I am often asked how someone can get their book published. Or I get asked, “What advice would you give someone writing a book?”

Most people don’t want the real answer: finish the book you’re writing first.

Just finishing the book (whether fiction or non-fiction) is usually the most challenging for anyone. See, it seems simple to sit down and write a book. If you just leave the bull your mind will try to feed you at the door, yes, it is that simple. However, most people can’t do that; the myths that an artist must suffer for their art is just too alluring, especially to those who like the idea of writing but don’t actually want to write. So, I always tell the inquirer to write the book first.

Surprisingly (not!), no one has every come back to me and said, “Okay, I wrote the book, now what?”

For a long time I wished that I’d had something I could tell people to go read and it would help them answer a lot of questions on their journey, including step 1: writing the book.

Now I do.

Enter Write, Publish, and Market Like a Boss.

I picked up this set because I really wanted to listen to Market Like a Boss, but the price on the audio for all three was irresistible.

I did listen to most of it at double speed. I found the narrator painfully slow at regular speed and 1.5 speed was about what I considered normal reading speech. At double speed, I felt like he was really at 1.5 speed.

Since I’ve been writing nearly all my life and have published 25 titles, I wasn’t certain there would be much information there for me. I was surprised that I did find a few nuggets of good information — you can always learn something. Besides, it was a good pep talk for me too.

I know the authors, Honoree Corder and Ben Hale, were trying to have information that would remain evergreen, but I did feel that some of it was already dated or that there were easier ways of doing things, like formatting books, than what they were mentioning. Still, it would give someone who knew nothing a good starting place. I also wonder at the effectiveness of some of the marketing practices. Once everyone starts using the same techniques, then people stop listening and the tools stop working. But, it’s a good place to start.

I would definitely recommend the written book (either as an ebook or print) over the audio for most people who are just starting out. If you have already published, then the audio might be fine as long as you either use the bookmarks/notes feature in your audio player or you take notes as you’re listening. Since I’m usually walking while listening, I had to bookmark many spots to go back to later.

Overall, I think that when someone comes up to me asking for advice, this is now going to be my recommend. Honoree and Ben certainly do a good job, covering both non-fiction and fiction. They would certainly help someone get a good start on the path, and they do a good job of explaining the multiple options that are available, even if they aren’t the one-stop resource; no book could encompass that task, yet it is a great starting point.

If you have a book inside you that you want to write, publish, or market, I suggest this set.

Happy reading.