Since Rudi Raab and I published our novel Stumbling Stone last June, one hidden benefit has been the wonderful people we’ve met — especially other self-published authors who have shared their experiences with us. We met some through BAIPA and others through friends and fans, who liked our historical novel and knew of others who had written books set during or after World War II.
We’ve been to their book events, they’ve attended ours and we’ve learned new strategies and lessons from listening to their stories. It’s all about networking and whether it sells more books or not, it’s been an incredible journey.
We’ve also been able to tell aspiring self-publishers what we used as resources to guide us, including 
BAIPA and APE (Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur), and how we generate traffic to our website stumbling-stone.com (Facebook is great for stimulating visits too) and how important a professional editor is to the finished product. (Email us at [email protected] to tell us what hidden benefits you’ve discovered.)