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.
Reading it now:) Cheers! Kaarina
Love this “This book is that good; it’s making me take the time to redo and do it right to become a self-published author.” APE is helping so many people and I love your thoughts about creating a .pdf on your website, it just needs to be done right before you publish it. A friend of mine made an awesome graphic on G+ last week that went viral (https://plus.google.com/107665939201638457855/posts/ZKyq4x5BXPW) with +5355 and 3278 shares! The graphic took off really quickly and he posted on G+ first and was going to add it to his website but of course he wishes he did it 1st. You just don’t know!
Thanks for the shout here and all your support. I’m so happy that you love APE and find value in the resources in the book and online. Can’t wait to read your book!
@PegFitzpatrick My head is literally spinning from all the options, Peg. And, in my Bloggers Unite! Community on G+, others are speaking about Smashwords (not sure Guy and Shawn addressed that platform or not) and also about KDP being not so great for sales but good for freebies.
As a would-be author without designs on becoming a frequent publisher (but who knows, this could be a client offering), mastering this arena is going to take a boatload of effort (well worth it, but nonetheless).
It’s so easy to get sidetracked with all that’s new; I want to podcast, too. Sigh.
@Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing I love that writers are using communities on G+ to connect and grow.
There’s a lot to see and do, I agree. 🙂
@PegFitzpatrick I am having more fruitful convo on G+ than FB. In fact, it’s more business oriented and I love that (G+).
@Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing @PegFitzpatrick I came within minutes of choosing to go the Smashwords route, but ultimately, I read their TOS and just wasn’t willing to include their information on my first page. Still, I learned a bunch and was smarter for the experience.
Kudos @Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing for suggesting this book and cheers to @PegFitzpatrick for her very own chapter. Awesome stuff. Self publishing has been an aspiration of mine. The tough part? A good idea.
@rdopping @Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing
Thanks for the shout! Good luck with your dream.