How-to books about creative work are almost universally awful and full of terrible, ineffective advice that will just infuriate you (for example, the book How To Write A Movie in 21 Days made me so angry that I actually stabbed it). So when I decided to start writing book reviews, solicited for books, and Book Marketing Fundemantals by Hank Quense was one of the responses, I almost said no without even thinking about it. I just decided to read it for myself anyway because I'm terrible at marketing, and was pleasantly surprised at how much it exceeded my expectations.
First of all, the book is short. Often, reading a book like this ends up being an experience much like trying to google how long you are supposed to bake a potato, but instead of finding the info you want (the temperature and number of minutes), you end up on some page that has a 1000+ word recipe that mostly just says things like "It wasn’t until a few years ago that I finally came to appreciate for myself the difference between a good baked potato and a great baked potato" (I didn't make that up, it's an actual quote - by the way, the answer is 90 minutes at 350 degrees). At a mere 70 pages (the PDF version I read anyway), Mr. Quense's book just tells you how to bake the potato.
The book is written informally, with the author inviting you in a few places to email him for copies of various marketing spreadsheets he uses. It's almost like a reference book, with sections divided logically, and you can skip over the stuff you don't need to know more about without losing track. I read a more professional and more expensive book about book marketing a couple years ago, which was bloated and definitely fell into the stab-worthy category I mentioned above. It didn't have nearly half the useful information that this book does.
The book isn't perfect and there are a couple quirks about it. Like when there's a URL in the book, you can tell it's sometimes been copied and pasted without the unnecessary parameters being removed, so sometimes the links don't always work (but you should be able to figure it out). And if you look at his other books on Amazon, they're doing ok for an independently published author (better than mine), but they're not doing great - so if you assume he's following his own advice, you can probably expect similar success and you have to understand this really is a book for beginners. I'm going to give the book 4.5/5 stars though (rounding up on sites that only have whole star options) because for me it introduced me to sites and strategies I didn't know about and wouldn't have known about if I hadn't read it.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Join or create book clubs
Choose books together
Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
All 2 for you in this series
See full series
Popular titles by this author
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
From the Publisher
|
|
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiction Writing Insights | Book Marketing Insights | Self-publishing Insights | Author Business Insights | SWOT Insights | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Customer Reviews |
1
|
1
|
2
|
— |
1
|
| Price | $2.49 | $2.49 | $2.49 | $2.49 | $2.49 |
| Do you want to strengthen your fiction writing skills? In this ebook, an experienced author discusses issues that are rarely covered in books on fiction writing. It will provide insights that will improve your craft skills | Writing a book does nothing to prepare an author for the necessary task of marketing that book. | Self-publishing a book isn’t as easy as some people think it is. This ebook discusses seven important topics and is based on the author’s experience in self-publishing more than 20 books | Getting published means you’ll have to deal with pesky business issues. This book addresses those issues in plain language, not MBA double-talk, so you’ll learn how to deal with the issues that you’ll face as an author. | Whenever you start a new endeavor you face a learning curve. When you graduate from college and start a job, there's a learning curve. Enter a trade school and you'll be on a learning curve for the entire term. | |
| Learn why you need to defuse tension. Learn how to nest subplots. Understand the biggest problem with world building. And more. | Authors need a handy guide to get started and this book does that just that. It discusses several key topics and provides needed advice. | The content includes self-publishing misconceptions and issues. It also stresses the importance of the book description and the landing page construction. | Issues addressed include tracking revenue and expenses, business planning, revenue splits and more Learn how to deal with these issues! | So too with writing fiction, self-publishing and book marketing. That's what this book is about: the learning curve for those activities. |
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Top reviews from other countries
Pat Garcia
A Book That Shows You How to Establish Your Strategic Marketing Objectives for Your Book
Reviewed in Germany on October 12, 2020