Advice for Teen Authors (Tips from Teen Writer M.J. Logan)

In this interview with teen author M.J. Logan, she shares tips & advice for teen writers. M.J. wrote her first fiction book when she was 12. She is the creator of The Death Call, an adventure thriller mystery series of 4 young adult books. In this video, she shares how she got started writing and what she's learned so far about the process of writing, self-publishing, and marketing and selling her books.

MALLORY WHITFIELD: 

Hi, MJ, welcome! So you're a teen author, and you've written a whole series of books, not just one book, but a whole series. Can you share a little bit about what that series is? Give us an overview of what you write about.

M.J. LOGAN:

Yeah. I wrote the first book when I was 12. It's a four book series. It's mystery adventure, and it's about a group of kids who discover this curse at their school. They have to figure out what is the cause behind the curse and how to stop it. And as the series goes on, there are some personal issues between each character, and it dives deeper as it goes along. But that's the main overview of the series.

You wrote the first book when you were a 12. What was that experience like? Tell us about how you got interested in writing.

I've always been a reader. Reading has always been my thing. I used to read like three books at a time. But I don't really remember how I got into writing. I had the idea of a curse at a school and kids trying to solve it while I was at school. I wasn't really paying attention to school, so I started writing it and I realized that I really liked doing it. I got a lot of joy from it. So I wrote it on my computer without telling anybody, it was just kind of my own thing. I did tell my mom about it, and she printed out a copy of my writing. She kind of stole my writing for me as a birthday gift. And that's what inspired me to continue the series and have it as a business.

So okay, she printed it out, but she ended up helping you self-publish it, right? 

Yeah, she's my sidekick. She's helped me through all of this because she's an entrepreneur and she knows marketing and I have no idea about any of that. So she's helped me with it. She's designed the covers for me and helped me publish and try to figure out purchasing books and selling them. She's helped me in that area of the whole business, which has been super helpful.

Since you've had your mom as a guide and mentor this whole time, I'm sure you've learned some stuff about the process of both writing and publishing self publishing a book since then. What have you learned? What advice would you give for somebody who wanted to get started as a writer?

Be wise about money. That was the first thing I learned because I sold a bunch of books and got a lot of money from it, and I was gonna keep it for my own benefit. And my mom was like, "You have to use that money to buy more books so you can sell more books." No, I don't want to do that. But you have to be able to reinvest in whatever product you have, whether it's books or whatever your business is, in order to keep your business going. So always have that mindset. It is your money, but if you want to get so much money that you'll have money to spend and money to continue business, you gotta sacrifice some of that money. That's the first thing I learned, which was difficult. But um, yeah, just marketing and how to promote my business. And different ways to reach different groups of people is very, very important. And to not stop, because if you stop marketing, and you don't keep that momentum going, then it kind of fades out. You got to keep it consistent, a consistent flow of purchases.

Speaking of that, what are some of the main ways that you've been able to market your books and sell your books? 

I have a Facebook account and an Instagram account that I've been using to steer people towards my website and towards the books, but mainly I've been doing marketplaces the past couple years. I'll go to a marketplace, whether it's at a school or at just different public kid marketplaces and I sell my books there. That's where I've gotten most of my marketing exposure from, is from different marketplaces I've been selling at.

Can you tell us more about what that experience is like? I used to do craft shows, and I always found that it was really helpful to be in front of people, face-to-face, where you can explain the story behind what you do. 

My first marketplace was at a public market in Aurora, CO. It was very interesting because that was the first time I had to explain the book to people and sell a book. That was a real learning experience, to try to sell the book without just sharing what happens in the book, because that's for them to read. And so that's been very helpful. Then there's a Young Americans Bank in Denver, Colorado that does marketplaces for kid entrepreneurs. So I've been able to meet other kids who are doing their own businesses, and we've all had marketplaces where we all practice marketing and selling our books. And then I have my book signings as well. That's also a major help because that obviously gives me more brand recognition but it also gives me more experiences to sell my book and get more exposure. So I've been doing several of those, and I get most of my purchases and stuff from those. 

Yeah, it's really about getting face-to-face as much as possible. But that's a little different these days, right? Because it's July 2020, and we're deep in the COVID pandemic. So how has that been as far as transitioning to more online focused stuff?

It's been a little difficult. I can't do marketplaces from my house. And then my fourth book came out while we were in quarantine. I got purchases because people have been reading the beginning of the series, so they wanted to finish it. That was helpful, but it's hard because you have to market more and you have to be more on the social media side of things. You can't physically see people and physically sell the books. Yeah, I've been trying to work on that and do more marketing from my house, from my room for the fourth book, which has been a weird learning curve for me. 

Have you learned anything about marketing via Facebook or Instagram? I know your mom has a background in digital marketing, too. What tips or advice have you learned?

Well, I'm still on the learning curve, but I would post something and wait a couple days and then post something else. But you just kind of bombard it, like overflow it, overwhelm people with it, get in their faces on social media, because if you just post a couple of things, that's not really gonna do anything. And I don't like doing that. But I'm learning to post more and just get myself more on people's feed so that they'll pay more attention and go to my website. That's what I would say as I'm still learning.

Yeah, it's always a learning process, and all of those social media channels are always changing, too. As far as your own writing process, do you write every day? Do you have certain techniques or things that keep you motivated? What's your writing process like?

It is ever changing because I wrote this series while I was still in school, and I still am in school. And so it's not like I could write all day, every day, which is what I would prefer. It's different for every book for me. Like, the first book, I got my initial idea, but then I just kind of wrote it without thinking about it. There was one book I knew how I wanted to start it and how I wanted to end it, but I had no in between. I can't say specifically a process, because it's different for everybody, and it's different for every book you write. But I would suggest always having an outline and always having either a Google doc or sheet of paper that you can go back to and just write notes on because it's never too late to go back. You can read something and not be okay with it. So always go back and always have not necessarily a permanent plan but have a general outline that you can always change and adjust as you go. The only thing that happens the same way for all four of my books is that general outline.

As far as editing and stuff, how many other people are involved in different parts of the process, of getting the book from writing to being self-published?

It's mainly me and my mom, but my grandma (who is my mom's mom) is also a major help, she's my editor. For the most part, I go through and edit it after I'm done writing, just to see if it sounds okay. But my grandma is like my grammar wizard, and she goes through and makes sure it all looks grammatically correct. She's a major help and she usually joins me at some marketplaces when my mom can't be there. It's the three of us, we have like a little triangle. 

Yeah, that's awesome that you have such a strong support system from your family because writing a book is one of those things that you do need a second set of eyes for.

Especially when I'm writing it like last night... I was writing until midnight, so I probably wrote some things that I'll read later and be like, that is not okay. 

If you could go back and give yourself advice from the beginning of this whole writing process... Is there anything you would tell yourself?

Well, my 12 year old self wouldn't believe where I am right now. Back then I just was writing for myself, and I didn't think it'd be anywhere near where I am now. I would probably say to enjoy school because back when I wrote the first book, I was so invested in the first book and the second book that I wasn't really looking up from my computer at all. I wouldn't change anything, but I would probably tell my younger self to focus on your passion, but also be aware of your life surrounding that passion. Other than that, I wouldn't change much. 

Yeah, I think that's great life advice for anybody. So many of us get wrapped up in whatever we're focused on in the moment, and we sort of forget that life is short. Is there any particular resource that you would recommend to somebody, either a favorite book that inspired you or some sort of resource that people should check out?

I have gotten inspiration from a bunch of different TV shows and movies. But one thing I would say is to go online to Google and search for "other ways to say..." certain things. That has been a huge help to me, because I can't just say "said" every time or stay the same. Using a dictionary or thesaurus, or finding websites that list different ways to say these things has always been a major help in all of my books, because I tend to be repetitive. And so I can always go back and be like, let's fix a couple of things so that it's not the same word, every page, every single time. 

Yeah, I would think that for a writer expanding your vocabulary is helpful. Well, thank you so much! How can people connect with you and buy your books online?

AuthorMJ.com is where I mainly send people because you can get all of my books on there, but also I get the order directly from you and I can sign them and personally ship them to you. So I always suggest that because it's really cool to get a signature, and I get the most money flow from that honestly. You can get all my books at AuthorMJ.com, but you can also get them on Amazon.com if you just search "author MJ Logan," and you should probably search "The Death Call" with it, because it might not show up at first glance. Search "The Death Call author MJ Logan" on Amazon, as well as at BarnesandNoble.com, it's selling online there, too.

Great, and I'll look you up on Facebook and Instagram too, right?

Yes, and Facebook and Instagram, where you can get all the information about what I'm doing. Future books, like I'm writing a future one right now. 

Oh, is the future one still part of the series or is it a new direction?

It's a new direction which is why it's taking me forever because these last four books I've written have all been about the same thing. And so this is the first time I've had to write a new plot and new characters in such a long time. I've been struggling a little bit, but there should be more books in the future. But The Death Call series is done. Now I have all these future ideas I can finally get to.

That's so exciting! Well, I wish you so much success!