Guest Post and Giveaway: Laura Pauling on her MG fantasy/adventure

My MG book, Deadwood, officially launched yesterday (obligatory plug: buy it for paperback or Kindle). But after talking about Deadwood on Operation Awesome for the past year, I thought the best way to celebrate would be to invite my Pugalicious Press sister, Laura Pauling, to talk about her new MG adventure, How to Survive Ancient Spells and Crazy Kings. And guess what? She's giving away a prize pack that includes both her book, other Pugalicious titles, including Deadwood, and Gangsterland, a great new MG title from Ansha Kotyk! So read on. -- Kell Andrews

Laura Pauling on her journey through the jungles of self-publishing, trade publishing, and her new MG adventure

Thanks to the gals at Operation Awesome for letting me take over their blog! I'm here to talk about my journey.

Everyone will agree that a lot has changed the past couple years. Two years ago, I was knee deep researching agents, sending out queries, and forging ahead the best I could. Like everyone else, I heard the rumors spreading along the Internet grapevine. I read the blog posts. I saw the potential. I did a lot of research. A spark lit inside of me. I could be in charge of my own career. I didn’t have to wait until I wrote the kind of story that agents were looking for at that particular moment. I realized that if I continued on the traditional route, it would take at the minimum three years. A year to find an agent and revise and then at least a couple years before it would hit the shelf. If the book sold. And that’s a big if these days.

Last spring I self published my YA, A Spy Like Me and just this past month I released the sequel, Heart of an Assassin. Is self-publishing hard work? Yes. (Any publishing is hard work.) Is it totally worth it? Yes. Is it for everyone? Probably not. Each writer has to evaluate his or her goals. Even though I’d ventured into self-publishing waters with my young adult, I had this middle grade sitting on my hard drive. A story that I loved. I wasn’t quite ready to self publish it, and I knew the editors of Pugalicous Press, a new small press dedicated to quality young adult and middle grade.

How to Survive Ancient Spells and Crazy Kings released last week. Pugalicious did a fantastic job, and I’m extremely happy with the results. This book would make a fantastic gift for boys or girls who enjoy adventure stories with lots of excitement!

You can purchase it on Amazon or Barnes and Noble. You can read the first chapter here. Thankfully, my journey is just beginning and I’m excited to see where it leads. Click here for the list of blog tour stops! Enter to win these prize packages!

Prize Package One (signed paperbacks)

Prize Package Two (signed paperbacks)

Prize Package Three

 

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