Laura Laing reached out and introduced herself to me in a friendly and professional manner. She mentioned the name of a well-respected mutual friend and asked if she could participate in the giveaway. Once I assessed that her book fit the specs of the giveaway, I was happy to include her. She is a total pro and I am always happy to give a total pro a leg up. I hope Laura does become known as “The Math Writer.” Let’s all help her fulfill that wish. Please welcome Laura!
About Laura Laing
When people learn that Laura Laing has a degree in mathematics, it’s always the same reaction: Widening eyes change to a puzzled look and then, “But aren’t you a writer?” Laura contends that writing great non-fiction is not much different from proving a(b + c) = ab + ac, except she gets to use words that are a whole lot more fun.
Specializing in complex ideas and controversial stories, she’s written about the oldest gay bar in Baltimore, the very unique management structure of W.L Gore & Associates (home of GoreTex), and sustainability programs on Army bases. Her byline has appeared in Parade, Pregnancy, Parents and Southwest Airline’s Spirit. Her corporate and non-profit clients have included Kennedy Krieger Institute, Association of University Centers for Disabilities and Busch Gardens. Laura also writes test items and lessons for a variety of educational resources companies.
About Math For Grownups
Ever wish you’d paid more attention in math class? From third grade to senior year of high school, it went in one ear and out the other, didn’t it?
But now you’re staring at the new washer and dryer, trying to figure out the percentage of sales tax on the purchase price. You multiply something by something, right? Or you’re scratching your head, wondering how to compute the odds that your football team will take next Sunday’s game. You’re pretty sure that involved ratios. The problem is, you can’t quite remember.
Here you get an adult refresher and real-life context–with examples ranging from how to figure out how many shingles it takes to re-roof the garage to the formula for resizing Mom’s tomato sauce recipe for your entire family.
Forget higher calculus–you just need an open mind. And with this practical guide, math can stop being scary and start being useful.
The Very Short Interview
When did you know for sure that you were a writer and that writing would be a major energy focus in your life?
Most folks had a math teacher who discouraged them; I had an English teacher. My senior year of high school, Mrs. Moore told me that I would never be a writer. But after getting a degree in math and teaching high school, I finally circled back around to writing, starting with marketing and public relations and then moving to journalism and copywriting. It’s only been in the last 10 years that I’ve really embraced writing as a way of life for me.
Who has always been behind your writing career and who helped pull you up the ladder of success?
My circle of freelance writer friends are so important to me. They push me to do more and be more, and they let me know when my expectations are way too high. They’ve taught me how to make money, stay focused and keep my passion.
What is the most frequent comment you hear about your book (or books) from readers? Tell us a little story about the response to your work.
“Oh, I need that book! I can’t do math at all!” My job is to convince them that indeed they can — and have to. (I always say that math doesn’t have to be your BFF, but you can get along in public.) Mostly, people are confused. They don’t understand why a writer would be interested in math, because most folks believe in the false dichotomy of math and language. But I’ve managed to chip away at some of this. At the American Society for Journalists and Authors conference last month, I spoke on two panels and mentioned my book whenever I possibly could. And at least three times a day, someone would stop me and say, “You’re the Math Lady!” Maybe one day, I’ll be known as the Math Writer.
And Now, Your Turn
Now it’s your turn. You remember how this works right?
I ask you a question. You answer in the comments for your chance to win a book each day.
Please just respond once, even if you make a typo. 
Answer in the comments in 50-200 words (no less and no more to qualify to win one of today’s books). Please read the complete rules at least once!
Thanks for participating in the Writer Mama Every-Day-In-May Book Giveaway! I hope to see you here every day this month. Bring your friends!
Here’s some good math for grownup writers: at what point in your writing career will you begin to be profitable from your writing? At what point in your writing career do you hope to make significant money?
Ready, set, comment!
Comments on this entry are closed.
I wasn’t profitable in my freelance writing until I learned the lesson from Kelly James-Enger to keep a time sheet. Once I could see how long it took me to write a piece, I could then gauge the time necessary for future assignments and what I needed to charge for it. As far as my ebook writing, I’m hoping for profits once it’s complete and marketed sufficiently. How long that will take and what it will entail remains to be seen. Significant money? I translate that as a full-time income. Not until I’m done raising up boys and homeschooling.
I am fortunate to make money with my writing, but it certainly isn’t significant at this point. Currently, I’m working on a fiction novel and an eBook. I hope both of these translate to more income, but I won’t depend on any one piece to make great amounts of money. Right now I am maintaining focus on raising my toddler and trying to make ends meet. I’m just so happy to be lucky enough to make money doing what I love to do.
I started out writing on the side while still working in the corporate world. I did that for about five years. By 2005, I reached a point where I could make a full-time living of my writing business and leave the corporate world. I could’ve made the move sooner, but needed to wait until my husband had a steady job with health benefits.
I’ve only recently made a very, very small amount of money for my writing, but hey, everyone has to start somewhere so I’m thrilled to be paid anything at all for something I love doing. I’m hoping that once I start putting more hours into my writing work that it will translate to more money earned, although I don’t really have any idea how long that will take. I would like to make significant money at some point, although I feel like that is a long way away. I’m just beginning and I know I need to work my way up, just like I did at my first job out of college.
Because I do academic writing, I rarely make any money from my publications, although an English Grammar did make some money for me. After I retire in the next few years I hope to write a book about women’s humor. If that publishes, I might see a bit of extra income. At least it will be fun!
I’ve made decent money as an advertising copywriter and technical feature writer since 1980. In 2002 I founded my public relations agency, c3PR, and now make significantly more money writing PR and marketing materials. I make enough to support my family, a full-time writer, a new PR summer intern, and several freelancers. Unfortunately, I don’t make enough to retire and write fiction. I hope to reach that point in the next five to seven years. As for generating a profit from fiction, I don’t have any grand illusions. If a publisher were to accept my manuscript, the pride of being published would be enough. But I guess that’s why we have agents to help us negotiate our worth and do the math!
Boy do I need this book! It might help me to see that my profits from writing minus my writing related “expense” equals, um, a negative number. If I didn’t spend on conferences and books and classes I would be making a profit, but I think those things are important to improving my craft. I hope to make significant money from writing before I reach retirement age!
I want to finish my current book and get it moving – blog, e-book, print- and cover my costs. Afterwards I plan to move on to new areas. I’m interested in free lance work- short stories on specific human interest topics. I’ve a collection documents on similar topics which I plan to publish as books- and that’s when I would like to see some financial payback because it will mean that readers are interested in what I write. I was a stay at home mom for 12 years, worked part time for six years and worked fulltime for 15 years. I loved what I did, worked hard, was paid well and was respected for what I did.
Significant money would be nice but to be heard on topics I care about would make me happy.
Made it before midnight!
Right now I’m focusing on writing
personal essays for anthologies, poetry for journals, and blogging. Money
really isn’t a key factor. It is sweet when I get paid for an anthology, or win
a contest that pays out, but that’s generally the exception—I write for
satisfaction and self-expression these days, and also to connect with
like-minded others. That being said, way back when I was pregnant with my
daughter, my mom and I co-authored two math enrichment workbooks together. Not
only was that satisfying on many scores (collaborating with my mom, using my
undergraduate major, and being fun!), it was also lucrative. When my youngest
child leaves the nest in a year, I’m seriously contemplating doing freelance
technical writing again.
Mary Lou wins again! I think that’s your third book, yes Mary Lou?