Everyone is an expert. Not.

Hello dear friends and followers,

I've been noticing a lot (and I mean a whooooole lot) of articles going by in my twitter feed lately about publishing, self publishing and what it takes to make it as an author these days. There are the haters (hi guys!), the disbelievers (howdy) and the evangelists (bonjour).

And everyone seems to think they're an expert.

But I'd like to point out that hardly anyone is an expert these days. Of the books on my bookshelf that tell me how to get published and promote my books, none of them have any advice for writers like me. Why? Because these books are old. Even two years old is old at this point.

If you want to know who the experts are, look to the authors who are living this roller coaster ride. Look at authors who are successful today. Look to the authors who are constantly evolving, constantly bettering their craft, constantly working toward new projects and better things. Look at the authors who are pioneering the Digital Book era.

These authors are the ONLY ones, in my opinion, that can tell you anything at all with any degree of certainty as to what works and what doesn't work. In other words, unless you're living it, you have no idea what it takes to become an overnight success. You have no idea what it's like to shoot up the online bestseller lists. You have no idea about the hard work that goes into writing, perfecting your craft and finally see that work pay off.

These are the experts you should be listening to. Everyone else, it's just an opinion and they don't have all the facts.