About

Hi, I’m Tricia Lawrence, found of Author Blogger, and I think you’ve come to the right place.

Thanks for stopping by to check out my latest venture. You’re here if you didn’t want to hang out on the mothership blog here (which is now completely taken over by kids book marketing topics). As you’ve probably heard, I got a new job in late February as social media strategist at Erin Murphy Literary and it’s all kids books now over there.

But you’re here! I’m so glad.

I started in this publishing career early in my life. In fact, my first publishing job was at the ripe old age of 21, like four days after I turned 21. I wasn’t technically even out of college yet. But I love books and I wanted to get in sooner rather than later. My entry into publising was a bit unorthodox. Because there were no degrees in editing (not even editing certificates being offered) and I didn’t want a journalism degree, I learned copyediting and proofreading from the apprenticeship model. Probably one of the last to learn it that way. It involves on-the-job training (mine was with Elsevier Science and other publishers) and then extremely detailed feedback letters in which I saw every single one of my errors (everything I had missed, in other words) and had to make sure I never made those errors again. Well, figuring out how to make those errors less and less. I spent a decade doing this to make a living while I pitched books to publishers I met as a production editor. My first I sold when I was 23 (without an agent) and my first book series was sold at 24, again without an agent. I didn’t learn how to protect myself until much later and what was worse, I knew nothing about marketing back in those days (the mid-to-late 1990s).

My first book series (illustrated hardback gift books) were featured in Target stores nationwide for 1998, 1999, and 2000, especially around Mother’s Day, when the books were pitched as obvious and handy gifts on a Target endcap in the gift wrap/books section. In 1998, I was offered a second series, this time a kids book series that unfortunately came out only weeks after a similar series that bore the exact same titles! And then 9/11 hit.

A Note on 9/11

On the morning of 9/11, I was in my office on the West Coast receiving email goodbyes from my project editors who were sitting locked in their offices just blocks from Ground Zero. I was working on half a dozen books at the time (yes, all at once!) and for the next three weeks, I heard nothing from my publishing contacts. The books that I had on my desk were finished, but there was no more work after that as publishers cut their lists by a third, and the freelance work dried up as publishers in New York grappled with the tragedy. It was hard to not help them more. I was a willing listener, sending emails often. I still send emails to some of my NYC friends on the anniversary every year, remembering those scary hours when they wrote what they thought was their final goodbye email to everyone they knew. No phones, but email worked. I have an archive of those emails that I will never, ever delete.

As the years moved on, the publishing industry recovered and my clients came back around. I got married and moved to Seattle with my husband, and then in 2005, I discovered blogging, in 2007, the social networks (I was one of the earliest adopters of Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn), and in 2009, I began consulting with authors who wanted to use these powerful tools to market their books.

So, for the past fourteen years, I’ve been writing for print publishing, talking to agents, figuring out marketing and social media, and realizing how much of it has changed forever. And after my first eight smallish, yet successful attempts (all eight were in stores; some nationwide, others worldwide) to write print books and build a author career, I’m open to other options. But before anyone accuses me of being a print publishing “hater,” stop.

I will never turn my back on print publishing, not as long as they still put out books and continue to distribute those books to every corner of the world.

But with Author Blogger, I want to present more options: independent publishing, self publishing, ebook publishing, membership programs, blog communities, influence tracking, and generally, using every tool available to further my (and your) writing career.

In 2011, I spoke at SXSW Interactive on this very topic. But, because of my job with Erin Murphy Literary, the majority of my consulting time is full. However, I will be teaching some marketing workshops, launching Author Blogger Studio, and developing some of my own marketing infoproducts. If you’d like to keep up on the latest from this blog, plus the occasional special offer, and get notified about kids book workshop and learning opportunities, sign up on for my eZine!

If you’d like to connect online, I’m on Twitter: @authorblogger and I’m on email: tricia at authorblogger.net. And Author Blogger is currently sharing a Facebook page with realbrilliant, but that will change soon! Stay tuned!

I welcome the opportunity to brainstorm anytime (on the blog or back channel) about how social media and learning to be sticky (how to position yourself effectively in your audience’s minds) can help you as an author.

Thanks for visiting!

And of course, I’m always available to you. If you have any question or comment, please feel free to add a comment to a blog post, or to send me a note back channel.