News on the Beginner's Guides
Hank Quense • August 14, 2026
The Beginner's Guide series has expanded (again!)
The Beginner's Guide to Mind-mapping a Novel is now available
https://www.amazon.com/Beginners-Guide-Mind-mapping-Novel-Guides-ebook/dp/B0HDS98YVY/?
The Beginners Guide Starter Kit has been reissued because of a large update. It now includes a master index of all the topics covered in each book in the series. Get your free download here: https://hankquenseauthor.org/beginner-s-guide-series6b9a9e79
The only title left of the original ten is the Beginner's Guide to Author Business which I've started writing. However, I'm adding three more titles into the series:
- Beginner's Guide to Writing Humor and Satire
- Beginner's Guide to Writing Craft: Dialog, Themes, World- building
- Beginner's Guide to Planning and Organizing a nonfiction book
Finally, if you have problems with fiction writing, publishing or book marketing, you'll find the answers here: https://hankquenseauthor.org/real-problems--real-solutions
Recent Posts

By Hank Quense
•
June 3, 2026
Over the years I’ve seen the same pattern with new writers: tons of enthusiasm, then frustration when the story stalls, the plot won’t cooperate, or the whole publishing and marketing side feels like a maze. So I finally pulled everything I teach and coach about into a set of short, focused “Beginner’s Guide” ebooks.[ Each guide tackles one piece of the journey: Beginners Guide to Planning a Story – taking a loose idea and turning it into a workable plan: characters, plot, setting, and overall storyline. Beginner's Guide to Creating Genuine Characters : how to ensure your characters don't bore the reader. Beginners Guide to Developing a Plot – building believable plots, from inciting incident through climax, plus character and emotional arcs. Beginners Guide to Publishing a Book (and Not Getting Screwed) – a straight‑talk tour of today’s publishing options, including how to avoid the predators. Beginners Guide to Basic Book Marketing – the essentials of book marketing for first‑time authors: landing pages, blurbs, keywords, and building a simple author platform. They’re deliberately short, practical, and meant to be used. Read it in an evening and apply your new knowledge the next day. I have several more Beginner's Guides under development: on scene design, business, mind-mapping and AI assistants. There is also a free Beginner's Guide Starter Kit: it contains material from each guide including the ones under development. You can download a copy here.







