Great experience, great learning curve, and wow, do I feel like a newbie. I feel like a nothing and an everything at the same time. I am one of millions, vying for readers attention, and yet I have the ability to have full control of editing, marketing, writing, etc.
This is both good and bad. Good because I'm learning a lot, and again have full control of my work, and at the same time, bad because I don't know what the heck I'm doing.
Here's an exception, a guy who has made a huge success of himself and is also willing to help us newbies: his name is Joe Konrath. He's a great writer, who has put in decades of writing to finally get to where he is today.
His blog has tons of info on how to be a self-published author and do it well, and argues that his success wasn't a fluke: that he had to work hard to be successful. His blog is called A Newbie's Guide to Publishing.
He wrote a great blog post about how he made 100,000 in three weeks (hard work, long hours). And another post about how a lot of people aren't so sure he deserved it (he did!)
If you're interested in self-publishing, or want to learn more about the writing process, check it out. It is a wealth of information.
Newbies, you can do it.