"Little Black Note" is the title of the first book released by Vicky Lo, a "crazy idea" that she never thought she could achieve. The book aims to encourage self-reflection in readers, so that they feel inspired regarding their self-development, both in their daily lives and professional careers.
Written in English, it is composed of 22 short inspirational messages divided into five chapters – tips that the author has gathered throughout her 15 years of work experience.
Not a professional writer, Vicky always thought that publishing a book seemed like a distant goal. She recounts that the process began in 2018, when she started writing short posts, jotting down some ideas that just “popped into her mind”. In the end, she accumulated more than 60 tips over the course of about a year.
"I actually never thought I could publish a book. It was while having a conversation with a friend that I came up with some thoughts about career and life goals. People say that everyone has to set goals and be smart and competent. So, I asked myself: then what are my dreams?
The author believes that people nowadays are no longer so free to pursue their dreams, as they always think about the conditions for achievement and worry about the future, which "only limits and restricts them within conventional models. On the contrary, pursuing your dreams depends a lot on having enough determination to do it," she says.
In 2019, with the preliminary idea of turning the short messages into a book exclusively for her friends, Vicky picked 30 tips and found a 'designer', an illustrator and a publisher to make over ten small copies to give to her friends. Encouraged by the positive responses she received, Vicky decided to set herself the goal of publishing a version of the book for the public with 22 selected topics.
However, despite having everything ready to publish the book, Vicky also had fears about how it would be received by the public. She is grateful to have found the book's editor, who was supportive and encouraged her by convincing her that "there is nothing right or wrong in expressing what you want to express."
An adventurous person at heart, last year Vicky resigned from the job where she had worked for 10 years, to dedicate herself to the book launch, as well as to "give herself a chance to find a different 'me'". In the end she discovered her "evolution". "There is always the possibility of doing something different," she says.
"I decided not to include my personal experiences in the book, because I hope that the work can be something that provokes self-reflection and revision of personal experiences, and because each reader may have a different understanding of the messages," she points out, stressing that she also wants to be a person who motivates others to reflect, as the proverb says: "It is better to teach someone to fish than to just give them a fish."
Asked who the target audience of the book is, Vicky stresses that there is no particular group and believes that readers will get different feelings from reading the book at different stages of their lives.
"For those who are about to enter the job market or who have just started working, it can be a 'guide', and those who have already started their career a long time ago can always reflect on whether they have done what they should do," she explains, adding that the main idea of the work is to convey "true things from life", which "is a mixture of smiles and also tears".
"Little Black Note" is published by Ipsis Verbis and is available at the Portuguese Bookshop.