Mentoring in Self-Publishing by quinton li

I joined the Round Table Mentor Program of 2025 as one of the only self-published authors in the group and, as far as I know, the only mentor with this on their MSWL:

“I am interested in mentoring a writer who identifies as queer or trans and is interested in taking the path of self-publishing.” — Quinton Li - MSWL — roundtablementor.com

I was exclusively interested in taking a self-published writer as my mentee. Not for any desire to separate us from the rest of the team or make us seem special, but purely because this is where my expertise lies.

Imagine a self-published author editing your query package 😅

I haven’t been in the query trenches since 2023!

If you don’t know who I am, my name is Quinton Li. I’m an indie award-winning author and anthology editor. I love to write about magic, identity, faith, and the unknown. My debut, among other books, is TELL ME HOW IT ENDS, and my anthologies are DEVOUT: An Anthology of Angels, and REVERENT: An Anthology of Divinity. You can find more about me at quintonli.com

Today I’d love to tell you some of the differences that come with mentoring in self-publishing.

1. Hardly anywhere to be seen.

You won’t find many self-publishing mentorship programs out there at all, and especially not with as diverse and large a scale as the Round Table Mentor program and other mentorship programs that came before it.

Self-publishing mentorships are as independent as self-publishing. They are usually hosted by individuals with a desire to share their knowledge and help someone else navigate the ins-and-outs of publishing that they had to learn themselves when they were starting their journey.

It can be difficult to find these mentorships. Without being part of a bigger project, with many authors in the mix seeking out mentees, that leaves the mentor to promote their offering themself, and many authors (and authors-to-be) know how hard it is to gain reach locally or online without that extra support.

If you search up ‘self-publishing mentorships’, a lot of the results are actually mentorships for traditional publishing!

I, for one, am very glad to be part of this program to promote alternative paths of publishing and to gain a platform and support in mentoring another author.

2. What’s the end goal?

Most mentees who join a traditional publishing mentorship program aim to do the following:

• Apply feedback from R&Rs.

• Polish their query package.

• Edit their manuscript to start (or re-start) querying.

In self-publishing, we don’t have R&Rs or query packages!

Really, there’s no formal process for publishing except to consider yourself ready and get everything in line yourself or alongside cover designers, formatters, editors and whoever else you might want working on your book.

So what does a self-published mentee do with a mentorship?

• Edit their manuscript so that it’s publish-ready.

• Learn the technical side of self-publishing (distribution, file formatting and uploads)

• Learn the marketing side of self-publishing (which doesn’t look all too different than traditional publishing in many aspects)

• Learn how to navigate the world of self-publishing, and how to take the next steps.

• Polish their marketing copy (the query package of the self-pub world).

In a way, these mentorships are two sides of a coin. While one mentee may polish their query letter and synopsis, the other works on their book description and blurb. Mentors in either situation should be equipped with writing (that is, copy-writing) experience and skills.

3. The experience level of a self-pub mentor

In traditional publishing mentorships, you’ll find mentors at different stages of their career. Most are agented. Some are on submission. Some are debuting within the next few years. Some are seasoned and have a few books under their belt. All of these mentors are valuable and can provide a great experience to their mentees.

So what about a self-publishing mentor?

We don’t quite have the same checkpoints as querying, then getting agented, then going on submission, and then selling the book to a publishing house. Our time-frames between each stage of publication are often shorter, too. Someone who isn’t a published author can become a self-published author in a matter of months, if not weeks (if they really tried!)

Should there be a set level of experience that self-publishing authors must achieve before becoming a mentor?

I don’t make the rules. But my personal opinion is that a self-publishing mentor can bring value to their mentee if they have at least debuted with their book, and feel confident explaining their process and the systems involved in getting their book on the market.

As part of the Round Table Mentor Program of 2025, I’m mentoring Perla Zul, who debuted with Mal in 2024. I believe I can provide value to Perla as a mentor since I have published a few books and have a great familiarity with the technicalities of self-publishing!

Conclusion

While there are some differences between traditional publishing mentorships and self-publishing mentorships, there are also similarities.

And all our wonderful mentees at the end of the day want to be one step closer to getting their book out there and in the hands of readers!

As mentors, it is a great privilege and honour to help other authors along on this journey. I find it an even greater privilege that I can do this as a self-published author.