Content marketing for business development purposes is critical. Businesses need to draft authentic and fresh content and make it available via calls to action on a website which turns into a landing page and then a thank you page and everyone’s happy.
My first e-book was written in December; a collection of blog articles I’ve written about blogging — one of my favorite topics.
And, then this monkey book came to my attention. I am screaming from the rooftops:
RUN AND BUY NOW!
If you don’t already know about APE, uhmm, well perhaps you’re under a rock? No offense…this book is everywhere on all the social media channels and being reviewed by everyone. I would be remiss not to join in and share the excitement for this book. If you have any designs whatsoever, even if it’s a germ of an idea, to become an author, then please, please go get this book.
I downloaded this book by Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch and read its 500+ pages over a few nights all the while highlighting and bookmarking pages for future reference on my Kindle Fire.
I knew, prior to finishing the book, I had to go back to the drawing board with my e-book which I’ll share about in another post. This book is that good; it’s making me take the time to redo and do it right to become a self-published author.
Why You Should Read APE
This book is written in a friendly and easy-to-understand style and tone. It has a ton of detail about all aspects of publishing books. Although I am only interested in self-publishing, the book is a great resource for traditional publishing, too.
Each chapter addresses the basics about writing, formatting, designing selling, and working with publishers. What it does extremely well is tell the truth about the quagmire that is self-publishing.
This industry is nascent, and there are no real standards yet. People who self-publish should really consider using Adobe InDesign publishing software (used by professionals and $$), and they also need to learn and understand the various formats for the various booksellers. I never knew a thing about MOBI, EPUB or PDF file formats. I also never knew there are four major players with which you can work to sell your e-books (via Google Play, iBookstore, Kindle Direct Publishing, and Kobo).
How about pricing a book? Don’t forget how much it costs to design a cover, proof and edit a book, too!
For serious authors, this is probably a piece of cake; for first-timers like me, it’s a nightmare…time consuming and fraught with tech issues one can’t control. Did you know that each file format handles tables of contents differently? Don’t even think about having nice images, tables or bullets in your manuscript without ensuring they look decent in the final form…these don’t import well, either.
That’s why this book is worth every penny. Each and every one of the issues above are addressed in this book. Even if you merely want to publish a PDF book for downloading on your website, you still want to read this book. Who knows? That PDF book might become hugely popular, and then what should you do?
The other good news about this book is the website the authors built for the book, Upon going there, with one share on social media, you’re privy to tools and downloads that help you write and self-publish your own book. Guy and Shawn self-published APE, and it’s offered on Kindle Direct Publishing. How cool and clever is that?
You know what else is awesome? is featured in the book with her own chapter! She’s the and of 12Most.com, and she also manages a (by request only), too. It’s really wonderful when the people who have guest starred on this blog show up in nationally acclaimed books.
Run, as I said, and get this book. Its a top read for every would-be author.
It is my great pleasure to welcome 
g to overcome the problems big and small in my life. It was yet another place to give in to worry and anxiety.
I would be lying if I wrote, “and if no one else ever checked in here, that would be fine – I created this for myself.” Honestly, I want others to check in there (and I appreciate those FourSquare users who have). It’s why I tweet and post to Facebook every time I check in there.
