…but that doesn’t make it any easier. Now that Dawn of Fire is officially published, I have had some time to reflect on this whole process. It has been a little over two years since I first sat down on a porch swing to begin this new adventure. And it really has been an adventure. I have learned so much about myself through the writing process. I have learned so much about the profession through self publishing, and I have learned that at times I make things more difficult for myself by rushing.

My motto when I first decided to self publish was: “If I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it right.” I decided there was no reason I shouldn’t be able to put out the best possible product I can. If I am going to spend all of this time working to create worlds, characters, and storylines, you better believe I want it to be presented in the most beautiful fashion possible.

But there were a few times that my excitement to see a final product created some errors that made my life more difficult. Like buying barcodes only to learn that IngramSpark will generate them for you. Or rushing to fix layout errors before proofreading was finished. Which led to even more layout errors.

But if you don’t learn from an experiences, is it worth having?

When friends and family ask what this experience has been like, I usually have the same answer. I have learned so much. I have copious notes for the next time around so that hopefully I don’t make the same mistakes twice. But, mistakes are a part of life, right? Not a part I enjoy, but a part nonetheless.

And to look on the bright side, since I made those mistakes all ready, I won’t make them again. I’ll just have new mistakes to make!

Have you ever made a mistake that seemed avoidable? What did you learn?