Writing Conferences

There are many, many writing conferences that are held both in-person and online and are for ALL skill levels. I highly recommend attending one. Not only do classes keep our writing skills sharp (and constantly improving), but in-person events are excellent for finding fellow author and reader friends. 

One thing I learned early on is to finish the story. I was getting caught up in how messy the first draft was and kept editing what I'd already written... which led to me making very slow progress until I learned this. Once I set the idea of a perfect draft aside and kept writing, I finished. Then, I got to focus on fixing it up.

Writing doesn't have to be your entire life, but writing consistently is important to keep progressing, even if it's just a few minutes everyday. Keep in mind, writing just 100 words five days per week ends up being 26,000 words per year!! 

Try to find beta readers, whether you swap with other authors in your genre or ask for betas in FB groups (3-5 beta readers is a common number to look for). After beta feedback and making all the self edits you can (go through your manuscript more times than you think), hire an editor! If you are indie publishing funds may be tight, but editing and cover design are two places that deserve extra attention. If you can only afford one type of editor, use betas for developmental and hire an editor to do copy/line edits or proofreading.

• Scrivener: I've used this writing program for YEARS. It organizes all of my work perfectly. Don't be intimidated by the number of features, I use maybe 2% of them. Use what you need, ignore the rest. 
• Brandon Sanderson: He offers a FREE semester of creative writing classes that can be found on YouTube. They are incredible. 
• Vellum: This is a program you pay for one time, then you can use it to format your own books (only on Mac)! It's intuitive and easy to use. If you don't have a Mac, I've heard from fellow author friends that Atticus is comparable.  
• Bookstagram Academy for Romance Authors: This course by Rachel Parker was INCREDIBLE and has helped me learn how to use social media as an author. I highly recommend it!