Love on the Line Literary with Lauren

Your favorite online identity can turn into a job faster than you think and that’s when the pressure creeps in. Lauren is back, and we get honest about what happens when book content, client work, and constant availability start to blur together. She walks us through her rebrand from LBCReads Author Services to Love On The Line Literary Services, why separating personal and professional accounts matters, and how a clearer brand can create real boundaries instead of just prettier graphics.

Then we go behind the scenes on Love Match, her ARC matchmaking and ARC management system built for romance authors. We talk trope-based matching, pre-vetting ARC readers, opt-in emails, and the surprising amount of labor that goes into vetting hundreds or even thousands of signups. If you’ve ever wondered how authors build ARC teams, how review rates actually work, or what “reader matchmaking” looks like in practice, you’ll leave with a much sharper picture of the process.

If this conversation helps you, subscribe, share it with a creator friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find us.

Follow Lauren: IG & TT @lbcreads x Love on the Line: IG @literaryloveontheline

Cover Art by: moi

Intro/Outro Music: positive vibes by nanaacom on Capcut

Contact Email: spillthesmutpodcast@gmail.com

Podcast IG: @spillthesmutpodcast TT: @spillthesmutpodcast

Jordan IG: @sipsoffiction TT: @sipsoffiction

Transcript

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Welcome Back And Weekly Highlight

Jordan 0:21

Alrighty people, I am back with someone that I've had before. Guess who's back? The one, the only Lauren. Well, LBC reads if you don't know her first name.

Lauren 0:35

Anytime I need to be hyped up, I just need to come on the podcast with you. Oh my god. Please do. I would love to be your hype woman.

Jordan 0:44

Like you always be your hype woman.

Lauren 0:47

The intros always get me. I'm like, oh, like hair flip. Did you hear that?

Jordan 0:53

You you might not be able to see it. Maybe one day you'll be able to see it, but right now you just have to. Oh, it's like those wish wish. Oh wait. Yeah. What is it though?

Lauren 1:01

Like um oh my gosh, what is the Glinda thing? No, where she is like Yeah, right.

Jordan 1:08

Oh, toss, toss. That's what it was. I was like swish swish. Not even not even close. We'll say it's close. It it's it's close enough, but like not really, but we're gonna say it's close enough. Okay. Anyways, before we dive in, like I did the last time, I would love to ask you what has been the highlight of your week so far.

Lauren 1:32

Well, I literally just got home like a few hours ago from seeing Elsie Silver last night. That was a pretty big highlight. So cool. So was it like a book tour? Was this like what was it? So Fever Dream just released on the 19th, and so she was touring and she came to a city near me. So of course I got in my little car and zipped down the road a few hours to go see her. Just you know, just me in my car. Yeah. Um, it was it was honestly, I was so grateful to see her. The last time I saw her was two years ago in Book Bonanza, almost to like the day. Like it's definitely, I mean, it was June a couple years ago. So it was really, really good to see her. She remembered me, gave me a huge hug, and yeah, I just I love that woman. So it was it was really good.

Jordan 2:25

Also, how could she not remember you?

Lauren 2:28

I know, I don't know, it's been so long, and it was really sweet. She so we used to DM more, but obviously she's blown up so much, like even more so than two years ago, because you now she has you know like the TV adaptation coming out and all this stuff, and it's crazy, and I'm truly so happy for her. But we used to DM more and we haven't talked in a long time because she's not on socials as much anymore, she's not as active. And she did DM me after like the event last night and said, Thank you for coming. And I was like, Of course, like I miss you, like I know you're not you know on here as much as you used to be, and I miss chatting with you. And she was like, Yeah, I've had to pull away. And I'm like, I don't blame you because there are crazy people out there, but like crazy people, crazy, but yeah, so it was it was really, really good to see her and catch up. But since it had just been so long, I was like, I don't know if she remembers me, which is dumb because we did a whole live together. Like, I went live with her and talked to her for like an hour, so yeah, it's just it's like an insecurity thing, you know, where you're like, Do they actually remember me, especially with how many readers she's met and has, and so no, I get that, I get that.

Jordan 3:38

I feel like I would be the same, so I totally understand that also. She can't forget you, girl.

Lauren 3:45

I know, I know, I know. So yeah, it was it was good. Got a big old hug from her, and got to see my friends, and my best friend and I stayed the night. We usually so we go to events pretty regularly, and we will drive there and back in one night, which is like kind of crazy because they're like two, three hours away. And this year, yeah, this year I was like, we're too old for that. We're getting a hotel room.

Jordan 4:09

Also, that sounds way more fun, like getting a hotel room. So it's like that's the way to do it.

Lauren 4:15

Yeah, and we don't sleep. Yes, we can sleep, and we don't go to as many as we used to either, so it's like justifiable to spend the money for the room.

Jordan 4:26

Okay, then it works out. I'm like, I really want to do these like book events, and like I don't even think about them. And I have like a book club I go to, and the one of the girls in the book club goes to so many author events, and she like gets all the tickets, and I'm like, How? Like, how? And she's like, I just see them on social media, and I'm like, Yeah, how?

Lauren 4:47

Like, why do I not see these? Whenever I see, like, whenever an author posts their tour, like I are like, and this is a fun fact of the being an author assistant, those posts don't usually go live until the pre-order for the tickets is ready to go. So we will wait on posting until the tickets are ready to be purchased. So I know, okay, if I'm seeing a book tour, that means tickets are live, and I can immediately go to whichever bookstore I want to go to and purchase the ticket. Yeah. So as soon as I see that, like I'm immediately running to grab them because oftentimes, like Elsie, they did it. LC, they said it's gonna tickets are sales are gonna happen this day at this time. I forgot about it, and my best friend texted me and was like, hey, Elsie's like in an hour or something, something like that. So I anyway, so she reminded me like right before, and I posted up outside of Pilates and grabbed my ticket.

Jordan 5:44

I know there was like one event that I really wanted to go to or want to go to, but it's at the end of July, and like I'll be out of town. Granted, it's it's gonna be great, but like I'm like, of course, like the one thing that I was actually saw and I was going to like purchase a ticket. I can't.

Lauren 6:03

It happens, it happens to me all the time, all the time. Or I really have to and now because I've been to so many and doing the straight there and back, I just can't do it as much anymore. I really weigh. I'm like, is it worth it to me to go drive this, take you know, take my time out of work, go stay tonight, whatever. And so I it's funny at the beginning of the year, I told my best friend that usually goes to all these events with me. I was like, I don't want to do as many this year, I want to cut back. I you know, I really I was going to like all these book conventions and stuff, and I cut back on those as well. And then two authors that I really wanted to see, Elsie and Peyton Curran, came near me. And so I bit my words really quickly after that.

Jordan 6:51

And that's totally fair because it's like I feel like I don't know about you, but like, can I ask where the authors tend to go that you have to drive the two hours or three hours for?

Lauren 7:02

So I live in Missouri and there's Kansas City and St. Louis. There's um multiple bookstores at in both cities, but typically the events I'm going to are either with the novel neighbor in St. Louis or they're with under the cover in Kansas City. And they are known for hosting these events. Like they that's part of what they do all the time, especially the novel neighbor. Like they host a ton of events because they have two stores technically. They have a romance-only store called Open Door Romance, and then they have the novel neighbor. And so they'll have a lot of events, and they somehow we were talking about it with my friends last night. Like, somehow they pull authors like crazy. Like they get a lot that come to Kansas City and St. Louis, and so I'm sure it's just partnerships. Either like authors have friends in those cities or the publishers do, or somebody is picking those cities for them to come to.

Jordan 7:55

No, that made it like makes sense because I feel like a lot of the times it's either Boston or New York for me, which are kind of like they are it is in the middle. Well, Boston's closer for me, but like it's just it can be like a troop. So it's kind of like one of those things that it's like I really need to like pick and choose because I mean I don't want to stay in Boston because that's super expensive. And then it's like, all right, am I leaving at like 10, 11 o'clock at night to go back home? So it's just kind of like, but I like want to do them, I want to go to Warner, darn it.

Lauren 8:25

Oh yeah, you will, you will, whatever. It will. Thank you. Thank you.

Jordan 8:31

One of us believes in me. I'll be your hype girl who will flip roll. Exactly. You you be mine, I be yours. Yeah. Okay. And now that we've just yapped for like a good 10 minutes, maybe, um, I do want to dive into this episode, which is all about your like new, well, not new, because it's you still it's off your author services, but like your whole new like look and branding and name. Can you

Finding Author Events And Tickets

Jordan 9:00

like tell me a little bit more about that?

Lauren 9:03

So when I started out in my author service role, I didn't really separate it. It was just like me as LBC Reads being an author service provider. There was not really like a creation of a company or anything like that, and I just named it LBC Reads Author Services. So that's how I operated. I ended up creating a user or like a user, an account for Instagram, specifically for that, because I was actually talking about it with a friend who's in the field as well. Was it yesterday or the day before? I don't I don't know, day it's blurred together. But when you are off work, you go to your Instagram and you unwind there, and it's your safe space and it's your place to like post and what up share aspects of your life. Well, when it blends in with your work and people are constantly DMing you about work or tagging you and stuff about work, it kind of floods that and makes it not feel like an ex the escape from work, which is too truly what social media is for all of us, isn't it, you know, an entertainment. So I really wanted to separate the two, and that's why I created that account for Instagram. I feel like it was still creating confusion and issues, like who do I tag? I still, to the say, get tagged and stuff or work for LBC reads. And I feel like that'll always happen. I've really tried to separate it, and that's my explanation. It's nothing personal. I love that people like get excited and tag me. But my my Instagram, my TikTok are like for me to express myself and to escape and to whatever. And like, I don't come to you for work questions on your Instagram, you know, if like you, if I had a and sometimes you do, but like for the most part, you don't. You know what I mean? Like it's like you don't, I don't go to like my clients' personal Instagram accounts and DM them if I have something work-related. Like it just doesn't happen. So I'm really trying to force that boundary. And yeah, it so it started out that way. And then when I brought my best friend Meg on, it was more than just LBC Reads. So I decided to rename it and to turn it more into like a company, and it just kind of evolved from that. So now it is Love on the Line Literary Services, and the username is literary love on the line instead of like kind of like literally Love on the Line, but literary.

Jordan 11:35

Love on the line. Oh, okay. So I thought the name was well, first I thought it was Love on the Line, but then because I saw like literary love on the line, I thought I was like, oh, maybe it's literary love on the line.

Lauren 11:46

It's love on the line, but when I was renaming the website, Love on the Line was taken. And then it was we were spitballing all these different names back and forth of like what to name it, and literary love on the line was available and it flows, so you know alliteration on yeah. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Um, so it just that that's what my username became because it matches my website.

Jordan 12:15

Oh, okay, that makes sense. So then was the re so what made you so was the rebranding in the new title because you didn't want to associate LBC Reads with it and because you brought on your best friend that you needed like a new name?

Lauren 12:31

Yes, yes, it was all of that. It was something that I just I was I wanted to make it like feel more like a real company and not just an extension of myself and really try to like further that boundary of this is Love on the Line stuff, this is LBC Reed stuff, and it's not the same entity. And because my best friend is also on the page, you know, she did my branding photos with me last year. I didn't want her to, you know, like I wanted it to be us together and not just like my face, so it made more sense to not be LBC reads and then she's also, you know, showing up on that page. I it just I don't know. I th it made more sense in my brain to do it this way. And like I said, it really for me helped be like these are two separate things, two separate accounts. I can direct people here for work-related things, and they know, like, oh, this is her personal account over here.

Jordan 13:31

No, I and I think that's really good because I do think I can see how people got confused with LBC Reads plus LBC like author services, which I think was like the account name on Instagram.

Lauren 13:43

It was, it was, yeah.

Jordan 13:45

So I can see the confusion and I can see how like people were definitely like tagging you. Cause I think even I was seeing people tag I think I might have even done it too, of like tagged you plus tagged your author services because it's wasn't sure like what to do. I I do think having the distinction now you can be like, okay, this is mine. Yeah, this one's for work. This one's yours, like kind of thing. Yeah. So I think I can see like I and it's like also kind of cool because like now it's like not that LBC Reads wasn't a company, but I feel like Love on the Line Literary Author Services, it's like a company, so it's like it stands on its own, which I just I also love the name.

Lauren 14:34

Correct. Well, thank you. So yeah, that that took me forever to come up with. So I know uh last time I was on, I talked about the arc matchmaking services that I wanted to do, and we were talking, we we can totally get into how that's going. I came up with a name for that first, which was Love Match, you know, because it's matchmaking and love and all that. So that official title of that pro like arc management is Love Match. And so I wanted something that played on that. And I was thinking, you know, like the matchmaking and stuff. And so then love on the line sounded almost like a hotline for like romance authors, and so that's I cannot remember the I have to look up like the official uh tagline for my company. I should know this off the top of my head, but it's so it's something about like love on the it's like oh gosh, something about romance authors, like being on the line dialing in, dialing in for romance authors, that's what it is. Dialing in for romance authors. Yeah, like that. That's the tagline. So it was it was something, and I just kept picturing so my branding, like my actual branding, the logo, the elements, those all I wanted to stay the same, like the colors. They're very much me. It's like pinks and lavender and yellow and you know heart-shaped lollipops, then pink bows, and just very, very me. And so I wanted that to stay the same, but I thought, well, what if we added like a phone element, like a pink phone into it? And so that's where it just like the whole thing kind of came together. And I was spitballing lots of different names to my best friend, and she's actually really good at coming up with names like that, and so we're spitballing back and forth, and I was like, what about like love on the line? You know, and we just it just kind of built itself from there because it went really well with love match, and so it's you know, love match powered by love on the line.

Jordan 16:37

So I I like that, which I'm kind of curious, and I don't even know if you like want to answer this or can, but like because you use Love on the Line literary services, author services, would you ever expand? Like, I know right now you're doing author services, but would you ever expand into like I don't know whether it's like

Why The Business Needed A New Name

Jordan 16:57

PR stuff, which I guess is kind of what you're doing, but like more in like what I'm considering like other PR agencies or even agenting. Agenting.

Lauren 17:08

I no, not to the agenting. Um, but to PR, like yeah, like yeah, it's kind of what I do a little bit. Um it kind of is. It it is, I wouldn't probably I've you know, I think last time we talked, I I kicked around expanding, and I don't think I'm going to expand anymore personally. The only really there's a couple services I've thought about offering, and I've kicked around for a while, but it's what does that look like? What do I charge? Is there a demand for it? It's all things that I take into consideration. Like something that I really enjoy doing about my job is the strategic marketing strategy. And you have a release coming up, what can we do to see how many eyes we can get on it, or what can we do to make this the most impactful release for my clients? So I thought about doing like a consultation sort of service thing. I don't know what it would look like where an author doesn't know what to do, but they can't hire a PA and they need like to figure out hey, I'm releasing this book. What are some unique ways to market my book, other than just getting on social media and talking about it? So that's something that I've kicked around and you know, doing like one-on-one calls with any authors that are interested. I have had people express interest in that, or you know, even like a social media audit. What am I not doing well on my social media? What could I do better? Because I've been doing this now for over three years. So I feel like I've seen a lot of shifts in the market and the industry in the last couple of years. But I don't know, it just again, it's what do I charge? Is there a demand for it? So it's things that if I were to expand, that's probably the only service that I would offer. And I would be stepping more away, like my goal would be to step more away from the day-to-day, which I think I mentioned last time. Um, but yeah, I don't, I don't, I don't I had all these dreams for it, and now they've shifted because I've got burnt out. So that's fair, that's understandable.

Jordan 19:18

And I think I think too, like I know last time we were talking, it was like the boundaries, which I I think you said you're like you're doing better with that, and like picking, like now you have like a day off.

Lauren 19:30

So it's now have two days off. So now I'm off all I'm off all weekend, which is really nice. And I actually, you know, take holidays

Expanding Services Without Overextending

Lauren 19:39

off and do all of that. And I just went on vacation and I didn't work like basically all a vacation. So yeah, it's it's the the mindset shift from the last couple of years. I feel like it was like grow, grow, grow, grow, grow, get as many clients as possible, do you know as much as you can to help these authors, and then now it's shifted to let's slow down, let's really invest in the clients that I have. And so I've actually, you know, I've parted ways with some clients who I love dearly, and it's nothing against them, like they're wonderful people, and I like wish them all the success, and I'm always cheering for them from the sidelines, but it was getting to the point where I was going to be put in an institution if I did not like stop because I was just so burnt out. I had no time for myself, I was like crying all the time, and it was just very overwhelming because I had so much to do, and it felt like every day I was not making any progress. And so I had an honest conversation with my husband, you know, about finances and all that stuff, and we made the decision I could cut back. So it parted with it's good, and it's been so that was a couple months ago, and so really this is the first time I've slowed down. I mean, since I like 2023.

Jordan 20:58

Like when you started, when I started, holy poop. Like that's and it's like you can't do that to yourself because then I feel like you're also gonna like then like hate books in a way. Like I hate saying that, but I feel like you don't want to put yourself in a position, because like I mean, I know this is like your job now, too. So there is a level of like, okay, this is your job, but it's also like a fun job, and you don't want it to like not be a fun job, and you don't want to be drowning any every day, like nobody wants that.

Lauren 21:28

Nobody wants that. And you it was getting to the point too where I knew myself and I knew I was gonna resent it. I was gonna resent reading, I was gonna resent all of that, and I didn't want that. And when I parted away with my clients, she's like, How bad is it? Because I told her, I was like, my mental health, I need to cut back. And um, I thought I was like, Okay, it's okay right now, but like if I keep going at this rate, it's not gonna be okay. And I think that's what you know, a lot of people I've talked about it before. Social media is such like a little blip into somebody's life, and you have no idea like what they're dealing with. And it wasn't, I've been I've had depression before, I've been clinically diagnosed, and I've had anxiety before, you know, I've been clean and it it was not that bad. It wasn't to the point where I was, you know, stuck in bed, couldn't get out of bed, but it was headed there, and that's when I knew something had to change and I had to do stuff for me, and it got to the point where I love creating. Content for myself and I couldn't anymore. I had no time, no energy, nothing.

Jordan 22:28

So and and that's like not good, but it's a good thing, it's good that you could see that. Like it's good that you could see like you were still okay, like where you were, but you knew that you were getting to a point that it would not be okay, and like you were able to like because I know too, like you definitely don't want to hurt, not hurt's not the right word, you don't want to like um disappoint any of your clients either. And and if you're going into that direction, you're going to disappoint somebody somewhere, and you don't want to do that. And I think like you you need to do also what's best for you, and it in a way is what's best for them. There's so many author services, there's so many PAs out there and people that want to be PAs that like I think everyone can find somebody.

Lauren 23:15

Yeah, it was getting I'm a big people pleaser, which is something I've worked on a lot lately, saying no and having boundaries, but I it was getting to the point where I was dropping things and I was forgetting to do things, and that's too when I I knew, okay, I've been on way too much, even bringing my best friend on to help me. I bit off way more than I could chew. And I've you know said yes too many times, and I just I had to change something for myself, and it was a really hard conversation with my clients because again, I I genuinely loved them and like wanted to keep working with them, and it's a weird feeling parting ways that somebody you've worked with for so long and you love and support them, but it was just something I said I had I had I had to, I had to, and and that's and that's fair, and I think you being open and honest with them is like the best for everyone involved, and so I think I think you did the right thing.

Jordan 24:07

I think that was like I think that's all your clients can ask for you is to be honest and open, and you doing that I think is huge.

Lauren 24:17

And yes, yeah, I mean it's it's something too, like I said, working on being a people pleaser and like having to basically tell somebody no, like no, I can't do this anymore. And really learning to be like okay with that, and knowing that there, you know, and I'm sure there were hurt feelings because it wasn't a difficult, it was I mean it it was very difficult, it wasn't an easy thing, is what I was going to say. It was not easy, it was not an easy decision, and you know, I'm sure there were some hurt feelings, or you know, it was a shock, but it was just like I said, something that I had to do to protect myself.

Jordan 24:52

Yeah, no, like I totally I know it's like a different level, but I know even for myself at work, like I'm definitely a people pleaser too. Like, you ask me to do something, I'm gonna do it. But then, of course, like my plates getting filled, my stuff's not getting done because I'm like doing this, and then we both end up in a shitty spot because I couldn't do what you needed me to do, and I can't do what I need to do, but I can't say no. So I'm like, I feel you, I feel you. Yeah, um, yeah. Okay, so like to get back on like the rebranding, what do you hope people like take away from like the new name and the new rebranding?

Lauren 25:35

That it's you know, I think clearer kind of in what I do that it's you know, I'm dialing in for romance

Burnout, Boundaries, And Cutting Back

Lauren 25:42

authors, right? So I'm helping romance authors succeed, specifically romance, and that it is, you know, more than just me creating content for my clients because we have done so much with the arc management and the love match services, and that hopefully they can come to my page and maybe find an author, a new to them author, like an author they've never read before. And I think that's something with the love match service that I've had people say, like, oh, I wouldn't probably have signed up for this person, but I did, and now I love them. Or, you know, they read one of my authors and they're like, Well, if Lauren works with them, like chances are I'll probably like them. So then they sign up for another one of my authors or you know, books.

Jordan 26:24

And so and so that leads me to also like asking about this like ARC matchmaking, love matchmaking. I kind of want because like I know last time this was like almost like a project that you were like, I want to do, like I want to get this underway, and now it's underway, which I have to say the emails are so cool because you're like you have it marked

Love Match ARC Matchmaking Explained

Jordan 26:45

where fill out this list of like all the tropes and books you like, and then like you get an email being like, Hey, like you clicked off one of these tropes. Would you like to like arc this book? And I think that is so cool.

Lauren 26:57

Thank you. Yeah, that was my dream. It was like matchmaking, you know, like you you're dating, you're like dating around the author pool, and you're like, which author would I like to, you know, be interested in, or whatever. And so I had this idea because I think oftentimes we get stuck in ruts and we don't necessarily branch out in reading, but if you did, you may find somebody or genre that you really, really enjoy. And so it I it was my idea of also helping authors find pre-vetted arc readers because all over threads, you know, people are authors are trying to find arc readers who may not actually read and review the book or may not be interested or whatever, because you're asking this huge pool of people, or you may get people who who say, Well, what's an arc? And they don't understand the purpose of it. And so I was thinking, I'm like, let's how could I make this easier for everybody involved? You know, it doesn't need to be this huge thing. And so I do have like a main arc sign up. So if you're interested in like one specific arc, you can sign up, but you're not guaranteed to get that arc, you know. I have to go through and vet them and make sure that they're actually a human being and they're not a hater or something, which does happen. And then I have the love match where it's pre-vetted. So if you get an acceptance into the love match, arc match making services, you've been thoroughly vetted by my team, me and my team, my best friend. And we have said, okay, you are an active content creator or reviewer who's constantly posting on Goodreads or Amazon or Instagram or whatever it is, you know what to do. You are, you know, you are a designated arc reader. So we automatically pre-approve you for any arcs that come to our table. But then what I do is I say, okay, so yes, they fill out it's like when you're going on a matchmaking, if you've ever, whatever, you fill out like, I like blonde hair and blue eyes and whatever, but instead of that, it's tropes and genres. And so you fill out literally the most extensive list of tropes I can think of, and you check all of the ones that you like. You let me know if you have trigger warnings or if you are if you feel comfortable saying, like, hey, I am, you know, a BIPOC reader or LGBTQIA reader. So that way you can get priority for those titles. And then we, I literally have authors fill out the same form on their end, and then I put them all together and get a list of readers who are, you know, matched with that author's form for their release that's coming up.

Jordan 29:40

Also, I didn't even realize they were you were already pre-approved essentially.

Lauren 29:45

I thought like that's kind of cool. Yeah, so it's it we're very, you know, it's a lot more picky than if you just sign up for the arcs for itself, because I have to make sure that you are going to consistently do this, and it's not just like a one-off thing, or that you just like like this one specific author. It's that you are familiar with it or you're willing to, you know, you're consistent in your reviews, whatever it is. And so we'll have that ARC sign up, and then I will match people and I will send out a specific email to those people who are matched that says, like, hey, you have been pre-approved for this ARC. If you're interested, just opt in. So not everybody gets, you know, they don't feel like their Kindle is blowing up with arcs. You have to let me know, like, hey, yeah, actually, I would be interested. Because I don't want to just assume and send out an arc all willy-nilly.

Jordan 30:35

No, no, that makes it that totally makes sense. But I just because like I got an email, but I know too at the it's at the end it was like, you need to email me if you like want it, or like fill out, I don't know what it was. Yeah, it's an opt-in form.

Lauren 30:47

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jordan 30:48

Which that makes like total sense because I know for me, like I didn't have the time to like arc read a book at that like moment. Um, but I think it's cool. I didn't know, like I thought I would I thought I still had to like fill out something, like I thought it was still applying for the arc. I didn't realize you're like already approved. So I think that's cool for like people that want to do to be part of this and essentially be approved for ARCs, then like yeah, filling it.

Lauren 31:17

Or you know, you you you have time, you're not busy with and you're like, I don't have any arcs right now, and this one hits your email and you're like, actually, wow, that does sound good. You know, so it's just something I think if that's exciting and different, and not everyone's doing something like that. And I I do have I do have dreams to continue to grow that, and that is something that so I've I really at this time I've only taken on like one or two people outside of my current clients for that specific service because I still was kind of working out the key kinks of it, and I didn't want to really take on a bunch of people. I've had some interest from authors, but we ended up not ended up not working out. And I do have availability for the rest of the year, but this is the first time I have slowed down since 2023. So instead of biting off more than I can chew for the rest of the year, I'm just going to see how it goes and maybe add on one or two more one-off authors who are interested in doing it. But to be honest, my authors keep me pr pretty busy, they release a lot. So we've been using it for them, which is really great.

Jordan 32:28

I think that's that's cool too, because it's like you can use it for your clients, but then when you get to a good spot and you can take on clients, because it's like you see all these authors going with PR agencies because of this like level of they want to get the arc out there and they want people to sign up for it. So essentially, like, as long as it's not so much added to your play, or even if you pair it around, like, oh, well, like one of my authors isn't releasing a book this month and your book is like, yes, we can do this matchmaking thing. And so it's like an added bonus, it's like almost like different levels that you can offer people. So it's like even though they're not one of your clients, you still have something to offer and author.

Lauren 33:14

And and that's and I I have an extremely high rate for ARC readers to reviews. So the amount of ARCs you send out to reviews, they say the industry standard is like 10%, and consistently mine is like between 60 to 80 percent. So it's what is that what does that mean? Like what are you so the amount of ARCs like an author sends out, the expected return on your like on actual reviews you get is 10%. So if you send out a thousand, the expectation is you'll get at least a hundred reviews. I think I don't know where that number came from. That's what I've seen and heard is the number, but uh my experience has been 60 to 80 percent. Your face right now, Jordan is like shocked.

Jordan 34:05

That is so low. It's like essentially like to give out like free copies of a book and then to like not get that's insane's way better.

Lauren 34:20

Yeah, well, I think they say that too, just to manage expectations because you know, I I it gets so blurry with the lines of what's illegal, what's not illegal, the fair trade commission, and all that stuff. And so it's technically you're not supposed to like require a review. Really? You're not supposed to require it because like it's it become it blurs the lines of all of that, and so like we encourage it, but you cannot like you're not you cannot require it, cannot be a requirement.

Jordan 34:50

Oh, I thought like you couldn't get paid for it, like you can't pay for reviews, but like you can't pay for reviews, but I mean it's like technically a gift, right?

Lauren 34:59

You're gifting them a book, so it it gets really blessed that it gets very blurry. I'm not a lawyer, so like please do not quote me on any of this.

Jordan 35:06

We have no legal background here, no legal background.

Lauren 35:09

I could be completely wrong, but same from what I've seen and read and heard and been told and all the things, you know, doing this as long as I have, you really cannot require them to leave a review somewhere, and so that's why my language is always like we encourage you to leave a review, like please leave a review, but you don't have to leave a review, please, please do it, please, and it's the same with like PR packages, like you can't require somebody to post about it, but it but it's you know it's like a wink wink nudge nudge, please. If you love us, share.

Jordan 35:44

Like we are sending you free shit, so post about post about it, goddamn it. No, I'm just kidding. It's expensive, please. Please do it. Okay. Please. Yeah, yeah. Oh, that's so interesting. So now I'm curious because like going back to like I know too, like you brought on your bestie, so it's like you have the added help. Like, is that is she was she able to come on and help with like the matchmaking in the sense of like growing the yeah, so she came on as like my personal assistant.

Lauren 36:17

And so she sets up like my content calendar for me and like manages a few other things for me. And then if she I she only works for me like two hours a week. That was the agreement. I was very nervous about bringing on my best friend because not because I don't love her and trust her, but I have had issues with friends and working, and I didn't want to lose her friendship. Her friendship was more important than that.

Jordan 36:40

Totally, I totally get that.

Lauren 36:43

So we had lots of conversations before I brought her on. So she only works for me two hours a week, and it's a hard stop. I'm like, do not work more than two hours a week for me, like that's it. The no more than that, this is it. So she will vet arcs for me, but it's very time consuming. And so while she can get quite through quite a lot in two hours a week, I you know, because she also she is now a PA for an author, and so I could I couldn't, and so she is now a PA for an author, and then she also has a corporate job, so she cannot like I that's why I told I was like hard stop more than do not do more than two hours a week for me, but she does help me, but it is time consuming, so whenever she's capped at her time, you know, it often falls to me, and so the only thing I have kicked around with expanding is having somebody help with vetting because I would I mean she would do it, but I would feel that. Vetting for like new clients or vetting for what's the we so we still have so whenever people apply for Love Match, we have to go through and vet them, and that's you know, one thing, but then we do a main ARC sign-up for anybody who's not a part of Love Match who wants to sign up for the ARC, and so we have to vet that, and

Vetting Thousands Of ARC Signups

Lauren 38:01

usually it's 500 up signups. So, like, like my biggest one this year so far was 2000 ARC readers that we had to go through and personally vet all of them. Jordan's face is shocked again. Uh her jaw literally hit the floor.

Jordan 38:20

Yeah, I can't even imagine going through that many.

Lauren 38:24

We had, you know, so we had that, and then we had another one with like a thousand. This is why I've been so busy the last couple months. We the last between like April 1st and the end of May, or the beginning of May, we had over 3,000 signups to go through.

Jordan 38:39

That's insane.

Lauren 38:41

It's an amount, it's a lot. So that's me checking every link. That's me making sure you have read and reviewed books, my authors, you you know, posts on social media, like all the things. So it it's very, very time consuming. And I've gotten to the point where I can do if I'm really focused, I can do about a hundred an hour.

Jordan 39:01

Which is a lot, but it's also not a lot counting two thousand of them.

Lauren 39:05

No, it does, it takes a lot of it takes a lot of time, and that's what she so if she can only help me so much at two hours a week. So if I were to expand, I would bring on somebody to help me with that.

Jordan 39:15

Oh, would you ever have her work more hours to do the if she wanted to?

Lauren 39:20

I just would feel bad asking her with everything else she has going on.

Jordan 39:24

That that is totally fair. Which I'm curious, is her author PA ingness, I don't know the right words, is that under Love on the Line, or is that still?

Lauren 39:36

No, it's separate, it's her own, it's her own, it's separate. Um she it was a unique situation where this author needed a PA and I couldn't do it, and we had had that conversation, and I suggested my best friend because she had been working for me and she had a relationship with this author, and then they started they that was separate, so that's between them, that's separate, and I think like she doesn't have the desire to go be an author PA for a full-time job, she just wanted to do it for this one specific author.

Jordan 40:11

So that makes sense, that makes sense. I was I was like more curious like about that and stuff, which now that kind of like we've talked about your rebranding and your author services. I kind of want to go back to your LBC Read page because yeah, I'm so curious on this like switch, even though I do think you were still posting

Turning A Book Account Lifestyle

Jordan 40:31

like lifestyle before. I think you were posting books and lifestyle and but like also like the author services before you had made the separate account. So, but how is it being like kind of like just lifestyle now?

Lauren 40:48

I know it's weird because I don't even really post about books anymore. Um it honestly, it was part of the when I needed to step away from work and stuff, it was something that I needed to do this shift to make myself happy and to also fulfill that creative outlet because most of my creativity is given to my clients and I'm marketing their books, and to make posts about books is like hard for me when I do that. Do you know what I mean? Like I'm like, if I'm going to make a post about a book, I'm gonna do it for my author and give it like 100%. And so it's hard for me to then try to make posts. And so I was posting a lot of lifestyle content. I'm gonna start, I want to still do a mix of books and lifestyle, but I think it's gonna be like 80% lifestyle, 20% books, or something something like that. Like most, you know, I still want to share book recommendations. That's what people came to my page for. And I'm a reader and I do read and I do want to talk about them. It's just been figuring out myself and my mental health and all of that. And so the shift happened because I needed I needed to post about stuff on my page, but I didn't want it to be about books, and so that's where the like the lifestyle came in. And I've kind of always posted lifestyle stuff. I've always posted, you know, about my cats and my husband and my clothes and recipes and things like that, and it's just shifted more towards that and less about the books.

Jordan 42:21

I feel like that is so it I feel like that is good in a way because I feel like you were you're able to make the switch easier to kind of more just lifestyle. But now I'm kind of curious though, like I know you mentioned you want to like post about books again, but like maybe it's like 20%. Do you almost feel that you should post about books on the author services page that you have, or do you still feel you could on LBC Reads?

Lauren 42:52

I feel so I try to keep my like my literary love on the line page. I try to keep that about my author specifically and like using that as a platform to uplift my author's books. And I want to talk about the books I'm reading that I'm personally enjoying on my page. And I've always been the person where I don't talk about books that I don't like, and so because that's the other thing. I don't want to talk negatively about a book that the author of that book could be friends with my author, or if they want to work with me and I've talked poorly about it or whatever. And so I don't like to talk, I never really posted about books I didn't like to begin with, but now I never do. Like if I don't like a book, you just I won't read it. Like if I don't like a book, if I started and I'm not enjoying it, I don't finish it. I don't understand the desire to hate read books. Like some people, there's nothing wrong with it. It just doesn't can work for my brain. It doesn't work for my brain. And so that was an easy transition where I stopped talking negatively about books, period. Like you will never catch me going on and being like, I hated this about this book, and I didn't like this, and this part sucked. Like it just won't happen. So I would like to use my personal page as a way to talk about the books I love.

Jordan 44:11

And I think that's like fair and wanting it to be, but then do you think you would ever rebrand AK just like re Do a new handle for LBC Reads to make it more lifestyle, or do you think you will always keep it LBC Reads?

Lauren 44:28

It's hard because I would change it, but it's a recognition thing. You know, everyone knows me as LB Reads, LBC Reads. I didn't know that people call me LBC. You know, I go by Lauren, and so people would call me LBC. My name is Lauren. My name is Lauren. Um, no, people will call me LBC, and I didn't know that was a thing, but it is, and so LBC would have to be in the username somehow, I guess. But I just, yeah, I don't I don't know it. They say not to change your username, you know, because people know you as that, and that's how they search for you, and so I don't I don't know.

Jordan 45:10

True. No, that is true. So it's like hard to like make the switch if that's something that like people know you love as.

Lauren 45:19

There's there's another book creator who switched to more lifestyle. Um, Brielle. I don't know if you follow her. I forget. She just it was like books by Brielle, and she just changed her username because she is now like Brielle Ann.

Jordan 45:36

But I thought she was like still tagging her. No, but I think it's her book account that's like bigger. So I think she I think you're right.

Lauren 45:44

I think she rebranded changed her username recently. So I was kind of watching her to see how that went before I was.

Jordan 45:55

She runs a lot of lifestyle too.

Lauren 45:58

Correct, yes, yeah. She and now she I think has management. So she's, you know, getting partnerships and brand deals and things like that. So it which I'm not at that level, like it's really more fun for me than anything. Like it's it's not, I don't know. So it we'll see.

Jordan 46:16

She totally could, though. Sorry, side note. Like, I think you totally could with your TikTok for sure. I don't know anything about Instagram numbers or TikTok numbers, but I feel like you have a decent following on TikTok that I'm like, I I feel like you could if you want me to.

Lauren 46:33

Technically, I classify as like a micro influencer or something like that. I don't know. I hate the word influencer. I which I know like you influence people, so it's that's why the name is for this. But I'm like, I create content, I don't know. I post about my life online and people like it.

Jordan 46:50

People follow me, gosh darn it. Like, here we are. I don't know why, but they do, but they do. That's all that matters. Yeah, that's the only thing. But then, so do you do you feel like less pressure to post because you're doing more lifestyle, or do you still feel like any pressure of posting like on your personal account?

Lauren 47:14

I feel so much pressure, and I have felt a ton of pressure for a while because it

Pressure, Imposter Syndrome, And Permission

Lauren 47:21

was a weird, almost guilty like feeling of these people came to me for books, and now I don't ever post about books, or I do, and it's very rarely. And I started posting, you know, when I started out, I was posting three times a day, which I've I think I've mentioned before on your podcast. I was posting three times a day, and now I sometimes don't post at all, and it's very sporadic. And you can always expect me to be posting on Tuesdays. I will always post new release Tuesday, but it is it is weird, so it's this weird pressure I've had of I need to post more. And it's funny because I it was this week, it was literally yesterday. I posted something and I told myself, I literally said it out loud. I was like, I'm so back. Like making content feels fun again, and it doesn't feel like pressure and a burden, and it feels fun. And I can't tell you, like, it's been something I've been struggling with for a long time, and this weird, like, I I want to enjoy it anymore, and it feels like a burden, and now it's like, no, I have all these ideas I want to film and do and create and just share it, and it was this weird switch in my brain. Like, this is supposed to be fun for you. You used to enjoy doing this. Like, why are you putting pressure on yourself for it?

Jordan 48:37

No, I can't I totally agree because I do feel like there was a level of like when we first started, like it was so fun to post, it was so fun to create content and post, and then almost kind of like enter this lull of like, what am I doing?

Lauren 48:54

Yeah, no, it is, it is, and it almost feels like I'm an imposter on my own account when I'm posting lifestyle stuff. It feels like it's like you're betraying who you were when you started out, you're betraying your audience, you're betraying all these people, which it's really not that deep, it's just a social media account. Like, if you don't like my content, you don't have to watch it. But it is it was this weird thing in my brain, and I talked to a couple friends who are lifestyle creators and I talked or book creators, and I talked to this um influencer who's kind of local to me that I really look up to, and this is what she does for a full-time job. And I was just like, How do you do it? And everyone tells you the advice they give you is well, just do it. And I'm like, it's easier said than done. Like it's it's hard. True. My my brain has operated in book content for so long that it's easy, it's second nature. I can make book content in my sleep. I yeah, that's but trying to shift that to lifestyle content again, it's imposter. Like, who actually cares about this? Who's gonna watch this? Why would people like this? Why would somebody want to watch this? Nobody cares what you have to say, they were only here for books, and so that's the story I would tell myself, and it would just become debilitating almost. And like I would film all these videos and not post them because I'd get so in my head about it.

Jordan 50:10

It's tough. That's I mean, I don't even do like lifestyle, and I'm like, I are I feel you in the like I feel like I'm getting less away from books myself. It's like I and I'm just kind of like, what am I doing? And I've kind of like even recently, I'm like, why am I posting this? Like, does anybody even care? Like, do I post it? Like, do I but then I'm like, I'm posting it.

Lauren 50:37

So no, yeah, and that's I for a long time I was in that who cares just post it. It's just social media, it's whatever. And then it became just habit. And then at some point when I was starting to get burnt out with book content, it was well, you know, who who cares about this? Like, this isn't why you create this page. And I think what happens to a lot of people in the bookish space is they start out specifically in this this niche, and they're in this box, they're in this book community box, and they get stuck there, and it's very hard to break out of it, and it's very hard to tell yourself you can break out of it. And I've you know, I've I have another friend who is a really big creator on TikTok who for books, and she just created like a completely separate account for personal stuff, and I think like for me, it was I am more than my job, I am more than books, I am this whole person, and I have all of these facets of my life that I like want to share with the people who found me because I'm like, if you like me for books, you might like my clothes, you might like my recipes, you might like this, you everybody loves my cats, so like here they are here. Here they are. She's sushi is actually she is acting up and she has been in the office for a minute while we've been chatting, and I thought I was gonna have to interrupt the podcast to grab her. She was she is doing this new thing where she's climbing my bookshelves and it's driving me crazy. But now she's chewing on some random cord. I don't even know what she's doing.

Jordan 52:11

Oh, you gotta love that. I get the random teeth marks in boxes, and I'm like, okay, well, here we are. Yeah. But okay, so I do want to ask you like, do you have any advice for someone that wants to switch their content and like go about posting something new, whether like going from books to lifestyle or maybe even lifestyle to well, I feel like lifestyle of the books is probably a little easier, but like lifestyle of the books is easier because they're

Content Series And Pillars That Work

Jordan 52:40

already there for your life and uh being and reading is a part of your life.

Lauren 52:44

You have like again, you are so much more than just your book recommendations. There is a human behind the book rec. And so I think my advice would be I wish like when what I what I told myself is it's so for new release Tuesday, it is a series that I do every single Tuesday. People look forward to it, they are there for that. If you are wanting to break out of the book niche that you are stuck in, I would find a series like that that is not books, and I would just consistently post about it every single week and get in the habit of posting about something other than books, and then you can build it from there and also utilize your stories. Like your stories are gone in 24 hours, so post the recipe, post what you're doing for the day. People love day in my life to bring them along in your stories. I did that a couple weeks ago, and everybody loved seeing what I did my whole day in you know, just my stories. It doesn't have to be a whole post. So there's so many different ways and tools with social media that you can do. It just gets really intimidating. And it you again, you it becomes for me, it was an imposter, like it was this voice in my head, and you kind of just have to tell them to shut up at some point, and like it's your social media account to do with what you want. And if you don't want to talk about books anymore, no one's you know forcing you to. No one literally is saying, like, you have to only post about books, like you can post whatever you want, like whatever. I mean, don't post anything like hateful, but like you will whatever you want.

Jordan 54:15

Don't be mean, don't be mean. Which fair. So then I'm kind of curious for like talking about content creation, when you're posting lifestyle, like what do you post? Like, I know you mentioned clothes and recipes, like what do you like? What is that? Like trying my clothes, yeah.

Lauren 54:36

It gets so so right. Because if you're in the book space, you think, okay, book reviews, book haul, you know, books I'm excited for, book recs that I'm excited for, books by tropes. Like, there's so many things, there is so many things with lifestyle too. So it's almost like you have to sit down and think, this is what and that's my new mindset has been okay, I enjoyed watching this video. How can I use like what could I do to do to emulate this style of video? Or like if I'm binging this content, like I could create similar content. And so trying to like think about that, like what what kind of videos do I like to watch on TikTok? I like to watch hauls, I like to watch people style clothes, I like to all these different so it's like flipping it and being like, okay, if you like to consume this, what could you create that you would like to consume? And then if you're just creating content for yourself, again, you now you're back to the circle where you're creating content for yourself, it makes it more fun. Well, I didn't even like think of that, but like it makes sense. If you're I saw I saw a TikTok that was like, if you are not your biggest fan, why are you posting on social media? And I was like, literally, yes, yes. Like I saved it and she said she goes, I have a fake account, and I literally comment on my own my TikToks as this fake person hyping myself up. And I'm like, that is genius. I'm like, that is literally true. If you are not your biggest fan, if you are not your biggest hype girl, you shouldn't be posting on social. Like you have like that is the whole point of it. It's a vanity thing, right? It's like a I like myself this much. I'm posting about my life. You have to, you have to have that confidence and you have to like yourself that much.

Jordan 56:15

Wait, I really like that because I also I don't have like a fake, like I do have other accounts that I'll like go and like like and stuff, but I saw someone like talking about this in a way, but they were like, I'm the first person, I like my own post. I like my own post, I comment it whether it's like the hashtags or emojis, and I save it. And I was like, wait, why don't I do that?

Lauren 56:35

I feel like you grew up with Instagram, like we kind of like we it was embarrassing, it was embarrassing to like your own post.

Jordan 56:43

Yes, thank you, but I feel like when I saw that, I was like, wait a minute, like I am gonna like my own shit. And I feel like it does help gain the traction that it needs by like having those automatic likes, comments, and saves. And I'm like, why wasn't I doing this before?

Lauren 57:02

I know. Well, and it's it's the same thing. It I think if that is why the book space is such an easy space for people to become content creators on because you're yapping about your favorite books. You're saying, I love this book, so you should too. It's the same thing with lifestyle. I loved this recipe, so you should too. I love these shoes, so you should too. I love this skincare, so you should too. Like it's the same thing, it's the same recipe, the same formula. You just have to apply it to whatever interests you. And so that's the thing is like I love clothes. And so I've posted hauls and I've posted styling, and like, you know, we've done, I know you've done it, outfit of the day, and um, you know, like the what is it, the daub of the day. And I was doing bold of the day, I gave up on that. But like I was doing, I I'm just now doing outfit of the day, just straight up outfit of here's my I literally say I am a 32-year-old who works from home. This is my outfit.

Jordan 57:56

No, but that like that works because I feel like this, and this is also like it's perfect for people that are in the bookish space that want to leave the bookish space, because start introducing these like daub of the days, however, like that way, like all you need to do is take out the book. But if you're not ready for that yet, you can do like different things because I I I know what you mean, because I started posting like a day in my life, but I like still I still didn't know how to leave the bookish space. So, like basically the end of the video is me doing a reading check-in of like what I read or listened to while working that day. So it's like I feel like you can definitely start posting lifestyle things.

Lauren 58:41

Yes, and that's that's a great that is a great example of the series that I mentioned because series are really big on social media. People want to check in every week, they want something to look forward to. So if you are saying, I I'm pretending to be you, Jordan. So, like, oh okay, I'm planning out my week. Every Wednesday, I'm going to do a day in my life, and I'm gonna post this every Wednesday, and people will look forward to it, and they'll be like, I know every Wednesday I can log in and I'm gonna see Jordan's day in her life. And then at the end, she's gonna tell me what she's reading, and I can see if like what you know, if I it's a book I need to add to my TBR or whatever. Like, that is a way you can slowly start breaking out of the bookish space, and then if you wanted in a couple months, you could drop off the book, and maybe you pick up a new hobby, maybe you start needle pointing or you're knitting or whatever it is, and you can be like, Oh, instead of reading tonight, I started doing this. Like, it's a it can be, or you could literally just wake up tomorrow and start posting whatever you wanted because it is your own social media account. But that's if you were, but if you're scared and if you're you have this imposter telling you I can't do this, that is a easy way, like find a way to just consistency, pick one thing and do it. And that's why I've told myself no matter what I post, I will always show up for new release Tuesday. And no matter what's going on, that that's why I said 20% of my stuff will be books because no matter what, even if I'm not talking about books I'm currently reading, I will be posting up at Parsons and Noble every Tuesday to tell you guys what came out that day. And I posted something this Tuesday and it wasn't New Release Tuesday, and someone comments it and they're like, girl, I'm waiting for New Release Tuesday, and I'm like, it's coming. I just posted it.

Jordan 1:00:17

Oh my goodness, but it's like it's kind of crazy how people get you for like these like certain things, and now it's like good to know because like I think maybe I'll try to make my I think I'm pretty much every Friday, but like sometimes it's like I don't do it for that week, but now I'm like trying to do it like every Friday now.

Lauren 1:00:37

And the more you do it, the easier it gets. Like I when I first started doing new release Tuesday, it took me forever. But now I can literally be in and out in 30 minutes if I talk to nobody. I can go in, I can film my video, I can I can edit it super fast because I've been doing it for so long. Like I just clip it all down and then it's just it's done. It's done. And so the repetition of it, practice makes perfect, you get better at it, and so then when you start practicing making content without books, it just becomes a habit. Like book content is habit for me.

Jordan 1:01:10

I feel like that in itself, like all of that was just like great advice. Like the thank you like just drop in knowledge all around.

Lauren 1:01:23

Um things that I've had to like learn myself, and I've had people tell me these things, but it just sometimes it doesn't click unless you listen to a specific way of it being said or a specific person saying it or whatever.

Jordan 1:01:38

No, it's so true, and sometimes too, it's like I because I remember having this like long conversation with somebody about like doing like a rebranding and like having these like pillars, and the way she worded it to me, I was like, I can't post the same thing every single day. Like, this doesn't make any sense to me. I had the same conversation with somebody else, and they were like, No, Jordan, you don't have to post the same thing, it's the same idea, but different things. So, like this, this, this. And I was like, Oh my goodness, I just wasn't understanding what the other person was saying.

Lauren 1:02:19

So I was like, I can't do this, but it's like, no, no, I just not the information, it's sometimes just the delivery, and yes, the content they call them content pillars, and that was something I learned. So I actually, you know, I started out in real estate posting on social media, and so I didn't want to be just known for real estate, and it was like, how do I have these other things? And I was in this marketing membership for real estate agents called Modern Asian Social Club. I will give the props to Chelsea Peterson, she is the owner of that, and she was really who opened my brain to marketing and like social media and what you can use Instagram for, and that's TikTok. That's how I got here. So I she talked about content pillars and like being like, okay, well, maybe you're known for like always having a diet coke at showings or whatever, like, or your kids, and you're talking about your kids, and like my kids like to play at this park, and so this is why this location's great for real estate. Like, there's all these ways that you can tie it back to like your yourself, and you have these, you know, other things that you're interested in. And if you're posting about it all the time, people come because they come to know that about you. For example, people know I have two cats, they know I have a cat named Tater and a cat named Sushi, and they know that about me. And I don't have to post about them every single day, but people know that. And if they see a cat that looks like Tater, they will send it to me. You know what I mean?

Jordan 1:03:38

Like it's like it becomes this thing about you, and I didn't even think of that about like even just like what you're posting, but like not posting, but it makes sense.

Lauren 1:03:50

Yeah, people like when you were sharing your life, like people come to know things about you, and like for example, I couldn't tell you the last time I posted about Summer Friday's lip balm, but when I like people know that I like that lip balm or that I like lip balm, people know that about me, even though I couldn't tell you the last time I posted about it.

Jordan 1:04:09

That's fair. I do like I could I don't know when the last time you posted, but I know you would always post about a summer Fridays lip balm.

Lauren 1:04:17

That's because I I like other lip balms more now, but even the Ole Hendricks ones. Oh my gosh, that the yes, the Ulay Hendrix ones.

Jordan 1:04:26

So oh that one. I'm like obsessed with it.

Lauren 1:04:29

No, there's I will go to sleep and wake up with it still like on my lips the next morning. And I'm like, it's so good. What so good, so refreshing and like thick and moisturizing and it like smells and like tastes good.

Jordan 1:04:43

Where like summer Fridays, the pink one, like the birthday cake. No, thank you.

Lauren 1:04:47

That's not good, no bueno. I so it's it's actually like a complete tangent as to why I don't wear summer Fridays anymore. But I when I think back to it, like they were a little more drying on my lips, and I'd have to be reapplying them more, and I don't have to reapply as much with the Ula Hendrickson one, and the road ones are really good, and I think it's because they both have peptides in them, and so the peptides are just more nourishing for your lips than the Summer Fridays formula.

Jordan 1:05:13

I didn't even realize that, but it makes sense because I also like the road one too.

Lauren 1:05:18

Yeah, there you go, the more you know. But I'm just saying, like, there's there's things that people will come to know about you, and it's the same with like I feel like even if I'm not posting about books, people still know I'm a reader, they still know I like cowboy romance, they still know I like you know all these things, like it it just becomes part of you. It is you, yeah, you're human, you have interests, you're multidimensional, and yeah.

Jordan 1:05:45

You have you have more likes, and that's okay.

Lauren 1:05:49

There's a person, yeah, exactly.

Jordan 1:05:52

Share them, share them. Perfect. Okay, so before I end this episode, I do want to ask you these two questions. And the first one I want to ask you is what is an underrated author that you think everyone should read? And if you could give us a book rec by this author.

Lauren 1:06:08

I have two of two. Give a one's a client and then one's a non client.

Underrated Romance Reads To Try

Lauren 1:06:15

So that's how I'm getting around this. So the non client rec is Ava Ronnie, I'm hoping I'm saying her name right. She wrote, she's written many books, but she wrote Poisoned Ivy. And it's like, I think Gilmore Girls, Secret Society, Mystery. They're in college, they're working together. The audiobook was amazing. I'm pretty sure the male narrator was Connor Crace. Is that how you say his name? I'm like 90, 93% sure. But anyway, it was it was so good. It was so good. I'm just so excited for the second book. There are gonna be like interconnected standalones. And it was just, yeah, she's a college student and she's um writing this paper, and they're forced to work together, and they're kind of not rivals, but like they don't get off on the right foot, and he's you know, a rich, rich kid and used to getting everything he wants. Anyway, it was it was really, really good. I loved that audiobook, and I'm very excited to read other books of hers. She just had one come out called Out of Her League, and I think it's like soccer, I want to say. So I want to read that one as well.

Jordan 1:07:26

Okay, okay, but now the one that is your client?

Lauren 1:07:30

Yes, yeah. So it's Aura Hayes and the it's their debut novel. So it's a duo that writes, and their debut novel came out last year, and it was Loving a Vampire is Total Chaos, and the second book in the series just came out this year, and it was Loving a Witch is Totally Foolish. And they have a third book coming out, and they're paranormal romances, they're so funny. Like, if you like Bryn Weaver, Nevessa Allen, think about that, but like paranormal, like it's like a dark rom-com, but there are vampires, there's witches, there's demons, like it's the supernatural world. It's literally so funny. Like it's so funny. There's a very popular quote from the first book where he's like, Oh no, like I'm going to die, and she's not gonna find out like how big of a dick I have. Like, that's amazing. It's so funny, it's funny, and so I just I love to give them a plug because their debut did not read like a debut, and they worked so hard, and I just feel like more people should read their books.

Jordan 1:08:39

More people need to funnel, and now they can. Ta-da! Ta-da! Okay, and so the last question I have for you is actually one that I've asked before, but I feel like it just could be such a good question. But like what is one future goal, either long term or short term that you're doing?

Lauren 1:08:59

And with reading again, and I'm getting to that point with both places, and it's still a goal of mine though, because with reading, it kind of became like a chore and a job, and I'm getting to this point where like it's fun again, and I want I try to remind myself like it's entertainment, it's fun,

Future Goals And Where To Sign Up

Lauren 1:09:14

it's a hobby. You do this because you love to read, you know. I don't want to ruin that relationship, and it's the same kind of a content, like I post content because I genuinely enjoy posting content, and so my goal is to repair that relationship that I have with both content and books, and like working on that, and then finding a balance with it all with work, and how do I keep working for romance authors while still maintaining this side of me?

Jordan 1:09:44

So and I think that's a really good goal for like how like you're like just even like falling back in love with something because you've made it.

Lauren 1:09:59

I'm like, I could say it's to whatever, but I don't right now I'm in this weird place with my job where I've only been doing it for three years, and I think in five years, am I still gonna want to be doing this or what is that gonna look like? Because it could change, like I could change and things could change, and like my role authors could change. You never know. And so I don't want to put myself in a box where I'm like with this company, and I have people who are dependent on me and all of that. So it's I want to just try to enjoy life and not burn out and like actually have like a decent work-life balance.

Jordan 1:10:36

So yes, no, and that's totally understandable, totally understandable, which okay, so thank you so much for coming on the podcast again. I do want you to like plug the website and there is a sign up on my website, it's literary loveontheline.com.

Lauren 1:10:58

And there is a tab uh on the page, I think it's on the homepage, or you know, where you can drop down and there's like the other different pages that says arc matchmaking or love match. You can click on that and sign up. We are actively vetting people for it. So we'll be adding new people to the program. If I have ARC opportunities, they're on there as well. So you can sign if you just want to sign up for one specific author's ARC opportunity. You can. And yeah, so that's where all that's at. Or you can find me on Instagram at literary love on the line. I'm gonna be posting, I think, like an update of everything that we're working on as well as stuff that's released because it's quite a bit. But yeah, we have still a busy year ahead of us. I still have a lot going on with my clients, so keep an eye out.

Jordan 1:11:51

Um, okay, well, thank you so much for coming on, Lauren. I had so much fun talking to you again, and I already can't wait for you to come back.

Lauren 1:12:00

I know.

Jordan 1:12:01

I'm every time I come on, we start talking about like, well, next time you I come back on like before we even r start recording the current one, we're already like, okay, so like when you come back, this is what's gonna happen.

Lauren 1:12:13

Yes, no, thank you so much for having me. I always have the best time talking with you and talking to like you know, hopefully your listeners get something out of this. I know this wasn't as like author PA heavy, but in the past, I know I direct people to your podcast as a way to like really what I'm saying. I'm so grateful for.

Jordan 1:12:34

Yes. Thank you. But I also think with the content creation, people like totally want to hear that. And if you don't, you don't say anything.

Lauren 1:12:42

Yeah, be nice to me. I may cry if you are me to me. Like, don't yell at me, I'm sensitive. Yeah.