Previously on Shirscribe I began giving an update to my self-publishing journey. This is part two, you can read part one by scrolling down to the prior entry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think I may have lost my Titanic correlating point. Dratted! Let\u2019s hope it comes back to me. But in the meantime, let\u2019s pick up where we left off yesterday shall we?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I hired her\u2026well, actually I commissioned her services, because she wasn\u2019t an employee of mine. And, unlike the previous person I extended an offer to, I actually began working with her. Though I have to admit, I had some reservations about working with her as well. For example, during the interview I asked her about performing a design technique that she said wasn\u2019t possible, that it was something that could only be accomplished during the physical printing process and not in the graphic design itself. However, I distinctly remember another candidate explaining how it could be done through graphic design as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I ended up letting that slide because she was a nice girl, did good work from what I could tell from her portfolio, she showed professionalism and her price was good. However on that the we were supposed to meet, our very first meeting she showed up late without an apology or an explanation. Not only that, she didn\u2019t even have her computer with her, just a sketch pad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s funny, once it reached five minutes pass our meeting time and she was still MIA without a phone call or text to inform me, something told me to send her a message and cancel everything. But at that point, I\u2019d already put in so much work trying to find a book cover illustrator\/designer, I just didn\u2019t want to have to start all over again. So I waited it out, decided I would give her until the 15 minute mark before I bounced. About 10 minutes after the meeting time she came on the scene. And again, no explanation, no apology, just hi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we had our little meeting, and I made it explicitly clear what I wanted for the mock sketches for the cover. I even drew it for her in her notebook. On top of that, that morning, I\u2019d sent her images of book covers that I liked and images that she could use as a model for her work. The morning after our meeting, I sent her clear instructions regarding what I wanted to be incorporated into the cover along with typography examples. The day after that, she sent me subpar work, that almost completely ignored my requests made both in person and via those emails. Needless to say, that was it for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had already paid her according to the terms agreed upon in the contract, so in a sense that was a total waste \u2013 waste of my time, waste of my money, just a waste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was so upset, just mad with myself for allowing this to happen to me. I felt discouraged, at the thought of having to start all over again, at the thought that perhaps I\u2019ll have to end up spending much more money, and given that I have no income, that\u2019s really scary. So then I thought I need to step up my job search, and start being open to taking what I can get quickly, instead of being picky and looking for something I\u2019d enjoy, \u2018cause these jobs are rejecting me left and right. And it\u2019s just one big connected mess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there\u2019s a lesson in damn near everything, if not everything, and the lesson that I got from this is to honor my instincts more. Before she ever showed up late to our first meeting, she did several little things that made me second guess my decision to extend her an offer. But I just ended up reasoning it all away. Plus, I had already extended an offer to someone before her and then rescinded it, so I thought to do it again would just make me seem indecisive and crazy. And not only that, but maybe, perhaps petty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You know, no one\u2019s perfect right? So I can\u2019t write someone off because of the little things. But what I\u2019ve come to learn, not just from this incident, but others as well, that if people are acting in a way that\u2019s unsettling to your spirit in the beginning, even if it is a little thing, not only will they continue to do so, but it will progressively get worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You know, people say don\u2019t sweat the small stuff and I believe that to be true. It just needs to be put in it\u2019s proper context, because some small things are indicative of bigger things. Like an ice cube has the same molecular structure as an iceberg. Basically what I\u2019m saying is sometimes little things are an indication of bigger things to come. Sometimes little things are just a chip off the old block of bigger things. And if you\u2019re intuition is telling you something ain\u2019t right, belief it, no matter how little it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So anyway, my intuition, aka the Holy Spirit, was right. And instead of worrying about looking crazy for extending an offer and rescinding it again, I should have just gone with my gut. I even had a second chance to do so when she showed up late, that would have at least saved me the money I paid her. But alas, I went further than I should have and I paid for it \u2013 literally and figurately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So anyway, that was a bummer. I have no idea how I\u2019m going to secure a book cover designer now. A budget-friendly book cover designer. I just know that it will happen. I gotta keep the faith. In the meantime, I can work on doing other things, like finishing up my edit, formatting the book (that\u2019s one of those things I\u2019ve discover should be done before you get the book cover design done, so you can have the exact measurements), and yeah. So yeah, my book will not be coming out in June. Now, I\u2019m shooting for August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before I go, I just want to share a little Titanic knowledge I learned over the weekend after watching so many documentaries. Now I don\u2019t know how true this is, but according to one of the documentaries I saw, the iceberg the Titanic collided with began to form right about the time they started building the ship. It separated from a larger ice mass in Greenland and slowly floated it\u2019s way to the spot where it would have it\u2019s encounter with the Titanic. What\u2019s even more fascinating to me is when they stated that an iceberg that size usually doesn\u2019t make it as far as it did. That given where it came from, usually it melts down and breaks up before it gets to the spot of the collision. But somehow this iceberg made it, in tact, further than over 90% (don\u2019t quote me on this percentage) or more of icebergs its size does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Isn\u2019t that interesting?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyways, I don\u2019t know if this story is over, or if it needs a part three. We\u2019ll see. What I do know is, it\u2019s done for now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Previously on Shirscribe I began giving an update to my self-publishing journey. This is part two, you can read part one by scrolling down to the prior entry. I think I may have lost my Titanic correlating point. Dratted! Let\u2019s…<\/p>\n