Posted by Elena del Valle on November 19, 2010
The Myths of Innovation book cover
Scott Berkun looks, with humor, at the history of ideas in the newly published paperback edition of The Myths of Innovation (O’Reilly Media, $17.99). This edition includes four new chapters on finding ideas and putting them to work, updated references, and new stories.
The author set out to share with readers his thoughts on where ideas come from, the history of history, why people don’t like ideas, how ideas thrive, how to pitch an idea and the benefits of innovation. He believes one of the secrets to discovering ideas is to work hard while making sure to include down time. Letting the mind wander frees our subconscious to be creative, Berkun says.
According to Freeman Dyson, a physicist and author Berkun quotes in his book, people who are busy all the time are not creative. At the same time Dyson says that breaks only work if they represent a change from productive work. In other words, being on a full-time vacation does not necessarily lead to creativity; although multitasking may be helpful by allowing the mind to take a break from one project while the person works on another.
“Innovation is simple if you stop thinking about it in the broken, false, but popular ways others do, and the book is a great guide,” said Berkun in a press release. “It’s been so popular because it makes the surprising truth about how great things happen fun and inspiring, as well as easy to apply at work as soon as you put the book down.”
Berkun also points out that the line between creative and insane (or eccentric) is a fine one. At the same time he believes that the moment of discovery cannot be controlled and is only one part of making an idea into a success. He argues that innovation for the sake of innovation is not always the answer in the same way that the status quo isn’t always the best solution. In an earlier chapter he proposes that while innovation itself cannot be harnessed it is possible to identify the challenges faced by innovators; he proposes eight main challenges.
Berkun is the author of Making Things Happen and Confessions of a Public Speaker. Since Aug 2010 he works for Automattic on WordPress.com. The author grew up in Queens in New York City, studied design, philosophy and computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, graduating with a B.S. in Logic and Computation. He worked at Microsoft from 1994 to 2003. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Wired Magazine, Fast Company, and Forbes Magazine.
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Posted by Elena del Valle on November 12, 2010
Un Puente Al Derecho book cover
Photo: Blacker Publishing Inc.
Oregon attorney Frank de la Puente believes the people with the least economic and political power, and the most vulnerable to abuse are those who do not know their rights. To address this issue he wrote Un Puente Al Derecho, Spanish for a bridge to the law (Blacker Publishing, Inc., $24.95), a book in Spanish with information about legal issues for Hispanics, especially those who do not speak English and the undocumented. He estimates there are eight million undocumented Hispanics many of whom could benefit from the information in his book.
The 205-page softcover book is divided into four main parts: Abogados, Jueces y Cortes (lawyers, judges and courts); La Ley del Divorcio (divorce law); Bienes Raíces (real estate); and Inmigración (immigration). His goal is to provide information about what for many people is a complex topic in easy-to-read Spanish illustrated with case examples.
He includes information about the process of divorce, child custody, support, distribution of property, and the rights of unmarried and homosexual partners. The section on real estate informs the reader on the aspects of buying and selling a house, including appraising, financing, escrow and insurance. A section on immigration provides information about the legislative proposals for immigration reform, and obtaining a resident visa through a family member.
De la Puente, a trial attorney for 20 years, spent four years of night and weekend work to research the laws of states other than his home state and write the book. According to a representative from the publishing company the book is gaining momentum. In October 2010, the Library Journal Online reviewed the book which is listed as a new release on AmericaReadsSpanish.com.
Promotion of the book has been primarily by press releases and review submissions. The author, who has been a guest on Spanish language radio talk shows in Dallas and Eugene Oregon for 16 years, has made two TV appearances on Univision Television in Portland, Oregon; and appears once per month as a guest of Nelson Zepeda’s Spanish radio talk show, 1520 AM, Portland, Oregon, fielding legal questions from listeners.
De la Puente was born in Callao, Peru in 1957. When he was nine he and Ines Arimborgo Bondy, his single mother, emigrated to Los Angeles, California where he grew up. From 1969 to 1971 he served in the United States Army. During that time, he served one year in active combat as an infantryman with the First Cavalry Division in the jungles of Vietnam. After the Army and graduating with a degree in mathematics from University of California, Irvine he worked as an aerospace engineer in California for Hughes, Northrop and Rockwell. In 1990, he graduated with a law degree from Willamette University College of Law in Salem, Oregon.
He started his law career as a special prosecutor in Marion County, Oregon, before becoming a federal criminal defense attorney for 13 years. Today, he primarily practices civil litigation including contract disputes including real estate and foreclosures, federal civil forfeiture, divorce and child custody, and actions for damages arising out of personal injury.
Click to buy Un Puente Al Derecho (Spanish Edition)
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Posted by Elena del Valle on November 5, 2010
The Wealthy Freelancer book cover
Photos: Alpha, thewealthyfreelancer.com
Freelancers or workers without long term ties to a single employer often work in journalism, book publishing, writing, editing, copy editing, proofreading, indexing, copy writing, computer programming, graphic design, web design, consulting, tour guiding, public relations and translating.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2005 10.3 million people in the United States (the equivalent of 7 percent of the working population) earned their living as free agents (see Wikipedia.com). For some it is a way to make ends meet in between jobs and for others it can be a liberating way to work on a regular basis.
Co-author Ed Gandia
Copywriters Steve Slaunwhite, Pete Savage and Ed Gandia believe working as freelancers is ideal as a permanent way to earn a living. So much so that they teamed up to write The Wealthy Freelancer 12 Secrets to a Great Income and an Enviable Lifestyle (Alpha, $16.95), a 274-page book about the merits of working freelance published this year. They start by explaining that being wealthy isn’t just about the money; instead it’s about “the life you build- and the kind of person you become in the process.”
They suggest readers look closely at the projects, clients, income and lifestyle that they would like to have. According to them, “A wealthy freelancer is someone who consistently gets the projects, clients, income and lifestyle he or she wants.”
The book is divided into 12 chapters, one for each secret with titles such as Master the Mental Game, Cultivate Repeat and Referral Business, Bring Focus to Your Freelance Business, and Create Alternative Streams of Income; followed by a Where Do You Go from Here? section and an appendix.
Co-authors Steve Slaunwhite and Pete Savage
In addition to being a copywriter Slaunwhite is also a marketing coach and speaker. Prior to this title he authored The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Starting a Web-Based Business and The Everything Guide to Writing Copy, and Fast Track to Great Clients. Savage, a resident of Peterborough, Canada, is a marketing consultant, speaker and coach. Gandia, a resident of Marietta, Georgia, is also a marketing consultant, speaker and coach.
Click here to buy The Wealthy Freelancer
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Posted by Elena del Valle on October 29, 2010
The Little Book of Economics book cover
Photos: Walek & Associates
With so much emphasis on the recession and how the economy in the United States and Europe is suffering few people, perhaps, stop to think about the basic term behind the discussion, the economy, and what it means to people’s everyday lives. Why are so many world economies struggling? How do the issues that drive our economy relate to the way we live our lives and make our living?
The answers often seem complex and out of reach of the average person. Among the many experts and lay people seeking to understand the current situation and what led to it is an editor who for years has made a living examining economic issues. Greg Ip, editor, United States Economics for The Economist magazine set an ambitious task for himself: to outline the basics of how the economy works in life in an easy to read style. In The Little Book of Economics How the Economy Works in the Real World (Wiley, $19.95) published this year he outlines his theories of how the economy works beyond academic theories.
In the 250-page hardcover book published this year, Ip covers economic terminology, myths, misinformation and its sources, inflation, globalization, the Federal Reserve, the Treasury and Congress, the roots of the current situation, government debt issues and possible consequences, sluggish growth and long term unemployment using case studies to illustrate the issues along the way. At the end of every chapter he included a Bottom Line section with a short bullet point summary of the most important points in the chapter.
Author Greg Ip
According to Ip recessions and bubbles are part of the natural cycle of a country’s economy. In the first chapter, he theorizes that if the financial system can sort out the bad debt issues resulting from the real estate bubble bursting, investment should return bringing an annual productivity growth of 1.5 percent or even 2 percent. If the labor force grows .75 percent there could be long term growth of between 2.25 percent and 2.75 percent, returning the United States to solid economic ground. In his words, the country “… may no longer be a glamorous growth stock; but it’s still a blue chip.”
The book is divided into 15 chapters: The Secrets of Success; Economic Bungee Jumping; In-Flight Monitor; Labor Pains; Fire and Ice; Drop the Puck!; All the World’s an ATM; All the President’s Men; The Buck Starts Here; White Smoke Over the Washington Mall; When the World Needs a Fireman; The Elephant in the Economy; Good Debt, Bad Debt; Love-Hate Relationship; and A Species of Neuralgia.
Ip learned about economics from his mother as a child and went on to study the subject as a university student. A former reporter at The Wall Street Journal from 1996 to 2008 he was named Business Journalist of the Year by the World Leadership Forum, received the William Brewster Styles Award in business and economics writing, and was on the 2002 The Wall Street Journal team honored with the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news reporting.
Click here to buy The Little Book of Economics
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Posted by Elena del Valle on October 15, 2010
Unequal Fortunes book cover
Photo Arthur Levine: Emile Wamsteker
Arthur Levine has a post doctorate degree and heads the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. Forty years ago he grew up in the Bronx in New York City. In Unequal Fortunes Snapshots from the South Bronx (Teachers College Press, $24.95) Levine and Laura Scheiber, his research assistant, set out to look at the obstacles and opportunities for young people in tough neighborhoods like the South Bronx. In the 170-page softcover book published this summer they discuss the role of drugs, crime, violence and poor schools in the former educator’s neighborhood.
As part of the decade long project they revisited the South Bronx and compared his life in the 1960s with that of a group of Latino teenagers in the same neighborhood today. Among the questions they pondered are whether low income urban schools are as bad as some think; what life is like for disadvantaged children growing up in low income neighborhoods; and why people living on the same block 40 years apart have such unequal chances in life. The book is divided into three main sections: Arthur’s Story, Leo’s Story and What Changed?
Leonel Disla, one of the young men in the group they examined, died a violent death at the hands of the police. The authors examine what happened to the young man and explore the ways in which today’s society may have failed him. As part of their process they share information with readers about the youth’s family and friends as well as what they believe were his hopes and fears. Along the way they look at the devastating effects of poverty and racism like low-wage, dead-end jobs, inadequate housing, high crime rates, substandard schools, violence, drugs, a broken legal system, prison, and funerals of the underaged.
In Unequal Fortunes, the authors explore what they believe is the role of communities in shaping the destiny of young people and what they think could be done to ensure that more young people from low-income, high-crime communities can succeed in school, college, and life. At the same time, they struggle to explain why the lives of the two people were so dramatically different.
According to the book’s Prologue, the authors believe over time the prospect of the American Dream has diminished for many, especially the poor. They are convinced that although education is the best way out of poverty in America today youth in impoverished neighborhoods must overcome many difficult barriers on their way to reaching the American Dream.
Author Arthur Levine, Ph.D.
Levine is president emeritus of Teachers College, Columbia University. He also previously served as a faculty member and chair of the Institute for Educational Management at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (1989-1994), president of Bradford College (1982-89), and senior fellow at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and Carnegie Council on Policy Studies in Higher Education (1975-82). Scheiber is a Ph.D. candidate in Comparative and International Education at Teachers College, Columbia University
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Posted by Elena del Valle on October 8, 2010
Pull: Marketing Secrets the Fortune 100 Use book cover
Marketer Keith Chambers has supported the marketing efforts of 500 companies for well known brands such as Clorox, Del Monte, Campbell’s, Coppertone, Arm & Hammer, Sparkletts, Hormel, Scotch-Brite, Claritin, the Miss America Pageant and Equal. In Pull: Marketing Secrets the Fortune 100 Use (Polimedia Publishers, $19.95), his 2009 book, Chambers promises readers big-business marketing methodology for small and medium-sized businesses.
Chambers defines Pull as a marketing force that compels people “to take anything that occurs as extraordinary and quickly make it ordinary.” He says that maintaining a strong business identity and presence are essential to success.
In the book, he shares with readers his opinion on how to best understand consumer needs, establish effective communication, and develop a successful branding and marketing strategy. He seeks to enlighten his audience by first helping them understand marketing, which he defines as the study of free enterprise; and then explaining to them how to create out-of-the-ordinary tools to deal with free enterprise.
The book, which is peppered with color photos, is divided into thirteen chapters: The Early Years, Evolution of a Marketing Master, Why I’m Giving Away the Keys, The Marketing Objective, The Creative Side – Positioning and Repositioning, A Few Critical Insights, The Remakability Paradigm, More on Remarkability, The Communications Model, Pursuing Remarkability, Walk the Walk, Creative Preparation, and Applying This to Your Business.
In 1974, Chambers founded Los Angeles based The Chambers Group. Later in his career he established, with his two sons, Chambers Brothers Entertainment, which creates programming and films for Spike TV and MTV2.
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Posted by Elena del Valle on October 1, 2010
Fast Track Networking book cover
Photo: Career Press
In the same way that geese traveling south for the winter benefit from increased flying range (and a safer journey than if traveling alone) by flying in a V-formation people who have a sense of community and like to network can help each other. That is how Lucy Rosen, founder and president of Women on the Fast Track, illustrates the advantages of networking. She recommends that people find others who share common interests in order to reach their goals more quickly and efficiently.
As part of her work in public relations and marketing Rosen, founder and president of SmartMarketing Solutions Group, has twenty five years of networking experience. In Fast Track Networking: Turning Conversations into Contacts (Career Press, $14.99), a book published earlier this year, she shares some of the knowledge she has gained from networking and promises readers “a unique step-by-step approach to networking proven to put people on the fast track.”
She wrote the 224-page softcover book, with Claudia Gryvatz Copquin, a journalist, with the goal of providing readers an insider’s look into what works in networking including “networking success stories” of business owners and entrepreneurs throughout the country.
“Networking isn’t giving your business card to everyone you meet, or collecting as many business cards as you can and then calling all the people the next morning and trying to sell them your widget. Yet unfortunately, that’s still how far too many people approach the concept of networking,” said Rosen in a press release. “When done right, networking can often be the differentiating factor that helps you land the deal, or in today’s times land the job, so it’s critical that people know how to approach networking in a way that not only builds relationships, but builds business. There’s an art to turning a run-of-the-mill conversation into a life-long contact, and the building of these valuable contacts is what this book is all about.”
The book is divided into thirteen chapters: Networking is Like Dating, Only Better; Get the Party Started; No Time for Awkwardness; Small Group, Big Results; If You Create It, They Will Come; Network…Naturally; Hunters, Gatherers, Networkers; Rein In Your “Deer in the Headlights” Approach; Not Working? Try Networking; Facebook and LinkedIn and Twitter, Oh My; From Filofax to Digital Filing Cabinet; A Promise Is a Promise. Keep Yours; and Putting the Strategic in Strategic Alliances. Each chapter ends with a summary of key points.
Click here to buy Fast Track Networking
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Posted by Elena del Valle on September 24, 2010
Social Media Marketing book cover
Photos: Que Publishing
Although a recent IBM survey of 1,000 channel partners (see IBM Offers Channel Partners Guidance in Social Media Marketing by Rick Whiting, CRN.com) indicates that 45 percent of respondents said they are trying their luck with social media 74 percent of respondents said they seek more education and better understanding of the many social media outlets and tools like RSS, wikis, Facebook and Twitter. At the same time they said they sought ways to measure results. That mirrors in some ways what Liana “Li” Evans, a social media executive, says.
Social media is not easy, quick and cheap, says Evans in her recently published book Social Media Marketing: Strategies for Engaging in Facebook, Twitter & Other Social Media (Que Publishing, $24.99). Evans, director, Social media for Serengeti Communications, explains that although adding content to social media is quick and free making the added content worthwhile for the audience requires much work.
Often overnight successes are by accident rather than the result of planned efforts. Those who believe launching a page on a popular site is all that is required in social media marketing will likely find disappointment, according to the author.
Social media is about gaining trust which takes time, she says in the first chapter. She goes on to explain that social media is about having conversations and sharing experiences with others with common interests; and that conversation about a company can take place with or without that company’s participation. Successful marketing on social media, as any other type of marketing, requires that the executives understand the social media forum and develop a company strategy that includes an audience profile, goals and measurement, according to Evans.
Author Liana “Li” Evans
The 342-page softcover book is divided into five parts with several chapters each: The Basics of Social Media, It’s About Conversation, Social Media from the Inside Out, It’s Not About You, and How Social Media Fits into the Online Marketing Picture.
Since 1999 Evans, who has college degrees in public relations and information technology, has been active in social media and search marketing. Before working with Serengeti, she led search engine optimization efforts for an Internet Retailer 500 company. She also led the online efforts of the entertainment website of a Fortune 500 company.
Click here to buy Social Media Marketing
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Posted by Elena del Valle on September 17, 2010
Life Unlocked book cover
Photo: Glenn Kulbako
Srini Pillay, MD, executive coach and chief executive officer of NeuroBusiness (NBG), a company that offers coaching services, believes the primitive part of our brain is constantly sending us messages of alert to warn us about possible danger in our environment. These messages, the rip current of human nature as he describes it, create a sense of anxiety that can prevent us from moving in the direction we truly want.
Being aware of these potential dangers and overcoming the fear they provoke may allow us to function more effectively than heeding the danger signals. In his recently published book Life Unlocked 7 Revolutionary Lessons to Overcome Fear (Rodale Books, $25.99) he talks about how to overcome fears to live better and more fulfilling lives.
The 294-page hardcover book is divided into seven chapters: What you don’t know can hurt you; The science of overcoming dread; Fear of success; If it’s hard to change, it’s not unchangeable; Unlocking a caged heart; Fear and prejudice; and How to develop emotional superglue.
He begins by exploring the idea that everyone suffers from fear of some kind. He then proposes that it is possible to shift the way we view things in order to feel less fearful and anxious. He discusses the fear of success and eight possible causes: loneliness, disorientation, responsibility, the unknown, being unable to maintain success, losing our drive, becoming prey, and losing our identity.
Author Srini Pillay, MD
He goes on to discuss the idea that fear can be the result of conditioning. Once we understand how we are conditioned, he says, we can begin to change our conditioning. He also discusses attachment related fears and his belief that as with other fears, we can change them once we understand them. Prejudice and fear and closely linked, he says.
In Chapter 6, he explains that prejudice may indicate guilt and fear and that finding a productive way to address these feelings may lead to a solution and improve our ability to be successful. In the final chapter he examines the impact that trauma has in our lives and proposes a way to overcome its damage.
In addition to his work as a Certified Master Coach, the author is an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. This is his first book.
Click here to buy Life Unlocked
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Posted by Elena del Valle on September 13, 2010
Jose Azel, Ph.D., author, Mañana in Cuba
Photo: Jose Azel, Ph.D.
A podcast interview with Jose Azel, Ph.D., author, Manana in Cuba (see University of Miami scholar discusses possible Cuba future) is available in the Podcast Section of Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations, HispanicMPR.com. During the podcast, José discusses his recently published book with Elena del Valle, host of the HispanicMPR.com podcast.
José is dedicated to the in-depth analysis of Cuba’s economic, social, and political state, with special interest in post-Castro-Cuba strategies. He is a senior scholar at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS) at the University of Miami.
A native of Cuba he left the island in 1961 when he was 13 years old as part of Operation Pedro Pan, a child refugee program. He has been a guest on programs on Mega TV, PBS, America TeVe, GenTV, France 24 TV, and Al Jazeera among others.
José is dedicated to the in-depth analysis of Cuba’s economic, social, and political state, with special interest in post-Castro-Cuba strategies. He is a senior scholar at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS) at the University of Miami.
To listen to the interview, scroll down until you see “Podcast” on the right hand side, then select “HMPR Jose Azel, Ph.D.” click on the play button below or download the MP3 file to your iPod or MP3 player to listen on the go, in your car or at home. To download it, click on the arrow of the recording you wish to copy and save it to disk. The podcast will remain listed in the September 2010 section of the podcast archive.
Click here to buy Mañana In Cuba
