Publishing Systems Books

Hoping to make the most of my new garden, I picked up this book and hoped some of the techniques would work. WOW doesn't even begin to describe how great this was. The techniques outlined in this book will take a relatively small garden and produce veggies like you've never imagined! I can hardly wait for next year when I'll have more time to build beds and plant even more! I really believe it'll be possible to feed my family with just the vegetables we can grow ourselves.

If you wnat to get the most out of your garden space, you need this book!

I LOVE this book! It's enjoyable to read and incredibly useful. A great book to begin reading before you plant because it gives you guidance on laying out your garden.

The only people I think it wouldn't be helpful for are those who live in apartments and are container gardening. They should read You Grow Girl: The Groundbreaking Guide to Gardening instead, another awesome book!

If you want to have a hugely successful vegetable garden using organic methods, this book is for you!

Highly useful book, and a future edition that contained a few corrections and clarifications would be just about perfect.

The author mentions companion planting without discussing mechanisms, which makes typos hard to decipher. The "Artichoke" page states that tarragon is a good companion to artichokes, but the "Tarragon" page states that artichokes are a BAD companion to tarragon. Which is it?

The author also instructs novice tomato growers to remove all "nonflowering stems that grow between the main stem and the leaf crotches." What does this mean?! All stems will flower eventually...
(Of course pruning is controversial anyway... some gardeners claim that the complexity of tomato flavor depends upon lush foliage.)

The "Parsnip" section also has some vague instructions in the opening paragraph: "I deposit some seeds and labor in the warm months, and my investment matures the following spring." Does that mean that parsnips should be planted late summer/ early fall? What exactly is done in the warm months? The rest of the text does not explain this.

My nephew was starting a garden like me I gave him my copy and got a new one. This is a great book and it has helped me to be a gardner.

I wish I would had bought this book long time ago. So much it is written out there but this book gives you a clear explanation and it is so well written.

Book gives an excellent introduction of WPF. However, I think that the 2D/3D-part of the book is a bit over the top if you are looking for basics.

Money well spent.

All the features of WPF are explained here, with samples and visual codes for your reference. I decided to buy this book and other about Blend 2, but most of my doubts I solved with this edition.
Great book from beginners to experts.

Hey, a programming book in full colour!! WPF Unleashed really does introduce the concepts and details of WPF programming in a clear and easy manner, and Adam Nathan is to be commended for his efforts. Anyone wanting to learn (more) about WPF will benefit from this book.

This is a well written, well structured book.

Full color with good examples and covers a good range of details.

On first opening this book you are struck by the beautiful full colour pictures and syntax-highlighted code samples. [Though the experience was slightly marred by the tears and damage to the front cover which occurred during shipping, as was also the case with another book in the order.]

I did a quick flip through and thought... "Beautiful presentation, but the content looks a bit over-simplified. Maybe all the reviewers were seduced by the full colour pages."

Then I started working my way through the book. I was blown away. The writing style is simple and to the point. But it doesn't lack depth. There are indications of the little things that are likely to catch you out, as well as discussions of some pretty advanced topics too.

So, Yay! The content of the book was just as good as the way it was presented, if not better. My only criticism is that in some cases there could have been more code examples.

On the other hand this would probably have made the book very bloated and not as useful as a reference book. There's enough information to point you in the right direction, and from there google will get you to all the code samples you need.

So let O'Reilly do the cookbook style books with lots of code snippets. They do that so well. This book takes a novel approach, and it works brilliantly!

This book is a hoot! If your looking to add quirky things to your D&D Campaign, look no further!

This book is great! Not only is it tounge-in-cheek (and other body orifices) immature adult humor in the D&D world, but it is also very usable in that same D&D world. With the introduction of Defects, as the opposite of Feats, it opens up a whole new world of possibilites and character development. A great read, and awesome supplimental, and an increbible buy!

This book greatly expands any DM's aresenal of interesting scenerios. This book is a must have for all DMs. Not only does it give new and amusing monsters to fight but also offers new prestige classes such a pimp. Great book.

This book has more First Edition Feel than anything I've ever seen, including First Edition. More wandering prostitutes, more random obscure colours and more random exclamation points than you'd believe possible as well as some seriously aggravating iconic NPCs and monsters.

With its fresh feel that puts traditional gamers' "panties in a bunch", this product is a must have for any DM who wants to add some extra color to his or her game. With a variety of new (and often amusing) feats, as well as the ever-defining defects, your NPCs will become memorable aspects of the world you craft for your players. Stop wasting your money on the same old d20 material that every other company puts out and get this book!

This book gives refreshing new ideas to use on photos. It is great for beginners and intermediate users. Goes through all the steps of how to get the effects you see on the page. The accompanying CD provides the pictures for you to follow along. Many worthwhile and useful effects to enhance photos. A book worth investing in.

I have been in photography for 35 years, but I would have to classify myself as an "advanced beginner" with Adobe Photoshop. Most of what I have learned, that has been really valuable to me, has been from the NAPP website,...you do have to join, but the information and training videos are well worth the membership fee. I do own a lot of Photoshop books because I wanted to learn as much as I could about it. It is such a powerful program, that it will do just about anything that you can imagine in your mind. "How to Wow" is absolutely THE BEST of all of the Photoshop books that I own. You do have to know your way around Photoshop at least a little, but this is a really good book to anyone that has learned the basic functions of any of the Photoshop programs. I am going to buy three more of these for Christmas gifts. I really do love this book, and you won't regret buying it.

I picked this book up when I was first starting into digital photography hoping to gain a few tidbits of knowledge to help enhance my photos. What I found instead was a treasure trove of step-by-step, easy to follow procedures for doing everyday tasks, like color balance adjustments, to more indepth tasks, like filling in a receeding hairline and photo restoration. Jack Davis approaches the subject with years of experience from teaching workshops and presents each chapter in layman's terms, foregoing technical jargon so many of us find ourselves mired in. Included with the book is a CD of presets for things such as texturing and frames. The presets alone make this book worth the price of admission but people of all skill groups will find the information collected useful and extremely easy to follow.

If you really read the book carefully, you'll find that there are at least a dozen techniques that you will want to refer to in future projects. I set tabs on sections of the book (via post-it notes) on about 15 technigues/effects/etc.
Well organized and with easy-to-follow instructions, it certainly is one of the very best books you'll find on Photoshop.

This book is too easy for an intermediate user, but a bit too advanced for a beginner. For a digital photographer with no Photoshop experience, Scott Kelby's The Photogrshop CS2 Book for Digital Photographer would be an alternative choice.

I've used about six Photoshop book. It's a decent book, but not a must have book. As an intermediate Photoshop user, I didn't pick up any new technique from this book. Therefore, I have exchanged this book for Linnea Dayton's Photoshop CS/CS2 Wow

Of the 3 dozen books I've read related to organizing, this is one of my favorites. It is presented in an easy-to-read format that makes it possible to spend a few minutes and read a chapter at a time. There were many great quotes and ideas that are easy to implement. The book also included fun anecdotes. Very well done!

Chris Crouch's "Getting Organized: Improving Focus, Organization and Productivity" is a fine read which accomplishes what all good teachers do best: Imparting with vivid good humor and simplicity the wisdoms of processes taken beyond the classroom. The target audience here, primarily workers in any workplace, calls for a most delicate balancing act: Being thoughtful and succinctly explaining the theory, practice, and results of a disciplined approach to Organization. Mr. Crouch accomplishes this masterfully with anecdotes, explanations, and his "master teacher" persona.

You won't get rich from simply reading a "How to Get Rich" book and you won't get organized and productive from just reading any book - you have to take action and implement the ideas.

I have used the principles and ideas outlined in "Getting Organized" for several years and found them to be extremely valuable.

Becoming more organized and productive is not a matter of what type of filing system or PDA you use, it involves making a habit of organized and productive behavior.

This book provides concrete tools for forming those habits. Simply outstanding!

I recently bought both this and Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity in order to stimulate my thinking about how to take charge of my incredibly busy job as a software development manager in an e-commerce company. I manage about 8 people directly and am also the prime facilitator for another project team of about 15 people, half of which are contractors. Like most people, I also have my own work projects and initiatives, as well as huge laundry list of personal items to keep up with.

At first I was a little turned off by the 55 super-short chapters, each of which is 1-2 pages in length and has a "What? So What? Now what?" layout. The writing quality seemed only average, and I was left thinking "Is that it?" after each chapter. However, after I finished the book rather quickly and then got bogged down in Getting Things Done, I realized that this is a pretty good layout for the target audience - people who feel too busy to read a book on productivity.

Many of the observations seem obvious, but that is one of the key messages of the book: we're all making this stuff away too complicated. How many of us take ten minutes each morning to set a focus and key priority list for the day? Or do we omit that simple step, or fall into the trap of checking email "just for a few minutes" first and then get seduced into following little shiny objects all day while missing the big picture?

The "Five Decisions" chapters - Discard, Delegate, Take Immediate Action, Put in a Reference File, and File for Follow-up - are important but I think are covered better in the other book. About half of the other chapters really resonated with me, which made it worthwhile overall. However, the author lost me when he spent 10 chapters describing a paper filing system with folders for each day of the month plus various other files. I agree that people shouldn't expect software and tools to solve all their problems, but I think a PDA or list software like Remember the Milk is much better than a paper system for anyone who works in multiple locations or is "on the go". I felt like he was being a bit techno-phobic, sort of like the guys who insist that LP records are better than CDs or MP3s.

Really the best way to improve your organization habits is to browse several books and articles on the topic, note the themes that recur (like planning time, grouping tasks by project or goal, etc.) and then choose a couple of things to focus on. I'd recommend this book as one of those resources but not the best-written or only one.

This is a very good book to help you get organized. I originally had a three star and changed it to a four star. So many of this book's best elements are also found in David Allen's Getting Things Done. I read Allen's book last year and it knocked my socks off. When I read this, I wasn't as impressed as I would have if I read Crouch's before Allen's (they're both obviously drawing some of the best tidbits from some of the same material that preceded them). They have many, many of the same very helpful tips. The advantage of Crouch's is that is has short digestible chapters. However, an overall approach does not clearly emerge, just a bunch of big and small organizing ideas. An advantage of Allen's is that you get a clear, overarching approach into which all those good tips suggested in these books fit. Allen's chapters are longer, and though very readable, can get a little bogged down compared to Crouch. If I had only one book to buy, I'd get Allen's. However, I'm glad I read Crouch's because it has given me a refresher.

Getting organized is a major issue for many of us (I work two jobs, both of which require me to maintain an office). While one book may do it for some, I strongly believe that major habit changes will more likely come if you really plunge into an area like this. That means reading Crouch's book, Allen's book, and even Julie Morganstern's Organizing from the Inside Out. While Allen and Crouch focus on the office and home office (mail, home files, etc.), Morgenstern also covers garage, basement, closets, etc. I'm serious, to change the way you look at things, you need to read several books and make yourself an "expert." Otherwise, it will be a book you read that you're not likely to act on.

I read them in the order of 1) Allen, 2) Morgenstern and 3) Crouch. If any readers will choose to read all three of these, I'd recommend Crouch first, then Allen, then Morgenstern. Crouch will lure you in with his short little chapters (once you get past his too many introductory-type chapters before you get into the good stuff). Then, reinforce what you learn by reading a lot of overlapping stuff in Allen's book, but Allen will give you an outline or framework that ties it all together. Then, move on from the office to your closets and garage with Morgenstern. Of the three, Allen was the best for me, but I needed the others to sustain my momentum. Good luck!

Ben is that rare teacher who makes his subject clear for anyone, beginner or advanced user. He will not remain on my shelf, but in my travel bag and by the computer. This book will be well used and look it. Don't hesitate. Push the buy now button. You will not regret it. I am not related and have no financial interest in the book!!!!!!! Join the enlightened!!!!

This book is very good. Ben Willmore is an expert of expert. Buy it and it will not make you disappoited.

I'm a photoshop user since version 5, but with the latest developments I feld a little bit lost between all the possible features. Ben shows you how to use them and to develop your own style. It's more then telling how it works, but also how it can work for you. Now I can adjust and create my pictures even better. The book is easy to read, for the novice and even for an expert designer. Lot of tips, tricks and humor makes this book the best add-on for this product.

All of Ben's Studio Techniques books are a must read! There is no better Photoshop book out there! If you only buy one Photoshop book, this is the one to get!

Ben Willmore makes learning easy and appeals to the full range of learners. Great website support and lots of examples to help a person learn what they want. Dive in on any chapter and you will find out what you want to know and walk away with a better understanding of Photoshop as well. I would highly reccommend this book to all but the very newest to Photoshop, for it is jam-packed with knowledge that a lot of books promise but do not deliver.

It's now over 6 years since this book came out and it still has a tremendous amount of relevance. I am rereading it again and stop by every now and then in hopes that a new edition will come out. I have all the other Zeldman books and they are all useful, but nothing approaches how much I learned from this book. It amazes me how much of the content is still applicable. Anyone who's been doing this since the book came out can make mental notes about what has changed. A proponent of CSS before it was practical (really), Jeffrey seems to have planned a long shelf life for this book.

If you're a graphic designer who is entering web development (which is a large segment), it's still a must read, but beware the 4.x browser version suggestions, and don't bother to try and support tables any more. It's not necessary, and it's bad form for oh, so many reasons. Everything else in the book is absolutely essential for the transition. Your best bet would be to read it and ask questions from someone who's been developing websites for a long time (and is open to web standards).

And if you've been building these things for a long time, it's still a great book to revisit at least yearly.

You can't really go wrong with a Zeldman book, imho, at least so far. If he writes something on knitting, I can't guarantee it...

This book gives a good overview of Web Design till 2001.
People who are interested in where the web is coming from will like this book. If your are looking for how web design is done today anno 2005 I would like to recommend Jeffrey Zeldman book "Designing with web standards".

Even though some of the content in this book is outdated (such is the nature of a book based on the internet, which evolves daily), it is still a mainstay in my collection. I would recommend this book to anyone even remotely interested in web design.

Jefferey Zeldman teaches basic, foundation building principles that you will use almost daily during your tenure as a web designer. If your looking for a book to hold you by the hand and teach you how to perform specific actions with step by step coding, this isn't your book. Instead, it touches upon ideas and methods. Zeldman covers topics from designing good navigation to fundamental steps in working with a potential client.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. It would have received a perfect score if it wasn't for some outdated material. Purchase this book, it should be a part of any collection.

A thorough, comprehensive and usable book for people trying to migrate from traditional media into the (sometimes) scary world of new media.

Jeffrey Zeldman's unique voice permeates the entire book, holds your hand, and gently guides you through the ups & downs of working with the web. His examples are concise and to the point, his writing style (as always) humorous and friendly, and, most importantly, you get the feeling that he truly loves this medium, and would like nothing more than being able to help another person discover just what the fuss is all about.

Should be on the shelf of every designer - no matter what your level of experience is.

This book opened my eyes to issues such as accesibilty, css and xhtml, I now have a site that is fast to load and easy to update. I found this book to be an easy read,[ I am neither a graphic designer nor a trained web designer] I really like Zeldman's writng style and will use some of his points in my classes web design for photographers. The mix of code and ideas was great and for once I just read the book rather than being tempted into turning on my computer and starting work.

This book gives a very clear and succinct description on the basic nondual nature of reality and that our own awareness is the only cause for not recognizing this. I liked it very much for its simplicity and getting down to the core of it without alienating phrases.

Memory tells that I once seemed to visit leo's beautiful internet site (awakeningtothedream.com) and read his book... not knowing 'advaita'... though it is ever clear... like looking in a mirror... a smile still seems to linger. As a waterfall takes no credit for being a waterfall, leo takes no credit for the writing - nor the insight. This book will be read from many perspectives and, in some cases, it will seem that a door opens into a doorless void that needs no words to express itself... it is not what you think it is, yet it seems to be... smile. If it seems you have read this far, perhaps this One book is enough... Love

Leo Hartong connects the reader to the terrain of Nonduality in a manner that is gracious, enjoyable and satisfying. The topics of enlightenment, ego, intellect, the witness, I Am, awareness, meditation, awakening, teacher/seeker, death, are integrated effortlessly.

Awakening to the Dream is both an excellent introduction to Nonduality, and an encounter with an awakened one. The writing style is memorable. This is a valuable work which could become a classic in the field. (Note: The previous sentence, as the well as this entire review, was written in 2003 when the book came out. It is first being posted to Amazon.com in 2007.)

Here are a few passages:

"These words are nothing but a gentle reminder from yourself to yourself that you are the awakened one."

"This whole universe is the dream of the Self. Our identity is one continuum with the deep Self, and when we use words like unconditional love, bliss, and acceptance, we are reaching for our own hands."

"Once your true identity is uncovered, you'll see that birth, existence, and death do not happen to you, but in you."

"Enlightenment appears as a goal that one can reach only as long as there is the illusion of a separate entity or ego. In Zen, it has been called the gateless gate. When one stands before it, the gate seems to be there. When one passes through and looks back, it's clear there never was a gate nor anyone to go through it."

Jerry Katz
One: Essential Writings on Nonduality

Leo's book is really good - it's very conceptual and uses every "trick" to point to that which you are. Leo has a way of using analogy and metaphor to throw us back to that which is the basis for all experience - not to see a new state of mind, a special experience, but to know that what you are is the silent, still presence in which all states and experiences arise. Leo's writing at times seems to reflect an impression by Alan Watts. He gently invites you to see through the concepts and duality that are the nature of the mind.

I've read many books on Advaita Vedanta and nondualism, and this is absolutely, without a doubt, the BEST of them all. Hartong writes so lucidly about difficult concepts that you will quickly come to understand many aspects of nondualism that take others YEARS to grasp. This book ranks #1 on my Advaita reading list. #2 is I Am That by Nisargadatta Maharaj. If you want your understanding of reality to be boosted RIGHT NOW, read this book. I'm now reading it for the second time, and marvel at the clarity and quality of the writing.

As a psychologist for 30 years I have read many professional texts and self-help books. This is a valuable book for people entering the healing professions as well as for patients and their caretakers because, throughout, it touches on a man's path to recovering from brain damage. It touches on his creating a personal philosophy to see him through, skills he learned along the way, including self-assertion, and finally the love he's learned along the way.
Dick Schmelzkopf's book, Brain Damage: Overcoming adversity with wit and humor, challenges us to observe what is, to most of us, the mundane choices of life, what to wear, doing chores, and handling finances through his brain-damaged mind. This book is a practical, no-nonsense, road map outlining the rehabilitation process of a brain-damaged man ... and more. In addition, the author describes what one can expect to experience along the way and shares his views that will help people understand what tools one needs on such a journey. It will make the trip easier for all who make this journey and those who accompany them. Reading this book illuminates our lives and can only make us more tolerant, compassionate, and caring. I'm a better psychologist for having read it.
Philosophy
From his first thoughts after surgery, Dick Schmelzkopf psychologically reframes how he sees life. Dick's advice to "Add Quality of Life to your personal credo" will shake the whininess out of anyone's "pity party." Many who have died on the operating table and are brought back to life also make this shift in their thinking through the transformational experience.
Dick avoids sliding into non-productive funks when he admonishes us, "Don't beat yourself up ... Remember it and learn by it." Combine Dick's advice to us all that we "... need challenges and interests. If you don't have one, get one," with his personal stance, "I will never, never give up," which explains much of his success. Dick's dogged determination to master whatever functions his brain surgery left him is a model to everyone, with or without brain damage. Dick's prior work as a salesman has, I believe, contributed to his use of affirmations like, "I have a positive attitude that guarantees success." Dick adapted the adage, "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade," into his personal mantra, "If you're given brain damage, write about it." In addition to being great rehabilitation therapy for him, it gives his life meaning and purpose that this book "... will give somebody an idea of how to help themselves or someone they love."
Skills
This book has many techniques for the brain-damaged person to use to enhance the quality of their life and the lives of their caregivers. His recitation of his abilities, pre and post- surgery, can be an instruction manual, both for the patient and for caregivers. Whether discussing the impact on his decision-making or judgment, Dick lays out the roadmap of how a brain-damaged person can regain control of whatever is left by the surgeon's scalpel. Dick constantly reminds us of the need for the acceptance of the "slow and arduous task" of rehabilitation by patients, caregivers and health care professionals.
Dick teaches us by example. His strategy of linking his interests in darts to solving a math problem clearly shows how a brain-damaged person can learn how to cope. He serves up the problems he's had, like pattern recognition, then follows up with helpful hints for dealing with his "broken recognizer." Dick's rituals, for rebuilding his vocabulary, are his menu for finding and using what works for him. Dick's "Rule number one" for the cognitively challenged (and their caregivers) is proof that his "... pen is mightier that the surgeon's sword." Dick's comment about his re-learned poker skills are a warning to us all, should we ever find ourselves across a poker table from him.
His determination to define himself in his new life is a triumphant assertion of the human spirit and will. Dick's response to people who treat him as less than equal is a prime example of a psychologically healthy outlook, succinctly put, that others see him as a person of worth and dignity, handicap be damned. Dick's admonition that "Brain-damaged means we may be a little slower in some areas, but don't count us out," works as well for those with an aging brain as it is instructive to caregivers and health care professionals alike.
Love
This book is as much a love story of two people committed to each other in ways only a few lucky people will ever experience. It emphatically says, "Take heart, caregivers," when Dick tells caregivers, "You are important," and you feel it when he says throughout the book, "Ain't love grand?" You will find this book is full of heart, love, compassion, humor and common sense that prove that to overcome a handicap, the wisdom of the heart trumps intelligence. Every time. The two pages discussing Grief is worth the price of the book alone. Its lesson is the power of compassion, love and illuminates the author's humanity, or, as his wife says, "ECCE HOMO," which translates as "Behold, A Man."
Dick's rehabilitation journey is not complete, nor will it ever be. After a year of rehab work he has found, however, the best path for himself. He's currently busy on many writing projects. We wish him God-speed and Dragon's Luck.

What can I say....I laughed, I cried (rest in peace, Shardak), and then I laughed again (out loud, alone in the room, 1 AM). I saw myself and wondered why anyone who has ever lost their car keys is not in the same program right along with the "Rehabbers". Dick shares some very personal moments with his readers (some of these things it would never occur to me to share with some of my closest friends). He really grabs you and makes you think.....and laugh....and cry.... I felt like I was sitting and sharing secrets with my best friend. Truly inspirational, in many ways!! Thanks for sharing yourself with the world!!

Brain Damage is an amazing journey. Both the story and its author are testaments to the indomitableness of the human spirit in its quest for wholeness. However, the author's pilgrimage, compelling in its own right, is but a subplot to a recurring theme throughtout the book. This is a love story, marriage the way God intended it. "For better or worse, in sickness and in health"--vows often spoken but not always honored, expecially when tested the way these were. You will love this book, and you will love the way these two people love each other. Enjoy their journey, then I challenge you. See if you can ever again be angry with your spouse for ignoring the budget or failing to lower the toilet seat.

Dick Schmeltzof's very personal book, Brain Damage, is both heartwarming and informative. He treats a very serious subject with humor, wit and compassion. It is difficult to imagine the drastic changes that have occurred in Dick's life since the emergency surgery to remove a tumor on his pituitary gland. But through his carefully constructed narrative, we can "feel" his frustrations and also revel in the incremental -- yet moving forward -- progress that he makes. His is a story of great courage, hope and love; a lesson for Humanity. Thanks to Dick for sharing this moving and insightful story of life after brain surgery. Readers will laugh. They will weep. And finally, they will applaud this incredible human being. Dick demonstrates a real gift for storytelling through this book. Let's hope he delights us with "Brain Damage II".

This is one story that will inspire many people and give them hope for recovery from brain injuries. The author uses humor and wit and weaves his story of how he over came and coped with his "brain damge". It is a positive message about a serious concern. The book is a great read even if you do not have anyone in your lfie with brain damage - it really is about attitude and how you can cope with whatever happens to you in your life.

I totally recomend this book to all readers. It will add something to your life in a positive way. It is uplifting!

Learn from a guy who took a coffee retailer from 14 locations to over 3,500 in just a few years and created the momentum for the Starbuck's Brand. One who glamorized a cup of coffee and got America to culturally change and willing to pay over $4.00 for something they previous purchased for a under a $1.00. A huge shift in what is possible. This is a great read for those interested in leadership, strategic thinking and knowing your demographic. Good enough to pass on to a friend or colleague, but better kept as a resource for future projects.

Rubinfeld is one of the masters in the retail locationing process. I own about 50 books in English and German on retail management, but none has included the expert advice on the very specialized retail locationing process. At least not compared to Rubinfeld's understanding. Both from a very strategic point-of-view and down to the nitty-gritty details of the legal agreement.

Rubinfeld's experience from Starbuck's rapid expansion in the 90s is very helpful, but he also adds a lot of other interesting retail cases from his work as an independent consultant.

The book's website includes very interesting checklists, but is not as impressive as you would expect based on the references made in the book.

The title's focus on "Expanding your business ... across the globe" is misleading in my opinion. Rubinfeld's advice hardly crosses the Atlantic nor the Pacific Ocean. But if you are interested in his ideas and concepts, you'll soon see that it doesn't matter. The principles remain the same with some adjustments for local responsiveness...

Being a chairman of a small retail chain, I have already put the author's advice into practice in the negotiations for a new retail location. They are easy to follow.

I also highly recommend the book's excellent chapters on retail chain financials. It is one of the first books that clearly distinguish between retail chain earnings and store earnings. Rubinfeld's focus on having a robust proforma economic model is key - also in my experience. And this is irrespective of whether you own all the stores yourself or also include a franchise system.

Peter Leerskov,
MSc in International Business (Marketing & Management) and Graduate Diploma in E-business

Rubinfeld has credibility, being the person who commanded the domestic and global expansion of Starbucks. Here, Art Rubinfeld gives very specific advice on not only the "what" but the "how." His well-rounded and varied background has has enabled him to perceive things the way he does and then implement his ideas. He worked as an architect and as a construction manager. Later as Brand Development Consultant for Adidas and Washington Mutual Bank, prior to joining
Starbucks. He took Starbucks From 100 stores to over 4,000
worldwide. The concept of Starbucks is, and has has been unique. Who thought, back in the early 1990s that this new coffee outlet would do what it has done? I didn't.

Rubinfeld presided over and directed the Starbucks corporation's
growth in the 1990s, but he's also served as an independent
consultant for many other companies, so this adds to a more
multi-dimensional level of knowledge and numerous experiences of which to draw from. He specifically sites successes - and failures - with specific and detailed examples. Because of his background he can apply theory and also apply actual practice: from upper-lever strategy to front-line consumer. ( E.g. the 80:20 rule.)

Another concept: location plus people. The emphasis is on the
concept of retail and retail expansion, and the author doesn't stray from this as the foundation. Even of course, down to the store design which (Starbucks contains elements of the natural Earth, and presents the entity of the coffee bean and it's progression to the cup of java you get in-store). The complete retail puzzle involves many pieces. Strongly integrated throughout this book on retail is the concept of brand.

This book is categorized into 4 categories, with each category having a couple, to seven chapters. The Chapters zero-in on such areas as creativity, and customer loyalty; finding the best locations for your brand, management, staff and organization, for the big or small operations; implementation (translation: doing it). How to adapt, and continue to being dynamic and change, to maintain your customers. One useful term is what Rubinfeld calls "ideation." This is the
creation of new ideas. In the changing market place, this is the corner stone separating those who stay, from those who fade. Lots of proven ideas and concepts in this book.

Author Rubinfeld took Starbucks to its place in retail dominance by creating a brand identity, yet assuring that stores did not have a "cookie-cutter" feel to them. The author points out for retailers, the store is the experience, and this is key to estabilishing a foothold. The way Starbucks stores were put together allowed them to be located even in historical building and other places where a normal outlet might not be desired.

The book doesn't just cover marketing strategy. It also discussing hiring the right team, and how locations are chosen. This information is golden.

Chapters include
* Make No Little Plans--core values, first store, maximizing retail experienc

* Go Long: blueprint for execution

* Own Main & Main: location, hot spots, how to grow rapidly without stumbling

* Push the Envelope: Path to Growth

Can't think of another book that outlines how to get to mega-success in retailing as well as this one.

“Who doesn’t want to run his own business? Who doesn’t want to have her own store? If you’re young, you think about it from time to time. If you’re older, you wish you had opened that little shop before the kids came – or you plan to open it when you retire. We all want to control our destiny. We all want to express our creativity. We all want to build something that will last. But how do you start a retail operation? That’s the question I am most often asked. How do you create a going concern, one that will grow and build long-term value? That is another common query. ‘Built for Growth: Expanding Your Business Around the Corner or Across the Globe’ answers these and related questions (from the Introduction).”

Arthur Rubinfeld, the architect behind Starbucks’ expansion, helped build Starbucks into one of the world’s top brands, says that ‘Build for Growth’ distills what I have learned into a comprehensive view of what it takes to develop a winning retail concept. This shows you:

• How to combine core personal and company values with your business expertise to create a meaningful brand.

• How to creatively craft your on-the-street retail presence to capture the essence of your brand and develop customer loyalty.

• Hot to identify the best locations for your concept.

• How to build your management team, organization, and systems – whether you want to have one store or 1,000.

• How to systematically and aggressively execute your plans.

• How to successfully operate your business to keep customers coming back.

• How to innovate and renew your brand.

In addition, he says, “Other books deal with one or two of these topics, but none has taken a holistic approach to retail development, combining theory and practical ideas to cover the entire scope of what it takes to succeed in retail.”

In this context, this invaluable book has been organized into sections based on four fundamental principles: (1) Make No Little Plans, (2) Go Long, (3) Own Main & Main, and (4) Push the Envelope. Each of these sections has covered a major aspect of retail strategy, in order in which you will normally experience them as you grow your business.

I highly recommend.