Business Books

As a business strategy & performance coach, I'm often asked how to motivate employees. The answer. You can't. But you can get in touch with why they really come to work every day and why they want to be successful. And you can help them get there! I shared The Dream Manager with a manufacturing client of mine a year ago. They now have a full-time Dream Manager and we're seeing tangible results! They are taking the book (and its applications) to their China operations! The Dream Manager concept is one that transcends all cultures because everyone has dreams. I'm hopeful that in today's tough economic times, more companies apply The Dream Manager. It will help increase innovation and productivity even in a down market. Those companies that do so will have laid a foundation for growth and will emerge even stronger when the market improves. This stuff works. Matthew, you're brilliant!

Do you have a dream? The idea of a dream manager may be a little strange to us but truth is, too many of us have stopped dreaming. Matthiew Kelly tells us in a nice business tale about a company who helps employee's to dreams and to make dreams reality with the result of building on trust and increasing liability of its employees.
A fabulous book that give hope to your dreams...

The Dream Manager is a remarkable book. It is simple and powerful. The book presents one idea: if you are looking for engaged relationships with people, find out what people are dreaming about and assist in making these dreams possible. This applies to yourself as well, to become more engaged yourself, state your own dreams and work to make them possible.

The first part of book is written as a story about a company that develops a program for making the dreams of their employees come true. It shows the steps taken, the obstacles, real and mental, and how to overcome them and the benefits of the program. The format of a story makes for an easy, short and interesting read. The second provides resources to start working on realizing your own dreams and those of others.

This book is a quick read that motivates anyone to manage, lead, and live at a greater dimension. Engaging the workplace and those around you is a wonderful gift and sharing true compassion & good will to see others dream come to pass it what AMAZING leadership is all about. Thank you for challenging us to think better so that we can lead better. Awesome book!!!

Being in a management position, I thought the book was supposed to teach me how to be the dream manager. I soon found out that it is much better than I expected. It teaches you to start dreaming again. The reason why people are so miserable at work is because they do not feel that they make a difference. I live and breathe this philosophy now at work and in my personal life. The 12 areas that we can dream guide you toward your personal achievements. I am forever changed in the best way possible. A must read for all.

With Martha Finney, Libby Sartain has written a book that is, in her opinion (as of 2003), the first one written "by an HR practitioner for HR practitioners about managing your own unique career as well as dealing with the special challenges of daily life in the world of human resources." As she explains, most of the stories she shares are taken from her 13-year tenure as Vice President, People at Southwest Airlines. Since 2001, she has served as Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Chief People Yahoo at Yahoo! Inc. This book was published in 2003.

She is a staunch advocate of what she characterizes as a "fully empowered" HR career, viewing it as a "calling" and asserting that it can - and should -- provide a competitive advantage to any organization, especially now when competition for human talent is almost ferocious. Those equal to the challenges of such a career in HR possess both highly-developed business acumen and what Daniel Goleman defines as emotional intelligence. Sartain insists (and I wholly agree) that a corporate culture "based on respectful treatment of all the company's employees is essential to the company's long-term success...The most successful companies are the ones that make it their business to help their employees achieve their highest potential and use their gifts and talents most fully." It is no coincidence that on Fortune magazine's annual lists of those companies that are most highly admired, most valuable, and best to work for, several of the same names appear on those lists year after year after year. Presumably each of exemplary company has "fully empowered" HR resources and capabilities.

With regard to Sartain's advice to those already embarked on a career in HR or who are now preparing for one, she focuses on "six essential ingredients of every great HR career" in Chapter 3. She commits a separate chapter to each and they are best revealed within her narrative, in context. Throughout her book Sartain addresses just about every conceivable issue relevant to those "essentials," helping her reader to consider all plausible options and then make decisions appropriate to his or her own talents, experience, goals, and concerns. She also suggests a number of "dos" and "don'ts" based on what she has learned throughout her own career thus far. She seems by nature to be an enthusiast, one who would prefer (as the old bromide states) "to light a candle rather than curse the darkness," but she also reveals an abundance of street smarts.

She is passionately committed to helping HR executives to establish and then sustain a "fully empowered" career, in terms of both personal and professional development, one that is fulfilling and thus satisfying to them but also in terms of how much value they can add, not only to the given organization but also to the personal as well as professional development of those whom they are privileged to serve. I use the phrase "privileged to serve" deliberately and presumably Sartain concurs.

If empowered with sufficient resources (including the support of senior management) and if properly prepared and fully committed, a HR professional who is both competent and compassionate can help to achieve objectives such as these:

1. Continuous recruiting of those who have the talent, experience, and character that may one day be needed

2. Interviewing and hiring procedures that are rigorous, thorough, and cordial so that each candidate is given every opportunity to "shine," of course, but is also treated with utmost respect

3. Orientation that accelerates the process by which each new hire becomes an integral part of the given organization and its culture

4. On-going formal and informal training that develops in participants the leadership and management skills that are needed at every level and in all areas of the given enterprise

5. Performance measurement conducted formally (at least quarterly) and informally (each day) that is based on criteria that are clearly explained, mutually understood, and consistently applied

One of Sartain's key points is that hearts as well as minds must constantly be nourished. In many (too many) organizations, HR professionals have been "so distracted by the need to be taken seriously that [they have] been tempted to jettison any discussion of how [their] personal feelings and principles are factored into the business equation. As a result, the HR profession has been cultivating a reputation that I am tempted to say it often deserves - that of being a single-minded administrator with a big, red, rubber stamp that reads: `No! Against Policy and Procedures!'" Sartain is convinced that in human resources, indeed in all relationships within and beyond the workplace, head and heart should not be mutually exclusive. "That's what it takes to build a great business." In the concluding chapter, "How Do We Get There From Here?," she suggests nine "major points" that must be covered to reach that destination.

Bon voyage!

Those who share my high regard for HR from the Heart are urged to check out The New American Workplace co-authored by James O'Toole, Edward E. Lawler as well as The HR Scorecard: Linking People, Strategy, and Performance co-authored by Brian E. Becker, Mark A. Huselid, and Dave Ulrich. Also, two of Fred Reichheld's books (The Loyalty Effect and Loyalty Rules), David Maister's Practice What You Preach, two of Jac Fitz-enz's books (The 8 Practices of Exceptional Companies: How Great Organizations Make the Most of Their Human Assets and The ROI of Human Capital: Measuring the Economic Value of Employee Performance), Dean R. Spitzer's Transforming Performance Measurement: Rethinking the Way We Measure And Drive Organizational Success, and Enterprise Architecture As Strategy: Creating a Foundation for Business Execution co-authored by Jeanne W. Ross, Peter Weill, and David Robertson.

Writing this book as an HR professional's guide is a tragedy! Part 2 (HR is Your Company's Best Asset) is a truly enlightened guide on people management and should be read by everyone who is in, or who aspires to be in, a leadership position in any organization. Including Part 1, (Your Own Career is Your Best HR Asset), this from her heart advice guide by practitioner Libby Sartain (Southwest Airlines) is not just well written, it is superbly written - the thanks for that may go to Martha Finney; but the thoughts are surely the wisdom of a hands-on expert in people management.

Focusing on Part 2, let's look at a few examples of what Sartain has to say: Hire the Person, Not the Resume - hire for fit; Don't Forget the Stars You Already Have in Your Ranks - promote from within; Start Your High-Potential Employees in Customer Relations - they carry an understanding of customer needs ...throughout their entire career. And, her "Show Them the Money!" and "Using Benefits to Build Relationships" chapters may be the best ever for understanding compensation's role in engagement. But, it gets better; Chapter 32 is titled: Recognition, Rewards, Fun: The Triple Crown of Employee Engagement. I could go on, but you get the picture; this Part 2 of the book contains wisdom for anyone in a management role. The whole book is recommended as a must read for HR professionals, Part 2 is recommended as a must read for managers.

Dennis DeWilde, author of
"The Performance Connection"

I had seen Libby present at a conference and bought her book there. I read the book on the plane ride back and dog eared several pages. It is a good no nonsense book on what HR professionals do. I liked it so much that I purchased a copy for our entire HR department and we used it as a discussion during Business Partner meetings.

The group loved it...you will too.

HR from the Heart is an amazing guide for HR professionals who genuinely want to serve their companies. Lifetime learnings and analysis of human behavior have been compiled in this book.The book is wholistic and it is a guide for all aspects of the HR function. Today's companies need to have unique recruitment, orientation, learning, developmental and performance systems. Great people attract great people, and great people want to work for great people. Companies mission must be a cause around which everybody is motivated and energised. The companies need to have a differentiating culture and all leaders in the company must promote the culture. All leaders must embrace new attitudes and conduct themselves in new and different ways. The language of communication is important as it give the company it's edge over the competetion. The workplace should be friendly and people must have fun doing their duty.Lastly, HR's job is to serve others and to humanise the work.

I have been involved in the HR field for some 21 years. Like any HR professional, we have a lot of stories to tell. In this book, Libby Sartain has a way of melding her stories with solid HR theory. At times, the book is simple and colloquial but more often than not it weaves its simplicity into a picture of HR I think and practitionaer would want to establish at their workplace.

A lot has been said about HR "at the table" and being a "strategic partner". This book shows how that is accomplished not so much by providing means to that end but by showing how doing what is right and good can get us to that end.

Judging from its Amazon sales rank (88,428 at the time of this writing) the book hasn't made it into too many hands. But don't let that stop you. If you are in HR (or someone who wants to be) this book is essential for giving you the big picture and getting you started on the path to achieving your end.

A wonderful book to aid anyone in the process of discovering who they are and how to find a path to their dreams. Barbara gives lots of positive reinforcement, but is surprisingly practical. By the time I had filtered through numerous chapters of discovery exercises, I was exhausted. I wasn't sure I would really find the focus I needed to define myself and articulate the next phase of my life. However, when I got to the chapter on defining "touchstones" the homework paid off and I found something at my core that defined everything I wanted in my life. Hats off to Barbara for her humor, style, and wisdom to make the process so enjoyable. Bravo!

I thought this book offered some different ways in the effort to learn more about myself. The exercises are thought provoking and easy to do and provide a good insight into my own thoughts, habits and self. I don't think it is ground breaking or the answer to the million dollar question "Who am I?" but it does offer exercises to learn more about self and I think it is an excellent read and book.

I had heard really good reviews of this book from many people I respect for their life vision and general success. It was a quick read, and while I'm not usually a big consumer of the self-help genre, I found it had a lot of very practical applications that helped me get a bit closer to discovering just what it is that I can contribute to this planet. I was reading Erckhart Tolle's A New Earth, which was a great primer in basic Buddhist concepts, but which I found didn't quite deliver on the promise of its subtitle: Awakening to your life's purpose. It did perhaps help to prepare me and make me more open to finding Wishcraft, which did a pretty good job of digging deep and really directing me toward the discovery and acceptance of myself as a creative person, and in turn, that creativity is a gift to share with the world and not stuff down in favor of more "practical," "useful," work. I found the emphasis on childhood and over bearing parents to be a bit much -- maybe because I come from the apparently rare position of having been encouraged to pursue my creative side from a very young age, but decided independently that it was too frivolous and self-indulgent to make my life's goal. I am grateful for my personal journey beyond my talents and into worlds that have only served to reinforce that I am indeed supposed to exercise my creativity. Wishcraft has some great tools that helped me take this realization to the next step, to decide exactly what it is I need to do to make my creative side an active part of my everyday life.

This was Barbara Sher's first book, but until now I'd only read (and loved) her follow-up books. I've read alot of other books on positive affirmations and projecting to the Universe what you want and was stunned to see that this "oldie, but goody" was really one of the most simple and straight-forward approaches to that concept.

Even if you've read lots of other self-help books, this classic is still one everyone should read.

I got the 1979 copy of this book about 4 years ago on a recommendation from a therapist who saw that I was drifting along with no real goals. I had tried college twice before (by this time I was in my late 30's) and each time quit because I didn't know what I wanted to do or to be. The "college career center" was no help whatsoever. The test I took there had me taking courses for industrial engineering, which I had zero interest in, but I figured maybe the test saw some hidden talent that I didn't know I had. Wrong. I started reading this book and doing the exercises and slowly discovered what it was that I wanted to be....an interior designer! I would have never thought of it in a million years without this book changing my way of thinking. I felt like it was a huge revelation! It was a relief to finally know, at the age of 38, what it was that I wanted to do! I started college again and had to quit after a year and a half due to a pay cut at my job. The old me, the pre-Wishcraft-reading me, would have just given up right then. Actually, I DID freak out for about a week. But the new me sat down and brainstormed like in the book and thought long and hard about what needed to be done to be able to stay in school and follow my dream. I'm happy to say that I only took a year off of school and am actually now in a better school. I've also been so inspired by the other reviews for this book. I have recommended this book to friends and will always keep my copy no matter where I go in life.

BO'S LASTING LESSONS presents Bo Schembechler's philosophy of leadership forward is a very readable and enjoyable way. Bo did not suffer fools, and was true to his word. Among the little gems that he offers is not to chase after the next job, but to work as hard as you can on your current job and offers will come. Reading the book reminded me why every OSU victory over UM was so prized--UM under Bo represented excellence.

I was given this book as a gift. I have never been a Michigan fan and always thought Big Ten football as boring. I could not put this book down. I loved every page of it. Not only is it a great look into Michigan football and a great football mind but it is one of the best business books I have read. Basic fundamentals that, packed around interesting stories that show how they work. I am ordering a copies for everyone on my sales staff. This is a book I will read again and again. Now the painful part, I now have a soft spot for the Wolverines.

This is a great book on the fundamentals of leadership. Bo and the author use football for examples of different challenges a leader might face. As a Michigan fan it was wonderful to read how this legendary coach made his way to Michigan, and how he formed his philosophies on coaching. After reading this book, the reader will have a better appreciation of how and why Bo coached the way he did. If anyone knows a person or if they themselves coach anything, this book is a MUST read. But you can still enjoy the book even if you don't coach or lead anything.

Bo's life was a reminder to me about the things that are important - integrity, friendship, leadership, honest communication, and giving your all every single day. Although a football story, I think it's more an inspirational guide to attainment of the highest human values disguised as a football story. Put this on your list to read!

This is the best book by/about Bo. Many of the stories are familiar, but most of the ones that have appeared before have a somewhat different slant on them here. If you have been in a leadership position, you will recognize much of what Bo says as simple truth. You will also recognize examples where you didn't follow his principles, and regretted it later. People like him who see life as simply are rare, and are an inspiration. I'm not sure how much of the effect of the book would be lost on someone who did not have a familiarity with college football, but if you have even a cursory exposure to it, you should find the stories enjoyable and educational.

This book gives the right approach to programming with J2EE tools. It explains when to use J2EE and when not to.
It's not only useful for J2EE programming but also for non-J2EE enterprise projects as well. I STRONGLY recommend it. I have learnt so much from this book.

I bought this book because I've read very good reviews. I found this book amazing. This books shows you how to make good designs and develop in J2EE, all the chapters with full of comments from Rod's experience. Many of the concepts of this book were later applied in Spring framework. I strongly recommend read this book for advanced Java developers.

Frankly, this book has gotten a little long in the tooth. One might say that, from the products it mentions and evaluates, it is out of date. But never mind!

Rod applies principles that never go out of date - only the examples do - or seem to. A product is stuck with its basic design forever. Thus a critique of the 2002 version of Struts is as valid as a critique of the 2007 version.

Pros: Readable. Insightful. It will make you a better architect.

Cons: Typos (how do chapters get mis-numbered in the ToC?!?) It really should be in a high-quality hard binding (though the binding is quite good for paper).

Summary: 'J2EE Design...' is worth much more than its weight in gold. Buy it. READ IT!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, particularly well-thought out design guidelines for developing J2EE application with or without EJB. The author introduced several best practices particularly the concepts and usage of Spring and Hibernate based j2ee development is quite helpful. In addition to this book, I find patterns and bestpractices from "Core J2EE Patterns /Deepak Alur", "Core Security Patterns /Christopher Steel" and "Enterprise Integration Patterns /Gregor Hohpe" would be helpful - especially if you are building a enterprise-class j2ee applications.
Now the downside, the book needs a complete revision to include changes with J2EE 1.4. The CODE SAMPLES explained in this book does'nt work now - please update.

It is a great book. But I give it only 4 stars is because it is hard to read. English is my 2nd language. I cannot read this book quickly. I even need check dictionary at least 2 times per page. I do not have the same problem when read other tech books.
"What is WebSphere" is another book I like. Also help me to learn system level stuff. It is much easier to read. Though it does not have so many stuff like Johnson's book.
I would like to suggest the auther to consider many tech readers are not very good at English.

This is the best personal marketing book I've read. Ideas are easy to understand and adapt. I recommend this book all the time.

Get Slightly Famous by Steven van Yoder is a book every small business owner should take the time and read.

This books is a well written resource that educates the reader to create free publicity effectively. Public relations is an area that most small businesses owners seem to ignore. The local business owners do basic marketing and then wait for business to come. Hopefully the newspapers will come to you, right?

This book guides you to attract the media and create priceless free publicity. If you can become the expert in your local community or nationally on CNN, your business will be undoubtedly, very successful. This book will help you get there. (Stein Smith / steinsteinstein.com)

If you want an edge in today's highly competitive market where it is becoming increasinly difficult to get anyone's attention, then you need to Get Slightly Famous.

The book provides a highly valuable, easy to follow roadmap for anyone to follow. And if you follow the advice in the book, you will Get Slightly Famous. Getting slightly famous will separate you from the rest of your competition.

The premise of the book is that you do not need to be famous to be successful. But in your own niche, you need to standout from the crowd. And the rewards of getting slightly famous far outweigh the time and effort required.

The book is divided into three sections. The first section is devoted to why you need to be slightly famous and how you can achieve that goal.

The second section concerns media strategy. There is the basic information on how you must approach the media in order to be successful. There are excellent tips on how to get articles in print and how to attract the media to you so you can get on the radio or TV.

The third section shows how you can reach out in many different directions: your website, speaking, info-product and strategic partnerships are just a few that are covered.

The book is a combination of how to, why to and a reference guide. There are over 90 specific real world examples of entrepreneurs who have gotten slightly famous - telling what they did and how it has benefited their business.

Any size business can benefit from the information contained in this book. If you want your business to grow bigger, you must learn and apply the information in this book.

This book is unique because of the amount of information and the depth of coverage. It will not be possible to absorb all the information in one reading. But keep in handy and use it as a specific guide. It will give you so many tips and insights ... well worth reading and keeping handy.

How is it that a few select people are able to attract attention from others in ways that increase their business opportunities? It's because they've mastered the art of becoming "slightly famous". Think of it as using networking in ways you never thought of before. Steven Van Yoder covers this in his book Get Slightly Famous: Become a Celebrity in Your Field and Attract More Business with Less Effort, Second Edition. Even if you're not running your own business, this book will more than pay for itself in turning you into someone who is considered an "expert" in your chosen field.

Contents:
Preface: How to Break Out of the Anonymity Trap
Part 1 - The Center of Your Universe: Just a Little Fame Will Do; Aim For a Target; The Brand Is You; Thought Leadership
Part 2 - Media Strategies: Media Strategies That Work; Attracting Media Attention; Getting an Article into Print; Broadcast Media
Part 3 - Reaching Out in All Directions: The Slightly Famous Website; Marketing in A Virtual World - Internet and Web 2.0 Strategies; Stand and Deliver - Speaking Strategies; Info-Products - Create Multiple Income Streams; Strategic Partnerships; Reach Out and Connect; Keeping in Touch with Newsletters; Cause Marketing - Doing Well By Doing Good
Index

You know the people... colleagues (or competitors) who are always in demand as speakers, consultants, writers, or sources for articles. Is it because they know absolutely more than anyone else on a given subject? Usually not. It's more because they've become "slightly famous" in their niche by making themselves known and available via various channels. Van Yoder covers the essentials of setting yourself up in this way. Part 1 of the book sets the groundwork for determining what it is that you want to be known for, and how best to position yourself as a person who is an authority on that subject. Once you've determined your niche and subject matter, you can use his techniques to start building your name as a brand in the marketplace. You don't need to become a household name to everyone on the planet. What you *do* need to do is start putting your name out there in your niche as someone who has valuable information, who can be trusted to share that information, and who is accessible. Once you start down that path, the rest of the book covers various ways that you can make this work in different channels, such as becoming an industry speaker or writer, becoming a person turned to for news stories, or making your knowledge available in audio/visual/written form for purchase. Once you start building up a little momentum (i.e., becoming "slightly famous"), the exposure starts to build a life of its own, and you're attracting business in ways you never thought possible.

While I'm not an independent businessperson or a consultant, I *am* someone who needs a certain level of exposure in my field in order to take advantage of various opportunities that come up. I fortunately did a number of things correctly up to this point, but with Van Yoder's book I can take it even further. Get Slightly Famous is one of those books that will cause you to rethink how you view yourself within your industry or community, and if followed it will lead you down paths that will surprise you.

I am a landscaper with a unique niche, a big personality, and a strong point of view, and I can definitely see how becoming the most well-known person in the area, a local gardening celebrity, would provide great dividends to my business. The question is how do I get there, so that when local people think of gardening, they think of me first?

If you are wondering something similar, look no further than this book. I've read a few books designed to help you set yourself apart and get recognized, and none of them were as specific and practical as this one. This book takes you step by step through a number of techniques and approaches to become a local celebrity or one in your field, and not only gives you general advice about it, but walks you step by step through some of the common pitfalls and questions you'll encounter through each approach.

I have read it cover to cover once, and have bookmarks through the entire thing - some red (do it now!) and some yellow to remind me to try the steps later. I am thrilled at how down to earth and simple the advice was. I feel like I have someone knowledgeable walking me through these new activities, and it has given me the confidence to go ahead and do some of the steps right away.

I'd recommend this book for business owners, whether you have a three-person company like I do or a larger one - especially if you do any consulting work or work where you need to be respected for your knowledge. It's very helpful.

I bought this book because of its great ratings. After reading it now I actually can't believe that all those reviews are actually from real customers.

The book is written in a very bloated style. It is a good thing when an author makes a dry subject interesting. But Peter Bielagus overdid it in my opinion. While there are some very good and original ideas in the book, they are spread far too thin: My textmarker came to use only every five pages or so - and even then mostly only for one sentence.

The 400 pages of Bielagus' book could easily be condensed down to 80. Even with entertaining examples and stories added the book could at least be half its size.

To be fair I have to say that Bielagus obviously had teenager readers in mind when he wrote the book. I am 25 and I've already read a lot of other books on the subject, so I might just not be the perfect fit. However, neither title nor cover text say anything about this being a book for teenagers. That's why my expectations were quite high - and now I'm quite disappointed with the purchase.

Getting Loaded is packed with practical advice that everyone with an interest in financial stability and independence should be accustomed to. The information is not complicated and represents only a beginner's guide to the financial world, but lack of the the knowledge in this book would leave one with a rather shaky financial foundation.

The chapters include the fundaments of money management, credit, insurance, investing, and the essentials of personal money matters. The content is geared towards a beginner, thus those with general knowledge in these areas will find little new on these topics; however, as an introductory book on personal finance, I would happily recommend this book to anyone including my own child.

This book has been a real eye opener. I should have bought this book years ago! It made me realize that there are other avenues for my money to grow. Very informative and a great resource. I definitely recommend this book!

This is an excellent book. This book is a perfect gift for a recent college graduate. The author explains the basics of personal finance and provides solid advice to someone just starting out. The material is presented in a way that makes it engaging for someone who is not all that interested in finance, saving money, etc.

I've read several books on personal finances that were supposedly for 20 year olds and they were all a bore. Those books either were for 40 year olds or never progressed beyond "How to write a check". But, Peter Bielagus' book is just right.

He addresses all the concerns of a twenty year old and beyond with great advice and humor. Peter shows you how to budget without feeling restricted and frustrated. Getting Loaded explains the stock market in laymen's terms which makes you feel comfortable investing your money. All in all, Getting Loaded is a great book to help you set up your financial future and learn how to get your money to work for you.

College graduates should definitely pick up this book and it's also a great graduation gift. I highly recommend this book, it's a great read!

Erica Asahan wrote:

This book was one of very most informative reference book. It's a must to all that is looking to buy or even refinance their home. It's a little dated, but, it great!

Anyone thinking of buying a house should read this book. It is thousands of dollars worth of advice from an experienced broker for only $13! Randy Johnson gives you all the essential tools and knowledge to make an educated decision about your home and your investment. I'm an MBA grad and a finance professional and found this book offered much info that I had never learned about. Invaluable for anyone - finance professionals or otherwise.

Randy Johnson is the best! He's a friend to you hoping to level the playing field so one gets the best mortgage for oneself - not for the banks or mortgage companies. A truly honest and sincere business man - however that might usually sound like an oxymoron.

I found this book (the first edition) to be informative when I bought my first house.

book good as far as it went. For my purposes the amortization tablez did not go far enough, The tables stopped at $200,.000.00

I read this book when I first started selling books on amazon and I had so many questions. This book answered them all in a simple, direct manner. I have read just about every book that comes out on the subject, and this by far is the most informative and well written. Who cares about the cheap plastic binding? It's the information inside that is important and in this regard, this book is a winner!

I love books and wanted to investigate selling them on Amazon, so I bought this book. It basically gave me everything I needed to know to get started, and the incentive to try. Although I am still very small, just selling a few books a week, I am in the process of building my inventory and have found that Ms. Miller is right - this is a do-able and profitable business and this book was absolutely invaluable in helping me to get started, and I am going to re-read it again as a continuing reference.

Concise and to-the-point. Easy read. Great real-life examples of seller success stories. Chock full of helpful tips and advice to increase your sales and maintain motivation. If you want to be successful selling books, then read this book first. In fact, read it a few times just to be sure the information hits home. You can easily read it in just over an hour or so. Five-star effort all the way! Thanks Christine!

Yes, it's true that Amazon itself does a good job of being user-friendly for sellers, but for new-to-the-business folks like me, this is a terrific guide. It's like hiring a personal trainer who's at your side when you want her. It's like exercise--yes, you can do it all by yourself, but it does help to have that one-on-one expertise.

Miller is organized, clear and concise and, she's got a cheeky sense of humor to relieve tension and remind you that, yes, you can do this and it's going to be fine and it's going to be fun! The format is actually easier to use than a paperback book because I can prop it open on the desk to refresh my memory as I work and for whatever step I'm at: creating an accurate listing, contacting customers, finding tools and services to take it to the next level, and so on. In addition, her insider tips from her years in the business are quite helpful and easy to follow.

This is a particularly helpful first guide and then you can graduate and move onto the more sophisticated and involved stuff. Great investment.

I have been selling books on Amazon for several months now and was looking for a book that could give me a little more expertise and tips on how to be more effective at buying and selling books. I found this book to be mostly information I have read many times before in other places, with very little new useful info for anyone who has been selling for more than a few months. This book has some good information for new book sellers, but you can get 99% of this info by reading the Amazon.com guidelines on selling and reading Michael E. Moulds' blog, both of which are free. If you don't want to spend 30 minutes on Google to get this information for yourself, then this is the book for you. If not, don't waste your money.

It's an easy read from someone with a short attention span. Plain english; a story that just takes you in. I am grateful to Larry for writing this book and sharing that this alternate lifestyle is possible.
It's encouraging me to save more.

I came across this book after thinking about retiring at age 51. It had good reviews so I thought why not. At that time there was none in stock and I had to wait at least 4 weeks to get a hold of a copy. It was definitely worth the wait! I found it to be very encouraging and sensible.
There is a lot to this book that will benefit anybody thinking about retirement now or in the future. Even if you never plan on retiring there is plenty of financial advice that makes it worthwhile. I've read many financial books and the author tells it as good or better than most. He definitely has a knack for writing and can hold your interest while teaching you what real financial planning should be.
I especially liked the window into the author's (Larry Ferstenou) and his wife Kris's life to show how they did it, what retirement is like for them, and what you should plan on in retirement both financially and psychologically.
Definitely worth getting, reading, and then keeping as a reference.

Larry Ferstenou does an excellent job of pulling together many of the things you need to look at when deciding if you can retire young, and what steps you can take to put yourself on that path.

This book was written by someone who practices what he preaches as he was able to retire in his early 40s. He touches on financial issues, social issues (the "work ethic"), and why people work.

Some of the figures he uses in his financial calculation may not apply to your situation, but the concepts likely will.

I would recommend this book to anyone, even if they are not thinking of retiring early.

This book contains a lot of good information, and is well written, so I would recommend it as a great starting point. My only concern is, why was this book written? Did the authors need the money? If that's the case, then you have to look at the title of the book and the advice given with the understanding that the authors needed to work to make their early retirement possible.

My wife and I are very thankful that Larry and his wife Kris took the time to write down the path they took to reach financial freedom in "You Can Retire Young!".

Unlike so many other books written by the so called "experts" (who are still working full-time), Larry and Kris write from their really life experience. This make this book all the more valuable.

I have not found many other books written by ordinary working people who have actually been able to successfully retire early. There are two books referenced in "You Can Retire Young!" written by actual early retirees, but in my opinion, "You Can Retire Young!" is by far the best.

I say this because "You Can Retire Young!" presents very practical steps that can be accomplished at any life stage on our way to retirement.

We purchased "You Can Retire Young!" and have read it twice. And we plan to keep re-reading it along with the notes we have taken plus reading the other books that are referenced until we also are successfully retired young.

We are a 38 years married couple, who by following the steps laid out in this book are much closer to successfully retiring early then before reading it and to us that's priceless.

We wish every reader of this book a successful and early retirement.