Because You Saw Me Release Tour (Guest Post by Lillian Keith)

Hey Visionaries! Glad to be back on the blog today! Lots of stuff going on this month, am I right? This Launch Tour is one of my favorite things though because Lily's my friend as I mentioned in Thursday's post!

So, today, Lily has written a guest post for us, so let's dive right in!

Is It Okay to Change Plans?

By Lillian Keith

When I decided to self publish, I did a lot of research. I mean, a lot. I read various articles and listened to experts give advice on how to do it right. And being a perfectionist, I nearly took everything to heart. When I decided to publish my first story, An Apprentice Escapes, I had a clear vision of how the publishing process would go.

However, it quickly became clear that I was actually limited with what I could do. I couldn’t afford a lot of editors, fancy cover designers, and many other things that experts said to do. I ended up having to let go of a lot of what I originally wanted to do and be more realistic with what I could accomplish. I needed to find another route, an alternative so to speak, to reach my publishing goals.

Was all that advice I took in important? Absolutely. I believe that there is value in what these people were saying; after all, their goal is to help indie authors succeed and be the best that they can be.

But if I couldn’t do all those things, did I somehow fail? Would my story not be ‘as good’?

No. There’s a difference between someone who slaps together a ‘book’, picks a random photo to use as a cover, dusts off their hands and calls it a day; versus someone who pours a lot of time and energy and research into making it possible to properly self-publish their book as best they can.

Maybe it won’t be as ‘shiny’ as others; maybe the cover wasn’t done professionally (though it’s still eye-catching); and a host of many other things. But what’s important is that you did the best that you could. You worked hard to make the story the best that it could be. And as long as you stayed true to what you originally intended to write and share with the world, then you succeeded.

Maybe someday, I’ll hire people to either edit, format, or do cover design for me in the future. That’s an in-the-future/work-toward-it kind of goal. But sometimes, it’s okay to go a different route. It’s okay to find something that works for you in this particular season of your writing life. There’s always room to grow and try new things.

If you can look yourself in the mirror and honestly say ‘I did my very best’, then you’ve already succeeded.

Stellar advice, if I do say so. Sometimes our plans have to change and that's not a bad thing. Doing the best with what we have available to us is the important thing!