By Vicki Scott
One obstacle after another kept happening until I decided to seek advice from our seniors and George Wallace Senior Center in Glencoe.
I had a dilemma about the presentation of my first published book, She Made a Difference, Anyway! A Tribute to My Mom, to my mother. I did not want to give anyone a copy of my book until mom got her copy. Things kept happening that hindered this from happening. I prayed for God to be glorified and mom be blessed by this book.
The book itself was an eight-year process. Organizing the storyline of the book took a lot of time. When I asked New York Times best-selling author Christy Craig about this, she said that organizing your thoughts was the hardest part in writing a book. Eventually, it all fell in place and my writing was done. I then asked my team to edit. While the editing was in process, I checked into the publishing options.
The price of publishing a book can reach unbelievably high prices. I am not sure what makes one better than the other, but just getting someone to edit your work will set a person back.
Formatting was totally new to me and to hire a formatter can be equally as expensive. Hiring an agent was an option, but the agents I talked to were not interested in non-fiction or what they called “memoirs.”
The last agent I talked to suggested Kindle Direct Publishing, which rang a bell because I had discovered the company’s website just days before meeting with the agents. During this meeting, I was approached by another publisher who quoted another astronomically high price. Mom is worth every penny, but I did not want to go in debt to show gratitude if another way was possible.
Believe it or not, Kindle Direct Publishing did not cost me a thing until I ordered the books. Even then, the price was doable. I praise God for Kindle Direct Publishing and all the people who told me about it.
Another obstacle was finding a time that everyone could witness my mom receiving her tribute. I had planned to present my book about her at her church in front of her friends, family and church family. I had pictures and a poster ready to decorate a book signing table for her to sign copies of the book for all of these people. I had people who were going to take pictures and video the event. None of this happened because I could not arrange a perfect time.
This is the moment when I appealed to our seniors at George Wallace Senior Center. They are so wise. I was told to do it ASAP and not to wait for a perfect time. There is no perfect time. They told me that the book was for my mother and that she was the only one that needed to be there. One precious lady told me that her mom said to never hesitate in doing good. In honor of this advice, I decided to give it to my mom.
We went to our lake house to see our new grandchild, a precious baby girl named Addison Victoria. She was born this past Tuesday. My brother called and let me know he was bringing mom over, and I did not hesitate. I let her enjoy Addie a few minutes and then asked my mother to sit down. My husband videoed while I explained what I did and planned to do. She seemed appreciative but thought that I was my aunt.
I praise God that I followed advice of my husband and my daughter in not presenting my book to her in front of the church and all that hoopla. It would have been too much. I prayed for God to have the glory and mom to be blessed. I feel that my prayers were answered, and I praise God for that. He works it all out. It is done, and I am now giving out books.
If searching for my book, please look under Lillian Scott, She Made a Difference, Anyway! A Tribute to My Mom. When you read it, I pray you are blessed by it as well, but please remember that it is my first book and it is self-published. I praise God for everyone who took part in making this happen. Thanks, y’all!