Interview

Episode 158 – Kate Tilton on Helping Authors Succeed

Mark Leslie

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In this episode Mark interviews Kate Tilton about the work she does supporting and helping authors be successful.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares shares comments from recent episodes and social media, offers a personal update, and says a word about this episode’s sponsor…

You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway.

Mark and Kate in NYC at Book Expo America – 2013

During their conversation, Mark and Kate talk about:

  • Meeting for the first time at the basement in the Javitz Center in New York at Book Expo America
  • How Kate got into the book business
  • The way that interacting in social media led to Kate falling into the role of author assistant
  • Kate starting in the book business when she was still in high school and always being an “old soul” her entire life
  • The fact that Kate has always been a “How” person who likes to figure out processes and how to make things work
  • The challenges of “re-identifying yourself” within an industry
  • How Kate helps authors make decisions within publishing based on what’s best for the author and what’s best for each book
  • The important role Kate plays in terms of keeping her author clients accountable
  • The value of focusing on humans and relationships and connection for a broader perspective of marketing
  • The mistake that most authors make in thinking of social media as a marketing or sales platform
  • The way that Kate’s own use of social media has changed over the years
  • Questioning certain “givens” of business such as “you have to keep increasing the incoming revenue”
  • The importance of having someone as a “thought-partner” in the business of writing and publishing
  • How two different people collaborating can come up with ideas and processes that are far better than they ever would on their own
  • Advice that Kate would give to her younger self

After the interview, Mark reflects on accountability and the human connection element of social media, particularly as it relates to how he and Kate have stayed connected over the years.

Links of Interest:

Kate Tilton works with authors of all publication paths, from New York Times and USA Today bestsellers, award winners, and six-figure authors, to pre-publication authors, to authors somewhere in the middle. By standing beside authors as a partner, Kate turns scary and overwhelming things like marketing and finding an audience into tools that can be used to make an author’s dream a reality. She achieves this mission with one-on-one partnerships with authors, free resources available on her website, and so much more.

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Below is an automated transcription of the interview segment of this episode.

(The transcription has not been human-verified)

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: Hey, Kate, thanks for hanging out with me today.

Kate Tilton: Thanks for having me.

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: It has been a long time. When was the last time we saw each other in person?

Kate Tilton: Yeah. Um, NINC. So what was that November? That long.

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: Yeah, but it feels like three years ago. Right? So September last year. Yeah.

Kate Tilton: Yeah. Yep.

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: Yeah. And prior to that, it was probably I’m guessing we probably saw each other at, uh, RWA, BEA things like that over the years.

Kate Tilton: Definitely BEA, I haven’t been to RWA. I’ve heard really good things, but yeah, I think we first met at the VA many, many moons.

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: Yeah. We met, I’m pretty sure we met in the basement of the Javits center in New York. Um, I was at my little mini Kobo Writing Life booth.

Kate Tilton: And someone came up asking about, should they go directly to Kobo or not?

I’m just like, of course it’s so easy. And you’re just like, well, It depends. So yeah, that I remember that.

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: Yeah. Always, always, always that wishy washy answers, like, well, every author has their own reasons why they want to go direct or use an anchor.

Kate Tilton: And now I do the same thing. So I guess I learned,

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: yeah. So I know things have changed for you over the years since we, we w Oh my God.

Was that 2013 or 14 that we first met?

Kate Tilton: Probably. Yeah.

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: And I know things have changed for you, but I want to, before we get into how things changed, I want to, I want to ask, uh, so you can share with people, how did you get into the business of writing and publishing?

Kate Tilton: Yeah, so I I’ve always been a reader, uh, ever since I was a kid books were huge for me.

Um, and. You know, Twitter was a thing. So I think I started a Twitter account back then 2009 didn’t know what I was doing. It was just like, well, I have a smartphone now I can do it. So, okay. I’ll I’ll join. Um, but I, I connected with some authors, um, one being Heather Brewer who actually discovered through an artist that I followed.

Who’s now a writer. So it was kind of funny to hear like the whole story of, um, actually don’t even get into this usually. But, uh, as a kid, I was really into art. So as part of this art website, so that’s how I met Marie Lou, who at the time was working as an artist in video games. And she was writing how to publish yet, but she did the trailer for eighth grade bites, which is the first book and how their series and I loved it.

And that’s how I found Heather and loved the book, uh, was following her on Twitter. And she happened to post one day that she was looking for an assistant. And I was a teenager, you know, 17. So it was like, well, could it be a virtual assistant? And she hired me for the job, which is I think the biggest surprise of the story.

And so I really fell into it and have been working with authors ever since.

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: So I want to go back to that because when I met you at Bea, uh, you, I mean, first impressions are a huge thing. And my impression of you was this. It really knowledgeable industry insider. And you, were you still in high school at the time when I met you?

Kate Tilton: No. Cause I started, it was my senior year of high school when I started, so I think we met Joe in 13. I was in college

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: college. No, but again, you would think, I think it’s valuable. I think for writers to think about is, is the way that you came across is you were very professional. You were very personable.

And my impression of you was, you know, high end professional person that you want to trust you want to work with. Right? Like that, that, that was, I should say. I want to say easy to trust, want to work with, um, to get stuff done. And I think it was the way that you carried yourself. I’m not sure. Where did, where did you pick up on, on, on those skills?

So early

Kate Tilton: on. I think it’s also personality. Um, I always been, people think I’m older, so I just turned 27 a couple of days ago. And some people were like, what? You’re 27. So I’m like, yeah, yeah. I’m been an old soul all my life. I remember being in like junior high and someone thinking I was in college and I’m like, I just am this way.

Um, You know, even my own mother will be like, Oh, you’re such a mother telling me to buckle up and put on sunblock. And I’m like, I just, it is what I am. It just is. But I always look at, you know, a business is one I’m passionate about it. Books have helped me through. You know, really hard times in life and a lot of loneliness.

Um, so I always want to do the best that I can to help authors write more books that that’s really the end of the day. It’s like, I want them to feel empowered, to be able to put more work out there. Cause I want to read it.

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: Awesome. You know, if we make the world a better place. So, so thank you for that, because that was, it was, it was incredible when, when you know, I’m only now realizing.

Yeah. Wow. She was still in college. This was, this was her first, probably professional, uh, job. Uh, and, and so you were a writer’s assistant at the time. What was it that appealed to you apart from being able to help writers so that they could have more time to work on their books?

Kate Tilton: And for me, it was something that I really like fell into.

Um, what I always liked is I like being able to help people. And for me, it’s like always been about doing the things that, you know, maybe someone’s not as good at so that they can and do what they’re really good at. So for a writer, right? Like you’re the one who’s gonna write that book. No one else is going to do that for you.

Well, there’s tons of other things that go into it behind the scenes. So you’ve got administration where you have your marketing, where you have just overall strategic planning. And for me, it’s always been to have a partnership with the author. So I don’t know if you ever heard of like a Simon Sineck start with Y yep.

Okay. So, you know, I’m really a how person, I like figuring out how to make things work. So an author comes to me and they’re like, I have this idea. And then I figured out like, okay, here are the steps we’re going to take to make that work. Or, you know, I have this thing I want to do with my mailing service.

Like. How, how did that, how do I make that work? And I’m like, I do that. So you don’t have to think about it, you know? And that’s, I enjoy that, that, that brings me a lot, um, a lot of joy.

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: Cool. And then, uh, I know, uh, prior to the official interview, we were just touching base about the, um, the, the change and the evolution.

Of moving from, you know, virtual assistant with a writer to taking on more of a mentorship, uh, coach, uh, support, um, consultants. Although we, we think that’s kind of a dirty word sometimes or just right, but. We were talking about the challenges of re identifying you. I mean, my challenge was nobody could pronounce LaFave.

So I said, Oh, just my last name is pronounced from Kobo. And so, you know, forever known in, into a lot of people in the industry is Mark from Coldwell. But then when I left Kobo, Oh no, what happens? You know, Mark the artist formerly known as from Cabo or, or, you know, Mark to digital. Right. So there’s always that sort of perception.

So you had to undergo that. Transformation. And how long did it take, and I’m just curious about some of the struggles that you encountered.

Kate Tilton: Yeah. I would feel like I’m still going through it, you know, and it’s been a couple of years and a lot of it was thinking about like, what comes next? Uh, you know, when I started, I was in high school, so I didn’t have to make a ton of money to do my job.

Right. There was no bills to pay. Um, but as you get older, right, like now I have a house, I have a mortgage to pay. Um, So it’s not that I want to start charging authors tons more money. It’s really just like, I want to make sure I’m working enough that I’m meeting, um, my bills and I didn’t want to get another job.

You know, like this is my job working with authors. This is my day job. Um, Because that way I can devote myself to studying and learning and being able to help. So for the last couple of years has been trying to figure out like, what’s that transition? You can only go so far as just an assistant. People will only pay you so much to just do what they consider administration work.

So it’s okay. Um, You know, how can I still be helpful and make sure that I’m making the income that I need to, that I could still do this. So it’s been a couple of years. So just a lot of thinking about it and trying to figure out like what’s gonna work for me. Um, you know, anytime you get into business, they’re always will say, well, you need to stop doing hourly services.

You need to start offering products or you need to like charge, charge more or hire people. Right. And for me, I’m like, well, hiring people, then your job becomes to manage them and help them do the work. So you’re not doing the work anymore. You are helping enabled them to do the work. That’s a whole different position.

Uh, I won’t say that I’ll never do that, but it’s not where my heart is right now. Um, the other thing was like offering a product. I don’t love writing. I don’t love it. I don’t have that spark. I can do it. I’m not awful at it, but I don’t love it. Um, so I’m like, I don’t really want to go and like, try to write books that will help authors.

You know, that’s not going to be fun for me. It’s not going to be fulfilling for me. Um, I thought about, okay, look doing a course, but what always kind of hit me with that was that it’s. So everyone’s journey is so different. So if I offer a course like that might work for, you know, 50% of people, but then for others, it’s not going to be what they need.

So that’s kind of where I land good on that one on one consultation work, I’d already been doing it. Um, you know, while I was doing my system stuff for their clients and. I really, I love having those conversations with authors. I find there’s like three main types of authors that come to me and they’re all, you know, different situations.

So you have the new author who comes into publishing, you know, in recent years and is just overwhelmed. There’s so much information out there. There’s so many options out there. They don’t know what offset printing is versus print on demand and what’s Ingram and what’s create space, create spaces and exist anymore.

They don’t know that because he went

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: about it. Cause it’s all over the internet.

Kate Tilton: Yeah. So it’s a lot of like, okay, like let’s take a breath and let’s figure out what’s gonna make sense for you. Like, do you want indie published? You want to get a traditional publisher? Um, you know, I mostly work with indie authors.

I have a thing against traditional publishing for some people that’s going to be what’s best for them. For some books, it’s going to be what’s best for it. So I really want to like, let’s first talk about that, make sure you’re on the right path for you. Um, so those conversations are always really fulfilling.

Um, I had one of the other day and she was like, Oh wow. You’re so encouraging. Like, I feel so much better. Like I can actually do this and not just like, have to pay people to do it for me. And I’m like, like, yeah, you’re like, you can get this. We all start somewhere. Um, so like, you know, being able to cut through kind of the noise and get them feeling confident again.

And then I have other authors who will come to me who are just stuck there. People that have been pushing for a really long time and they just. I had that kinda like fear of missing out or kind of overwhelm of just like, well, you know, this experts, so they should be doing Facebook ads and this one, so this should be doing BookBub ads and this one, so they should be doing this.

And I hate all that. So like, what do I do? So it’s like, all right, like let’s, let’s talk it through, what are you actually going to do too? Because I think, you know, it’s, there are like courses you can buy that will tell you, like, we’ll do this thing, but if that doesn’t fit your personality and what you really want.

You’re not going to do it. So it doesn’t really help you. So let’s find out like what you’re really going to do. That’s going to get you where you want to go. You know how, uh, and then I have, um, you know, like authors who want someone to keep them accountable. So they they’ve been doing this a while by themselves or they’re, or they’re new at it, but they know that they have someone checking in with them.

They’re going to do what they said. They’re going to do. So I’m just that person who’s like, Hey, you know, you said you were going to write this section, like, what’d you do, you were going to do this marketing thing, did you do it? And it’s a lot of brainstorming. So I really enjoy working with, with these kind of collective authors.

Yeah,

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: that, that, that can actually be really, really fun. But I’m curious when, when you’re doing the transition, so you had clients where you were their virtual assistant and then you were moving. Was it a, Hey, I need to let you know that I’m transitioning. Did you have to grandfather people in, because you know, you have such a good relationship and, and it’s, it’s relatively easy.

Cause, cause you know each other so well, like how, how did, how did that whole thing work out?

Kate Tilton: Well, this is why I feel like it’s still a transition because I’m not going to, you know, any of my clients, who’ve been my clients. I’m not ditching them. I’m not saying

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: so you’re actually sticking with them. It’s not like, Hey, I’m not in this business anymore.

I’ll try and find you someone else.

Kate Tilton: No, yeah, I’m, I’m still in it with them. And I enjoy that because it also keeps me involved in the process. So I’m actually doing the work as the exchange and still figuring things out. Right to

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: add new options and things like that. I’m familiar with them.

Kate Tilton: So I’m still uploading books for clients and still working on strategy there.

And it’s, I like the balance, but for me, it’s knowing that, you know, one, even clients that have had for many, many years, right? Like I’m also a lot younger. So I look at this as like in the future, right. They’re going to retire before I retire. Oh yeah. Yeah. So it’s kind of that. Yeah. Knowing, like I’m not going to completely change and try to suddenly get all these consultations where that’s completely my income and I don’t have to work with authors in this basis, but it’s knowing that, you know, when I do podcasts and when I write new things, like I have to then be pitching myself as like, this is what I’m offering now.

I’m not offering new people. What I used to do. I’m shifting focus and that’s been hard. It’s been hard.

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: Well, you also have to contend with people like me who may be sending you referrals without realizing that you’re not taking new clients in that area that you’re

Kate Tilton: doing. Yeah. So it’s a lot of people will find you that way or they’ll be like, Oh, I think you just do marketing for authors and sell their books.

And I’m like, no, that’s really never. Then what I do, I help authors figure out what they want to do to sell their books.

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: You know what people want to call it marketing. I know a Reedsy insisted, for example, when they wanted to be listed there, they said, you, we need to list you as a marketer. And I’m like, no, no, I don’t do marketing.

That’s that’s that’s dirty. That’s I don’t do marketing marketing. No, no, I don’t.

Kate Tilton: That’s also hard about it is, you know, because. It can be marketing, right? Marketing can be about focusing on connections with people, right. It doesn’t have to be this dirty word. It doesn’t have to be uncovered, you know, it can’t, and that’s always been my thing, right.

It’s like, let’s make marketing something that you enjoy doing because that’s when you’re going to have success. And that’s, what’s also going to. Stay with you over time. Um, and it’s not to say things like doing Facebook ads or whatever are necessarily bad or evil. They just change very consistently.

Right. Right. And some people enjoy that. Like that’s a challenge to them. They enjoy the technical side of things. Awesome. But there are a lot of authors that don’t, they don’t enjoy that at all. So I’m like, if you focus on humans and connection, part of it, like that’s also why you’re writing books, right.

Is that someone can read them. So you have that connection with a person, right. It can be fun. It really can. Um, but there’s also that message inception of like, Oh, well you just sell books. And it’s like, that’s no, really what I do. If you’re not involved in the process, like there’s not a lot I’m going to do, that’s going to change that for you.

So,

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: so let’s talk a little bit about social media, because I know, um, you, you know, social media, you assist authors with social media and, and I know that your approach is treating it like relationships, not like a marketing platform. Is that that’s, is that about

Kate Tilton: right? Yeah, I guess it’s treating it like it’s not a sales platform.

Cause I think that’s the, one of the big misconceptions I see authors have as they’re like, well, I signed up for Twitter and I tweeted all this stuff about my book and no one bought it. And I’m like, yeah,

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: sorry, I don’t mean to laugh, but, but yeah, you hear that every day, right?

Kate Tilton: Yeah. It’s it’s social media.

And I think people forget the fact that the social aspect of it. Uh, and it’s also changed a lot. I was just talking to someone before this, about how you know, right now it is a lot more triggering. Right. You go on and people are really, there’s just a lot of anger and it’s a different world than it was.

But for me, social media has always been just a way to connect with other people who had similar interests. I was living in an area where there was not a lot of people who cared about books. You know, it’s not like I could go out to an author event. We didn’t have a bookstore. Yeah. So social media, the internet was a way for me to connect with people who had similar ideas, who enjoyed similar things.

And that’s always been the point. Social media is a vehicle. If it’s not working for you, if like Facebook is the devil to you, like, okay, don’t use it, use something else. The point is figuring out how you’re connecting with people. So some people that’s email, they meet people in person, they have their email address.

They nurture those relationships. They don’t use social media. That’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with it. There’s nothing wrong with using it. Well, either you gotta figure out what works for

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: you. So I have to ask. So, um, how do you, uh, you know, the brand of Kate Tilton, how do you use social media and how does it work for you?

Kate Tilton: It’s changed. It’s changed over time. So I used to be super active on social media and I’m definitely not as active on social media. Um, and a part of that was because of how it’s changed over time. Um, I used to run a Twitter chat, which I really, really loved. Um, you know, I was able to connect with authors and it was really about to me about education, right?

Like let’s learn about something together. Um, so now a lot of how I connect with my authors is through things like this, doing podcasts, or sometimes writing guest articles, even if I don’t love the writing process. Um, and I’m still figuring out exactly how I want to approach, especially with this kind of transition.

Um, you know, I think for me, probably email is going to be a lot more, more important, right. Um, I also really like Instagram and I went through a phase of trying to just post like really cool book pictures. It’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of work and it’s also then connects me with readers, not necessarily often.

So it’s that kind of like, okay, maybe I’ll switch it up. I haven’t quite decided yet. So, yeah, you kind of see me feel like go through my social media and be like, Oh, like I’m still there. Um, and I still always like to check and I always try to be positive when I’m on social media. You know, if someone posts something, you know, posting a selfie or posting a picture of their book, like be that person saying, congratulations, because it’s hard, it’s hard to put yourself out there,

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: not point of the one thing on the cover that bothers you or

Kate Tilton: whatever.

And, you know, it’s. I just find sometimes like people are reaching out on social media, they’re putting themselves out there. It’s like reaching into a void. And I’m like, if I can spend 10 seconds to just say, like, I see you, you have value. Why would I not do that? You know? Um, so that’s kinda my approach now to social media is I, I get on, I check, I try to leave some nice comments for people.

Awesome.

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: Awesome. Um, how do. People find you like, is it referrals mostly, uh, how does, how does that work for you as you’re, as you’re evolving?

Kate Tilton: Yeah, I think a lot of it is referrals and also from podcast interviews. So, you know, we just did the draft digital interview back in March. And then I got released as a podcast.

I’m writing articles for different sites. I still have guest posts that I did from years ago when people will find me that way. Yeah, it’s not uncommon for me. If I have someone coming in for a call, there’ll be like, well, I was just looking up, you know, like help for office and your name kept coming up everywhere.

And like, yep. Yep. Cause I, I try to write and share about this wherever I can. Um, cause a lot of it was when I came into the industry, it wasn’t that there wasn’t other assistance. It was really that they just didn’t talk a lot about it in public spaces or with authors. Right. Um, you know, I couldn’t find a lot of articles about working with an assistant.

So, and even now I still have authors who think they have to do it all by themselves and I’m like, that’s not how. Anything really works. Like we’re not designed as human beings to be alone, uh, you know, companies and everything. Like they don’t do it all alone. Um, so trying to, and that’s, I think part of my reinvention, it has been like, let’s talk about how to work with people.

Uh, I like reading a lot about business books, so now trying to. Take the information and apply it to the author industry. Um, or I guess the publishing industry. And it’s, it’s an interesting transition because for some people that’s kind of like revolutionary of like, Oh, I don’t have to do it alone. Like I can hire someone to help me me with this.

Um, And it makes sense. I mean, cause I have the same thing where, you know, you get so close to things that sometimes you’re stuck thinking the column sometimes limiting beliefs. Okay. So, you know, for me, one of mine had been, I have to grow my business. Like you have to grow the revenue every year. And I thought like, you know, I was, I just believed that.

And then someone pointed out like, you know, do you have to. Maybe your goal for the year could be to refine something you’re already doing and make it better. Right? Like I have been having this conversation with clients, telling them the same thing that you just told me. And I couldn’t see it because I was too close to it until you just said that five seconds, like listening to me ramble, and then was like, you know, maybe that’s a limiting belief for you, Kate.

And I’m like, you’re right. You’re right. Um, So I, I like that part of it is, you know, as authors, you know, there is the practical services, you can hire your editors, your cover designers, your formatting, but there’s also that if you’re looking at this as a business and you want to be able to grow, sometimes you need someone to be your thought partner, someone that’s going to be able to point those things out to you that you’re just too close to see and what they say, you’re going to be like, Oh, obviously, or they’ll say something and that will, you know, spin a whole bunch of ideas for you.

That, that one, you know, thought brought. So I enjoy that collaborative relationship and I hope to share that with more authors.

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: And I think that’s one thing that hasn’t changed. Right? It’s as you’ve always valued that collaborative relationship and just, uh, you know, pivoted into a different

Kate Tilton: yeah. And a lot of it comes from the perception.

So to me, an assistant, I mean, to me, labels don’t really matter all that much. It’s really about the person and what they’re going to do versus what they’re going to say. Um, But the perception of assistant can be very varied. A lot of people tend to think that, well, it’s just, it’s just someone that does what you tell them to do.

Right. And sometimes that is exactly what the relationship is, but that’s never been what it is for me and a part that’s because of my strengths of like, I like. Taking something and making it better. So I like relationships where an author might have like, well, this is how I do it, but they’re willing to have me say, well, what if we changed this?

And often through that conversation, we’ll work together and find a way that neither of us thought of, but together. Well, you know, we uncovered this new way of doing something that’s even better. And I love that. That’s always super satisfying.

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: Yeah. It’s greater than the sum of its parts. That sort of thing, where you’ve come up with something that would not have been possible without like, you know, peanut butter and chocolate are great on their own, but they come up with this magical taste together.

So how have things changed or that you’ve recognized either in the industry and the author community in publishing since. Uh, you know, the, the, the life all three in world changing event so early.

Kate Tilton: Yeah. It’s interesting. Cause I think a lot of people, um, assume that it means a lot of people are writing and I’m going to be super, super busy.

And currently I’m not, I’m not that I’m not busy at all, but there hasn’t been like this massive increase. Right. But I always say like, you know, publishing is slow in a lot of aspects, so. You know, I have conversations with people at other businesses, you know, other business owners and for them, it was very immediate.

COVID hit the shutdown happened. They’re closing their businesses for two weeks, figuring out how we’re going to pay our people. How are we going to stay afloat? Right. That’s not what happened for me or for my authors. Right. People are still buying eBooks, still buying books, still reading, but you know, things shift.

So, you know, you have a delay and say getting your audio book out there on the market. Um, or any kind of production delay. So you were counting on that launch to help you with your income for the year. And it’s like, well, now we have to delay it. Um, you know, our editor is got sick and can’t do it. So that’s where it’s been a lot more, um, of an effect.

I think, uh, the, the authors have had a lot easier time. Not say clearly easy but easier than traditional authors, uh, because for them, right, you have actual warehouses and in those delays, eBooks didn’t quite have that same hindrance. Um, so I think I’m very blessed in that way. Most of my authors are indie authors are hybrid.

Uh, so, but it’s, it’s definitely interesting to see that shift. So, or other companies, other industries, you know, they’re getting back to more of their status quo, normal, you know, I’m having some where it’s like, I’ve had certain authors that had to leave because of finance issues that were weighed late, but it was because of what this happened.

It took a lot longer for it to catch up. So. It’s it’s interesting.

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: Definitely interesting. Now what’s, what’s one thing that you would want to go back to tell Kate who was still in high school and was on Twitter and saw this opportunity. What what’s some sort of advice you would go back and maybe tweet at her.

Kate Tilton: That’s pretty that Kate passed Kate, probably to make sure that she still had a life outside of her job. Uh, that’s definitely, um, I think the, the hardest thing that I had to learn, um, was that my identity is not just my job, uh, and part, because my personality, like, I tend to go really hard, whatever I’m doing for work.

Right. Um, it comes more naturally to me than anything else. Uh, but it means that I have to pay more attention to the other things. Right. So,

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: Because you have long, you have long been self employed basically from the beginning.

Kate Tilton: My life. Yeah.

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: So you never had to go nine to five in an office. You worked remotely, you traveled, you know, I met you at BookExpo America and Nanc and places where you went to interact and engage with people.

So chances are by default, you didn’t just check out 35 hours. I’m done. Right. You probably, Oh, wow. I worked 80 hours this week and I’m still not done because maybe, maybe because you enjoy it, but also because there isn’t that divisiveness, like I’m going to get on the train and going to the city or anything like that, right?

Kate Tilton: Yeah. It’s figuring out how to put boundaries is definitely a struggle. And especially when I was in school, um, I remember like, especially in college, I was doing. Um, part of college virtually. So I had times where I literally had a sheet of paper with minute by minute, what I had to get done that day. So like, you’re going to wake up at this time, you’re going to eat, you have 10 minutes and then you’re going to go in and you have to do this reading, and then you have to do this work for a client.

And if something took longer like an assignment, you know, I thought I’d only need an hour. And really it took three hours. Like you’re going to take that out of your sleep. You know, so it was a transition. I’m very glad to be done with school. Um, and trying to find a more healthy balance because, you know, just because I can work long hours doesn’t mean that that’s going to be good long term.

Um, and that’s, yeah, that’s also a transition and it’s something that I see authors also struggle with when they have day jobs. Um, part of why I like doing the one on one work versus just like a here’s a course and go and do this method. People are different places. You know, I have some that are retired.

Their workflow is a lot different than someone who has kids at home, um, or someone that has a day job and the writing is their side hustle, you know, so we get to take that into account. And, uh, that’s personally why I enjoy doing the one-on-one versus just general teaching.

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: Oh, excellent. Excellent. So for people who are looking for that support, uh, wherever they are in their author journey, how can people find out more about you online?

Go

Kate Tilton: to my website, Kate tilton.com. That is where you get, find all the information about my services. Um, how to contact me also, you can check me out social media. So it’s K the number eight Tilton and that’s same everywhere. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and I do respond when people message me or contact me on social media.

So don’t hesitate to reach out.

Mark Leslie Lefebvre: Excellent. Okay. Thanks so much for hanging out with me today.

Kate Tilton: It’s a pleasure.

Published by Mark Leslie

Writer, editor and bookseller who haunts Southern Ontario. Craft beer enthusiast. Author of thrillers and horror novels such as A CANADIAN WEREWOLF IN NEW YORK, EVASION and I, DEATH. Also writes a series of stand-alone non-fiction titles exploring ghosts and the paranormal which include HAUNTED HAMILTON, SPOOKY SUDBURY, CREEPY CAPITAL, TOMES OF TERROR, HAUNTED HOSPITALS, and MACABRE MONTREAL. Editor of the anthologies CAMPUS CHILLS, TESSERACTS SIXTEEN, FICTION RIVER: EDITOR'S CHOICE and FICTION RIVER: FEEL THE FEAR.

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