The Self-Publisher's Ultimate Resource Guide

I have been struggling along, trying to get together some worthwhile information about writing that wasn't full of hype and hoopla, when purely by chance, I happened upon this book. It was like finally getting into the one class in college that teaches you exactly what you needed to know. AND it does it without a lot of useless nonsense and stopping every five minutes to plug the authors' books, webinars, seminars, $1000 an hour coaching sessions and, look! Their new protein smoothies with chia and kiwi! People and places you need to know about are listed after a brief explanation. And there are TONS of resources, from agents and publishers, to where you can find funding to help you write your magnus opus. I am sooo pathetically grateful, I would have named my first baby Joel, but she has already been born. ("Eh?" )

The book "The Self-Publisher's Ultimate Resource Guide: Every Indie Author's Essential Directory-To Help You Prepare, Publish, and Promote Professional Looking Books" by Joel Friedlander and Betty Kelly Sargent (Kindle Edition), is just what mean its writers by the title, namely: a Helpful and Useful Database of Information and Resources for Self-Publishers. This book resembles really a database - 850 Resources are classified into 33 categories, which are organized into three major Units - i.e., Prepare, Publish and Promote. Naturally, the Units are organized in the way that usually follows the story of a book. Therefore, each Self-Publisher, at any given time, finds easily the Category and the Resources, which may help him in a given moment. In addition, each category begins with a brief introduction, which not only informs the reader about what will follow, but is also a useful auxiliary frame concerning the text to which it relates. The reference of the authors 'Professional Looking Books' on the book cover, as the reader finds in the process of reading, refers not only to the appearance of the book, but also to the internal organization of matter, in avoiding various errors, etc., which spoil the image that will be taken by the reader of the book. The overall conclusion for this book is that it is a useful, functional, helpful and comprehensive database, addressed mainly to the Self-Publishers. The book really stands out on the seriousness and responsibility with which the authors treat their readers: the Self-Publishers.Alexis Aronis

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I downloaded the pdf version and the copy was accurately formatted and links were live.The Self Publishers Ultimate Resource Guide is a very helpful tool for writers. It is a compilation of resources divided into three categories: Prepare, Publish, and Promote. These categories guide the reader into the most useful resources that the writer needs at whatever stage of creation that she/he is working. The book is a wonderful resource that saves the writer hours of Googling.I wish the introduction had included the process by which the resources were chosen. The authors are essentially saying "trust our choices." The authors wisely include a disclaimer that the book is a living document, as any document containing web addresses would be. They also ask readers to submit their own suggestions for the next edition. I would hope that contributors would be given attribution, and again, I would like to know how contributed resources are vetted.Each section begins with a brief rationale for the category. In PREPARING, for instance, a one paragraph introduction describes the need for professionalism. Although the resources show what professionalism entails, it would have been nice for the authors to summarize the key points of making a book NOT look like it's self published. Each category follows the same format. I did notice that each section is followed by a blank page, which exacts more scrolling.If the authors had considered themselves as editors of the vast resources they provide, I believe the format of the book would have been more credible and more helpful. Annotations of the websites would guide the reader toward an appropriate resource for the writer's current need.That said, I would recommend this book to writers. It is convenient and full of useful resources. I will definitely be using this book to guide the various stages of my self-published and traditionally published writing.

This is an excellent collection of the necessary social media resources for writing, publishing & marketing your book by people you can trust. It is clearly designed and easy to use. My Only quibble is I would have liked more narrative on how to make use of the resources. It would help the beginner. It is an excellent catalog of sites to visit but would be strengthened by more explanation of how to proceed in making use of these resources. Still, it is worth owning. I wish I would have had this resource when I published my mystery novel, A Star and a Tear or my books on healthy clergy. God Laughs--Why Don't You?: Making Use of Humor in the Practice of Ministry (Healthy Clergy Make Healthy Congregations) (Volume 2)

Disclaimer, I received the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.I am a fledgling Indie author with a book finished and figuring out next steps. This resource guide is well organized and packed with information and links. Half way through it, I felt overloaded with information and not too sure what to do with it, if anything. I do like that the authors have done the sifting to provide their readers with what is, hopefully, the best of the best. I bought the paperback version of this book along with “A Self Publisher’s Companion” by Joel Friedlander. The Publisher's Companion is more in line with what I need right now. A reference book requires time to prove its worth. Hopefully, “The Self Publisher’s Ultimate Resource Guide” will be around long enough to do just that.

this book is a GREAT resource-just like the cover says! it has listings of all-kinds of categories for the self-publisher. its very handy and user-friendly.

I think it would be more accurate if the title had read 'Every US Indie Author's Essential Directory'. I would probably give it more stars if I were American or Canadian but some chunks of it are not really relevant for British indie authors, for example, the section on grants and funding or associations. I thought the most useful section were the sections on books and writing software. I would have liked a little more in-depth discussion of advantages and disadvantages of the various writing software programmes and POD services but I'm probably expecting too much from this type of book.One niggle is that you can't go to the Table of Contents which is annoying for a reference book and makes using it a lot less easy than necessary and it is surprising that the authors overlooked it.My view is that it is not every indie author's essential directory, not if you're British.

Very useful for a first time publisher.

I found many helpful hints and addresses of people who could provide publishing services. Expert advice from the author's extensive experiece was provided and proved very helpful. I found his author site filled with useful additions helpful when havingcompleted the book and about to publish it.Particulary helpful for novices.Regards,I. Cuffe.

This book provides all the links an author will need to "realise the dream" of self-publishing their book.The links are categorised in helpful chapters and follow the entire course up to and after publication.As a non-published author, this book has provided the inspiration and the knowledge to finally being able to "realise my dream".