Life & Work with Lila Mary of The Valley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lila Mary.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Being a published author has always been my dream! I largely taught myself to write creatively from online blogs and creators during high school, and started exploring the fantasy genre with queer characters as a centerpiece. I slowly improved, learned, and kept writing, and drafted dozens of novels in high school (many of which will never see the light of day, but they were necessary practice and I’m thankful for them.)

I tried a few times in high school to traditionally publish, but I’m ultimately thankful that didn’t work out, as I’m much happier now as a self published author. Learning the ropes of this industry was challenging, but I navigated my way to publication with pride.

I have published seven books over the last two years, and plan to publish many more of my backlog. I continue drafting a few new books every year, although ironically, I don’t have as much time to write in adulthood as I did in high school. Nowadays, I enjoy helping others improve their writing as much as I enjoy crafting my own.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The barriers to entry in the publishing industry were a definite doorstop. At first, the difficulty of securing an agent when you’d had no previous publications became apparent, when I tried to get a foothold in the traditional publishing industry to no avail. It felt like a chicken and egg situation–in order to attract the eye of an agent, you had to have a large social media following or several previous publications under your name, but those publications were difficult to get without an agent.

I also learned the sad truth that often, your manuscript will be chosen for traditional publishing for its ability to sell well, not how good of a book it is. This discouraged me and shattered my rose colored glasses quite quickly.

When I moved to self publishing, I discovered that wasn’t a smooth road either, because you are often warned that a large budget is required to have success in self publishing. That wasn’t an accessible option for me, so I learned ways and methods I could still move forward and succeed without one, and I’m so thankful I did!

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I specialize in writing fantasy romance novels that feature queer characters. A lot of my books take the premise and tropes that could make up a modern romcom and put a fantasy spin on them. Some are more plot heavy action/adventure fantasy novels, but my forte veers more towards romcoms. If I’m known for anything, it’s my insistence on keeping queer characters in the spotlight of my novels and encouraging other writers to explore the scandalous and the weird.

I also enjoy helping other writers. I am a professional beta reader and proofreader, and I am always available to lend my community a helping hand.

How do you think about luck?
In the publishing industry, luck is imperative as much as hard work is! Especially these days, in the era of social media marketing, it feels like just one viral video advertising your self published book could be the key to success.

Luck hasn’t been something I’ve relied on too much in my journey, as I find it more reliable to put in the hard work and learn the patterns of what kind of marketing works and what doesn’t. Of course, I hope to get lucky with my marketing as every small author does, but that’s a dream! It’d be nice if it happened, but in the meantime, I’ll keep working hard.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lilamarybooks.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lilamarybooks/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@lilamarybooks
• Other: https://linktr.ee/lilamarybooks

Image Credits
Lila Mary