What is it like to finish a novel? The first time you do it, you feel utter euphoria, and you should. Unfortunately, what follows isn't always instant acceptance by an agent, an editor, or even your beta readers and friends.

Part of why I decided that I was a good candidate for self-publishing is that I have what is called a platform. Oh, that's one of the buzziest buzzwords around the self-pubbing world, your platform. Turns out that platform of mine is less of a high-dive springboard and more of a children's step-stool.

In the first year after posting the short of Diary of a Sex Addict, I was thrilled to see the film got 10,000 hits on Vimeo and resulted in some nice media coverage for the novel.

Over 11,000 writers, editors, and publishers turned out this year for the Association of Writers and Writing Programs' Conference, making it one of the biggest literary hootenannies for anyone with a passion for putting words on the page.

I'd heard all sorts of horror stories about writers giving away the bulk of their royalties to publishers that gobbled up profits in huge percentages. We indie authors keep most of our sales. Was I doing the right thing, saying yes to a publisher when I'd already done the tough work of going indie?

What is a synopsis, anyway? Just a summary, right? Wrong. Sure, a synopsis is a summary of your novel's narrative arc and describes the main characters. However, a synopsis must also be its own entity, with dramatic turns and a clear beginning, middle, and end.

Do I ever doubt my decision to self-publish? Hell yeah. Just about every other Tuesday I wonder if I made the right choice.

Seeing your book cover for the first time is like waiting for that guy from Match.com to show up at the restaurant. You've laid out your expectations and supposedly so has he. But will he actually look like the date of your dreams?

I'm sure if you asked any contemporary writer, from J.K. Rowling to Hilary Mantel, Will Self to Irvine Welsh, if they consider their editor's contribution essential, they'd all answer without hesitation with a resounding 'yes.'

I have a special place in my heart for editors. Editing is an art; something that only certain people can do well. Without editors, almost everything I have published would be a mere shadow of itself.

It was a battle cry. A declaration of war from authors to traditional publishers if they didn't get with the program and do what the authors want... more marketing, a bigger cut of the profits.

Who am I to think that my novel is good enough to be published? Am I now as pathetic as those street poets I used to see in Berkeley, peddling their sappy, mistake-laden chapbooks for a dollar a copy? And how the hell does a writer act as her own publicist?

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Hunting has a brutal side. Crippled birds not found. Blood trails and gut piles. Shooting accidents (my family has had its tragedies). It soon became clear to me as I wrote: tell the truth or stay home.