Publishing Journey Series #1

Hi there! Thanks for joining the ride as I take you on my publishing journey!

So maybe you are like me, a doodler of thoughts and a writer of stories that you have to get out of your head in order to quiet your mind and live. Writing has always been a huge part of me and as much as I told myself over the years that it was just a hobby, the nagging feeling of wanting others to read my stories kept tugging. When the ideas kept coming I decided that I had to do something about it.

If you are in that boat, I urge you to take this first step. It's life-changing.

1. FINDING A CONFERENCE

Doing a quick search to find the nearest one to you seems pretty obvious, but if you'd like the excuse of getting away for a weekend, here are some suggestions. I was fortunate to be able to attend theChicago Writers Conference (CWC). If you are in the area, I would definitely suggest going to it. This post is based on my experience there. Here are some other conferences that I've heard great things about and am planning on going to in the future:
Romance Writers of America Annual Conference
UtopiaCon
Writers Digest Annual Conference

2. MEET FELLOW WRITERS, AUTHORS, EDITORS, ETC.

My experience at CWC was that everyone was extremely friendly and ready to mingle. For some reason, I was surprised at how many people were like me, a writer with little info of what to do next or even where to start. I left the weekend comforted that I wasn't alone. It might seem cheesy but it made all the difference in the world at the start of the this next step. The last thing you need is to feel like the only one in the world that's clueless.

via GIPHY

So put yourself out there and exchange twitter handles!

3. THE ENDLESS POOL OF INFO

Conferences are usually only two days, but you learn ALOT. And you learn it fast. It was a completely eye opening experience. I learned so much about the different ways to publish and the overall literary community trends. I went to a self publishing lecture that went through the entire process including the mistakes the author made himself and how not to repeat them. It was also great to see the struggles he went through. Reminded me that, again, I wasn't alone in this. The CWC is one of the main reasons I decided to go the indie/self publishing route for my first novel. My personal goals for my writing align more with that route and I wouldn't have known that if I didn't attend a conference.

To wrap this up, I will just say that don't think you are in this alone. Don't talk yourself out of attending a conference  because you don't know other writers. It might seem scary to put yourself out there, but its worth it! There are plenty of us that are overwhelmed with the choices and options on this path. I'm not even midway, but I have learned so so much already.

If you can relate at all or have any thoughts on writers conferences, feel free to leave me a comment or email me :)

See you next post!