What should I know/ learn to begin to learn Chinese? I already know a ton of Japanese and kanji so...?

I think it should be a little bit easier and I think learning CHinese would definetly help me in the job market right? So are there different alphabets like in Japanese, are there any books that would help with beginners....people fluent in the language to help out....pronounciation guides....basically anything I need to learn to read the Chinese version of "romaji". Like how the heck do you pronounce "Hsang Feng" teh name of the Emperor in Empress ORchid by ANchee Min? Is it pronounced "Seng Fang"? I"m pretty much clueless about pronounciation. I do know that you could learn all the characters in the language and run a business on it but not speak a word of it or understand how it's pronounced. TEach me everything for beginners and any words if it'll help! PLEASE AND THANK YOU!!