In September 2017, I was excitedly ready to publish my first book, The Royal Tournament—a prequel to the Soul Forge Saga.

The self-publishing process seemed daunting and I had several questions, not to mention, the many roadblocks that appeared when attempting to publish my book.

Through a Facebook group I belonged to at the time, I posted a request for advice about getting through the more complicated aspects of Amazon and getting my book uploaded. It’s not easy the first time you do it!

A fellow member, Science-Fiction author, David M. Kelly, reached out. We had a lengthy discussion through private messaging and eventually, he gave me a call to walk me through the upload process, as well as tackle the treaty part of the financial aspect with the U.S. based Amazon.

That phone call lasted over an hour. David’s long-distance phone bill, I am sure, suffered as a result!

We discovered that we live 5 hours apart, me in Cambridge, Ontario, and Dave in Sudbury, Ontario.
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Soon, through that simple act of collaboration and support, we became fast friends. Today, we find ourselves attending book events together. If we are in the Sudbury area, David and his wife, Hilary, kindly open their home to me and my wife, Caroline. In turn, we open our home to them when they travel in our area. It helps keep costs down and allows us to enjoy many long chats about books, our experiences, and things we have learned along the way. Our wives and biggest supporters, share social media strategies and promotional ideas while sipping wine or Sangrias! We even have a shared Dropbox folder where we pool resources and share photos of the events we attend.

Another great thing about our friendship is our mutual enthusiasm for Corvettes! Dave has a black one, “The Dragon” and I have a yellow one, “The Minion.”

A simple act of kindness and willingness to help a new, fellow author has led to a wonderful, cherished friendship.

On the road to realizing your dream of becoming a published author, don’t be afraid to reach out to the writing community. Together, we make each other better. Check out the amazing books of: To discover more about my books: David M. Kelly Richard H. Stephens