When did you start writing?

A simple question. One that many of us have been asked before. A question I think about all the time because it’s a reminder of what I’ve always wanted to do. Write.

This past week I got to meet some amazing people at Authors After Dark. One reader was sixteen and an aspiring author. She was asking everyone about when they first started writing.

There is one key moment in my life that I remember wanting to be an author. It was in elementary school. Fourth or fifth grade. We had a local author come to school and tell us about her career. How she started. Why she wrote realistic fiction. I was hooked. I wanted to be her. There was a contest we could all enter. All we had to do was write a short story and submit it in the contest. So I took the leap. And I got to go to the mini-conference they had for everyone who entered. For one whole day I got to talk to authors, I got to learn how to write a book.

Now, I don’t remember all the details of the day. But I remember the amazing feeling of knowing I could write. Knowing I wanted to do that for the rest of my life. I wanted to go to a school and inspire kids the way she had inspired me. Of course back then I thought I would write realistic fiction.

Things change. Our perspectives change. I’m not the ten year old with a dream anymore. Now, I write. One day I will make this my career and I won’t have to worry about the day job. Until then, I’m so happy to have the chance to publish what I can. To edit for authors who I fan girl over.

My dreams are coming true each and every day. I hope the young lady I met at Authors After Dark will get the same opportunity. I hope she will follow her dream. I have a question for you…when did you start writing?

New Book Now What?

You’ve finished the book. You’ve got everything ready to go and hit publish. Now what?! You have to market that beast! All your hard work is really just beginning. In fact, I think a lot of authors will tell you writing the book is one of the easier parts of the process.

So you’ve got to pimp yourself. Pimp your book. And hope that all your pimping brings you sells. Lots and lots of them!

Here are a few marketing tips that have worked for me.

1. Blog Tours: You can use a company or put together a tour on your own with friends and fellow authors. A blog tour can be guest posts, promo posts, exclusive teasers, and giveaways. You can also do a cover reveal as part of a pre-release blog tour.

2. Newsletters: This is one of my more successful marketing tools. While my newsletter is small, it does help me get the word out on new releases and any fun updates I want to give my readers. I only send out one newsletter a month, sometimes fewer than that depending on what’s going on. Just be sure you don’t spam your followers!

3. Social Media: While I’m not certain how much this helps anymore, there are a few new social media tools that do work. Take Thunderclap for example. This is a great way to reach a lot of people all at once, if you can get a successful campaign. What I’ve found recently is Facebook is a great resource to find other authors to help out, like with Thunderclap. Twitter for me isn’t as productive any more, but others may find differently.

What works for you when it comes to marketing?

While we’re talking marketing, how about a bit of shameless promoting

Rebecca Waterstone left her high school sweetheart in Graysville ten years ago. At the time she had no plans to return home, ever, thanks to heartbreaker Jonah Caroway. When she receives a call from the hospital that her uncle has had a heart attack and may not make it through the night she has to go home and face her past once more.
Jonah Caroway regrets letting Becca walk out of his life to go to New York ten years ago. She wanted to be a teacher and explore the great city of while he wanted to stay home in small town U.S.A. Now she’s back and this time he won’t let history repeat itself.
When faced with the decision of staying in Graysville or returning to New York she’s not sure what to do. Will Jonah be able to convince her they are meant to be together or will she choose to leave the past in the past?
Available March 6, 2015

Pre-Order at Amazon

Shauna’s Kickstarter Campaign – Shameless Self-Promotion

Everyone will have to forgive me for this, but it must be done!

I am preparing to release the third book in my series in late June, in order to help me with the costs of production I’ve jumped into the Kickstarter pool for some help! So! If you like to pre-order books or like deals on some serious swag (including signed paperbacks, bookmarks, magnets and more!) please, check out my Kickstarter Campaign. And if you can’t afford to donate/pledge, just helping me spread the word is amazing too!

Help me fund the production of Water!

Description of Water: Shayna’s first surfing session of the summer is interrupted by the screams of a mother who has lost her little boy in the water. Without regard to her own safety, Shayna swims out, rescues the boy, but must escape the clutches of something far worse than she could have ever imagined – mermaids.

Compelled to answer the sirens’ call, the boys of Shayna’s town are drawn to the sea, but when they return are afflicted by an unknown illness, a sickness which is draining them of their life force. Unable to tell anyone about the mermaids, Shayna and her friends are forced to solve the mystery before it’s too late, and in doing so, Shayna will finally have to face the full force of her powers. Whether she’s ready or not, she will have to face her true nature.

Welcome to Spellbound Scribes!

We’re so glad you found us! Spellbound Scribes consists of a group of four paranormal authors who love to talk about words, witches, and other wicked things. 😀 But that’s not ALL we’re about, as you’ll find out! We hope you’ll stick with us for a while as we work to develop this blog from its infancy. We’ll be talking about all facets of the paranormal, as well as a few writing-related things. Stick around for sneak peeks of our books and more!