Before I begin the list of books I'm considering, I must acknowledge that Laura Matson Hahn gave me a great recommendation a few posts back in Scared. The Book Designer blog is a great tool that I've barely delved into.
Okay, so I'm looking at the following books. What to buy? What to buy? I could buy all in the hopes that ONE of these will work. But that seems foolish. If you have thoughts on any of them, please share. If you're like me and searching, I hope some of my efforts help you.
**Note: these are all from Amazon only because I own a Kindle and want to download if I can.
1) The Self Publish Toolkit by Daphne Dangerlove, August 2012
None of the reviews completely bash this book. Several praise it deeply so I'll probably go ahead with this one. However, the most current review is thus, so buyer beware:
"This book has truckloads of specific advice that is good, but I found it
amusing that, after telling us to preview the eBook after having it
converted, the material didn't work fully on Kindle Paperwhite...the
font choices did not work! The conversion for such is problematic, but
it puts a slight shadow over the advice." Thomas Shultz January 25, 2013
2) How to Make, Market and Sell Ebooks - All for FREE: Ebooksuccess4free by Jason Matthews, March 2010.
This one looked great based on reviews but I checked the single star review and it and it made me pause:
"There really isn't anything to recommend this ebook. There are so many
better books without all the personal stories (which don't add a speck
of substance to the book). Very little detail about how to format the
book, not much on marketing your book that wasn't probably gleaned from
elsewhere. For formatting and ebook design, get Stephanie Zia or Kate
Harper instead (Kate writes about articles but it's excellent detail
about formatting for Kindle); for marketing go with John Locke or the
Smashwords ebook. Really, this one's too thin, too useless for a
serious writer/publisher to find useful" S. Calhoun, September 9, 2011
With a review like that, I had to consider the suggestions.
3) How To Publish An Ebook On A Budget by Stephanie Zia, March 2010
Another 2010 so down to the reviews I went. I started with the lowest - 3 reviews of single stars. They were pretty persuasive. Read them here. But to be fair, I went to the most current reviews. HUGE range. Single stars and 5 stars. What's a girl to do? I'm reluctant to dismiss this book because she formats more than the Kindle (important!). The positive reviews make me believe that though published in 2010, the book is still relevant. IF any of you reading me have read this, please let me know your thoughts.
Last but not least:
4) How I sold 1 million eBooks in 5 Months! by John Locke, June 2011
I've seen this title before but until it was recommended for marketing, I've always skipped it. This has lots of reviews and a big range. I'm disinclined toward this book. If it worked for you and isn't just a biographical infomercial as some indicate, do tell!
Obviously there are a TON of books I could buy. I'm happy to buy several but I'd like to not waste money on ones not worth my time or money. You know how that goes! ;)
PS - links to your own blogs with answers are also great!
