Contact

Questions? Comments? Want to connect? Send me an email at laura@laurasbooksandblogs.com!

Call For Guest Posts! Work With Me!

LBB is looking for guest posters!

To submit

Pitch me your ideas at laura@laurasbooksandblogs.com. See below for topic ideas. The post must be original and not previously published, not even on your own blog.
Subscribe to my monthly newsletter.
Once I give the okay, go ahead and write your piece.
I may make minor edits if I see any typos/passive voice/extra long paragraphs. If the post requires extensive editing, I may send it back to you to correct any major changes.
The post must be at least 1,000 words long (including subheadings and author bio.) but can run as long as 2,500 words.
- Keep your paragraph length between 2-4 sentences.
- Keep your average sentence length to less than 20 words.
- Break up your post with relevant subheadings. No more than 300 words per section.
- Keep your title short.
- Use relevant keywords throughout your post to improve the chances of readers coming across it when Googling your topic.
- Include a title and your byline. Keep your title around five words and make sure it includes relevant keywords and hasn’t already been taken by a previous guest poster (ex. The title “I Write Because I Have To” has been submitted a few times).
- Put all book titles into italics, not quotes.
- Use double quotation marks, not single, unless you’re quoting within the quote.
Submit at least one photo that you own or that is public domain. Attach either as a .jpg or .png file. Indicate who to give photo credit to. Feel free to attach several photos if you’d like.
Include your links including your blog/website, links to buy any books you may have written, and up to five (5) social media links. You do not have to be on social media, but if you are not, please read and comment on any three posts on my blog instead. This helps drive traffic to my site and will help your post do well when it is published.
Include a bio with your writing history.
Attach your finished piece in a Word document or pasted directly into the body of your email.
No deadline to submit. I will schedule your post once I receive all materials back from you and will schedule on a first come, first serve basis. If you’d like your guest post to coincide with a book launch, let me know, and we’ll work something out.
Let me know if you would like to offer a giveaway (see giveaway guidelines below).
I do not charge for guest posts, and I don’t offer any payment for guest posts. This is an opportunity to add content and a new audience to my site and to help other writers promote their books and blogs.

Topic ideas

Essays on writing (ex. how to write yourself out of a corner, how to write in a particular genre)
An essay related to the topic of or a theme within your book(s) (ex. how a certain life experience inspired your book)
Writing advice (ex. a tip that has helped you overcome writer’s block or marketing advice to help you sell your memoir)
Personal essays (a topic about which you are passionate, something funny, poignant, or educational that you want to share)
Travel posts (including travel tips, what you’ll see in a specific place, how to plan for a trip, stories while enroute to a certain place)
Favorites (without being overly promotional, share a handful of your favorite things)
List posts (on nearly any topic: entertaining, historical, educational, etc.)
Life experiences (Have you accomplished anything unique or amazing? – ex. been to an exotic place, done something heroic, etc.)
Tech posts – preferably related to writing (suggested apps to use, resources related to marketing, blogging, etc.)

Need more ideas? Check out articles by my previous guest posters here!

Offer a giveaway!

If you are an author looking to promote your book and potentially gain some reviews, you are also welcome to offer a book giveaway to go along with your guest post. I will set up a Rafflecopter giveaway which will be displayed at the bottom of your post where readers will follow the both of us on social media, comment, and/or promote the post in order to earn entries.

The giveaway will run for two weeks, and I will send you the names and the email addresses of the winner(s) after it ends. You will then contact the winners to notify them that they have won and obtain their mailing addresses in order to send out the prizes.

You must submit a post in order to offer a giveaway as the giveaway will be embedded into the post.

If you are interested in hosting a giveaway, include the following with your guest post:

The title of the book.
The number of copies (1-3 max.) Must be hardcopies or audiobook copies. No eBooks.
Any other prizes included (ex. book merch, gift cards, coupons, etc.)
Any geographical restrictions (US only, worldwide, etc.). Note: The giveaway must be available to at least US readers as they are the majority of my audience.

Promotion

I will promote your post as aggressively as if it were my own. I will send you the link when your article posts and will promote it on the following sites:

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram

Here’s how you can help

Share the post on social media on the day it posts and throughout the duration of the giveaway, if applicable
Create pins on Pinterest linking to the post (send me links to your pins so that I can re-pin as well)
Share the post in your newsletters/other correspondence
Post the link somewhere on your blog (“about me” page, etc.)
Leave a comment, ask friends and family to comment, and respond to any comments that are left on the post

Feel free to email me at laura@laurasbooksandblogs.com with any questions you may have. Thanks, and I look forward to working with you!

Send me your books to review!

Are you an indie author looking for reviews? I’ll read your book, review it on my blog, and promote it on social media. I accept hard copies, Kindle versions, or PDF’s, as long as the print isn’t super small and can be sent in one file.

I am currently only accepting books in the following genres:

picture books
middle grade
YA
graphic novels
adult fiction
memoirs

It’s okay if the book is an older release. I know how hard it is to get reviews for older work.

Genres/themes I typically don’t read or am no longer interested in reading:

Fantasy
Sci-fi
Anime
Poetry
Self-help
Any type of guidebook (finances, DIY, etc.)
Downers – It’s okay if there are ups and downs or a really sad ending, but if the book is a downer from start to finish, I’m not interested.
Memoirs about major drug addiction, graphic violence, or rape (I’ve been pitched a lot of these and have read a lot and am currently burnt out)
Books over 350 pages long

I typically finish reading within one month of receiving the book. I’ll send you a link to the blog post once it posts for you to share as well. I’ll also post the review on Goodreads, LibraryThing, Bookbub, and Amazon well in advance of publishing the full review on my blog.

If I can’t finish the book or can’t give you at least a three-star rating for any reason, I’ll notify you ASAP. I’d rather leave no review than a bad one. This is rare as I thoroughly research each book before I agree to review it.

Any hard copies that I receive will be stocked in my Little Free Library for others to discover after I have finished reading them. So, I can guarantee that the book will be read by at least two people.

For more information on how I select books to review, check out my post, “How I Choose Books to Review on my Blog.”

If you’re interested in a review, please send an email to: laura@laurasbooksandblogs.com with a brief synopsis, a link to your book on Amazon or a few sample pages to read, the type of copy that you’re willing to provide (hard copy or digital), and whether or not you’d be willing to participate in an author interview that will be posted along with the book review (I’ll send you a list of questions specifically tailored to your book to answer after I’ve finished reading).

I’ll let you know if it’s a good fit for me and will provide you with the next steps. If you don’t hear from me either way, be sure to follow up as I want to respond to every query I receive.

My rating system:

Three Stars

3 stars

I liked the book. I had a few issues with it, but the good outweighed the bad. I would recommend it to certain readers.

Four Stars

4 Stars

I really liked the book. Any issues were minimal, and I would recommend it to most other readers.

5 Stars

5 stars

I loved the book. It was hard to put down. I’d buy a copy for myself and highly recommend it to other readers.

Laura’s Books and Blogs Author Interview Series!

Below is my current author interview series questions and instructions. Please follow all directions before submitting. I feature a few author interview posts on Mondays and Fridays each month and schedule them in the order that they are received (usually at least two months from the date of submission, but let me know if you would like to request a later date to coincide with a book release).

Guidelines

Submit your answers either in the body of an email or in a Word document, no PDFs.
Submit your answers to as few or as many of the questions you’d like, as long as everything totals at least 1,000 words.
Include the questions above each answer in your submission, and do not alter the wording of the question in any way (I may alter the question in my edit so that it fits better with your particular interview.
Include an author bio, your links (website, social media, newsletter, etc.), and a quick blurb about the book that you’re promoting. If you don’t have any social media links or any other place to share the post, please visit and comment on at least three of my posts on my site before submitting your interview.
Try to keep your answer to each question to 300 words max.
Put all book titles in italics, not “quotes.”
When quoting, use double quotes (“), not single quotes (‘), unless there’s a quote within a quote.
Break up long paragraphs into two to four sentences max.
Include at least one photo. A book cover and author photo are preferred, but submit as many photos as you’d like, and I’ll try to include them all in the post.
Let me know if you would like to offer a giveaway (see giveaway guidelines above). Include all of the prizes you would like to offer as well as any geographical restrictions for the winners in your interview submission.

Send everything to laura@laurasbooksandblogs.com with the subject “Author Interview,” and I’ll get back to you with a date that the interview will post.

The Questions

Why do you write in the genre(s) that you do?
Do you keep a notebook of ideas?
Do you have a muse?
Are you more of a fan of plot-driven stories or character-driven stories?
Fill in the blank: “People will like your book if they like stories about…”
What are your thoughts on typewriters?
Would you rather own a bookstore or run a library?
How do you name your characters? If you write nonfiction, do you ever change the names of your characters, and if so, how do you decide what names to change them to?
What is your favorite website that you use to promote your writing?
If Hollywood bought the rights to your book, would you want it to be turned into a movie or series?
Who is your dream audiobook narrator?
Do you try to hit a certain page or word count with each writing session?
Do you have any writing rituals?
What are your passions/obsessions outside of writing?
Have you made any public appearances to promote your book?
Who would you most want to read your book, living or dead?
Who is on your Mt. Rushmore of greatest/inspirational authors (choose four authors)?
What is your favorite bookish possession (ex. an autographed copy of a favorite book, a piece of book merchandise, etc.)?
Have you ever mentored another writer with their writing?
Is there an idea that a non-writer has pitched to you that you have written or considered writing?
What is the most unique way that an idea for a piece of writing has come to you.
Are you a big reader? Do you own a large collection of books, or are you more of a borrower?
Have you ever gone away to work on a piece of writing? If not, where would you go if you could?
What is an annoying thing that a non-writer has assumed about writers or the act of writing?
How do you measure the success of your writing career?

Media Kit

Are you looking for a sponsored blog post to promote your brand? Are you in need of a freelance writer, editor, or reviewer? I would love to work with you! Check out my media kit here: