Today was the kick off of the first day at 20 Books Vegas Conference. I have been to many conferences and this is for sure one-of-a kind. I have met some leading experts in the field in self publishing and all have shared their valuable perspectives on being an author and sharing your work with others. I wanted to share with you a couple of things that I learned on the first day of this conference as a writer.

First, Jami Albright gave an amazing talk about Making Money With One Book A Year. What resonated with me is just: Listen. Be a learner. Now I am not going to lie, my head is spinning and I am soaking up everything that I can because I am a first time attendee. I need to just sit back, take notes and remember I am in a marathon not a sprint. Secondly, Dean Wesley Smith gave a powerful talk about Attitudes of a Fiction Author. He said to calm down. Don’t compare yourself to other authors and their successes. Instead take a deep breathe and share your work so you are having fun. I need to remember that I am telling a story and it might take me longer to get it out, but I am having an awesome time doing that. The last thing that I learned is to network. Authors can be very introverted and I might sometimes want to do just that, but my goal is to make connections and support other authors as we all embark on this journey together.

Now off I go to learn more!