Before you say, “But I’m not especially fond of primates,” hang on. APE stands for Author-Publisher-Entrepreneur. And I am going out on a limb here when I say that this is one of the most honest, least hypey, overall best books I have read on self-publishing in a long time.
Kawasaki and his co-author Shawn Welch walk you through the steps of writing and publishing your own book with an even-handed, comprehensive and sequential approach. Instead of falling into the trap of “Write and Publish Your Book in 5 Days!,” they admit that it’s more work self-publishing because many more things can go wrong and it’s up to you to fix them.
This book focuses on e-publishing and, while ebooks are currently no more than 10 percent of the market, it is a quickly growing trend.
At the same time, the authors offer all the resources you will need to succeed. Throughout the book, you get cool tools, including easy-to-read charts that help you digest and apply the information quickly. And, because first-time authors are at the greatest risk of being taken advantage of by unscrupulous companies that promise them the world, the section on avoiding the scams is especially valuable.
A review of APE: Author-Publisher-Entrepreneur
I’m starting you off with this hilarious 4+-minute video, called So You Want to Write a Novel. But you can substitute the word “book” for every time “novel” is used because it applies to authors of all kinds. I guarantee this is worth 4 minutes of your time:
The three parts of APE:
When I taught blogging workshops for writers and authors, one thing was predictable. Their eyes would always glaze over when I got to the part about building an author brand.
Last weekend I hit the road—and the water—for the Whidbey Island Writer’s Conference. I have been to a bazillion conferences in my day: they were events for teachers, or direct mail copywriters, or bloggers or marketers, depending on what field I was in at the moment.
I hope you are finding time to refresh and rejuvenate this week between Christmas and New Year’s. I’ve been reading a lot, since Bob, Mr. WordPress, gave me the best Christmas present ever. It was better than the warm, fuzzy socks. Better even than the foaming bath oil and scented candle from L’Occitane.
Many of you who hang around here are published authors. Some of you are writers with a book in the works—or on your to-do list. And even if you don’t have plans to write a book, you probably know writers in your family or social networking circles.
If you don’t tell stories, and never ever plan to, you might want to skip this post.



