When I look at the vibrant cover of my book and hold the final product in my hand, I can’t help but smile! What a fulfilling journey this has been and I am very proud to say, I finally self-published my first ever children’s book, The Spider and The Butterfly.
This passion project did not happen overnight. It has been a journey, and a sacrifice of my time, efforts, finances, and many hours of prayer, but it has been worth every step along the way. There are no words to describe the sense of achievement and gratification in seeing my vision come to fruition. I found the courage to pursue my vision, and no matter the obstacles I just kept going. No one believes in your vision more than you do, so don’t wait, don’t procrastinate, get up and make it happen!
I have always had a desire to write for God, and through sheer persistence and determination it finally came true… I wrote a children’s story! If you have read my previous blogs you will know the journey to reach my goal was a long one. Things did not come easily or quickly, but I worked hard and I did what I had to do to make my vision a reality. I have a full time job so writing has always been a part time goal, not always easy or even possible after a full day’s work, so I sacrificed most of my weekends to write. There are no excuses if you want to reach your goals, you have to keep believing in yourself and you have to put in the hours. If I can make my vision come true at forty eight years old, then so can you. Age is but a number and if you follow your passion day in and day out, nothing can stop you!
I thank my editor Hilton Rahme, who was an answer to prayer and exactly what I needed to get my rough manuscript publishing worthy. I am very grateful to Hilton for the many hours working together on this project and I thank God for all the skills and knowledge he has imparted to me. If you are writing a book and need an editor, I highly recommend the exceptionally skilled Hilton Rahme at www.uberwriters.com.
Once my book was ready to publish, Hilton helped with a formal publishing proposal which we sent to various Christian publishers in the hope of getting my book published through the traditional publishing route. Although this was unsuccessful I wasn’t disheartened. Please don’t allow obstacles like this to discourage you or stop you from moving forward. If you believe you have something to offer the world don’t ever give up. The world needs what you have to give and if you pray consistently and ask God to guide you, you will be amazed at the people and opportunities that cross your path to help your vision become a reality.
If you are unable to get your book published via the traditional route I highly recommend self-publishing. It most certainly requires more effort, passion, and drive to accomplish, but there is no way you can leave your story sitting on a shelf, it must get out there, you must find a way… I did, so what is stopping you? I made mention in my previous blog that I already thought about self-publishing, so instead of just sitting around waiting for publishers to get back to me, I went ahead and started sourcing illustrators for my children’s story. If you self-publish a children’s book, you will need to source an illustrator. Have a look at the humble pencil drawing I drew for the cover of my book. Don’t worry if you can’t draw, you don’t have to draw your own illustrations at all. I just knew want I wanted for my cover and chose to keep my own original design, especially highlighting the cross in the middle of the web, but I clearly needed an illustrator to bring the cover to life and also for all the character and scene illustrations.
I prayed for God to help me and I found two remarkable illustrators to draw sample drawings. It was not an easy choice at all, but after receiving the final draft drawings, I chose the talented and super kind Christian illustrator, Alex van Houwelingen. I had a very tight budget, but Alex was so willing to help me and be involved in my story that we negotiated a price for twenty drawings, including the cover. We finished working on the project at the end of September 2019, but sadly and very unexpectedly, Alex passed away from cancer in April 2020. My deepest condolences to his lovely wife and two children, and I will be eternally grateful for his talent and legacy he has left on this Earth. The Spider and The Butterfly will now always carry Alex’s name and stunning illustrations into the future, never to be forgotten.
“Thank you for the blessing of your beautiful illustrations Alex, may your soul rest in peace.”
Once the illustrations were complete, Hilton helped compile the final book design and illustration layout to submit for printing and for loading onto Amazon.com. Hilton also helped me source a local printer in Cape Town, Print on Demand, and after a few samples, we finally signed off the final copy of The Spider and The Butterfly at the end of December 2019. I still had to wait a few months for my ISBN number from the National Library, but once that once was received, my book was finally completed and The Spider and The Butterfly was ready for sale by March 2020. Then the Covid-19 lockdown happened.
Lockdown may have forced a challenge on marketing my book, but nothing will stop me from getting my book out to as many children as possible. I have already gifted it to many children and sold some copies, but it is the feedback which makes my heart smile the most! All the positive reviews from the children, parents, and friends who have read The Spider and The Butterfly have been wonderful, and their encouragement inspires me and make this journey so worthwhile. I pray for God’s perfect will to be done and I am super excited for the next chapter on this journey.
My next adventure is marketing my book so follow the updates… who knows where God will lead me next.
God bless you endlessly,
Debbie-lyn
