We recently connected with Lily Flowers and have shared our conversation below.
Lily, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Before we talk about all of your success, let’s start with a story of failure. Can you open up about a time when you’ve failed?
Rather than a failure, I see it as a valuable lesson for beginners.
I had the desire to create language books for children who, like me, immigrated to Canada (or the Americas) at a young age and lost their native language to English. In my zeal to get this done, I paid someone to “coach” me through it.
The things they “helped” me do are things you can do for free on your own, and something I learned to do on my own for my romance author side of the business. I feel like I was taken advantage of because I didn’t do sufficient research. I regret not investing in editors and illustrators instead of hiring a coach who provided no more value than what I could have found on YouTube. I truly hope other new authors don’t fall into this same trap.
The lesson that I learned from that experience is, do your research and learn about the industry you’re getting yourself into. I won’t knock anyone’s hustle, but remember, there will always be someone who is trying to make a buck off your vulnerabilities, so be careful.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Lily S. Flowers, and I am an indie author who writes Black Romance.
I will say my English teacher in Jr. High, Mr. Dougharty, piqued my interest in fiction writing when he kept a story I’d written for a creative writing class. I can’t remember what it was all about, but he handed it to me when I graduated and told me it was one of his favourite stories. That felt like the biggest honour to my little brain.
I am most proud of my growth. As I continue to publish books and learn my craft, I am humbled by the support and love new and existing readers have given me.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
Yes. I wish I took courses from YouTube University where you can learn any and everything, but I am doing it now. Because of this experience, I try when I can to help new authors find free/cost-effective ways to get started.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
It’s a work in progress, but I’m unlearning that things don’t have to be perfect for you to get started. You don’t need perfection, ideal conditions, or absolute knowledge to start that project.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://authorlilyflowers.ca
- Instagram: @lilywritesspice
- Twitter: @lilywritesspice
Image Credits
Illustrated Cover and character art by Kiki, @acixsm
Other Cover art by Author Aubree Pynn
All I Want for Christmas – Photo sourced from Canva Premium