Manage Your Self-Publishing Project

The sudden spurt of self-publishing options and the number of authors opting for this route has changed the face of publishing. However, for many novices in the field, self publishing can be fraught with pitfalls. How to organize the project is one of the biggest hurdles. What to do first? Hank Quense's brilliant little book How to Manage Your Self-Publishing Project offers a workable plan of action.   This short and simple e-book contains a wealth of information. It represents a unique approach to self-publishing and is based on the author’s lectures and webinars. It uses to flow charts and mind-maps to graphically explain the processes. It is intended to be a self-contained guide on the self-publishing and marketing processes. It won’t exactly tell you how to self-publish or market a book, but it will present the steps you need to take to get your book self-published and how to start marketing it. There are notes associated with the flow charts and the mind-maps to explain the tasks involved in that part of the process. These charts can be considered as elaborate and extensive to-do lists with time frames on when you should be addressing each to-do item.

Self-publishing can be a confusing and expensive project for the novice author. Some authors use the ‘spray and pray’ approach, and end up doing things backward and wondering why such an expensive project did not work. Simplicity and organization is the key to success. Author Hank Quense approaches the task of self publishing in a multifaceted way. It’s not just about writing the book (usually the easy part). The nuts and bolts of ISBN, websites, marketing, budgeting, and additional extras to enhance the book’s appeal are also discussed. The author outlines a practical step-by-step approach, putting each aspect of the book process into its place for both the e-book and the print version. One can hardly go wrong with his clear mind maps and flow charts. It’s a good idea to print them out and pin them up next to your desk. He includes helpful links to areas such as creating press kits, and checking on service providers.   The book emphasizes the changing role of a self-published author: from being a writer, an author now becomes the CEO of his or her business. It is not enough to write a book and hope readers will buy it. It must be polished, produced, marketed, and nurtured after that. Marketing a book is hard work, but a logical approach will add to a book’s potential for success. Hank Quense will show you how in this eminently readable, useful guide. 5 Stars.   Altogether, Hank has over fifty published short stories and a number of non-fiction articles. Hank has initiated a series of lectures and workshops to share his expertise in creating fiction and publishing books. Create A Short Story is a 4-session workshop in which the participants design their own short story. He also gives a two-part seminar on Self-publishing a book and Marketing and Selling the self-published book. Visit Hank's author site or his Amazon page to find out more about his work. First reviewed for Readers Favorite. by Fiona Ingram