What genre is your current manuscript? Have you published before or will this be your first?

When I began building my online business, I believed success came from figuring everything out on my own. I spent countless hours learning, making mistakes, and second-guessing every decision. Looking back, I wasn't lacking effort; I was lacking the right guidance. Everything started to change when I learned from someone who had already achieved the results I wanted. That guidance saved me from unnecessary mistakes, gave me a clearer direction, and helped me make better decisions with confidence. I think self-publishing is very similar. Writing the book is only one part of the journey. Publishing, positioning, marketing, and reaching the right readers all come with their own challenges. The good news is that no one has to figure it all out alone. That's one of the reasons I joined Lessons in Self Publishing. This community is full of people with different experiences, and one shared lesson can save someone else weeks or even months of frustration. So I'd love to hear from everyone here: Where are you in your self-publishing journey? What's the biggest challenge you're facing right now? If you could get guidance in one area, writing, publishing, marketing, or getting reviews- what would it be? Don't keep your struggles to yourself. Sharing them might be the first step toward finding the answer you're looking for, and your experience could help another author move forward. Let's learn from each other. What's the one thing you need help with today?

I recently asked a handful of readers what makes them leave a 5 star review versus just quietly finishing a book and moving on. The answer had nothing to do with plot or writing quality. It came down to one small thing most authors never think to do. Anyone want to guess what it is before I share?

how are you planning on getting sales? Are you going to be doing more in person sales through vendor events? Do you have a giant email list you’ve built over the years that you will be taping into? Let us know other ways you can market your book besides social media. (But also, I’m a strong believer that you definitely SHOULD be using it 😁)

I’m going to make a blanket statement based on my research and reporting. IF YOU ARE A PUBLISHED AUTHOR and you receive an email from a “ Book Club” to be “featured” and their email is a GMAIL account, IT IS SPAM/SCAM.