Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur (A.P.E.), by Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch

A.P.E., by Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch, is a stellar book that brings together three distinct but overlapping roles for anyone who wants to make writing books a big part of their future. In some ways, it's like the tactical side of Steven Pressfield's Turning Pro. If you've done the inner work to think of yourself as an author, A.P.E. will walk you through how to live out being an Author, Publisher, and Entrepreneur.

The Authors

Guy Kawasaki is the founder of Alltop, a blog curation site, and a popular speaker about personal branding and marketing. He has lived what he's talking about. 

Shawn Welch "worked for one of the largest publishing companies in the world for 4-5 years as Sr Media Editor during the rise of eBook technology" and beyond knows what he is talking about. 

The result is a thorogh, actionable, stellar book about how to succeed as an author. As they tell it:

"APE is 300 pages of tactical and practical inspiration. People who want a hype-filled, get-rich-quick book should look elsewhere. On the other hand, if you want a comprehensive and realistic guide to self-publishing, APE is for you."

A.P.E.

The webiste for A.P.E. is a good one, and I recommend checking it out for a broad idea of what the book covers.

Here are my highlights:

1. Artisanal Publishing: The book is not just tactics, it's a framework for thinking about what you are doing as an author. From their site: "Artisanal publishing features writers who love their craft, and who control every aspect of the process from beginning to end. In this new approach, writers are no longer at the mercy of large, traditional publishers, and readers will have more books to read."

2. Self-Publishing Intelligence Test (S.I.T.): They have a ton of tools and resources to go along with the book, including a "self-publishing intelligence test" to see for yourself what you know and what you need to learn.

3. Templates: They have formatted templates for authors to use for ebooks. Thank you.

What do you think? Have you read this book? Will you?

Image source: andjohan via flickr