The biggest difficulty with persimmon is keeping it flat during the air drying process and bugs. Be sure to cut it thick if you plan on a straight piece later. We typically only harvest the male trees, which do not bear fruit. They are much larger, straighter, and don't take away from the wildlife. Best bet for avoiding parasite invasion is to cut in January when the sap is down, stack with sticks in between to air dry until May with lots of weight on top of your pile, then spray heavily with an insecticide and find a kiln if you don't own one. Parasites love this stuff.