APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur-How to Publish a Book

First of all, what a terrible name for a book. I mean, I get the acronym, but still – why call a book this?

That said, this is a great book. It’s as practical a guide to writing and self-publishing a book as you’re ever going to find. It’s not a motivational book, either – it assumes you can write a book, and it busies itself on telling you how to get it published. (This is the polar opposite of Bird by Bird, for example.)

It tells you things like what software to use, what publishing platforms to use, what services to you. So much so, that they make a disclaimer/apology in the beginning that the numbers they quote for fees and prices will never be right. But I’d rather they did this than shy away from specifics.

I did skim quite a bit of this, primarily because I’ve been down the road before (I’ve self-published three books. The book is quite broad – the chapters range all the way into how to create social media accounts and engage with your audience.

I bought this because sometimes I’m just interested to see how people explain things, even things I already know (see How to Make Small Talk). This was one of those cases. Also, I like Guy Kawasaki, so having his name attached didn’t hurt.

For me, honestly, this book didn’t do much, because I was re-treading ground I’ve been over before. But for someone right at the beginning of their writing and publishing journey, this would be exactly the right book.

Book Info