Go check!

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