A Wise Man Will Hear....

*gulp*

I'm stepping out on a bit of a new journey for myself.

I always swore I would never self-publish. I didn't have anything against it, I just had ZERO aspirations to be a publisher. I just wanted to write a story.

But I'm stepping over to the other side this year.

I'm SUPER new to this journey, so I thought it'd be fun to take you all along with me. So my next few posts will include things that I have learned (and probably more like, WILL learn over the next few months!) My hope is that I can share the FUN and the NERVES and the CHALLENGES and the LEARNING CURVES that come along with it.

I'll make lots of mistakes. I'm 100% confident of that.

But sometimes God calls us out of our comfort zone, and this is definitely it.

My first bit of advice for my first post on this is a simple one:

SEEK WISE COUNCIL.

We're told this as writers anyway, but I think it is just as important if not more so when considering publishing on your own.

I've chatted with a few self-pubbed authors, including former Alleycat Wendy Paine Miller who just released her first full-length independently published novel, The Flower Girls. She was one of my go-to advisors, and oh-my-goodness, I'm so thankful for her friendship and words of advice!

I also talked with some members who had gone down that path before me in a local writer's group as well, including one of my favorite authors, Tamara Leigh.

So yes. That's my advice.

Talk to those who have gone before. Find out the cost, the pitfalls, the dangers, the rewards. Comb through Google and read articles until you can't stand Google anymore. The more AWARE you are at the front means you will have realistic expectations and can make GOOD realistic (yet HIGH) goals for yourself.

Discussion: How has learning from those who have gone before helped you? Anyone specific come along to help you in your writing journey, whether toward independent publishing or traditional?