Are you a lifelong learner? Continual learning is good for our brains! 🧠 Publishing with a hybrid publisher taught me a lot. ✍️Authors I know who have traditional publishers sacrifice control over how their book looks; 👀how they’re marketed & positioned; 🔖& they give up a lot of control over the content they create. For example, if a traditional author decides they want an audiobook, 🔊they can’t go off & create one on their own—It goes through the publisher. I spent months learning how to write a book. 💻I didn’t know there was a process. Each week, besides writing, fellow authors spent hours in live workshops & met with editors & coaches. 🗓️ It was harder than the math class 🧮 I was required to take last summer, which nearly killed me. In my weekly meeting with my editor, I told him NDP reminded me of the quote, “Give a man a fish, 🐟 & you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, 🎣& you feed him for a lifetime.” The authors in my cohort were empowered because we had the support to learn how to do everything. 👨🏫Our books perform better than the average first-time indie author. 📚NDP showed us how to avoid the mistakes inexperienced authors make. NDP taught us to publish like a second-time author. If you think you have a book in you, 📖maybe consider checking out New Degree Press (or something like it). The winter cohort has begun, ❄️but maybe it’s something to think about for spring. 🌱Authors are international 🌎🌍🌏, & workshops & meetings are scheduled across 19 time zones. It’s amazing. I’m not saying the experience was perfect, but it was perfect enough to get my book published & perform well! 👌 This post is what marketers call “UGC,” or user-generated content. UGC is powerful because it’s unpaid, authentic & trustworthy. If your friends share products or services because they like them, it’s likely UGC. (I learned that at Bellevue College!) Happy weekends to you all 💗& thank you again for your support! 🙏 . . . Photos: #summerflowers #echinacea #echinaceaflowers #chrysanthemums #lavenderlove #seattlegardens #RainierValley #firsttimeauthor #NDP #newdegreepress #indieauthors #indieauthorsofig #UGC . . . (at Rainier Valley, Seattle) https://www.instagram.com/p/CTY_OjFrIjg/?utm_medium=tumblr