Consultant for Two Birds Author Services
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Bestselling author Lauren Smith joined the Two Birds team in 2022. She’s a great asset to our team – read on to find out more about her.
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Tell us a little about yourself!
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I’m an attorney and a full-time author with two crazy terriers!
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What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
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I love to walk my dogs and travel. Cruises are my big thing. I Iove to be near the ocean and get inspired by the serenity of the water and waves.
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What do you enjoy about helping authors on their publishing journey?
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I think what’s the most wonderful thing about helping authors is the end result when that author for the first time holds their print book in their hand, or sees their ebook live on a retail site or listens to their audiobook. It makes the dream REAL! And that moment where a dream becomes reality is the most powerful and inspiring thing a person can experience. Their hard work has paid off and they’ve done something most people only ever talk about. That makes it all worth it for me to help authors achieve that moment and chase the next step of the dream.
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Do you have any literary pet peeves?
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First person writing. It’s very limiting and a little childish. I’ve seen a lot of people writing it lately because younger readers who grew up on first person YA novels are now adults and writing like the child-like books they read growing up. I’ve heard repeatedly that people can’t read third person because it’s too hard for them to understand or focus on. I find that a little frightening. So I always try to encourage writers to write in third person where their stories can be fuller and more spellbinding than “dear diary” style writing.
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What one piece of advice would you offer to authors right now?
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I think authors need to be ready to do more than just write the book. Yes, we are introverts, but learning to reach out to readers and bond with them over your stories is a key part of marketing that is often free of charge. So learn to love talking about your stories in an engaging way to start maximizing your sales or future sales.
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What are some of your favorite authors, and why?
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I love a lot of different authors that I love that range across all of the genres. I love Ben Bova for Sci-fi, Brian Jacques for YA, Linda Lael Miller for Westerns, Lynsay Sands for historical and paranormal romance. I also love to read a lot of non-fiction but don’t have any specific authors for that.
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Anything else you’d like our authors to know about you?
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I LOVE working with authors to get to that next level and achieve their dreams. I’m always excited to work with and talk to anyone as long as they are excited about writing too. Don’t be afraid to reach out and ask for help. Everyone in the writing community and at Two Birds is here to help you learn and grow in whatever we can and you might be surprised at how easy it is to do the things you’ve always dreamed about.
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Have questions about the editing process? We’d love to chat with you and help you figure out your next steps. Contact us to set up a free sample edit.
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