Life has a way of throwing us a curve ball now and then. And this has been a year of curve balls for me. And I don’t even like baseball all that much. (Apologies to my mom and niece.)
But the truth is, life is never static. Change is constant and eventually we accept it or we wallow in grief. I’ve done enough wallowing in my life to know that’s not who I want to be anymore!
That said, there are going to be some changes to the extra things I do involving my books. In other words, there are a lot of things that authors do besides write books. You probably follow many of us on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Goodreads, and more. Some of us, like me, try to keep up a blog. Others have special Facebook groups just for their followers—the ones who share similar interests outside of their books. Some of them speak. The list is endless.
When I began this career—after I broke into traditional publishing, that is—I had no endorsements or influencers for that very first book. There was no launch team, and I barely had a social media presence. I blogged long before I sold a book, but that was about it.
As the years went by, I thought I needed to do more. So I started a launch team instead of just a few influencers. I got more involved on other social media and tried to blog several times a week. But all the “extras” took a toll. And this was not the year where I could do any of them justice and still write the books I am contracted to write.
So for the past few years, I’ve had a couple of different assistants that I paid to help me. Each one brought something new to me and helped me to see marketing in a different light. They were all of great help to me and during our time together, I truly appreciated—and still do appreciate each one of them.
I also appreciated all of the help that my various launch teams gave to me in helping to promote my work. The enthusiasm and sharing of the book wherever they could was much appreciated.
But as they say, all good things come to an end—at least eventually. And that is where I stand today. After much consideration and prayer and advice from trusted friends and my publisher, I realized that I was trying to do more than what anyone expected. I am paid to write books. That’s the truth of it. And if I devote too much time to everything else, then I have less time to write the best book I can. And that is not a good thing for anyone.
So…it is with some sadness but also a sense of release that I am no longer able to have a launch team. I am also no longer going to continue with an assistant because the main reason I deferred to having an assistant was to run my launch team.
For those of you who have been asking about a launch team for Star of Persia, Esther’s Story, you can still be a part of promoting the book through the Revell Reads Program. Just click the link to sign up for that. Please be sure to follow whatever guidelines they give.
You will also find that on my contact page, you can contact my publicists for any interview related questions. If you would like to ask me a question, please feel free to contact me—but please note that if you can find the answer here on my website, you will save us both some time. I am not always able to answer in a timely manner. But I will do my best.
I am also no longer able to offer speaking engagements or free talks to book clubs. These are all extras that I simply do not have time to do—at least not for the next few years.
I want to thank all of you who are reading this for your continued support of my work. My calling is to write books. It is what God has graciously allowed me to do, and I want to do my best for His glory.
If I could have a team of any kind, it would be a prayer team. That is the one thing I cannot pay for and cannot expect from any of my readers. But I would covet your prayers for this work. Please consider being part of that type of team where you pray for each new release—that the books will get into the hands of the people who need to read that story. And that God will touch the hearts of all who read my work and the work of every Christian author because that is why we write. To encourage, to uplift, to show God’s grace to a confused and desperate world.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
In His Grace,
~Jill
