Publishers Books

I always enjoy these,easy to read and understand,books. I also like anything along the Laura Ingalls Wilder line. Always good reading. A book for any age to read.

I found this collection of letters written by Laura Ingalls Wilder (author of the "Little House" series) to be fascinating. The letters were written to her husband when Mrs. Wilder went to San Francisco to visit her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, in 1915.

The reader gets Mrs. Wilder's description of a San Francisco that is recovering from the earthquakes and fires that took place earlier in the century and is now hosting an International Exposition. Mrs. Wilder's description of her first encounter with the Pacific Ocean is wonderful.

The reader also gets a glimpse into the life of Mrs. Wilder. She is very concerned about finances and things back on the farm. She has yet to write her first "Little House" book, but her daughter, who is already an accomplished journalist, is helping Mrs. Wilder get a feel for writing.

This book will be a treat for readers interested in the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder and those interested in a portrait of San Francisco in the early 20th century.

I love all the little house books. I am buying these so I can read them again and also to build up a library for my grandchildren.

Laura Ingalls Wilders makes a trip by train to visit her daughter, Rose, in 1915 in San Francisco. It was during the 1915 World's Fair. Laura visited for two months and wrote interesting, detailed letters back home to Almanzo about what she saw and did.
Some of her descriptions were captivating in their detail. The book fills in gaps and answers questions about the years following the events of the Little House books. The reader meets Rose, the daughter, as an adult, and begins to learn about her amazing life as a successful writer.
It was during this visit that Rose begins to help Laura learn how to better write for publication, such as how to block-out a story.
The reader gets an insight into Rose's fierce loyalty and sense of responsibiity to her parents.

In addition to Laura's detailed letters to Almanzo describing her adventure, this book includes over thirty photographs featuring Laura, Rose, the Pacific Ocean (ships, beachgoers, etc.), San Francisco, and many scenes of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition including an air show and night-lit festivities. Though in black and white, this pictorial insight into what was behind the letters is wonderful.

The book also includes an introduction telling how and where the letters were found and a lovely description of San Francisco at the time of Laura's visit. The letters themselves beautifully showcase the art of letter writing: Along with Laura's vivid descriptions of the technological marvels of the expo, her words are full of charming details to make us smile such as the price of eggs, hat shopping, and her favorite foods of the expo. Laura's expertise in writing compositions, as portrayed in the original Little House books, is very much evident even in these personal letters.

This book is a must have for Little House enthusiasts. Also recommended: On the Way Home: The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, in 1894.

J.H. Sweet, author of The Fairy Chronicles, and longtime Little House fan

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and its excellent photographs tied to Biblical excerpts and history. This enabled me to feel like I was there and saw all the important sites short of traveling there to see them. The presentation and color is fantastic.

It is an incredible book, and more people should know about it and purchase it! The colors in the book are so crisp and clear. It makes faith come alive! It shipped very quickly and came in perfect condition.

After I received my initial order and flipped the pages and read them, I realized that the contents were awesome and very easy to follow so I order 3 more copies as presents for my daughters. They are delighted with the book. I recomend this book for all followers of Jesus, as you graphically get to see and read about the places he must have been when he was with us on earth.

In reading the Bible, I find it hard to invision the various places mentioned. This book is wonderful and it is such an inspiration--it makes me feel like I am walking the footpaths as people in the bible. The photographs are absolutely beautiful. I can't find the appropriate
words to explain just how much this book means to me and how it has given me insight to where bible history took place. The words of the Bible now
have pictures.

The book is brilliant - the photography superb and very sensitive. It is inspiring to see many of the places as Jesus would have seen them. I had seen the book before and searched online to get a copy for a friend and was very happy with the process and delivery via Amazon.

Beautifully written, WHERE SHE CAME FROM is also the product of very serious and exhaustive research. It is a magical and haunting book. It brings alive a period of Jewish women's history that is only now being written about in English. Travelling through pre-Holocaust Central Europe with Epstein is an amazing experience: the reader follows both the process of investigation of family history and the emotions this opens up for the writer.

I taught the book several times both in the US and Mexico in classes on Memory and Autobiography. My students loved the book. Many of them bought several copies to give to relatives and friends as gifts. My graduate students (in History and Literature) were impressed by the rigor of Epstein's research, and the skill with which she weaves historical information into her prose.

This is a fascinating chronicle of three generations of the author's female ancestors. It is probably the only book in English that tells the story of Jewish women in Prague in the the first half of the twentieth century. Helen Epstein has a special talent for recreating social history and bringing it alive.

This book was a beautiful personal tribute to the author's ancestors.

I was engrossed in this book from the first page...although it was a slow read for me, because I wanted to grasp the intensity of the generational saga, and grasp the historical facts, correctly. Epstein has more than proved herself in this dramatic memoir of family generations, identity, and history, weaving us through time, each piece of family fabric a part of the final tapestry. The reader is given remnants and squares of fabric in a familial tapestry, of sorts, through history and time, through the horrors of war, and how it affects all the generations, from past to present. From assimilating into society and racial and religous identity, to how one views themselves and what they identify with, Epstein manages to stitch a tapestry of her family, each stitch in time adding to the fabric of her own identity. Bravo for a wonderful read!

In WHERE SHE CAME FROM, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based award-winning author Helen Epstein has penned a meticulously-researched memoir to the four generations of Czech and former Czechoslovak women in her extensive family, from her mother's side of the brood.

While today she associates her public persona to the proud and extensive line of former Czechoslovak Epsteins (see Ms. Epstein's fabulous Amazon Short available off of this site, SWIMMING AGAINST STEREOTYPE: The Story of a Twentieth Century Jewish Athlete), the writer stakes her claim to a noble and illustrious family line which once proudly sported famous Viennese and Prague-based surnames such as Rabinek, Solar, Weigert, Sachsel, Furcht, and Frucht.

Like an experienced batsman for a World Series-winning major-league baseball team, Epstein managed to hang in that old batter's box, waiting for just the right pitch to slug out of the ballpark. In the book world, the analogue was when all the right moments fortuitously transpired to assist Ms. Epstein in securing many essential clues of research which she utilized handily in crafting this excellent book's narrative. Even she'll tell you, the process was far from easy.

Thanks to a dedicated coterie of like-minded collaborators based in points all around the globe as you'll soon read (the former Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic, Israel, South America, and the United States), Ms. Epstein succeeded in cobbling together one of the most comprehensive Czech geneological histories on the public record.

The work is not only emotionally remunerative for Ms. Epstein, to the extent that those missing links in her family chain were finally sewn together, but it's additionally a fine account of several strong women, renowned in their various fields of endeavour, who persevered during the best of times and the absolute horrorific worst of the 20th century.

Starting with Helen's great-grandmother Therese Sachsel, nee Frucht (Furcht), who lived during the reign of Franz-Josef in the last of the Habsburg-ian thrones, passing through her grandmother Pepi's life story during the turbulent First World War and the First Czechoslovak Republic, and finally overlapping the history of her own mother Frances Epstein, Helen pored over hundreds (if not thousands) of archival sources in constructing this cogent tale.

Collectively, these three noble upstanding women belonging to the author's colourful past outlived the worst of the 20th century's ravages, passing fads, and tragic downfalls.

We swoon with Therese Sachsel during the euphoria of Tomas Garrigue Masaryk's (TGM) storied first Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938), when all seemed possible for the Central European remant of the former Austria-Hungarian powerhouses of Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, and Slovakia. Our hopes and dreams are temporarily crushed alongside her grandmother Pepi Rabinek as we witness the invasion and subsequent occupation of Prague by Nazi hordes, who sweep unchallenged through the former Czechoslovakia's borders after the West's perfidy of Munich. We agonize alongside Pepi's daughter, Frances Solar/Rabinek/Epstein, the paragon of the family and Helen's stalwart mother, as she is dispatched to the Teresienstadt (in modern-day Terezin, Czech Republic) concentration camp, or in the colloquial Czech, the "koncentrak." We also rejoice when Frances is extricated from the hellhole of Auschwitz, and tranported the West in wartime Germany as part of a labour brigade, towards the oncoming Allies from the West, liberated in Bergen-Belsen by British forces at the end of WWII. Finally, we are shocked to discover the insensitivity, sheer apathy, and in many instances -- outright hostility -- that Praguers demonstrated towards the surviving returnees from the Nazi camps, to which Frances and her future husband, famous former Czechoslovak Olympian swimmer, Kurt Epstein, counted themselves.

Helen Epstein's lines draw us inexorably into this story, and once you start you'll have a difficult time finding excuses to stop.

What staggered me as I made my way through this read was Ms. Epstein's formidable discipline. The sheer single-mindedness with which she approached the colossal task of the near-vertical climb to reach the bottom of her family's history. I read with awe how solace was found towards the end.

WHERE SHE CAME FROM will stand as one of the foremost examples of the self-researched memoir. If you need any reason at all to read this book, then let it be thanks to the iron-willed determination which the answers gracing its pages were unearthed by Ms. Epstein.

A book like this needs to be savoured for its significance, appreciated for its illumination, and respected for its purity. There isn't a single letter which graces these pages that wasn't typed, written, or transcribed in the absence of a labour which can only be termed love.

I sit back and wish we all had the staying power of Ms. Epstein. The book is laudatory in the extreme.

As if Ms. Epstein's family history were not enough, there are other benefits to this book too. For those with a keen interest in the past two centuries of life in Prague and the experiences of Bohemia's and Moravia's Jews and its Czech peasantry, WHERE SHE CAME FROM is chock-a-block with painstaking factoids and historical tidbits that'll nudge you gently towards further reading. It will also supply its readers with a glimpse towards the increasingly-distant Czechoslovak past, which, with the passing of the years and the keener integration of this country with the rest of the EU, slips further and further away from the grip of Czech youth.

This book is more than just a reminder, it's a testament to a time which no longer exists. In that respect, it is now part of the permanent historical record.

WHERE SHE CAME FROM is written in a language at once accessible and magnetic. For all ages, for all backgrounds. I can't do anything less than award this superb work of history my highest rating of 5-stars.

I know you will too.

-- ADM in Prague

Although this book has a slow start with a lot of historical information, once you get to the Holocaust section, you will not be able to put this book down. I read it while in Vienna and after I visited Prague. I felt so connected to my surroundings and the author that I literally felt like I was in the book. Makes the enormity of the Holocaust personal and understandable. A MUST READ FOR EVERYONE!

i bought this book for my aunt who is a single, middle-aged, jouyful southern woman. she is an exuberant believer in Jesus Christ who unfortunately doesn't know much of his world beyond the USA, and i thought this would be a good way for her to explore it while connecting (a word that is very near to her counselor's heart) with people.
i don't know how much she has read yet, but my sister and i devoured it in the few days that we had it. we came away from it feeling even more curious about life in different places and reminded of our privilege as women to live in a financially independent manner.
all in all, if you need an antidote to self, this book will help.

I read the Material World several years ago and I was excited to see that Peter and Faith had published a "sequel" of sorts for the book. Women in the Material World is fascinating, especially if you can review it side by side to the Material World. I thought the questions regarding love in their marriage and their expectations for their children were so interesting. I am very happy with my purchase of this book and I recommend it to anyone who is considering it.

A sequel to the authors' successful, "Material World: A Global Family Portrait," which interviewed 30 "statistically average" families from around the world and photographed them surrounded by all their worldly goods, "Women In The Material World," by Faith D'Aluisio and Peter Menzel, revisits 21 women from these families.

With interviews conducted by women over a period of days, even weeks, and 375 color photographs of women captured in their daily lives, this is an absorbing look into an overlooked world of marriage, women's work and families. From female circumcision to divorce, from finances to education, gender roles, work, and friends, women discuss every aspect of their lives - seemingly freely.

Two themes repeat through this largely agricultural world - women's work begins before dawn and ends long after dark and most women feel they have enough children - whatever that number may be.

This is a fascinating, captivating and beautiful volume, to be read, not just browsed.

This book is a superlative sequel to the early Material World by Peter Menzel. I have read the earlier book so many times that when this new volume came out, I bought it immediately sight unseen. In this book, Faith D'Aluisio revisits 19 of the 30 families featured in the Material World to find out about the women's lives.

The articles are organized alphabetically, together with short features on marriage, laundry, work, education, childcare, hair, food, water, and friends. At the back of the book, we find statistical charts about women, and a useful statistics glossary. Each article has an extended interview with the mother of the family that reveals parts of her life story as well as her attitudes towards topics such as marriage, child care, education, money, and possessions. The articles are of course filled with numerous color photos, large and small, of the women at work and with other family members.

The Material World itself is a monumental book, but it was hard to go back to it after reading this book, where we find that the details presented in the Material World were so incredibly superficial. For example, family life for Maria dos Anjos Ferrerira in Brazil or Carmen Balderas de Castillo in Mexico isn't nearly as rosy as one might guess from looking at their original smiling photos in the Material World. On the other hand, Zhanna Kapralova from Russia continues to be a survivor. No matter how much you learn from the Material World, it will be far eclipsed by this book with its extended interviews and additional photographs.

A companion to Material World: Portrait of the Global Family, this book is an incredible expose of the lives of typical, average women all over the world. I, as an American woman with everything I could ever possibly dream of, especially appreciate seeing how things may have different for me had God just decided to make me the girl child of a Vietnamese working family vs. my background. It really makes you take stock of your life, appreciate it, and feel blessed no matter what your circumstances may be. America is truly a wealthy and favored nation. Even our poor, compared with most of the countries in the world, are rich! We should all feel compelled to give back, not matter how much (or how little) we have. I've been giving this book to my friends for gifts (thank you, Amazon!) A MUST READ!

Loved the book. Can't wait to get the next one in this series. It's an easy read, but with a great story and plot. Keeps you reading into the night to see what happens next. I have read other books by this author and loved them as well.

I adore this series by Mindy Starns Clark. I read this whole book in one sitting because I absolutely HAD to see how it ended! Jo and Danny are such lovable characters. Read it!!

Mindy Starns Clark's Blind Dates Can Be Murder was a fun read. Mindy has a way of putting the reader into the characters' minds--disconcerting when the character is a sociopath.

Also disconcerting is the way she ends this page-turner. Who in their right mind wants a cliff hanger ending to a suspense novel? Sure, a sequel is in the works, but do I have to wait and see where it's going? 'Tain't fair!

Blind Dates Can be Murder. Just from the title alone you can tell you're in for a good read. I found the second installment in the Smart Chick Mystery series to be better than the first. Though, the story still drags a bit in the beginning, the pace quickens earlier. Plus Danny is planning on telling Jo that he loves her!! Danny is such a sweet and endearing character; my favorite parts in the story are when he's together with Jo. Even though you're just reading the words- the extent of his love is very obvious, it brings out the sappy smiles. Awww...

The mystery is also a little more developed here than in Trouble with Tulip. Jo has her own household tips website and is answering questions and chronicling her days in her blog. Her agent has decided that it would be good publicity for her to try a dating service and relate her experience to her readers. Her first (and only) blind date turns into a big disaster and a possible murder. Jo, of course, becomes Nancy Drew/Martha Stewart again, using household clues to try and solve the mystery.

Overall a good read; it's hard to put down once you're at the halfway mark. You want to make sure everything works out in the case and if Jo loves Danny too. It ends on a cliffhanger, so make sure to have the final installment, Elementary, Dear Watkins ready and waiting!

After finally getting over being left at the alter Jo has decided to move on by joining a blind dating service. Her first date isn't at all what she expected him to be and then even worse: he dies during their date! Suddenly Jo finds that she's the target of kidnapping, stalking, and death threats. She has no idea why but clues seem to lead back to her deceased date. Along with best friend Danny (who is now hopelessly in love with Jo) the two set out to find out why Jo is being victimized.

Once again Mindy Starns Clark has written a winner. I absolutely adore Jo, she is one of the best recent female characters I have read. Just like in Trouble With Tulip, you can find household hints sprinkled throughout the book (now in email format!) and which also help to solve the mystery. I'm really glad that Danny was able to talk to Jo, now the ball's in her court. It'll be interesting to see how all that happens. I found the blind dating service to be very interesting since I have never used one before. I was really chilled and frightened while reading this book. Especially near the end, I couldn't put the book down because I feared so much for Jo. It was totally like watching a movie: mystery, action, romance, suspense, drama, characters you hate- such a well developed story line. Actually I really think they should make this series into a TV show, you could learn household tips and be entertained at the same time. Sort of Heloise meets Alias type of deal. This was such an excellent book, I thought it was even better than the first one in the series. And with the cliffhanger at the end of this book, I can't wait to get started on the third which is in my TBR pile. VERY highly recommended.

"Blind Sight" is an enjoyable story from first-time author James H. Pence. Well crafted, interesting and most importantly Christ-centered. I love "chase" stories, usually because they keep you turning the page and this one is no different. James adds a couple of lovable children to the mix which creates more suspense to the story. Not predictable, even up to the very end. The writing is simple and I would have liked to have the information on the cult in one or two lumps instead of spreading it out throughout the book. The revelation about Justine at the end of the book was uneventful and no big deal. Although I was sympathetic to Thomas' hurt I think a pastor (or any man of God) would have been intelligent enough to know why bad things happen to good people. After all it's Bible 101.

I got a real chuckle out of the use of the pro-environmental movement and anti-capitalist agenda to attract followers to the cult.

Get yourself a copy of this book. It's a good read with a wonderful message.

1 Star = Pathetic
2 Stars = Fair
3 Stars = Good
4 Stars = Excellent
5 Stars = Life changing

I read this novel after reading Jim Pence's second book, The Angel. Knowing that this was his first book, my expectations were admittedly somewhat lower. They shouldn't have been. He spins a tale that holds your attention throughout, and just when one crisis seems to have been averted, another pops up.
This is a Christian novel--i.e., it's written from a Christian world-view. It's not preachy, nor saccharine, and I'll stack it up against many of the popular secular novels currently available.
I understand that the sequel to Blind Sight is in the works. I can hardly wait.

"Blind Sight" by James Pence is a "betcha-can't-put-it-down" novel in the tradition of John Grisham, Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker. As the story opens, we witness a dying man's desperate attempts to get his children to safety. By the second chapter, the reader learns that much more is at stake than a family's well-being. Pence makes us care about his well-drawn characters--including a blind child, a grieving father and a woman on the run from cult leaders-from the very beginning of the book. And his skills with pacing, research and dialogue put "Blind Sight" on a different level than most Christian fiction. I was hooked from the first paragraph. If you love a good thriller, pick up "Blind Sight" and enjoy the ride!

This book is very well written. It is hard to find a new author who has a handle on all aspects of the storyline all the way through to the end. It was fast paced, the character's back stories were told in a seamless way and the spiritual aspect was not forced in but weaved in. Looking forward to reading more by this author.

I'm a little late getting my hands on this book but I won't be for Pence's next one! This author seemed to have his finger on the pulse of the innerworkings of cult life. I felt as if I were on the inside . . . looking out. A really creepy feeling. I finished Blind Sight a week ago and I'm still looking over my shoulder. If you're searching for a book you won't be able to put down... I suggest Bling Sight.

Olivia O'Donnell's senior year hasn't started off too well. On the first day of school she finds herself in a three-way tie for valedictorian and needs to come up with a volunteer position to give herself an edge over the competition. As she schedules volunteer time in her already over-crowded day planner, other things get crowded out-family, friends, homework. But an unexpected stint on a makeover show gets her to thinking about others, especially those women trying to start a new life in the shelter. Olivia learns about what is really important in life and uses that knowledge to help out others.

This is a book I will encourage my daughter to read.

Award-winning author Wendy Lawton tackles a brand-new series, inspired by reality tv programs on The Learning Channel, Style Network, and various BBC Television shows. Teen Olivia O'Donnell is a multi-tasker, a stressed-out senior whose goal is to become her class valedictorian--if her energy and her day planner hold out. Her best friend Jane earns good grades, but also saves time for spontaneity--a quality that Olivia envies. Olivia used to carve time to watch Changing Faces with Jane, but lately, Olivia's schedule and goals have taken on a life of their own.

When this over-achieving young woman wins a total fashion makeover on Changing Faces, a new reality tv show, her all-new-improved look collides with the real Olivia lurking inside.

Wendy Lawton is a skilled word-weaver, but more than that--she has a knack for capturing authentic life lessons through excellent characterization and dialogue. Olivia feels like someone we all know, and her story subtly invites readers to examine their own strengths and weaknesses, as well as the consequences of their choices.

CHANGING FACES by Wendy Lawton delves into the teenage world of fashion makeovers, peer pressure, and stress in a delightful tale that grips the reader as a young girl searches for God.

I liked CHANGING FACES a lot. I definitely give it 5 stars. It's a good teenager book. It holds your interest. I liked it because I like the make-over TV shows, but in CHANGING FACES Olivia realizes she needs more than a physical make-over. She needs a spiritual make-over too.

This first book of Wendy Lawton's Real TV series is delightful. Through Olivia's personal journey, the reader is reminded of the things that are really important. As Olivia pulls out all the stops to achieve her lifetimg goal of becoming valedictorian of her high school, her discovery of what it means to serve others is exciting. As she works at a homeless shelter, "those people" become her dear friends as we see them unite to work on a shelter project. And although Olivia receives a makeover on the outside, she realizes that it was her own attitudes that needed the makeover all along. Don't miss this great read!

I just bought this book the other day and it is amazing. It gives you the facts you need for survival. If I get caught in a situation from the book and I don't know what to do, I will be suprized.

This great book teaches you how to survive. It has so many detailed descriptions with graphs. It is so compact that I even carry it everyday in my backpack. It might be really useful when the war starts or an earthquake takes place.

One of my friends bought the big version that had a little more information in it. I read it and when I saw that you could buy a pocket version I was thrilled! Wisemen gives an informative description of everything you need to survive almost anywhere. I'm confident that if I were in a survival situation I would be able to survive.

I've had this book for a few years now and have read it over and over again. The information is amazing. There's not a topic that Wiseman doesn't cover or at least touch on.
Not only is it small, it's tough too. It's been on every camping trip, hike, deployment and just about every other trip with me for the past three years and it's still in great shape.
Friends of mine that could have cared less about a suvival book have read mine on airplane rides and afterwards went and bought thier own.
You can't go wrong

With store shelves overloaded by "SAS" books it's unfortunate that this little, uh, Gem can be lost in that crowd. The original format was more like a coffee table book, but for practical purposes this chunky, compact edition is not only the most convenient of those available, it is also arguably the best on the market.
The manual itself is comprehensive, clearly written and with clear (if sometimes limited) illustrations, including a useful colour section; and here the colour is used for more than mere decoration as it provides essential additional information in identifying plants and animals. There is no philosophical description here, little room for the romance of the wild or the ethics of surviving. Instead, "Lofty" Wiseman's guide is a direct parcel of solid information aimed solely at keeping you alive in the worst of situations. Campers and outdoorsmen will find some interesting and useful sections here, but it requires a degree of knowledge and experience to sift them from those which simply must not be used outside of an emergency. This is a fascinating book to dip into, and doubtless most purchasers treat it as such, but it is also an exceptionally effective, reliable and well-crafted source of possibly vital information.

a good book this is my first hockey training book and I was very happy with it but i would reccomend it for coaches

Peter Twist says it right in the beginning, there is nothing quite like hockey. That makes it really tough to get in shape to play. Even if you're already in great shape, you're game could improve dramatically if you got into hockey shape. That is exactly what Twist tries to do.

The book is organized in such a way that the later chapters build upon the previous chapters. He begins by talking about energy and how we burn fuels different ways when playing hockey. Then he goes into stretching and strength training. If you have ever spent any time around a gym, you'll already know how to perform these movements. The payoff for this book is the plyometric. These are techniques used to help improve your agility and explosive movements. Let's face it, the team that can consistently get to the puck first usually wins. These exercises will provide you with a quick jump giving you an extra step over your opponent and the puck.

Twist writes simply, and his instructions are easy to follow. He uses photos generously when trying to explain complex movements. Both on-ice and off-ice exercises are provided so you don't have to be at the rink or have precious ice time to get into shape.

The book was delivered to me within 5 days and was in excellent condition when I received it.
The book is excellent. It provides some great ideas for hockey fitness. The only draw-back is that a good portion of the book deals with on ice fitness exercises and unless you're a professional hockey player, it is very difficult to have a clean sheet of ice to yourself to work on conditioning. However, there is enough to keep you busy.

This is the book that has elevated the hockey game of a 33 year old goaltender. I've been using it for myself and for the midget hockey team I coach. It definitely gives the team the edge when the the drills are executed on a regular schedule during the season and off season. This is required reading for my youth team and it has not failed.

This book is fantastic. The book is very complete, from beginning to end on the training and conditioning aspect. Not only did it include the fitness portion, but also nutrition, which I was surprised to see.

My only complaint is that each and every exersize should have photos. Most do, but not all of them. There are some exersizes that are not 100% clear on the proper technique.

Other than that it's great.

This book effectively takes the reader from start to finish regarding the publishing process. Avery Cardoza is truly gifted in his ability to convey information.

Though some of the data needs to be updated, the overall content is solid and time tested.

Pertinent, enjoyable read.

This book has helped me to understand publishing and what it takes to start a company. Nothing is sugar-coated, and I really appreciated that. You learn where to go to get legally registered and how much everything will cost. When I went about starting my publishing company, everything was as Cardoza said it would be; no surprises. The book was interesting enough to be read within a couple of days, and it even had some humorous points. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the publishing business, or writers who are curious about the way it works. He covers publishing all the way from a mere idea to the finished product, and then he gives helpful insight on marketing and distribution. There are also some templates (for contracts and other things), and lists of people to contact in order to get your company listed (for writers to find you). There are a few typos, but the information is so well put-together that they aren't even an issue. I have no further publishing questions (at least not until I drastically expand my business) after reading this book. I can't praise it enough!

Whether you're considering starting your own publishing company or you'd like to self-publish a book, this gives you absolutely all the information you could possibly need. From registering a company name and getting the ISBN to the actual layout and printing of the book, it's all there! I thought I'd have to buy several books to learn everything I'd need to do, but this ended up being the most comprehensive guide I could find. I ended up sending my book to a publisher instead of publishing it on my own, but my closest friend in the world used this book to start his business and he's been amazingly successful! Even if the edition is a few years old, it's suprisingly relevant and accurate. It's a great buy and I recommend it to anyone even thinking of self-publishing, starting a publishing business, or even just a career in publishing.

This is comprehensive, good info, has all the details: layout, marketing, legalities. If you want to publish buy this book and be on your way!

Avery Cardoza's book about publishing is a little more complete than many of the others out there.
It isn't written for authors who self-publish, but for entrepreneurs who want to start a book publishing company, though it's helpful to both.
His tone is upbeat and encouraging. He's a successful publisher himself, and he shows you how he did it. He has an excellent chapter on finding your niche in the book market and on evaluating the profit potential of each area of book publishing. He has great credibility in this area.
Then he launches into the nuts and bolts of setting up your company, the company structure you want, and the investments you need to make, and what you can expect financially as you start out.
There's an excellent section on finding authors and ideas for books and turning them into profitable works. He shows how a small publishing company can leverage its advantage over larger companies and make a profit on books that they can't.
He discusses marketing, including the impact of your title and cover design, and has a great section on how to price your books.
There are several chapters on production and interior design that can help you as you work with printers and designers, or if you'd like to try to do the interior design yourself.
He wraps up the book with some nuts and bolts advice on running your business and improving your bottom line.
He deals with distribution and sales, and getting publicity, though he doesn't delve into publicity a lot. He also doesn't really discuss editing at all. There are some copyediting mistakes in the book which may make you reflect on how important copyediting perfection is to your bottom line. How many mistakes can you let get through and still have a profitable book?
I'd recommend other books to learn more about marketing, publicity, and editing.
He also has an interesting chapter on multimedia and software publishing and the great differences between that and book publishing.
Overall, a very well-rounded book that has some clear strengths that make it extremely valuable for a publishing entrepreneur.