Lori Calabrese on Bugs, Books, and Blog Tours

Fellow Indie Debut author Lori Calabrese recently launched her first children's book The Bug That Plagued the Entire Third Grade. A humorous story told in rhyme about a boy, Matt, who pries a bug off the grill of his dad's car and wants to enter it in his school's "Bug-a-Fair" (love it!). Then he catches another bug, a cold bug. Matt's mom wants him to stay home, but how can he when it's fair day! When she relents, it leads to one hilarious day.

Recommended for grades 1-3, and especially for kids who think bugs are cool. Lori also provides several educational tools on her website for teachers and parents.

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First off, Lori, congratulations on your book launch! I hope the book is generating a lot of buzz (okay, I'm SURE I'm not the only one to come up with that pun).

LOL. Thanks so much for having me, Danika. Hopefully The Bug that Plagued the Entire Third Grade is creating a buzz! One of the great things about writing a bug book is all the creative ways you can get the word out!

I'm sure! Bugs can lead to all kinds of fun activities and lessons, as well. I'm sure it will be a popular book with elementary school teachers. So, how is your blog tour going? Or your launch in general? Any delicious moments?

The first blog tour went great. It was fun to buzz by fellow Indie-Debut member blogs, share how The Bug came about, read what everyone thought about the book, and we had some fun giveaways. I really enjoyed doing the guest posts and we had some great ones—talking about the current picture book problem, POD publishing, and the positives to group marketing. I'm grateful to everyone who left comments and participated in the discussion.

My second blog tour kicks off the first week of November, so I'm sure we'll have some delicious moments from that one as well. You can find the schedule at my website: http://loricalabrese.com/newsandevent... and I hope to see some familiar faces! The launch in general has been a little crazy. I knew things would heat up when the book came out, but no matter how prepared and organized an author is, I'm convinced the list of to-dos can be difficult to tame.

I hear you. Publishing the book is the easy part! It's everything that follows that's the challenge.

I'm loving every minute of it, though, and I'm especially looking forward to my virtual book launch party that kicks off this Monday at http://thebugbooklaunch.blogspot.com and lasts all week. There's lots of fun stuff planned from giveaways, reading deleted stanzas from the book, seeing how I draw inspiration while writing, games, quizzes, crafts and did I mention giveaways?

Make sure you announce your giveaway on GoodReads.com. They have a group that is solely about giveaways.

Indie Debut is all about the promotion of debut authors from small presses. I was speaking with a retired children's book publisher the other day and we agreed that the growing number of self-published books and emerging small presses, coupled with inexpensive marketing tools, makes it difficult to get "heard." What advice would you give to new authors about getting your book (and your face) seen?

It really is a time when the book publishing world in general is being shaken up, some good, some bad. Due to the tough competition with the big publishers, we have seen the number of self-published and small-press authors rise. Frankly, I love to see opportunities like these available for writers to see their work in print, but since these authors don't have the big marketing machine behind them, it can be difficult to get "heard." That's where authors need to get those creative juices flowing and think outside the box!

I always say as authors, we're not just marketing our books, we're also marketing our brand, which is us the writer. That's why we need to get that website and blog going early and start networking with fellow writers and hopefully, your target audience. When your book does come out, hopefully you'll have established a platform and can take advantage of inexpensive marketing tools such as a blog tour, e-mail marketing, newsletters, social media, reaching out to indie bookstores, attending festivals and events, and holding school and library visits. The list goes on and don't be afraid to come up with your own ideas.

Have you had to make adjustments as you learned along the way?

This whole publication journey has been one big learning experience. For an author, it's not just about the writing. There's so much more involved and aspects such as marketing and speaking engagements are a business in itself. I'm always looking for tips and tricks of the trade that will make the journey a lot easier, but I've definitely learned that you have to be flexible and open to new ideas.

You've really embraced social media and have an enviable ability to navigate it. Does this come naturally? Did you have a mentor or specific resources? Who taught you to create websites? (Lori is our webmaster over at Indie Debut 2010)

Thanks so much, Danika. I always like to say that my master plan to take over the world is coming to fruition! I like to think that some of my television production experience has helped in the marketing department, but when it came time to embrace social media, I just took lots and lots and lots of time to figure it all out. And there's A LOT to figure out. I didn't have a mentor, it's just been me spending lots of time (did I say lots of time?) setting up my blog, learning Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc…

You just have to take one day at a time, and set a new task to conquer each day. It can be overwhelming, but if you take it step by step, you'll be amazed at what you can accomplish.

Do you have a typical writing day or ritual? How do you get yourself to the page?

Lori Calabrese and typical do NOT belong in the same sentence! I wish I was a methodical writer who had a dedicated time to write, but none of my days are typical. Frankly, I love that though. It keeps me on my toes. With a 5 year old and 3 year old at home, I just never know what I'm in store for, so when I have time to write, I write. As simple as that. Usually it's in the morning and at night when everyone's asleep, but if there's ever an opening, I use it to squeeze in whatever I can.

What are you currently working on?

Besides marketing The Bug That Plagued the Entire Third Grade, I'm in the process of submitting my latest picture book manuscript and middle grade novel to agents. I'm also finishing up my second novel, which I find myself totally immersed in. Although they're both contemporary sports novels, the second is completely different than my first, but it's been so much fun to see it take on a life of its own. But that's the life of a writer, right?

For not having a typical writing schedule, you sure manage to get a lot of writing done. I'm having trouble focusing on my editing my 2nd novel with all the marketing to-do. Thanks for taking time out of that writing schedule to visit my site.

Thanks for having me, Danika. It's been a blast and I hope to see everyone on Monday at my virtual book launch party. Everyone's invited.

Have a great time touring your book.

Lori Calabrese is an award-winning children's author. Her first picture book, The Bug That Plagued the Entire Third Grade, was awarded DFP's Best Children's Book Award. She writes for various children's magazines, is the National Children's Books Examiner at Examiner.com and enjoys sharing her passion for children's books at festivals, schools and events. Visit her website to learn more, www.loricalabrese.com.