Apparently there are millions who claim they’ve got a good book in them. Well, I think I’m one of them. This is the year I’m going to hopefully write the first of many. But as a wannabe writer I’ve got all of the obvious doubts. Do I have something meaningful to say? Will anyone want to read what I write? Have I got the time, patience, and tolerance to step into the minefield of publishing? And my greatest fear is rejection from that small group of people in New York who get to decide whether what I’ve written is good enough for people to read.

The good news is there’s another way. Self-publishing is the best thing that ever happened to writers and, like Marilyn Monroe once said, “Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.” That couldn’t be truer for the publishing industry as it faces the digital revolution. Take a good look at Amazon and its fully integrated, well-thought-out, people-centered approach to publishing, content curation, and distribution. It’s pure genius. According to Amazon’s Russell Grandinetti, “The only really necessary people in the publishing process now are the writer and reader.”

Today, the majority of books are still sold via old-school publishers, but there’s no question digital publishing will drive the future. If you’re an executive at any one of the traditional publishing houses, take a good look at the music industry to see what’s going to happen to you. Don’t put your heads in the sand like they did, you’re under digital siege and now is the time to act and reinvent yourselves. Digital disruption is obviously good news for both readers and writers. There will be a shift of power from the opinionated and capable few selecting which titles the public should read to an explosion of content where the public decides what is best to read. Old-school publishers will argue that the quality of content will decline, but all they have to do is look at the music industry to know that’s not so.

Make no mistake about it, the revolution has started. But with all that said, self-publishing is fragmented, complicated, and coated with a stigma all of its own. The self-publishing side of the industry has many parts and players, and can be equally as intimidating. And that’s where Guy Kawasaki, the former Apple evangelist and author of “Rules for Revolutionaries” and “Enchantment” comes in. Guy sees the new wave of self-publishing that’s becoming more like an artisanal publishing movement as good for content, community, and commerce. Guy’s written numerous best-selling books and had a recent experience publishing his last book that was so frustrating he decided to fuel the revolution by writing a complete guide to self-publishing.

“APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur-How to Publish a Book” is a great read and a superb resource that brings everything you ever needed to know about self-publishing together in one place, through an entertaining format. According to Kawasaki, a successful self-publisher must play three roles: author, publisher, and entrepreneur–or APE. These roles are challenging but not impossible–especially if people who have done it before explain it to you. And that’s exactly why Guy has accepted the challenge of helping writers succeed as self-publishers as quickly and easily as possible. The book will become the de facto guide on self-publishing. Here’s a bit more insight into the book’s value:

Printed books are not going away anytime soon, but for a novice, self-publishing ebooks is probably the way to go. He’s not saying that you’ll make boatloads of money as a self-publisher, but the math works. Self-publishing is an inexpensive business, and the upside potential is there. But make no mistake, you still need to write a good book and market it well. According to Guy, it’s a lot like launching a startup. Entrepreneurs must create a product, test it, raise money, recruit talent, and attract customers at the same time.

Author

The first section of the book looks at the market from an author’s perspective. Writing a book isn’t easy and the process is not always an enjoyable one, but APE puts everything an author ever needs to know about self-publishing in one place and takes the reader through the three stages of self-publishing (being the author, the publisher, and the marketing entrepreneur). Guy does this in a sequential and thorough manner, with the chapters prompting the right questions on whether you should write a book, how to write one, as well as showing you the tools needed and how to finance your book.