Reading Guy Kawasaki’s APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur is proving to be straightforward and insightful, just as Joel Friedlander of The Book Designer promised. As an inveterate note taker, I’ve already filled seven hand-written pages and thought some of them might be useful to others.
- When Kawasaki published his first book, he gave away 20,000 copies and sold 15,000. Who would have ever imagined a ratio like that?
- He uses crowd sourcing to solicit feedback on his manuscripts.
- When you publish an ebook, don’t use Times New Roman, Arial or Helvetica. These mark you as an amateur.
- On Book Cover Archive are more than 1200 examples of book covers. When you create yours, choose a cover design for the ebook version that’s easy to read even in the postage stamp size you see on Amazon or other ebook resellers.
- Don’t obsess about choosing your distribution channels, you can easily change them.
- Make sure you test your ebooks on different devices before you launch.
- Don’t use an author services company to acquire an ISBN. If you do, they and not you become the publisher of record.
- Kawasaki does not worry about DRM (digital rights management). Nor does he register a copyright for his materials.
- Offer your book in pdf format to anyone who promises a review.
- Make it easy for someone to do a review by placing all bio, book blurb, photos and other info in one consolidated spot on your website or blog. This is what Kawasaki’s looks like for his book, Enchantment.
- Platforms are built on trust, likaability and competence.
- Repeat your tweets. Kawasaki repeats his four times.
Practical ideas and lots of them. I’ll be back with another set when I’ve finished reading.
