We recently connected with Kate Tilton and have shared our conversation below.

Kate, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Tenacity!

Publishing books like many creative fields is difficult. Rejection, failure, and frustration are all a part of the journey for an author. As someone who works with authors, I also face the challenges with them when things don’t go quite as planned. It’s my job to help authors remain in the right mindset and find clarity on the steps to take next no matter what happens.

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 background and context?

My origin story is a bit unique. I didn’t intend to start a business, but rather fell into it. I was a senior in high school scrolling through Twitter on a long car ride and happened upon a tweet from one of my favorite authors. Their tweet stated they were looking for an assistant. I asked if it could be a virtual assistant and was hired for the job. That was over ten years ago. Since then I’ve learned so much about publishing and marketing. I’ve worked with hundreds of authors and have grown from the assistant role into a consulting role. Owning a business isn’t easy, but with each new challenge I learn how I can better run my company and help others. I love it when I hear from a client “I couldn’t do this without you!” or “I feel so much better now. I know what do to next.” I believe in the power of stories to connect us, to show us we are not alone in the world. To be a part of the creation and sharing of a book is a special thing. I believe my clients work with me because they relate to my desire to share stories with the world and to help others.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

When I started out back in 2010, I got involved with the publishing community online and offline. I read anything I could get my hands on, I attended author and publishing events, and eventually even started writing my own articles on what I had learned. At the time I started there wasn’t a lot out there about author assistants. Talking about the work I was doing for authors while also doing quality work helped me build a reputation I’m proud of.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I started my business back in 2010, as a high schooler with no money, a laptop, and Internet access.While I was fortunate to start my business young when I didn’t have bills to pay, as I grew and the business grew those bills did come and sometimes they came down hard. I’ve survived two cases where an unexpected medical expense completely wiped out all my savings. Recently I’ve been working through renovations after two water leaks sprang up on me. These unexpected unfortunate turn of events remind me how grateful I am for the business I started that has afforded me the ability to make it through when life happens.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://katetilton.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/k8tilton/