Zurlia is an entrepreneur and writer who is aiming to inspire people to chase their dreams. Zurlia had a tough childhood. She was born and raised in a third world country. She has experienced rape, she has been homeless, and many other life traumas, but has been able to defeat the odds and unleash her potential. She is now an entrepreneur who travels the world while inspiring others to follow their dreams.
My overall message is to help people realize their power within. Understanding their emotions and embracing their past traumas can set them free and unleash their potential.
What were the top three mistakes you made while publishing your book what did you learn from it?
My top mistake was self-publishing without a strategy. I told myself I would figure everything out as I go, and that was a mistake. Although the message and the content inside the book are excellent, the book has multiple grammatical errors because of the formatting software I used which surprisingly changed a lot of things within the book. I did everything by myself and I should have outsourced the tasks that I am not good at. It is important to delegate. Asking for help and delegating is the main thing I learned.
Another mistake was not having a specific target audience in mind. Honestly, I got lucky because I have received a very positive response from my readers, but when I wrote and published the book, I didn’t choose my avatar. I wrote as if I was writing for my younger self, but I believe it would have been much more successful if I had defined my target audience prior. When I write my next book, having a specific audience in mind will be my priority.
Lastly, not preparing my audience and doing a pre-launch was also a mistake.
What must happen for you to consider your book(s) a success? and when do you predict it will
happen?
I believe it will be a success when it makes a positive impact on people’s lives which was always the main goal. I have received positive reviews, but I want the reviews to wild. I want to know enough people have read the book. Negative reviews are also welcomed as it provides feedback for my next projects. I believe this will happen within the next six months.
If you have a message or story that can change someone’s life, write it and get it out there. Your future readers need you! If you are not comfortable with writing, I would suggest hiring a writing coach, I know a great one. Make an outline, a plan, give yourself a deadline, choose your audience, and execute.
What is the one thing you wished you knew before publishing your first book?
Setting realistic expectations. I believe publishing a book or any piece of art is never a mistake as you can learn a lot from the process and highly improve your next projects. But if your goal is to make a career of your writing and make an income from it, you should have very realistic expectations and do lengthy research of what it takes.
Publishing a book does not mean your job is done, especially if you self-publish. Your job is just starting! You should write about topics you are passionate about; however, you should always consider doing research on your genre to figure out if there’s a market for it and how to market to it.
I used the power of social media. I did influencer marketing through TikTok because I felt that a younger audience could identify and benefit from my book. Many people from my own social media channels also were able to read the book.
Trivium Writing is actually a mentorship program run by Leandre Larouche and I think it is better than any online course. I also recommend The Writing Life by Annie Dillard and The Elements of Style By William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White.
If you only had $100 dollars to write, publish then promote a new book, knowing everything you know now, how would you spend it?
I would pay an influencer to promote my book on his/her social media accounts.
How can we get in touch with you?
You can contact me on Instagram Or through email: contact@zurliaservellon.com
- Website: ZurliaServellon.com
- Zurlia Servellon: Books Here
