Style Guides Books

I could not exist without this product for reviewing old songs and artists

thanks

This edition lits the hits that most people forgot! I was looking for info on one it wonders and other fun trivia that we could enjoy at work. This book was it!

This is a great book for laying musical artists and song arguments to rest.It is also very informative and fun to read.

For some reason this book is very hard to get in the UK (a bit like a good train or bus service). Hence the need to purchase it from the international site of Amazon. Once obtained it is very useful.
It now also seems difficult to get the UK version, so good luck if you are hunting for either.

An excellent reference for any music enthusiast wishing to narrow his or her research. Well written, informative and accurate. Another typical Whitburn product worth every penny. The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (Billboard Book of Top Forty Hits) 8th Edition

Supplement this one with his Billboard Hot 100 Charts (The Sixties) Billboard Hot 100 Charts - The Sixties. And lastly, while we're still in the 60's music Era, don't forget Whitburn's Bubbling Under The Billboard Hot 100, 1959-2004.Bubbling Under the Billboard Hot 100: 1959-2004: Joel Whitburn Presents

You can't go wrong here. The research he's done in these references to ensure accuracy and simplicity is incredible.

Love this! For wine there is no better tome to make you feel like you know what you're talking about. Mark Oldman is brilliant, very funny and entertaining...and iconoclastic and ironic. The book is SO WELL PACED. Before starting it, I would say I was about a 2 in knowing about wine...now I feel like I'm at 7 or 8.

If you're serious about learning about wine, Oldman's Guide is "the" book. The author's writing style is so attractive and laugh out loud funny that you'll feel you're with a super knowledgeable friend with the rare ability to make wine simple and clear.

This is a perfect gift for a young man who wants to get into wine. Tips are sorted into bite sized chunks, making this a good bedside read or something to keep in the briefcase on a business trip to take up that 15 minutes of dead time in your schedule.

It is really accessible for all newcomers in the world of wine, but is quite annoying for those who already have a basic knowledge of the subject. In addition, I think that the book is not addressing the issue of wine tasting with the proper detail, and this is a great flaw for a book that is expected to guide casual drinkers into the secrets and the pleasures of wine.

If you are buying your first book on wine, let it be this one. I have previously bought some other books that were advertised as aimed towards non professionals, but I found many parts of them very hard to read. Oldman's guide is worth reading, and it can awaken the love for wine in you. It is made as one or two page shortcuts which you can easily read, grab off the shelf when you feel like it or when you want to know more. This is the ultimate guide for beginners!

This book is full of authoritative information for screenplay formatting - however there is one major problem. The author makes no real distinction between what is required for spec scripts and scripts already in production.

The majority of the book lists the correct way to format shots (wide shots, close ups etc) but these should not be included in spec scripts. A great deal of the information provided is aimed at production script format. Ideally, the book should have been divided into two sections, but unfortunately the organization of the book will likely lead novice writers to include unnecessary direction information and thus format their scripts incorrectly - a great (and surprising) shame for such an otherwise useful book.

I only disagreed with the format used for montages. You don't need alphabetized bullets for each montage sequence. Readers aren't that dumb. Otherwise I refer to it constantly.

Great reference book for the screenwriter. I've written a couple of screenplays, and thankfully I got this book. It let me go back and fix all the little formatting things that probably tagged me as an amateur. This book is seriously detailed mechanics.

I'm a working screenwriter with two produced films under my belt and several more in development, but I still refer to this book on a constant basis. No matter what kind of formatting question I have, this book has the answer. I don't think I've been stumped yet. Case in point: Today I was writing a scene where I wanted to smash cut to some footage from a character's amateur documentary with a minimal break in the pacing. I didn't know how to do it. So on a long shot, I scanned the index of this book and found "home video" addressed on p. 22. Sure enough, Christopher had the answer for me. (You just put "Home Video" in parentheses at the end of the slug line.) So thanks Chris for getting us all of us on the same page. Now if only you could do the same thing for comic book scripts!

John August put me onto this book. He said it pretty much covered every question he gets asked about screenwriting format issues. And he's right.

Even if you've already written enough screenplays to think you have format down, I guarantee you'll find this a handy reference. It's precise, concise and easy to understand. A good book to have on your desk.

I have purchased several of Mr. Garner's books and this one, like all the others, is a masterpiece. Mr. Garner's command and understanding of the English language, combined with his concise, crisp descriptions, make this work an essential addition to anyone's library. I applaud Mr. Garner for his extraordinary efforts and I thank him for sharing his genius with the rest of us.

Garner's Usage is likely the single most useful and entertaining book on the topic. Little else needs to be said about it.

Garner's Modern American Usage My daughter attends law school at SMU in Dallas where Garner is adjuct professor. She says he is a great teacher. We ordered two copies. Yes, it's indispensible as a reference, but it also makes great bedside reading for us wordsmiths.

Being a layman, and not a wordsmith as some of the review-writers here, this will not be an eloquently written review, however the results are the same. I often hear people use words in a way that I believe to be incorrect, for example 'irregardless', but I'm never quite sure. A regular dictionary doesn't usually provide the explanations I'm looking for, and my curiosity goes unanswered. This book is exactly what I need when I question the usage of almost any word. It gives definitions, explanations as to why words are often used incorrectly, as well as pronunciations that are correct or incorrect, and often in a humorous manner! This book would be a must for any writer, but is also sure to satisfy the simply curious!

I ordered this reference based on an essay I read by David Foster Wallace titled "Authority and American Usage." In it, Wallace dissects the ongoing debate between the Prescriptivists (those claiming to defend the King's English) and the Descriptivists (those who claim language rules should reflect current practice rather than old rules), and he does so in the context of, essentially, a long-winded review of Garner's Modern American Usage.
The big problem with Prescriptivism is one of authority, or "why" their rules are what they are. The problem with Descriptivism is one of, well, spinelessness in the sense that rules cannot be based simply on "what everybody else is doing."
Garner, however, deftly walks the line between these two perspectives. He acknowledges common, accepted usage, but still has the guts to make "rules" where necessary. And when he does so, he resolves the "authority" question by logically and fairly arguing his case, rather than simply "that's how it is done."
In my limited reading of Garner's reference so far, I've found it to be amazingly thorough in its examination of everything from common errors to idioms to punctuation, and surprisingly down to earth for a linguistic reference.
Personally, I think everybody should have books like this. But if you write for a living or simply have an interest in language and grammar, this book is essential to your collection.

Un libro de facil lectura y que te abre la mente, para el desarrollador común como yo.

McGovern illustrates strategies for creating more impactful web content without boring the reader to death. The advice is practical, easy to follow, and timely. I have been very satisfied with this purchase.

I purchased this book specifically to read more about the process for researching usability issues. I am not a market researcher, but I am a web developer who understands SEO, basic usability issues and general web practices. I found this book to be well-written, simple to understand and it provides a pretty good map for researching your web audience. I have actually read it twice now, finding even more the second time around.

I highly recommend this book, I still use it as a resource as I learn more about market research, something I don't particularly care for, but that is essential to my success as a brand manager and web developer.

Gerry is a genius.

Gerry McGovern's "Killer Web Content" *seems* to be a primer about writing "killer content." And it is. He talks about simple ideas (e.g., "killer, not filler," or, on the Net, "in self-service mode, people go on gut instinct") in simple sentences, with lots of words in red so you get the idea. Then you put those ideas all together and think about them. And *then* you start looking at websites created from the grad school universe by professionals, all too often FOR PROFESSIONALS, that leave you - us - Everyman - frustrated or even amused (and that is not the intent). Ah, the epiphany: you realize that too many people are getting paid too much money when they have no idea how to talk to us: the folks who are surfing at 2AM in hotel rooms, trying to learn something for tomorrow's presentation to the Executive Committee. Obviously McGovern has practiced medicine: you listen to the patient, and the patient will tell you what the problem is. You listen to the customer, and the customer will tell you what she needs to hear. You listen to your children, etc.

Of course, the devil is in the details. Would that there were a standard operating procedure to ferret out the words that each of us wants to hear. Then we could fire Sales and Marketing - all they do is get us folks in Technology and Operations into trouble, right? Nope, says McGovern, you have to talk to people, relate to them, listen to them, hear what they say, abstract the content, try it out on your site. Each word is a hypothesis: true or false. Does it work? Does it bring people? You measure, you re-frame, you redesign, you re-relate. Surely it must be easier than this! All Jeff Bezos did is slap some stuff onto a website, and look at him! Right? McGovern just smiles, probably lifts a Guinness - he hints at his pleasure in Ireland - and, secure in the knowledge that you'll reread his book, just goes on about his business, writing and consulting.

Oh, it seems so simple. Oh, it's not really that complicated. Oh, it is so, so worthwhile. Read the book carefully.

David Block MD, PhD
Editor & Publisher, "The RoadeWarrior: every consultant's ezine"
www.roadewarrior.com
david@roadewarrior.com

I work for a Fortune 500 company and was first introduced to Gerry McGovern through one of his workshops that my company was hosting. I really connected with Gerry's passion for both the customer's perspective, as well as his message to get the fundamentals right. Armed with his book Killer Web Content, I left the workshop inspired with new ideas for solving some of the UX issues we were having with our Careers website (strategic business tool for talent recruiting).

I started to read his book the next week and learned enough useful information with each chapter that I finished it. I got a lot of value from some of the techniques described in Killer Web Content. I appreciated the information specific to generating good content using "Carewords" in the right way and at the right time. I also learned from this book that the web user is a different animal than traditional application users. Gerry has a good handle on the machinations that drive this new information hunter's behavior.

I can honestly say that I've quoted Gerry's work in UX meetings dozens of times since first attending his workshop. Since December, I've given away three copies of Killer Web Content to other UX professionals. All 3 have given it rave reviews! In addition to attending one of his live workshops (absolutely awesome!), I HIGHLY recommend getting this book!

If, like me, your husband is the kind of guy whose attitude is, "I'll wear if it a) fits and b) doesn't stink," this book will be a huge help to you.

Of course we all want our husbands or gentleman friends to look halfway decent. But if he doesn't particularly care to extend much effort in that direction himself, Betsy Durkin Matthes' "Dressing the Man You Love" will be your boon companion in understanding the ins-and-outs of men's clothing (a little more complicated than it looks!) and in caring for that clothing.

In addition to an excellent, thorough overview of men's clothing from types of tweed to types of tie patterns, Matthes covers body types; alterations; figuring out what colors best suit his skin tone; dealing with store salespeople; and more.

The book is sensitively designed, graphically attractive, and sprinkled liberally with funny quotations about fashion, style and clothing. Daniel Cooney's black-and-white illustrations suit the text and tone of the book, and are detailed enough that they're not there just for decoration; you can actually learn from them.

I'm thrilled to have this book on our bookshelves, and consult it when shopping for my husband. Thank you, Betsy Durkin Matthes, for a much-needed basic guide!

Being a man, it was not easy for me to sit down and read this book based on its title. I must admit that I did not know what I was going to get out of this book. However, after reading the book I must now admit that I have learned much from Betsy Matthes' book.

The book is just what the title suggests: a book on how to dress for men. It is actually a well written book that moves quickly. The illustrations in the book also were helpful and the pointers that Matthes gives are well worth your time.

Overall, I was happy to have read the book. I have learned that some of my own dressing habits need to change. It's amazing how much you don't realise goes into dressing for success until you see it in this work. Good job Betsy!

.
Beginning with the basics size & shape of your man, Betsy Durkin Matthes asks questions that are easy to answer, but very important in picking the right kind and color of clothes for your man... or men, for yourself.

Chapter 1: Classifications include: the perfect (and not so perfect) man; the string-bean - or lanky; the short challenge; the larger man and his needs; ironclad men (those with the 6-pack belly and muscles like The Rock. Additionally a chart with suggestions for the body types helps pick out the right items.

Chapter 2: What colors are best? Years ago I was classified as an Autumn, and found that the fall colors enhance my appearance; I also buy clothes in the other seasons such as bright yellow (spring), black (winter), sky blue (summer). With the colors outside my season I change the way I do my make up. Since most men do not wear makeup, the choices are more important. Keeping the seasons in mind is helpful in buying the right color clothing and accessories to bring out the best in your guy.

Chapter 3: This is tricky because there are probably a lot of clothes that need to be tossed out -- so you attack his closet...but don't shock him, get him to help you and to understand why his wardrobe needs an update.

Chapter 4: If you don't generally shop in the men's department, just take the plunge and browse. Follow the guide she provides, and fill in the form for your man. Some of these items are jacket size, sleeve length, pants around the waist and to the floor, even tie length because a tall man needs a longer tie. This is filled with good information.

Chapter 5: The salespeople -- if they are on commission, they may try to get you to buy more than you need. That is the value of all the previous questions, answers, and guides. You'll know if they want you to buy everything or the ones that are right for you. You are in charge.

Chapter 6: Now the suits - every man should own at least one suit. This chapter is loaded with pictures that display the cuts of jackets, pockets, lapels, etc. We see the current fads everywhere, but the classics are sharp and can make the man.

Chapter 7: What's the best fabric for a suit? There are a variety of wool types and other fabrics, and some are better for the cut and type of a jacket than others.

Chapter 8: The covers patterned fabrics such as: pinstrip, chalk stripe, window pane, and more. The chart Matthes provides has clear pictures of each type, thus making it easier to discuss with your man and the salesman to find the right one for your man.

Chapter 9: How do you get the right trousers. Suit trousers really don't work as dressy slacks. With a bunch of pant types pictured for you, you'll know cuts, cuffs (yes or no).

Chapter 10: Covers vests -- to wear or not to wear?

Chapter 11: The Tailor is truly the person who can make an off the rack suit look custom. When you find a good one, consider him a jewel.

Matthes' Glossary will answer all of your questions so that if the tailor asks if you want barrel cuffs on a broadcloth pant, you'll know what to say.

With 25 fascinating chapters, you'll find that you are able to choose the best way to dress your man, or for a man to dress himself.

The title and odd graphic on the cover might scare away male readers, but the book is equally useful to a wife and for the man himself. I'd recommend it as a gift to any male graduating and entering the world of work.
It's excellent in explaining the options, what to wear with what, and when to wear certain types of clothing. I like the chapter explaining what casual Friday attire really should be.
Some of the tips for wives (or girlfriends) include care of the clothing and not to project your color preferences onto him. The author advises having your man try on everything in his closet. Good luck. I wouldn't ever try on all the things in my closet, so it's hard for me to imagine a man being willing to do this.
The book is packed with information on the classic male wardrobe from shoes and socks up to the tie around his neck. The sketches nicely complement the text. Quite a useful book for anyone wanting to dress appropriately in the world of work as well as casually.
I do wish the print was larger in the book, but it packs a lot into 275 pages.

Betsy Durkin Matthes' book DRESSING THE MAN YOU LOVE is a tour de force illustrated guide to helping a man dress his best according to classic standards of clothing excellence. The illustrations and tone of DRESSING harken to a more civilized time when people expected men to be gentlemen and consistently look their best, while it presents an up-to-date modern awareness of materials and style.

This is a thrilling book for anyone who's wished to know the secrets of what makes the difference in appearance for a well-dressed man, as it takes the reader into the fascinating world of men's fashion. Matthes sets precisely the right mood for helping anyone dress their favorite man to the nines, regardless how little they may already know. With a friendly tone, DRESSING inspires, educates, and helps to empower and embolden us to offer solid mens fashion assistance in ways that make a huge difference.

DRESSING is relaxing and reassuring to readers of all levels of fashion awareness, as it sets one's mind to correctly prioritizing what areas to focus on in improving your man's wardrobe... from the best places and times to shop, to what to shop for... to how to work most effectively with a tailor. Matthes consistently achieves the perfect balance between providing the "big picture" of fashion planning and a wealth of information on all the little things that together make such a big difference in the overall look. Details such common suit weave patterns, tie patterns, color coordination, sleeve and hem lengths, and proper alterations are covered beautifully with vivid descriptions and ample sketches.

Highly recommended!

I gave this to my friend for her birthday. She flew to Prague yesterday and is there right now for a week. She went with someone who grew up there and showed him the book. He loved it and read it before she did. He found it very interesting & having lived there thought it was well written. They are using the book this week and I am sure it will come in handy.

I have to agree with the other reviewers...this book is a gem! One of the best guide books I've ever read. Useful, funny, and engaging style. Leaving for Prague in October, and this is the only guide book I'll need. Highly recommend!

We've visited Prague four times in four years, and are constantly buying more guide books. This one is clearly the best of the dozen or so Prague guides that we own.

If you plan to buy only one guide, this should be the one, even though the author says this book should be used as a supplement to more conventional guides. The Artel Guide will point you to more of "inside" Prague than any other guide.

If you plan to buy more than one, then there are a couple of ideas that may prove helpful. First, Prague is constantly changing. New guides are obviously going to cover those changes better than old ones. Keep publication dates in mind. Second, the book does not really try to cover the history of Prague. Consider one of the more 'traditional' guides from Lonely Planet, Frommer, or the like to plug this gap. Third, while Prague is eminently walkable, it is also an easy and wonderful place to get lost. The best map guide we've found, out of about four we've tried, is from Knopf. A new version came out in 2007.

Beyond that, we agree with all the others who've made this Amazon's top rated guide to Prague. Buy it.

This is the book for people who want to learn what the natives know: where to find the real character of the place, like the one-ring circus, the art house cinemas, model trains, the puppet museum, the best toys and antiques... I could go on! The author has found every single cool, offbeat thing to do in Prague and if she didn't have the personal expertise, she found an someone who did. There are concise, informative sections the local music scene, hipster bars and night clubs, Czech wines, etc. Of course, it also has all the major tourist attractions, including castles and museums, and a ton of tips on getting around and getting along. The gorgeous design and amazing vintage pictures are worth the price alone! This is the most fun I've ever had reading a travel guide.

The changes in Prague since 1990, when we were last there, are utterly amazing and somewhat overwhelming, although not surprising -- Prague was fantastic to visit in 1990, even though it was not yet quite geared up to receiving visitors. We were fortunate on the second day of our second (2007) trip to find Karen Feldman's little guidebook. It is absolutely terrific! As a native of North America but a longtime resident of the city, she has an excellent sense of the kinds of things that "anti-tourist" tourists will find interesting. Her summaries and descriptions are well written, and the book is well laid out and easy to use. As a guidebook author myself, I think I know a good guide when I see one! I only wish we'd known about it before we got there. Buy it and enjoy -- it's the next best thing to an actual visit and indispensable for a real visit.

Look no further. This is the Reason book to own. I'm looking forward to a Reason 3.0 version!

This book is the most well written, documented, and friendly instruction manual I have ever read.

Firstly, its entirely clear that the author is a professional user of Reason, knows heaps about the program and how to maximize its potential, as well as suggests ways for taking it out of the norm.

Secondly, the tone of the author is friendly and fun. You get the feeling this book was written by your big brother or best friend giving you the details. The text is clear, simple, and accurate. The author conveys information without loosing your interest or overwhelming you with dry tech speak.

I have used Reason for 2 years and am a Reason 3.0 user, but still refer to this book often. It covers so much about the core of the program that you will quickly be able to learn the new devices in 3.0 as you will have a fantastic foundation and understanding of the application. The book explains all the devices in 2.0 (including the functions of knobs, sliders, buttons, synthesis models, loops, envelopes, etc), CV/Gating, Sequencing, ReWire, use with other major audio applications, useful tips/tricks, and plenty of links to helpful user websites. It also has numerous quick and easy "how to" tutorials, that are clearly documented step by step and with pictures.

Very well done. I am grateful for how quickly I was able to ramp up on Reason due 90% to this book. Honestly, this should be the standard for instructional texts.

No, you can't RECORD with Reason. But there are countless ways to use files that you have recorded with other, very simple or even free applications (how about your Sony Minidisk recorder hooked up to a decent mike? talk about light years ahead of what we had available way back when); files that you have downloaded, files that you have gotten off of records or CD's or even TV, in Reason (shame!). It can be as simple as having the drum machine play a sound file from anywhere on your computer, with a surprising amount of control of, for example, sample start-and then you move on to the more powerful samplers... And then this will provide you with many different ways to control and distort, filter, and manipulate those files that are so easy to trigger or otherwise get inside Reason. Because that is what Reason does, it gives you a studio full of tools-synths, samplers, mixers, and the many sound sculpting modifiers to create, twist, and control your sounds.

And this book does a fantastic job of showing you these tools, in a very carefully thought out order and depth. Like another reviewer said, you would have to be a serious power user indeed not to get many good ideas from this book; and like yet another reviewer said, people that write textbooks should look at this one and see just how well it can be done. It will take you from a novice to synthesizers to an expert on Reason and computer synthesis music creation, giving history and background to help you learn about the many music synthesis tools. It is filled with tutorials, how-to's, and tips and tricks that even go beyond Reason sometimes. You could take a tutorial and change it as you follow along and create it and have a complete Reason song of your own easily. I also thought it gave a summarily good introduction into the powerful usage of the Control Voltage interface from ages past (one of Reason's most powerful tools in it's bag of tricks-one that ties everything together like you have never been able to do with so many different devices), with tips and tricks there, too. There are a lot of toys available in Reason, but once you get past a certain not-too-difficult level, it is actually a very intuitive and very fun to use interface; and this book is definitely filled with this same infectious enthusiasm for that rack o' modules and wires. It is an extraordinarily good book for beginner to expert.

You should see my copy of this book, it is nearly destroyed from so much usage, carrying it about wherever I go and constantly going back to it for reference.

As a side note, I think the Acrobat Reader Operation Manual supplied with Reason is also excellent. It's just what it should be-precise and to the point-it's an Operation Manual, after all. If you take the time to practise and apply what you read, it will give you the background to know what you are doing (as much as is possible-sometimes when you have so much going on in a patch it would be hard for anyone to say how you got there-and that can be fun, too) and what every control does. This book will do the same and take you farther with much more help.

Before I read this book I had Reason installed on my computer and I didn't use it very often because the interface wasn't straightforward for a beginning user like myself to understand how to operate it beyond basic operations. This book is an excellent source to learn how to use Reason 2 or 2.5. It contains practical, hands-on tutorials, explanations of the knobs and interfaces, and helpful tips. This is a must have if you want to become proficient in Reason!

This book contained a great amount of information. To use as reference or to learn from over all a great buy.

It helped me along in using C.V. Gates ect. and offers lots of other great information.

A must for any user of reason

P.S. Any one that made comments to recording audio in to Reason ha ha ha

Get Cubase or some other Program that will run rewire.
Think before the mouth opens. . . . know what I mean Mate

Thank you to Derek Johnson & Debbie Poyser

"You are giving me an "F?" Are you @$#$^$ kidding me?" I stood aghast at the stupidity of this graduate level English professor. After 22 years of American education, I was in the middle of writing my doctoral dissertation. I took this graduate English Lit class on Ibsen on a lark. It would be sooo simple. Having done my Masters work on Ibsen's "Ghosts," I knew I could out think any of the English Lit lunkheads in my class when it came to theatre. But the sea of red ink on my paper could not be denied. The professor loved my thinking but hated my writing. "This is simply not graduate level work."

"Hey, Prof! I have spent 22 years in the American educational system, I am about to write my thesis, if I can't write, it is not my fault. It is this crummy system that allowed me to get this far. I want YOU to help me fix this before I have to write my thesis! I want you to tutor me."

Now Full Professors are not often called to task like that, but then I was an "old" grad student, so maybe he cut me a break. He said, "You don't want me to teach you writing. I have forgotten how to do that after 30 years. You want my teaching assistant who teaches Beginning Composition to help you."

I met the TA and the first thing he did was hand me J R Trimble's WRITING WITH STYLE, the 1st edition. I devoured the book. For the very first time in my educational "career," someone was teaching me how to write, rather than how NOT to write. No detailed rules and format stuff like Strunk's stuffy book. This book actually taught me how to think like a writer. It gave me the confidence to trust my own "voice." I stopped being hamstrung by rules and convention and started to communicate. The elimination of the "back door approach" and finally learning how to get rid of the "passive voice" in my writing fundamentally changed how I thought about myself as a writer.

I got an "A" in my Drama class, successfully wrote my dissertation, and when I got to my first teaching assignment, I was giving the job nobody at the school wanted -- a major writing assignment to create a joint Music Theatre proposal that had to bring together two warring departments who had fought over this document for 3 years. I wrote it in record time, and it passed immediately.

The chairman of our department came to me and said, "I knew you could teach but I never knew you were such a great writer!" Today, people spend a ton of dough to have me write marketing material for them. I wish my high school English teacher was alive to see me now. She was the one who first soured me on writing and "convinced me" that I could NOT write.

I never had a chance to thank you Dr Trimble. So I hope you see this. As educators, and certainly as publishers, we often have no idea of the impact our work has on people. Your book literally changed my life.

Other than that, I don't think much of it! :-)

Bill Metcalf, Ph. D., Theatre Arts, University of Minnesota 1982
President of TechnoShift, Inc
www.MoreAndBetterClients.com

Ps. Doc Trimble -- I would love to hear from you and if anyone has any doubts about this book shoot me an email at bill@moreandbetterclients.com. Since I capture multimedia testimonials for a living now, I would love to provide one for you Doc if you have a website.

I love this book. I am a law student and this book has helped me to become a more effective writer. I have recommended it to many colleagues and will continue to do so.

I've read a lot of books on writing over the years, so many that I've reserved a spot on the corner of my desk for the very best of them so I can refer to them every so often. Only a few books are in this pile: they are the special ones. And one of them is Trimble's book. I discovered it many years ago when it was in its first edition, and have held it in high esteem ever since. Not only does Trimble give you a lot of useful information, he does, indeed , do it "with style." I enjoy both the information and the way he presents it. He covers all aspects of writing, including grammar, and usually when I see a section on grammar in such a book I skip over it, but not in this case. Even it is a delight.

You can read the book very quickly(2-3h) because it is written with great style(Trimble applies what he tells you,which makes the book a very good example to what he says). The advice is very practical, even the chapter on punctuation is useful-very useful i would say. Reading it once was enough for me to start using more expresive punctuation. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to improve his writing,whatever he may wish to write.

ps:this is the first book on writing i read. it might be that some/much of the advice from this book can be found in other books on writing.however, i think it's good to read this book, because it is short and nicely written;in the end it is a good idea to rehearse some things,sometime

If you only have time and money for one book on writing, get this one. But if you want two books, get this one and "The Elements of Style" by Strunk and White.

Very informative, and covers everything you need to know about working as a composer in a film industry

I'm just getting seriously interested in composition and music for films and I literally knew nothing about the process. This book was an excellent overall primer, was written very plainly and clearly and I walked away feeling like I understood the entire process of film scoring, all the steps involved, people involved, how royalties worked, how to get started, etc. I also really enjoyed the last section which contained many good interviews with seasoned composers. I would definitely recommend this book, especially if you are just getting started.

This is simply a wonderful book, essential for a composer interested in film sountrack world.

This book arrived at my house yesterday, and I have since nearly completed it. I really can't put it down. This book is a real gem, with interviews of the real pros whose work you have certainly already heard. This book really gives you an extensive background of music in movies and a formidable description of what kind of work it REALLY takes to take on such a monumental task. For someone who is interested in film scoring, it shows you just about everything and everyone you will encounter. The interviews towards the back of the book are total gems. This book was a shot-in-the-dark buy, but a real gem. If you write music and you don't own this... you get the idea.

I've come to recognize that any of the Berklee Press books will be excellent, but this book exceeded my expectation in nearly every way. Even though this is a textbook, it reads easily, and just as important, it is inexpensive. I was expecting a much smaller book for the price, and was surprised by the amount of material covered.

The only negative thing I could say about this book was that I had kind of expected more musical examples and tricks, for example that a whole tone scale is commonly used for dream sequences. There really isn't that kind of material covered in this book at all.

What is covered is the various legal and practical aspects of making film music as a profession, and it is covered very well.

I definitely recommend this book for anyone considering a career in film music, or even to someone who is interested in film music.

Finally, a bit of trivia from the book: Where much of the classical community derides John Williams' Star Wars score as being a rip-off of Holst's Planets, it turns out that Williams actually had to convince Lucas to use original material, in the style of the planets suite, instead of Holst's Planets itself which was the temp track.