{"id":1107,"date":"2025-11-13T13:57:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T19:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/?p=1107"},"modified":"2025-09-21T00:34:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T06:34:49","slug":"mistakes-i-made-so-you-dont-have-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/2025\/11\/13\/mistakes-i-made-so-you-dont-have-to\/","title":{"rendered":"Mistakes I made (so you don&#8217;t have to)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns jetpack-paywall-simple is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 90%\">\n    \n    <div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"background-color: #F6F7F7; padding: 32px; 24px;\">\n        \n        <h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\" style=\"margin: 0 0 12px; font-weight: 600;\">Subscribe to keep reading<\/h2>\n        \n        \n        <p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"\n           style=\"text-align: center;\n                  color: #50575E;\n                  font-weight: 400;\n                  font-size: 16px;\n                  font-family: 'SF Pro Text', sans-serif;\n                  line-height: 28.8px;\">\n        Become a paid subscriber to get access to the rest of this post and other exclusive content.\n        <\/p>\n        \n        \n        <div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\" style=\"text-align: center;\">\n            \n            <div class=\"wp-block-button\" style=\"display: inline-block; margin: 10px 0; border-style: none; padding: 0;\">\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/?post_type=post&#038;p=1107\" class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\"\n                   data-wpcom-track data-tracks-link-desc=\"paywall-email-click\"\n                   style=\"display: inline-block;\n                          padding: 12px 15px;\n                          background-color: #3858e9;\n                          color: #FFFFFF;\n                          text-decoration: none;\n                          border-radius: 5px;\n                          font-family: 'SF Pro Display', sans-serif;\n                          font-weight: 500;\n                          font-size: 16px;\n                          text-align: center;\">Subscribe<\/a>\n            <\/div>\n            \n        <\/div>\n        \n    <\/div>\n    \n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Independent publishing is a challenging journey filled with pitfalls. Learn from common mistakes like neglecting editing, poor formatting, ineffective marketing, isolation, and forgetting to celebrate achievements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":134972872,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"subscribers","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":true,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[782781724,63377],"tags":[7223,7758714,178,1747,8053601,3330,349],"class_list":["post-1107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behind-the-drafts","category-the-writing-life","tag-author","tag-bookish-thoughts","tag-books","tag-fiction","tag-indie-author","tag-publishing","tag-writing"],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfZGWd-hR","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":635,"url":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/2025\/01\/29\/so-you-want-to-be-an-independent-author\/","url_meta":{"origin":1107,"position":0},"title":"So you want to be an independent author?","author":"Montse \"M.B\" Benavides","date":"January 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Being an independent author involves chaos, numerous responsibilities, and marketing challenges, but it provides incredible creative freedom and personal fulfillment. Despite struggles, the rewarding journey makes it worthwhile.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Indie Author Confidential&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Indie Author Confidential","link":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/category\/the-writing-life\/indie-author-confidential\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2525,"url":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/2026\/07\/21\/thank-you-for-reading-the-things-i-couldnt-stop-writing\/","url_meta":{"origin":1107,"position":1},"title":"Thank you for reading the things I couldn&#8217;t stop writing","author":"Montse \"M.B\" Benavides","date":"July 21, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Reflecting on my journey, emphasizing the connection with readers and the evolving nature of storytelling through shared experiences and conversations.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Creative Pulse&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Creative Pulse","link":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/category\/creative-pulse\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":854,"url":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/2025\/08\/14\/the-call-was-coming-from-inside-the-novel\/","url_meta":{"origin":1107,"position":2},"title":"The call was coming from inside the novel","author":"Montse \"M.B\" Benavides","date":"August 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"It started as fiction. Just a girl. A little dramatic. A little emotionally avoidant. Totally not me. Then by chapter three, she\u2019s spiraling, sabotaging, and romanticizing red flags \u2014 and I\u2019m sitting there like, wait\u2026 did I just write a memoir by accident?","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Confessions of a Writer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Confessions of a Writer","link":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/category\/the-writing-life\/confessions-of-a-writer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2620,"url":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/2026\/09\/01\/some-days-the-story-has-to-carry-you\/","url_meta":{"origin":1107,"position":3},"title":"Some days the story has to carry you","author":"Montse \"M.B\" Benavides","date":"September 1, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Writing often emerges from struggle, demanding presence rather than perfection, turning emotions into meaningful creation.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bold Banter&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bold Banter","link":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/category\/pen-punch\/bold-banter\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2604,"url":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/2026\/08\/18\/the-body-as-a-battlefield\/","url_meta":{"origin":1107,"position":4},"title":"The body as a battlefield","author":"Montse \"M.B\" Benavides","date":"August 18, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Emotion in writing is conveyed not only through dialogue but profoundly through the body, which reveals hidden feelings and memories that words cannot express.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;The Heart of the Story&quot;","block_context":{"text":"The Heart of the Story","link":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/category\/the-heart-of-the-story\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2612,"url":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/2026\/08\/25\/my-writing-isnt-a-cry-for-help-but-it-could-be-interpreted-that-way\/","url_meta":{"origin":1107,"position":5},"title":"My writing isn&#8217;t a cry for help, but it could be interpreted that way","author":"Montse \"M.B\" Benavides","date":"August 25, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The connection between emotional truth and factual writing is complex; fiction allows writers to explore pain without personal experience, inviting empathy and participation rather than speculation.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Pen &amp; Punch&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Pen &amp; Punch","link":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/category\/pen-punch\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/134972872"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1107"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1114,"href":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1107\/revisions\/1114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mbnovels.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}