Careers Books

I have a number of Voice over books, and this one is hands down my favorite. Even though I've worked in the voice industry for years, there are so many proven voice techniques in this book that I keep it handy in my studio. I strongly recommend it to beginning students as well as veterans.

My favorite aspects of this book are:

- outstanding presentation of the fundamentals of voice over. When you read each technique, it's absolutely clear how to use it AND how it improves the result.
- great advice for revising my demos (or creating them if you don't have one)
- interviews with copy writers and agents, to give a real-world view of the industry

I've seen proven results in my own work, and I highly recommend this book to anyone serious about a career in voice over.

I'm at the beginning of my career in voice-over and I've read a good handful of books on the topic and taken tons of classes...but rarely has anyone "broken down" the essentials of technique quite as clearly and succinctly as Elaine Clark does in this book. For the first time, I felt like I had some practical tools I could refer to when approaching copy, which not only gave me a promising ground to start from, but also helped build my confidence and desire to "stick-to-it." Rather than give you hollow, abstract phrases about the need to connect emotionally to the copy, she shows you "how" to make it "yours." Obviously she's a great teacher with a lot of experience, as she leaves no stone unturned in this book with regards to what to expect in every aspect of this career and how to be best prepared so that you can succeed.

Elaine Clark is my guru. I have read this book a number of times since purchasing it in 2001, and I return to a number of specific passages when I need a refresher. Having worked steadily in this business for 20+ years, and having purchased many books on voice acting, I 've found "There's Money Where Your Mouth Is" to be my absolute favorite. The reader is taken from the basics to the multitude of details involved in running your own successful voice-over business.
Thanks to Elaine Clark, I have grown professionally as a voice actor, and enhanced my voice acting and copy interpretation skills.

If you are at all interested in VO, get this book. I read it cover to cover a year ago, and I've been cherry picking those areas that I've needed to focus on ever since. Now that I've marked up my copy at least three times and pages are starting to break loose of their binding, I'm ready to get an agent and start working. If your an actor or improvisor this book will help all areas of your artistic endeavors. The nuances & subtleties of speech are examined in great detail. The bottom line throughout this book is how to stop "acting" and be real. The market is hungry for every day real people. There's a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow, pick it up.

This book is very helpful for those new to the industry. It contains information about putting your demo together, about getting an agent, and has sample copy to practice with, and tips for exercising your voice. I definitely reccomend this for anyone who is interested in trying this line of work for the first time.

This is a definite keeper. The insights and insider tips, the personal stories and motivational powers of this little book are not to be underestimated. I'm about halfway through and just finished the chapter on "independent animation projects". It's like being reborn, knowing that others have gone through the dark tunnel and sweated their way through personal projects using every spare second they have.

I would recommend this book to anyone needing a motivational boost or info on how to succeed in the animation industry. It's insightful and personal, the latter point being where most of its educational value perspires; especially when giving interview tips, how to play it safe in the workplace, not burning bridges, personalities, choosing which battles to fight and which to lose..

I haven't read anything about samurai jack yet... which im kind of hoping is in the book. still... half of the book to go, so who knows.

thumbs up

This is a wonderful book for the starting artist as it will show some incite on the life of an full/freelance employed artist. I state artist as the term animator seems to narrow the field of what and who this book really points at. Read the book make your own option.

As an Animator going to SVA in NY, David Levy was my professor. He recommended us to get the book for class. It totally gives you all the great advice and inside look in the animation/film industry, like how he would normally talk to us in class about it, but the book definitely adds more in detail. He is an awesome teacher, great in his field of work and a great author. If it weren't for him and this book, I wouldn't be so confident and in the know on getting a job in my field. Very inspiring and not at all a boring read. There's also advice from other working professionals in the industry in the book.

Just finished this book a few days ago, read at a leisurely yet studious pace. Wow! There are so many insightful observations presented in an anecdotal and conversational nature, as opposed to a thesis type structure. This will help me immensely as I segue career-wise into the animation field. Great illustrations throughout too. The author is that rare combination, a gentleman and a scholar. Your Career In Animation will cause you to have many imaginary lightbulbs (ideas) floating over your head in rapid succession. My only complaint is that this book does not come with a highlighter marker. All kidding aside...a great read. Highly reccomended!!!

Don't let the simplicity of the title fool you. For once it is just what it says. Not only written by an animation insider but a very knowledgeable one. I am an Art School Student, and while animation isn't my major, it is my goal and this book helps in getting one's head screwed on the right way so that regardless of major, you can have some goals in art school and beyond.
I love that he pulls no punches as to how difficult careers in animation and commercial art can be, but there are also strategies to make it all happen.
I picked it up by accident, but had to get it after flipping through it.

Definitely get it. There is no fluff here.

I discovered Betty MacDonald when I was about twelve years old, after checking The Egg and I out of the Carmichael Branch library here in Sacramento, about 22 years after it was first published. My parents had mentioned that the egg ranch Betty lived on with her first husband in the 1920s, which she writes about in The Egg and I, was located some miles from the place where we lived in Washington state, in the late 1950s. Furthermore, they had actually taken a day trip with friends to look at the old place, sometime after the book and the movie of the same name came out in the 1940s.

This familial connection, however faint, to an old, famous book and the movies it inspired, piqued my childish mind, and I eagerly started reading about life on a chicken ranch on the Olympic Penninsula. I fell in love with Betty's easy, friendly, hysterically funny, down-to-earth yet somehow elegant prose, and immediately checked out her other autobiographical books: The Plague and I, Anybody Can Do Anything, and Onions In The Stew.

In all of her autobiographical books save Onions In The Stew, Betty uses the first chapter to presage her theme by describing her experiences as a child in a large, boisterous family, in loving and extremely funny detail. In Anybody Can Do Anything, Betty describes life with her family and her two young daughters, Anne and Joan, in Seattle after she has left her husband and the egg ranch behind. The Depression is on, and Betty, now a single mother, struggles with her large and interesting clan to make ends meet, somehow finding a lot of laughs and funny adventures, often with her exuberant sister Mary, the inspiration for the book, along the way. Anyone who is interested in what life was like in Seattle in the 1930s, in witty character descriptions, and in a personal glimpse of how families coped with the "Great Depression", will find this book fascinating, not to mention frequently hilarious.

Betty, I miss you and the way you used to make me laugh out loud--I was sad when I finished reading Onions In The Stew for the first time and then realized it was the last autobiographical book you wrote: the tuberculosis finally caught up with you in 1958, when I was only four years old, still living in Washington, not far from your home on Vashon Island. I re-read your books many times as I grew up, even visited Vashon Island, and often wished I could have met you and your family. It's silly, but I've always felt a sense of loss at never having known you, because I am sure you must have been a marvelous friend. Your sense of humor had a profound effect on me, and inspired me in my earliest writing attempts. It's been many years since I've read your books, but I've never forgotten your irrepressible, bona-fide funniness. Wherever you are, thank you!

My husband is one of Betty's nephews.All of the sisters had an incredible wit about them - probably because of their mother Sidney Bard. She did a wonderful job raising her children with out her beloved husband Darcy. It's too bad the children and grandchildren didn't learn lessons from Betty's books. She would be sad to see the way the family turned out.

It's just so heartening to know that others love Betty MacDonald's books as much as I do. I've been giving Anybody Can Do Anything as my female gift book of this year.

we get the story of what she and the children did with themselves.

Her father had been a mining engineer, and although he died fairly young he had been able to save quite a bit; her mother had come from a 'good' East Coast family--not REALLY rich, but apparently quite well off. Betty and her siblings had grown up in large houses with music and dance lessons. However, the Great Depression reduced the family's portfolio to wastepaper. The children had never been taught to actually *do* anything, and actually going out to work for a living was something that they (especially the daughters) had never thought that they would have to do.

The story of how they scrambled to make ends meet during the 1930s would have been grim, but the Bard family despises self-pity above all other faults, and Betty is able to find humor in any situation.

After women having to work to survive during the 1930s, and having to work in the 1940s when all the men were off to war, is it any wonder that the women of this generation and their daughters wanted to retreat into domesticity during the 1950s?

This book is hard to find, so if you get the chance, snap it up!
This is a hilarious account of the author's life post-"Egg & I."
Betty moves from the chicken ranch back to her family's home in Seattle.
Sister Mary, undaunted by the fact that Betty has no experience, eagerly launches Betty's business career and social life.
The mishaps that ensue are absolutely hilarious.
Skillfully written, this book makes the Depression a laugh riot.
BUY IT!
I only wish that Betty had written more books.

This is an amazing universal theory. It is couched in deep but simple drawings, fascinating and mind-opening verse, and original psychology theory. This will hit you right between the eyes. This theory is above Freud and any other supposed "theoretician". This is completely concise and through the right-left integration, self-evident. The sign of discovery is "does it work"? And this works--instantly. This theory is so profound it will become part of your tissues---hypnotically.

After reading "champion guides" I feel I know all I need about psychology and what makes people tick. I took alot of psychology when I was in college--don't expect this to be the same. This is not traditional psychology but a new look at the forces of today's society and how dysfunctional family systems can make one crazy! How our own bad habits ruin our life and especially how we should eat. I am no longer afraid of dietary fat--I know it makes me slim, and I love the daily fasting routine. The way she puts it makes so much common sense. I wish I could say it right here but you should just get the book. It will change your life. She hits all facets--it makes think about things differently. She especially appeals to youth, but also to "elders" in "elder consciousnessness" and also dieters in "fasting consciousness" and "swine consciousness" sticks in my mind right now. I like the chapter "ageless cornucopia" and for the first time I don't fear aging--I "hold my head up high" and speak the truth to youth. That I think is her biggest contribution.

This is a very unique and revolutionary view of psychology. It is refreshing to look at things this way. I recommend this book to freshmen or grad students alike. The genius is held down, Dr. Kellock says, by society, systems and habits and esp by food. Each chapter details how this happens. As I look back on my life and the people I have known it all seems scarily true! This book makes sense to me. I have become more into solitude now, without any apologies for staying home (before I always made excuses). This is a complete theory in social sciences which I am sure will have a greatly needed effect. I give five stars. On the diet part, it is also revolutionary--she says "high fat is high tech". Eat a fatty breakfast, and then just some fruit later. Fast 18 hours a day. I have started doing this. Not only am I much thinner, I feel so much more alert and healthy (the greatest part is I am never, ever hungry!) This book is packed and well worth it.

This is forever a classic. Who else speaks to the misfits of this world but Dr. Karen Kellock, a superb writer and amazing artist. This exquisitely genius classic (and landmark) is being sold for $120 USED at Amazon (worth every penny) but only $25 if you go to KarenKellock.com--where you can get it NEW along with her other works.

This is the most important book to have in your library. While the college campuses are being filled up with leftists who angrily shame the students to think their way, Dr. Kellock writes in such a unique and subtle though forceful way (and delightful witty style) that the correct conclusions are instantly triggered in the reader.

I don't blame Amazon for selling it for $120, for this is worth a hundred $100 therapy sessions with some so-called "psychiatrist" who just wants to implant his view, rather than evoke the patient's own trip (and destiny) so true.

There are no words to describe what I got from this book. After 60 years on this wretched earth this ONE book is all it took.
Harry Esquoine Jr.

Your problem isn't food. It's ADDICTION.
Champion Guide will set you free.
Karen Kellock is the way, the truth, & the lite.

We are using this book to discuss character and how to develop it in our Bible class. While the book is not written from a religious point of view, the principles in this book are congruent with Biblical principles. This is a truly wonderful book that I encourage others to read.

This book can probably be read in just a day, but the truths it emphasizes will be valuable for life.

Ethics means you should start with an open mind and listen to those you trust. Then, you make your own decisions. What is right for one may not be the situation for you. You must be able to dream and to hold to your dreams. That is most important, as the dreams tell us what is happening in our subconscious mind. It's hard, but you have to be able to accept criticism and grow from the hurtful comments of others. A great rule of thumb when someone does something intentionally to harm you or your psyche is to "consider the source," and go from there. If you value that person and his opinion, it might be choice to try his advice; if not, smile and say "thank you."

Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman," was a failure to himself and his family because he embraced "a corrupt vrsion of the American dream which defines success as money, status and celebrity. Like that conman in "Born Yesterday," written by Garson Kanin. Both plays were written in the 1940s and showed capitalism at its worst.

A good moral code is basically a set of values and principles which guide one's behavior. To be perfect, it should be based on religious training of a lifetime starting with the Ten Commandments of the Bible. Jesus led an exemplary life for his time and place. Today's world is filled with evil. New Orleans, deemed the most sinful city (along with Las Vegas), felt God's wrath with Katrina. The Bible promised we would not be destroyed by floods in the story of Noah and the Ark. Knoxville is teetering on the brink of being almost as sinful with so much emphasis on liquor. It, too, is in store for some form of God's wrath -- in what form, I'm not sure. But I predict that the walls will come crumbling down on Gay Street someday. A moral compass is useful for questions of right and wrong.

The hardest choices rise to the top because the questions which could have been solved with simple rules are delegated to others. Such is our city government, as the mayor isn't facile enough to follow through on his promises to the common folk. This is a town of "studies and plans" going on for years, with no follow through. It takes outsiders to come in and corrupt the whole town. Drinking, drugging, carousing on the downtown streets openly by people who were not born here will be the downfall of a town, not the city it could have been. I have never been good at judging character; thus, I have been let down by some I trusted. But then, I am not a leader; nor a follower be -- I tend to take the road least taken. I believe in causes and was told recently that I came home for a reason. Whether I succeed or fail is still up in the air, and I have made an impact -- something I could never have achieved had I stayed here all of my life. We see in the photographs of the Civil War how Abraham Lincoln changed from the confident President to one of toil and pain etched "ever deeper" in his face. He cared deeply and the price he paid was his life.

+++++

This slim book by professor of ethics and philosophy Russell Gough is like a self-help guide for the soul, showing how we can lead better lives simply by being better people. Gough elaborates:

"This book offers what I call mirroring, rather than a finger-pointing, approach. In one-to-one, conversational fashion, its primary goal is to encourage each of us to think about improving our personal lives...in terms of our own personal character...Each chapter of this book is designed to emphasize a given aspect of the all-important nature of personal character [and are] designed to encourage practical self-reflection and enduring personal growth."

What is character? Character, as used in this book, is "what you are in your essence, the sum total of your habits, your personal assortment of virtues [or goods] and vices [or bads]." The title of this book, "Character is Destiny," is an actual quotation uttered by the Greek philosopher Heraclitus.

In fact, each chapter of this book is titled by an actual quotation from a person of great character. These quotes "capture the force and point of each chapter." You'll find that these quotations or chapter titles "are definitely well-worth committing to memory and...living by."

Each of these quotations or chapter titles comes from the following people:

(1) Heraclitus (Greek philosopher)
(2) Socrates (Greek philosopher)
(3) Dwight Moody (American evangelist)
(4) Anne Frank (German-Jewish teen who was forced to go into hiding during the Holocaust and subsequently died at age fifteen in a concentration camp)
(5) Ralph Waldo Emerson (American poet and essayist)
(6) Aristotle (Greek philosopher)
(7) Paul (the Apostle)
(8) Albert Schweitzer (German theologian, musician, and missionary)
(9) Jean Paul Richter (German humorist)
(10) The author (ethics & philosophy professor and author)
(11) An anonymous person (thought to be Charles Reade, English novelist)

You'll find that each chapter is easy-to-read and written with great conviction and eloquence. There is not reams and reams of theory to sort through. This book is written in real English for real people on perhaps the most important subject of all--character.

There is an appendix (not labeled as such) to this book that, in my opinion, is very important. Here, Gough states the following:

"In this book, I have focused on the vast majority of times in our daily lives when we have a pretty clear idea of the ethical line separating the right thing to do from the wrong thing to do. Thus, our discussion has been one not of knowing the right thing to do but of having the character to do the right thing."

But what of those rare situations where there is NOT a clear ethical line where we "truly [don't] know what is most ethically appropriate to do." These are called ethical dilemmas. I was glad to see that the author gives us insight into handling these difficult situations.

Who is this book written for? I would say for high school students, college and university students, and adults: in other words, for everyone. (I disagree with the second part of the last sentence of the Amazon editorial review above.)

Finally, I liked the idea that the author stated that he was not perfect ethically. Thus, this is not a book written by a preachy person who thinks he's a saint or thinks that he lives on Mount Olympus.

In conclusion, this is a well-written, easy-to-read book that speaks directly to the moral crisis of our time!!

(first published 1998; forward; preface; introduction; 14 chapters; appendix; main narrative 160 pages; notes)

+++++

The author did a great job all around. He at least nibbles around the edges of trying to put a philosophical foundation under this, still largely, "how to" book. If, like me, you would like to go further and understand the solid foundation that supports all of the author's fine work, I'll give you a tip that can save you a lot of prolix philosophical reading. I found a book called "WEST POINT", by Norman Thomas Remick that explains all the philosophy in easy to read, understandable language behind the 200 years of character building at West Point, the world's premier school for that purpose. It will advance your understanding of the principles presented so expertly by Mr. Gough in his 5 star effort. Regardless of whether you are serious about understanding what all this is REALLY all about, you'll find "CHARACTER IS DESTINY" readable and enjoyable.

This book is not terrible. I found it to be cliche at times, and it definitely contained a number of gender stereotypes, which the author would include and apologize for, which I found to be somewhat annoying. It's a quick read, so at least I didn't feel like I was wasting a lot of time. I have read a lot of books on women in corporations, and I didn't think this one was particularly new or innovative, and at times, the writing was poor. At the end of every chapter, there were exercises, and I did think those were helpful. For example, one suggestion was to write one hand written thank you note per week - not particularly innovative, but it is a good practice, I think, and a good reminder to do that.

In all, I think Lois Frankel's books are much better written, with much better advice.

It was a pleasure having Kathleen Archambeau host a recent Bank of America Diversity Brown Bag event in Concord, California that featured "Climbing the Corporate Ladder in High Heels". The buzz continues among male and female associates about Kathleen's book because it is not only a practical educational reference but an actionable guide for dealing with work/life balance. The book supports a core value we have taken to make our workplace a family friendly environment through inclusive meritocracy.

"Climbing the Corporate Ladder..." is a practical guide to career success. Extremely well-written. Inspires lots of "ah-ha" moments. Helps young and seasoned professionals remember to find a better work and life balance. Encourages readers to consider success from all angles. I loved it!

Not just for women. Kathleen provides important tips that all men can use to further their own careers. Provided in an easy to read and use format.

Full of insight and inspiring stories that will make any woman, regardless of her chosen field or career path, search her heart for the answers she needs to live a rewarding and fulfilling life. This book brings light and awareness to the often difficult and confusing choices we make along our journey through life. With humor and wit, Kathleen challenges us to look into the deeper parts of ourselves to identify what our true hearts desire is and then guides and empowers us with tools to achieve it.

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.

Don't let the cover fool you, Roz Usheroff packs a wallop in this insightful and dynamic read. At first I was skeptical when my Mother sent me this book as a gift to help me achieve my own goals in life. The book style looked like so many others I had seen before, but it was the content of this book which blew me away. Roz does a solid job in outlining all the key characteristics that can help one move to the top in a chosen profession. This book takes a rational, reasoned approach to finding career success. Unlike other books in the same vain, it is not filled with mumbo-jumbo quick-success schemes but rather, identifies what makes one stand out in the crowd without stepping on anyones toes.

My only complaint was the rancid cover. Other than that, this book is a 10/10. In any case, I used Roz's formulaic suggestions and the results have been better than average since I am now in my first managerial position since graduating University 2 years ago. Thanks Roz.

Customize Your Career by Roz Usheroff is a must read for anyone looking to make sense of today?s job market. Adopting an entrepreneurial approach to marketing your skills is the best way to ensure they will be in demand. Roz not only provides the tools for bringing an individual?s skills and talents to the foreground, but she also provides strategies for demonstrating the value of these gifts to others. This empowering approach to career management shifts the current paradigm from victim to victor.

Customize Your Career captures the essence of Roz Usheroff.In her successful career as a professional speaker, seminar leader and coach she has truly customized her career and developed and shared her winning strategies. How fortunate we are she has published her findings. This book records the keys to success in business and life she has used so successfully and has taught her legions of clients to employ in their lives.
For the many who have not yet experienced the personal presence of this inspirational speaker, this book is an excellent substitute. The ten chapters are truly ten steps everyone can use "to Move up, Move ahead, or Move on". This on not only a 'must-read' book, it is a 'must-refer-to-often' life guide. You will agree with Nido R. Quebein, who in the foreward urges those who look for fulfillment over mere happiness to "Read this book to learn. Study it to excel. Refer to it often to stay ahead of the crowd".
In today's pressurized world, Customize Your Career will save many people from having to try to re-invent the wheel as they move throuth life.

Customize Your Career is one of the best books out there written for working professionals looking to move forward in their career. The book has great edutcational content and is written in an entertaining, easy-to-read format. The author, Roz Usheroff, seems to have an incredible grasp of how to develop a professional image and career plan. I enjoyed this book immensely and have recommended it to many friends and colleagues.

I found plenty of interesting and worthwhile advice in Customize Your Career. Roz offers many new insights, including the fact that marketing yourself doesn't end when you get a new job. In fact, that is just the beginning! Everyone must continually market themselves -- based on their skills, knowledge, and special talent -- whithin their companies and their industries. The book would make a good gift for a friend (or for yourself) who is suddenly looking for a new job. A Must Have Book!!

Rob have wrote a book that should have been use during the crazy internet start- up era. Maybe all those companies would be thriving if they have gone through Rob's boot camp. Ok maybe not all of them but I feel that 80% of the dot com companies may be still existence.

I am still working on my hi-tech company but I have not been able to because they are not up to my standards. I got good ideas but I am just not feeling ready to go solict for funding just yet.

But anyway this is a great book! Rob gives a lot of good information that you would normally pay big money for a consultant to tell you the same thing!!

The book is 6 years old, yet the topics covered here is still useful for any entrepreneur to get $$ from venture capitals (VC):

1.Borrow $$ from friends/relatives to build a prototype
2.Beta test this on large and small firms, to build up clients
3.Build a better product/service based upon their feedbacks
4.Write a concise business plan with killer PowerPoint slides
5.Get the insider VC to arrange meetings
6.Answer intelligently on any VC concerns
7.Get the $$$, start the firm
8.Grow the firm for 3-5 years with track records
9.IPO and make Billion$$$

Sounds like a great formula! But this is 2007, VC is not the only game in town. They are Private Equity, Hedge Funds, Debt Financing, many other avenues to get $$$. Rob Ryan, are you contacting them?

If you are an entrepreneur. Do not do anything before reaqding this book. It is easy to read and understand... No business jargons or anything...

...is that it's not out in paperback so that I can buy 50 copies and give them out to people to show them why I babble on about it. Rob Ryan's "Entrepreneur America" is the *single most practical* book about entrepreneurship you will find on the market today.

Rob founded Ascend, and he tells you exactly how he did it. And even though Ascend was a pure technology play, his lessons are broad enough that they can be applied to non-technical inspirations as well.

Kudos also go here to Phaedra Hise. She has captured the voice, verve and essence of Rob Ryan and got him down cold on paper. Quite an achievement.

This books is a must read for anyone involved in a hi tech startup. I am with my second private technology company, and it provided some great insight into where we are, and what we need to do. For someone planning to start their own company or join someone elses, you should actively answer all of the questions put forth in the book. It will help you understand what the real chances for success are in a world full of great ideas without markets!

Finally! A book that gives the real truth about how to thrive careerwise after college. Where most books fall short, this one keeps going, offering loads of practical advice. Brutally honest about the reality of the corporate world, this book lays it out in fun to read, plain English. I don't know why my college career office doesn't give this book out!

For the record, this is my very first Amazon review because I finally found a book that is worthy of a 5 star review. After reading several post-college graduate books, @ the Entry Level finally stops beating around the bush and tells you how it really is and how to succeed after college in the jungle known as 'the real world.' Anyone in my position (fresh out of college, has a job, has no idea how the real world works) should pick up this book immediately. Michael Ball relates to our position and generation very accurately and convincingly as well. Teaches you the politics of business and how to sell yourself for future promotions and growth. Much more than a post-college book, I recommend it for anyone trying to get a competitive edge and understanding for themselves in the workplace.

Anyone who's in (or just about to enter) Corporate America and hasn't read this book is at a serious disadvantage! Not only does it show you how to work more effectively with managers and seniors, but it even talks about promotions and career paths, early decision-making, work - life balance, and how to build a personal "brand."

Plus it really gets you to think about the deeper meaning of your career: where it's all leading, how money fits into the equation, and what you're going to want to look back on your life and see. The author obviously cares about his readers, and that makes it even more worthwhile. Truly an informative, provoking (and controversial) book!

I was actually a bit disappointed in this book because I expected more advice on how to deal with the survival and achieve success rather than how to find a true calling. I do think I have found that true calling already thus this part was not interesting for me. I was fresh out of grad school when I got this book and despite having some work experience I did not think I had come even close to starting to figure out office politics etc. This book has not offered me many new insights and I still feel I am at the starting point re: survival and success. If anyone has good tips on books that might be more helpful, please let me know.

I've been in the workforce for almost twenty years, and am only now going back to college, but I felt like this book was written just for me. It talks about direction, and uses words we don't see enough of - like Passion, and Value. After working in customer service for so long, every word he said rang true. It is obvious he has studied many succesful people (from the quotes and anecdotes he sprinkles throughout the book) and is trying to pass on what he has learned from them while emphasizing that most important third dimension of work - satisfaction. (The first and second being Money and a Benefit Package *wink*)

While the theme is a serious one, the book is a great read. Michael's style makes you feel like he's right there in the room telling his jokes in person. The intimacy really worked for me. I'm glad I picked this up - I might even change my major!