An analogy can be drawn between new authors, and stereotypical young actors, fresh off the bus from Missouri. They arrive with a smile, brimming with enthusiasm, and if they’re lucky, some talent. To succeed at your craft in an industry overrun with bigger names, greater talent, more experience, and people looking for precisely the right qualifications to suit their needs amid thousands vying for their attention, the process of creation alone is not enough.

Fortunately, that is where author Kim Staflund steps in, with her guide How To Publish A Bestselling Book … and Sell It WORLDWIDE Based on Value, Not Price!.  The most important advice she gives is that the author “must treat book publishing, sales, and marketing as [their] own business.” (p.150) How many writers dream of the day when the book they’ve put so much time and heart into will be chosen for publication by one of the big houses, making them the next overnight sensation? Reality is far more sobering, and while Staflund pulls away the rose-colored glasses, she spares readers from depression by offering alternatives and ones that, while requiring elbow grease, may even be better.

A multiple self-published author, Staflund is eminently qualified to share her experience and her knowledge in the self-publishing industry. While many aim for the trade houses and sneer at self-publishing, Staflund found herself opening her own supportive self-publishing house, Polished Publishing Group (PPG). Trade publishing and supportive self-publishing are just two of the three options she describes to her readers (the third being vanity self-publishing), and it is immediately clear that the route taken by the author’s house, supportive self-publishing, is the superior method.

Staflund uses her expertise to walk new self-publishers through the minutia of the publishing procedure, and there is a wealth of information within these pages. The details of the publication process are excellent, and as Polished Publishing Group welcomes the submissions from the readers of How To Publish A Bestselling Book, Staflund gives us an even more intimate glimpse of the quality of her own organization, and their standards. What’s more valuable, however, are the tools she provides that turn this process into the author’s business.  A book will not sell without promotion, and Staflund brings out all the tricks she has at her disposal to share with the reader.

The best is a rendition of her schedule while she is writing a book, including how soon she began setting up book signings after she’s sent the manuscript to the publisher, and when she begins planning YouTube readings, blogs, and other multimedia pages. Staflund holds nothing back, and because of that, How to Publish A Bestselling Book has the feel of a roadmap.  Just follow it, and it will easily take you where you want to go. It is not difficult to believe that Staflund can deliver on the title’s claim, as well.

 How To Publish A Bestselling Book … and Sell it Worldwide, Based on Value, Not Price!  refers to having a better quality product as opposed to a lower price, and Staflund definitely followed her own advice in that regard. This book is a gem for authors desperate to break free from the cycle of rejection letters, and goes beyond by destigmatizing the supportive self-publishing industry, and providing detailed instruction to authors on how to make it work for the reader.

This book is an amazing, comprehensive – yet truly simplified and readable guide to self-publishing.  I highly recommend How to Publish a Bestselling Book … and Sell It WORLDWIDE Based on Value, Not Price! for everyone out there who is wading through the big mysterious world of self-publishing today – this guide will help you successfully charge forward and you may even become a bestseller.