What a fantastic evening! Last night was Tania McCartney's talk to the Daisy & Dandelion members about her experiences in publishing and self-publishing, creating her books Beijing Tai Tai and Riley and the Sleeping Dragon.

There were lots of new faces and Kate Dawson from MissChiefmaker did a great job as MC, giving us an insight into why she belongs to Daisy & Dandelion and what the group has come to mean to her.

Tania took us on an incredible journey from coming up with a story idea, finding an illustrator, getting an ISBN, sourcing a printer and distributor and finally marketing your book. She was candid in her descriptions of what worked and what went wrong along the way. There was much note-taking from all the aspiring writers in the group. The opportunity to learn from someone else's experiences and avoid their mistakes was not taken lightly.

New member, Robyn, brought her illustrations to show us. They're beautiful watercolour colour pictures that she hopes to turn into a children's book at some point.

Tania did a great job of inspiring everyone to take baby steps and to push through when you felt uncomfortable or hesitant to approach someone.

We ended off the evening with a few extracts from Beijing Tai Tai which had all those who had been to China madly nodding their heads in agreement and the rest of us laughing at the experience. Anyone who has travelled overseas with kids can relate to this book.

Well done, Tania and all the best for your future efforts.

Tags: self-publishing | Infopreneur