dmk, it's really not a leap in the big picture (I understand it is for you, though) to put together an album with 12 songs, make them the best you can and release it on CD Baby or with some other host. Like you say, everybody is doing it.

In order to get going, you need to put some music out there, and a CD's worth is a good start. Understand that the first couple ones will mainly be useful for marketing, not really sales (you CAN always get lucky, but don't count on it).

As for advice, I think everything got redundant after Marc's first post with 10 bullits. They were all killers! :-)