Guest Post by Brooke Warner

As part of a writing group or club, you’re already self-selected as a writer who cares about their craft. You’ve probably taken courses to help improve your writing. You certainly read more than the average person. And it’s probable that you hold out the dream of publishing on a traditional press.

Nothing wrong with that dream, but there are some concrete steps to help you get there that didn’t exist five years ago. Everyone knows the traditional publishing landscape is changing. You probably know that you need to be entrepreneurial and that you need to have a platform. Beyond that, however, you need to have a published book under your belt—even if it’s an ebook.

An ebook puts you on the map. It gets you on Amazon and allows you to have an Author Central page, which is vital. When people type your name into…