I’ve just been looking over my Kindle copy of The Self Publisher’s Ultimate
Resource Guide by Joel Friedlander and Betty Kelly Sargent and reading the
tips. Wow! This book lives up to its name Resource! And to its sub-title: Every Indie Author's Essential Directory--To Help You Prepare, Publish, and Promote Professional-Looking Books. Each step an indie writer
has to take to get to published nirvana is laid out in an easily accessible
manner. And the authors have impressive credentials in the books business,
always a Good Thing.
Betty Kelly Sargent is the founder of BookWorks, the Self-Publisher's Association, and co-founder of The Educated Author. She writes a column on self-publishing for Publisher's Weekly, and has a background of many years in the traditional publishing business as an editor and reviewer.
Joel Friedlander is a award winning book designer and blogger (thebookdesigner.com). He is the founder of The Self-Publishing Roadmap, a training course for authors, and TheBookMakers.com; he also founded BookDesignTemplates, which offers tools, templates and services to authors.
As one might expect, before one gets to the book itself, one
sees a myriad of blurbs of praise; from what I can tell, every one of those is
richly deserved. When you get to the table of contents, you see that the book
is laid out in logical steps, from the preparation of the manuscript to the
promotion of the finished product. Each chapter is headed with a title that tells
you what aspect to expect, followed by a list of subjects within that aspect. This
means that you can look up precisely what you need when you need it. Even the introduction is instructive, so don't skip that. And each section
starts with a brief tip on how to go about implementing that aspect of
publishing, followed by a comprehensive listing of applicable websites and/or
the names and addresses of individuals who can give the indie author a leg up.
Best of all, each entry has been checked out to ensure that the information is
current.
In The Ultimate Resource Guide you will find information on
editors of all kinds (developmental, copy, etc.), on how to get your book in
the proper format, what to look for in publishers, tips on marketers, and even consumer
protection. If you are an indie author or have aspirations to be one, you
really should have this book at your fingertips. Here's where to go to get it:
