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

On Monday 4th May Daisy & Dandelion will be hosting an evening to discuss the how to's of becoming an infopreneur.

There's an old saying that there's a book inside everyone and when you look at the number of eBooks, special reports, audio recordings and other information products available you can well believe it. Entrepreneurs are adding additional revenue streams to their businesses with information products. Retirees with years of experience are selling their knowledge online. There are fitness, Finance and Facebook infopreneurs and blogs on every topic imaginable.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, during the 12 months prior to April 2007, 606,500 Australians were involved in some form of paid or unpaid work related to writing (Work in Selected Culture and Leisure Activities, Australia, April 2007).

Author, Tania McCartney will draw on her experience as both a published and self-published author to answer questions about becoming an infopreneur. Tania is a Canberra-based mum, wife, writer, editor, publisher, kids author, bloggist and traveller. She has written and edited for several magazines including City Weekend, Time Out, beijingkids and Dolly magazine. In 1995, her first book was published by Hodder Headline Australia - "You Name It". She has also written countless manuscripts of varying genre and self-published two books - "Riley and the Sleeping Dragon", and "Beijing Tai Tai" - a collection of non-fiction blogs.

The discussion "From Entrepreneur to Infopreneur" will take place on Monday, 4 May at 7:15pm at Theiss Cottage, Reynell Place, Kambah. RSVP: to Candice at 6292-1573 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Cost $5.

Tags: Infopreneur | self-publishing