Review: A Great Treasure Trove at a Terrific Price - Free! A Truly Astonishingly Quick, 130 Page Read. A Must-Read.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 27, 2014
Amazon estimates this to be 175 pages but in PDF it comes in at 130 pages or so. Whatever the length, it is a solid, quick read at the always welcome price of free. I read it far faster than any normal 130 page book.As a Quality Manager, in the late 1970s, while attending classes at National University I came across J.M. Juran's Quality Control Handbook, in which I became a devotee of Juran's pioneering principles. The one nugget I treasured was the Pareto Principle, in which, "...the few is the many, and the many is the few," as Juran explained it. Many call it the 80-20 Rule, but that oversimplifies it just a bit.Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success (Smashwords Guides) is one of many who quote the principle, and Mark Coker probably does the best job putting the principle in practice with his book.Coker provides 30 useful tips AND provides some verifiable data to assist in making his points.As he states, most self publishers will not be able to put all 30 'secrets' to use soon. As he states, start with the easy ones first.Okay, putting just 1/5th of his recommendations into play will likely achieve 80 percent of the improved sales that the sum total will potentially attain.The first secret, though, will not be easy. It is, though, almost certainly the one secret that is most essential - write a great book. Note though that one essential component of this is easy if writers understand his point that getting proofing and editing done by qualified and experienced people, professional when possible will help make for a great book. I recently ,had a short story on Kindle that I was convinced did not need a proofed. I was dead wrong.The second most important and useful secret is a great cover. Again, my experience tends to agree with his statement, but, of course, Coker provides far more conclusive evidence in this book.His third most useful point is publishing on as many platforms as possible is right on, as is developing a pricing strategy - and it is the evidence he provides here that most intrigues. To learn why, read this outstanding book.Pretty much these four points are the most critical secrets readers should take most to heart.Self-Publishers who choose to not read Secrets to Enook Success may stll achieve stunning success, for there is much lick involved, as Coker freely admits. But, and this is key, those who depend only on luck are least likely to prove victorious in any endeavor, especially self -publishing.