Greeitngs,

Peace. We released our first game in September 2007. However what I wanted to share, was that our hope is to go in February to the Game Developers Conference (GDC), if you check out the conference some of the lectures I believe address your issues. It would seem a good place to network with those who have the level of experience you desire to answer your questions, before spending what I consider "big bucks". You probably know about this and just want information sooner than later...but figured I would just re-iterate that which you probably already know

They also have an independent game festival which we plan on attending as well, the expo ticket is only $175 for all of the days

Here is the link: http://www.gdconf.com/