Independents Books

I found this book to be one of the most helpful I've ordered in the course of three years of personal research and work with my son. I knew that the school my son attends was using picture schedules, but I had not been able to fully understand the theory and practice of this.

While producing and using a picture schedule can take a great deal of time--training for independence is quite challenging--the book establishes the theory of the practice in plain language. This is definitely a must read for parents and care-givers, including volunteers in church or community child-care or respite programs.

In addition to clear explanation of the theory and use of picture schedules, the images included work to sharpen the concepts--also a plus for those of us are more visually inclined. The tips for starting small and working up, as well as tips for using picture schedules of varying levels of sophistication are also priceless.

I'm using this with some of my other (read neuro-typical) children, and it works beautifully with them, as well. Like signing with your baby, this is a great step in establishing routines and independence in little ones, and even older children.

This book is a must have for anyone wishing to implement an activity schedule. This book was required reading for a teaching children with autism course at UMASS. Not only is it extremely informative, guiding the reader through each detail designing the schedule and implementing the schedule, it is also an easy, quick read that I refer back to often. Additionally, the authors are well published in scientific journals. Great resource for parents, teachers, and professionals.

A great book for teaching life skills to children with autism. Useful for the young and old child, the new and experienced teacher. Very detailed and helpful book.

The goal of raising any child is to guide them into independance, and though many autistic children will never reach complete independance, it remains an important goal. Independance is an important factor in self-esteem and is essential for entering any portion of adult life. I was consistantly frustrated with therapy manuals which required my complete and undivided attention at all times. I'm under no delusion that I will be forever available to my autistic son, and it would be nice for me to feel that he could get up and at least dress himself at some point without my verbally prompting him.

The clear instructions and logical directives in "Activity Schedules for Children with Autism" place it on my 'highly recommended' list. While not a book I would recommend for a parent whose child has been newly diagnosed, I certainly recommend it to those parents with other therapeutic programs already in place. The activity schedules are very easily integrated into existing therapies and school environments, greatly boosting their success. I've also implimented an advanced version of activity schedules, verbally explained, with my five-year-old typical daughter - as a result the morning 'dilly-dallies' and afternoon 'hum-drums' have all but disappeared.

I would recommend that existing image programs be used whenever possible, only to cut down on the time it takes to prepare the schedules. I use Flash! Pro2, which can be found online, though there are many other graphic programs that could be used as well. (As a webmaster I've found that many of the 'web-ready' image collections contained pictures that were appropriate for this program as well as ABA and DTT programs.)

All-in-all, excellent book, flexible program, expertly explained.

This book is necessary for anybody looking to implement or improve an already existing activity schedule. Although McClannahan and Krantz are experts in the field of behavior analysis, they wrote the books so that you don't have to be a near genius I.Q to understand it. The book is perfect for parents and teachers as well as students studying behavior analysis or special education teachers interested in working with autistic children. The first chapter is dedicated to discussing what an activity schedule is and how your child or student will benefit. The subsequent chapter delves into the pre-requisite skills the child will need prior to beginning. The authors explain each pre-requisite skill, why it is necessary and provide examples of each skill. The next few chapters discuss how to implement the activity schedule as well as how to measure progress. They really left nothing out. Toward the end of the book, they explained what to do when the activity schedule is mastered and provided a great deal of detail on the dos and don'ts. It is clear, that the McClannahan and Krantz really want readers to be successful at creating and teaching activity schedules. They have also co-authored Teaching Conversation to Children with Autism, which is also worth checking out. My hats off to them on such an awesome educational easy to read and understand how to book.

This book is scary. The author goes through many case studies and examples of the horrible things we're allowing to happen in our communities --- all in the name of promised "economic growth". I think every city planner should read this book. Anyone interested in saving what's left of our communities should read it. Even if you are skeptical of the author's conclusions, the copious bibliography can point you to the sources of her information and many other articles on the subject.

She sometimes repeats stories in different chapters, which can be annoying. However, I enjoyed reading the book because each time I had a questions, the author would answer it in subsequent paragraphs or chapters.

My copy of this book will be passed around to everyone that I can get to read it.

An absolutely necessity, especially for people living in areas where a new "big box" is being considered.

The intricate financial benefits to the corporation are absolutely staggering.

Everyone loves a bargain, and American consumers seem particularly fond of the bargain-priced imported products available at big-box retailers.

Shopping at big-box retailers for the lowest prices may sometimes save us a bundle, but are there hidden costs? The author makes a convincing case that there are. She explains that by shopping at the big boxes, we are hurting our economy by diverting our dollars from locally-owned businesses to far-away head offices and foreign nations. But, you might ask, if those foreign nations don't in turn buy our goods, what will they buy instead? Will they buy our banks, our communications media, and perhaps our politicians as well? As their influence over our daily lives increases, will they support our democratic traditions?

According to the author, politicians need to stop favoring big-box retailers with unfair subsidies. And they need to stop requiring locally-owned business to foot the tax bill - even as they are forced out of existence. This practice is defeating the kind of small-business entrepreneurial spirit that has long been a pillar of our society. It is also destroying better-paying jobs, while increasing minimum wage employment.

Only concerted public pressure will prompt politicians to enact new laws that will level the playing field, giving small businesses a fighting chance at survival. But in the battle to win hearts and minds of politicians and the public, large corporations have an overwhelming advantage, with their deep pockets, public relations skill, and superior organization.

To be fair, the author should mention that some local retailers could be more competitive - by staying open for evening shopping, and by offering the kind of broad selection and one-stop shopping convenience that many consumers crave, for example.

Thankfully, this book does offer some hope, making plenty of suggestions about how small businesses can compete more effectively.

Regardless of which side of the debate you are on, this book will open your eyes. It is carefully researched, skillfully written, and absolutely fascinating. It will likely arouse your anger. And it may even change the way you shop.

Paul Francis Musgrave, author of Indispensable Marketing Strategies - How to Outwit Your Competition, Attract and Retain Customers, and Multiply Your Profits - Marketing Strategy Secrets for Profitable Small Business Management

This book should be required reading for all elected officials....especially those in city and county government. Mitchell backs up her findings with documented studies. A fascinating look at just how manipulated we are as consumers....and we allow it to happen!

There's one sure-fire way to tell if you'll like this book. If you just love shopping, buying, roaming around, reacting to the price-tags in mamouth-sized stores ... then you'll hate Stacy Mitchell's work. She doesn't have much to say about the big-box stores that's flattering, so you may immediately get defensive if not offended about the way she reveals the "inside baseball" on how the corporate structures of these stores go about their business.

-But going the complimentary route isn't her direction. Author Mitchell takes the mega-retailers to the mat and delivers a carefully thought-out knockout punch to the notion that The Big Box Stores exist for other than their own mega-huge profits. She's put together tough details about the operation of these mammoth stores ... the Walmarts, Targets, Best-Buys, Borders, Walgreen's, Albertson's, among many others ... and tells how and why they control shoppers, communities and local governments. Our eyes bug wide open ... as she explains how the big-box stores' steady growth is not about top-flight business practices or high-quality customer-service in a free marketplace. They get bigger and bigger, Mitchell claims, pretty much because they're already big. -And they all expect to get even larger, stronger and will exert expanded control over consumers, manufacturers, employees, governments, environments.

For instance, Mitchell says, Big-Boxers regularly take over small town business districts and even encroach on established, well-run big-city small businesses. Their local buildup is most always sanctioned by local governments through, among other things, giant tax breaks to these massive companies. -And in the process, they ruin small businesses, eliminate jobs, trample on the environment, and destroy many a long and happy career.

Four stars for this absorbing read (maybe 4½)... but could be five were it not for too often getting bogged down in more retail-detail than we ever want/need to know about. The on-and-on descriptions of operations of the giant stores (in part one) and of the local citizenry who are fighting (in part two) the take-overs and expansions are sometimes enough to make a reader's focus drift and eyes wander.

-But, what's not to like about a book that tries to objectively reveal the retail smoke and mirrors that's going on all around us...and the behind-the-scenes action of local citizens trying to put a stop to the bigger-n-bigger-big-box frenzy? There are few reasons not to appreciate this incredibly informative book about the sometimes-daft shopping culture we live in ... unless, of course, you're interested in nothing more than scouting out the latest big-box "New Low Price."

I didn't buy this book, but got it in one of microsoft press' books' cd I've bought. I think it is the 70-350 training kit book.
This guide, which I have only in pdf, is a very useful guide to network admnistrators, devepers and designers. It gives you the exactly information you need about any network protocols, technologies and systems in a short look up.
It's not a networking course, it's a consultant guide. If you don't know about what networking is and how networks work, don't purchase this item, instead, try buying another book. However, if you are a network professional, order it now, because it's helpful when you are learning something new and need explanation about any network protocol. For instance, you are trying to implement VPN in your environment and, suddenly face with the L2TP word. You go to the M.S. ENC. NETWORKING and look for L2TP. The book will show you a clear understandable explanation of how L2TP works and where to find it.
I hope to have helped you.

I love books like this! This guide has every network reference you can think of. If you are any kind of network administrator, you'll want a complete reference on your desk. When you were in school, you'd have to grab Webster's daily to complete projects or double-check your own work. Well...now that you've graduated into the Geek world, you need your own Geekified Webster's. I use this reference daily to look up terms I've always talked about, but not quite understood completely. And, believe it or not (OK, I'm a Geek, too), I'll sit in bed and just browse the text from time-to-time, picking up something new every time I crack the book.

If you're looking for information on network types, architectures, hardware, technologies, protocols, concepts, tools, services and/or software, you have to run right out and purchase this book.

This is probably the most comprehensive book on the market today that covers the A-Z of Microsoft networking. This book is a great addition to any technical school library or any administrator's bookshelf. Would-be MCSE's will greatly benefit from this book.

Not only is it easy to navigate, filled with diagrams, tables and great screenshots, each entry in the encyclopedia has an abundance of easy to read in-depth technical information as well as references to other relevant entries.

I particularly appreciate the CD-ROM that I can take with me when I travel and search when I'm in a hurry.

Not only are networking terms covered in this book, but hardware, platforms, standards, disaster recovery components and essentially every reference you will ever need for the industry has been documented and alphabetically sorted in this book. One of the things that impressed me the most about this book is that the descriptions are not Webster-like. In fact if you look up "shared folder permissions" you will find 3 pages and six diagrams that provide not only a definition, but a practical guide for application as well. For example; what permissions are more restrictive, how the permission changes are applied for several different operating systems ranging from Windows 98 and ME to Windows XP and .NET Server, default permissions, application of permissions to groups and even the implications of an NTFS partition.

The part that earned my respect as a seasoned consultant was the inclusion of wireless networking terms and standards. Recently, I have been involved in several writing projects and need to know a little about everything in order to provide my readers with peripheral information about a particular subject. Not only was I able to find information on the 802.11 standard, but the Tullocks' also included information on the variants including the 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.15 standards. In fact, there are nearly twenty pages of wireless protocol and support information. In addition, subjects such as Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) is covered and explained as is frequency hopping and spread spectrum. I certainly did not plan on finding those examples, diagrams and explanations. I found the same level of detail when I needed to search for information on public key cryptography. A detailed description of the different types of keys is provided as is the components that make up the environment and cross-references to certificate authorities, encryption, SSL and digital certificates including X.509 information. There is enough information on PKI that any reader could not only understand but know enough to be able to identify components and talk intelligently on the subject.

Another important aspect of networking that I did not expect to see is the networking commands and tools. For example, all the TCP/IP commands such as tracert, ping, route, rcp, rexec and tftp are defined and explained. UNIX commands are also defined and explained as are Windows 2000, XP and .NET Server commands. Detailed NET commands for Windows networking are also described and explained from NET ACCOUNTS to NET VIEW. For the most part, the commands that received the most attention in this book are Microsoft networking related, but considerable energy was spent in defining and explaining commands from other networking operating systems including UNIX. In addition, information about Apache and Linux is included as are many pages on NetWare and NDS subjects.

Aside from the many topics that I did not expect to see in the book, the topics that should be included in a networking encyclopedia are all there and in great detail. Just about every hardware element from cables and how to build a cross-over cable to fiber-optic, fibre channel, hubs switches and even routing protocols are covered and explained so that the reader can quickly see the benefits and drawbacks of each technology. It would almost seem that an entire section was dedicated to subnetting as page after page is used to explain and detail how and why subnetting is used and implemented. Many tables are provided to explain the relation between the mask and the number of subnets and hosts. The novice should immediately understand the implications of subnetting while the die-hards will refer to the section as a reference.

I must admit some degree of skepticism when I heard about this book. There are already so many good network reference books on the market why would I be interested in one from Microsoft? It's surely going to be biased right?

However, Mitch Tulloch is a respected contributor to the myITforum.com web-site, so, casting caution to the wind, I dove in.

What I discovered is a reference book that is very different than the others gathering dust on my shelf. The language is clear and concise. The graphs are superb. It is well organized. Moreover it it's actually a delight - no, FUN - to read!

While there is a slight Microsoft "bent" to the content it is only to answer the reader's question in a practical way if they are engaged in Microsoft Networking. For example it will define "grep", give you a UNIX example and then explain how to layer in and use grep in a Windows NT/2000/.NET setting.

I have shown this book to my colleagues at work and they are equally impressed with it. It's a "keeper"!

You may have other computer reference books but I would rate this book as one of the few "gotta haves".

I had no idea that war was so complicated. That shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who happens to be in the military, when you're considering that this review is written by a civilian... one who's closest encounter with the military has been that of watching war movies, playing the occasional military themed game, and of course the time I got to fire off various pieces of military hardware when I was living in the Philippines.

I always thought that it was pretty black and white, I didn't realize there were so many gray zones when it came to the military.

Particularly when it comes to the fact that, if even 10% of what was hinted at in the book Outsourced was true, that the US military, nay the US government has gone into using mercenary companies to bolster the amount of troops that they actually have on the ground at the moment.

In order to circumvent the laws passed by congress.

Now, again, if even a fraction of the things hinted at in the novel are true, then Mercenary companies are becoming a pretty major player in the military world, and that there is a great deal of money to be made by these companies across the globe, wherever there are hotspots that the US military happen to be involved in.

It certainly opened my eyes when it comes to what is happening behind the scenes.

Now, for the review. As per usual, I will not give out any spoilers that one can't find out on their own by reading the back cover of the novel. I hate ruining things for people.

The novel, written by R. J. Hillhouse in short, is about a mercenary outfit working in Iran for the government, acting as support for the troops, and taking on independent missions for cash.

Enter Camille Black, the head of a major player in the Mercenary Outsourcing world. She has been hired by the CIA to track down her former lover, who was supposed to have died several years before, and kill him.

It's a novel about betrayal, secrets, terrorism, and subterfuge. Oh, and of course Mercenary companies hired by the U.S. Government to do things that they don't want the public to discover.

And about the fighting between the different companies for contracts and sources.

Overall, it was a very well written novel, with plenty of action to keep the most adventure hungry reader satisfied.

The descriptions and the characters were well constructed, although at times I found several of the characters in the novel to be too cliché.

One thing that really stuck out about the novel and something that really bothered me was how the main character acted at times. I swear to go she was schizophrenic. It was as if she couldn't make up her mind about a certain character.

I can't go into too much detail as it would be considered a fairly major spoiler, and as I have stated, I don't like to spoil things for potential readers.

The overall plot wasn't that difficult to follow, and even though there were some minor side plots, it all meshed together smoothly.

The thing is, I can't say how much of the plot happens in the real world, and I never will be able to say... you know, the bit about the U.S. Government outsourcing to mercenary companies to bolster the troops in the Middle East and Afghanistan, using them to conduct `black' operations that would drag people through the mud if it was ever found out, that sort of thing.

But, it read like it was all true, and felt very real as I devoured page after page. Even the location descriptions were very well done.

It wasn't a super novel, but it was definitely worth reading, even if just to open your eyes to the whole Mercenary world that exists - or could exist.

3.5 out of 5.

What have we got ourselves into? The privatization schemes of Milton Friedman have led us to a return to a feudal world of private armies. The U.S. militias are too similar to the militias that exist around the world. I am not sure how we are going to get out of this mess, but Hillhouse describes it well. Fits in with Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.

Read "Outsourced" because R.J. Hillhouse demonstrates how the current practice of outsourcing intel and military ops to private business plays out. She demonstrates what it means that 70% of operations in Iraq are carried out by private corporations instead of the U.S. Armed Forces and the CIA.

Be patient because the author, a Political Scientist, is no novelist. Be patient because you will find neither rich and subtle characterization nor beautiful style. Let the rapid action and intrigue pull you into a world that most of us have never and will never experience.

Your patience will be rewarded because you will understand why the U.S. Government does not really control the military actions being carried out in its name. You will see how private ops corporations serve their own interests; how they take care of their own before considering the goals of the elected government. You will also see how easily competition for rich government contracts leads to corruption. You will also contemplate how outsourcing can undermine the concept of the public good.

I just finished reading "Outsourced". GREAT BOOK! I was impressed with the depth of knowledge and reserch R.J. Hillhouse put into this book. It gave me a lot to think about when it comes to our government and the freedom we take for granted. There are huge prices that are paid, with so many we will never know about. The story let you see a true possible senerio that real people can go through in the day to day situations that come in times of war. It is not a blanket story that is reported a lot of times by the media or by the government. It sparked a deeper interest in our government for me, and opened up a bounty of questions.
The lead character being a strong woman with brains is brilliant! I like to see that women can be portrayed as they truely can be.
I definately recommend this book. You won't be able to put it down. I will problably read it again. I can't say that for too many books I have read.
I have also read her first book, "Rift Zone". Totally different then this one but nonetheless a great book to read.

I keep recommending this book to people. I can't speak highly enough about it. Although it starts off a little rough (there are a lot of characters to keep track of), the book found its footing around page 60 and stayed good for the remainder. It's as fast-paced as "24," but with more realism. Interspersed throughout various chapters are media quotes that relate to the events being fictionally portrayed in the book, giving the reader an education in addition to entertainment. At the end, there is even a section called "The Facts Behind the Fiction."

"Outsourced" is a great story overall; plenty of action, espionage, location changes, and even a little romance here and there.

There are a variety of approaches to starting a Research Business, and this book simply does little justice to providing business-smart content for doing just that. If you want to embark into a research business on your own, this might give you a vision but it will certainly not give you the business smarts you need to really start and manage your new business. Best to look into resources on starting a consulting business and other resources about starting any business.

Best of luck.

- Dissapointed

I bought this book hoping for tips on research, and I got what I wanted. I was also impressed by how this book was organized. It contains a LOT of information, and it seems to me that this information is all relevant and useful. If finding information and doing research is part of your career, this would be a good book to have. I'd also recommend it for people who are likely to hire information professionals.

Mary Ellen Bates has created a very well-written, informative work that covers all of the salient aspects of starting one's own information services business - including those that someone looking into the field would never even think to ask about. Ms. Bates' writing style has a personal feel that is at the same time very professional. Her personality as a no-nonsense, savvy, and yet friendly information services professional comes across on every page.

The book really covers two important but somewhat distinct skill sets: how to start and run a successful business and how to be a successful information services professional. Ms. Bates' apt writing style weaves these two elements together quite seamlessly.

I suggest reading "Building & Running a Successful Research Business" cover to cover before spending your time reading any one of the more generic books available on the topics of how to find information online or how to conduct research. Once you have covered all of the bases with Ms. Bates' work, it would then be prudent to pick up some of these other works to dive more deeply into the areas where you need additional support.

Mary Ellen Bates is an internationally-known presenter on business information and research topics, however in this book she talks not about where to find information, but about how to build a business doing just that. The book is practical, inspiration, and actionable, but also makes it clear that the life of an information entrepreneur is not for everyone. A great resource for those considering this career path, or those already in it who need a bit of professional, albeit friendly, coaching.

So many "how to" books are filled with airy reiterations of the obvious or catchy but useless "10 Ways to..." Build and Running a Successful Research Business, on the other hand, is dense, useful, funny, insightful, honest and inspirational. A true page-turner in a genre that so rarely sees this caliber of writing or thought.

While some of the material is fiction, he has in fact got an overall grasp on much of the culture of the USMS. I know because I have been there/done that.

Deadly Force was a great book. It takes you through what a United States Marshal goes through everyday. You get to read about the stakeouts, arrests, raids, etc. It is a good book if you are looking for something a little suspenseful and fun to read.

But it's not. Fascinating look at the system's hunters. The only drawback is that the author sometimes leads you to action, only to cut away and never fully answers your questions. A good read.

After a promising start this book gets boring and confusing fast. Every chapter you have to figure out where you are, what year it is and who is in the scene. The reference at the beginning of each chapter is helpful but with the constant jumping around there is no continuity and you get lost too easily. If you can get past the first 3/4 of the book the last 1/4 is fairly good.

Carsten Stroud has never been a historian or a documentarian, but he admits this. His objective is to capture the sights and sounds of an area, event, profession. His writing style is very dramatic but readable. There is nothing melodramatic or corny about his works. Somehow he always manages to hit the nail on the head. The reader is left thinking, "Yeah, that's right. That's what it's like." or, "Damm that's the truth. That's why I'm a cop or a soldier". So to use the overworked phrase - Stroud's books are very truthful. Deadly Force takes you into not only the world of the Marshals, but the world of the fugitive. And the end result is that you're glad those fellas are out there doing the job. I recommend all of Stroud's books. Deadly Force isn't his best work, but it's still right up there.He lacks Clancey's verbosity which I find to be a relief. It keeps your attention and it has some very suspenseful moments. Some nice attention to details as well, though there are some technical errors I found them to be forgiveable. Good book. Give it a chance.

I try to read only filmmaking books that actually have real world advice and this one does. Simple, to the point and still very interesting. A great read that lays out the nuts and bolts of the best way to approach the low budget filmmaking world. Inspiring as well!

Just when you think it can't be done, John Gaspard comes along and proves you wrong. All of us scared, penniless, aspiring filmmakers can take comfort in the knowledge that all those household names who came before us started out scared and penniless too. With a breezy, unpretentious style, Gaspard introduces us to an array of shoestring auteurs recounting their experiences on the fringes of Hollywood. It's like an all-night gab fest hosted by your favorite college professor.

How low-budget can you go?

Pretty low, or so you'll discover in FAST CHEAP & UNDER CONTROL. You'll also learn how some very good films were made on a shoestring. For everyone who wants to make art without breaking the bank, John Gasper's book is worth every penny.

All film makers have eyes that are bigger than their budgets. That's OK for Spielberg and Scorcese, but Credit Card Filmmakers need this guide to rein in their appetites and make films that don't run away from them.
This simple and sensible book injects reality into the process and helps any filmmaker prevent their film from becoming a money pit. Lessons like those in this book are cheap at ten times the price.

John Gaspard's FAST CHEAP & UNDER CONTROL tells how to stretch production dollars, handle tight budget constraints, and get the most from personnel and props to create a memorable film production. Lessons from low-budget mavericks serve as foundations for duplicating success, with descriptions covering everything from dealing with written scripts and hidden improvisation potentials to previewing results and achieving memorable films even when poor. An outstanding recommendation and a 'must' for any serious film library holding, promising lasting lending value.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

The Independent Filmmaker's Guide to Writing a Business Plan for Investors

An absolute fundamental reference for rookie Independent Filmmakers. Not only does it aide in developing an impressive business plan, but with a detailed examples it suggests how to make it a plan of action. A must read for all Independent Filmmakers.

Infused with real-world examples and humor and just a little Hollywood edge, Campisi takes you through (from a to z) how to prepare a business plan for investors that even a film-world neophyte can understand and learn from. It's not easy to have your pie-in-the-sky ideas shot down, if you were thinking in vague terms of what a business plan should be. But over and over enthusiasm for the indie newbee and a you-can-do-this attitude make rolling up your sleeves to do the hard work you need to do to wade into the choppy waters film finance, not as hard as you think. I'm using it like a bible right now,as I step into those choppy waters myself and need to catch that Campisi life-preserver he throws into the current now and then. Watery metaphors aside, I highly recommend this book. Besides the appendix rocks with a distilation of the book into a business plan - its worth it to work your way through the book, just for the appendix.

The first thing you notice when you read Mr. Campisi's book is how well written it is. As a writer myself that means I will inherently respect this author and truly absorb what I am reading. Now, I must be honest, this is the kind of book that has always intimidated me, that I tend to shy away from - for I'm not exactly what one would call a natural with regard to matters of finance (as is my screenwriting partner who 'gets' this stuff quite easily). So it was rather pleasing to read this book and actually comprehend what Mr. Campisi was saying. He informs the reader without being condescending. He instructs without being pedantic. The second thing you notice is the warmth and humor: the book is actually fun to read. The cold, complex and harsh worlds of finance and Hollywood are anything but inviting and amusing yet Mr. Campisi manages to embroider his sage advice and interviews with charm and an eloquence that confidantly invites the reader in and says, "Hey, learn from me... I went through this too, you can do this... if you want... if you work hard... IF you are willing to take the time to learn and dispense with the pretense and attitude that will surely drive investors away." My writing partner and I recently decided we wish to produce our first project. We might not have made that choice to produce ourselves were it not for becoming familiar with this well-organized, smartly written book and its knowledgeable author. This is recommended reading for any first time indie film producer who dares to dream, who dares to ponder swimming in those frigid, uncharted waters of the industry. Don't be afraid to jump in - this book is a terrific vessel to get you ashore. The Sample Indie Business Plan alone is worth the money.

I was extremely disappointed in this book. It told me nothing I didn't already know and nothing that isn't available in numerous other books of the same subject matter. Considering the nearly $ 40 price, I thought I was getting a definitive book on the subject matter and I would hardly call it that. Oh but the cover is beautiful. Smart marketing.

This book has two sections: the first outlines the requirements of a business plan, and the second is a sample business plan, with the intention that you copy it and fill in the blanks.

The first section is very helpful in giving you an overview of what is expected in a business plan, and why. Most crucially, it gets you thinking about your investor and what they are looking for from the deal. Many projects that reach the business-plan stage fail because they to not acknowledge the business element of filmmaking, but focus on the artistic merits of the project. In reading the first section, you'll gain a good understanding of the steps to present your project to an investor. A slight weakness of this is the presumption that you'll have an army of entertainment lawyers to complete the funding process. This is advisable, but not always the case.

The second section, however, is where the book falls short. Reading through the business plan, it is laborious in its repetition - while there is a need to restate some facts or intentions, this plan goes overboard. It is also quite poorly structured: for example, half the plan is an overview of the filmmaking process that assumes your investor knows nothing about film. This information should be in an appendix - an investor should not have to wade through 20 pages of this before reaching the numbers and projections they're really interested in.

In summary, this is a good guide to the realities of presenting your project to investors, but it doesn't deliver as well on that promise as it could. Still a worthwhile read and a useful addition to any low- to mid-level filmmaker's bookshelf.

This is a well-organized, very readable text for anyone who is considering the realm of independent business consulting. The book's coverage is comprehensive enough to allow the reader to develop a checklist of preparatory actions. The author is pretty good about not delving into too much detail-- especially where legal and accounting matters are concerned-- so that the reader at least knows where to go for more details.

The down side is that the contents focus on computer and information systems consulting. The tips and refernce suggestions are sometimes specific to that sector and not of use outside those industries. Also, the binding of my soft-cover version was defective. Almost every other page was not securely glued to the spine, making for a sloppy page-turning experience.

But overall, this was a worthwhile purchase.

This book is okay. But, I have used "Strategic Organizational Change" by Beitler as a reference guide in my work as an organizational change consultant. It is full of checklists, examples, etc. Beitler captures 25 years of experience in one book!

In Successful Independent Consulting: Turn Your Career Experience Into A Consulting Business, Douglas Florzak draws upon his considerable experience and professional skills to create a practical, informative, "reader friendly" guide providing professionals in any field with a detailed "how to" plan for setting up and maintain a consulting business. Florzak explores the types of consulting work available, how to create a business plan, set up an office, and surveys the issues of contracts, law and taxes, fees, basic record keeping, retirement fund and insurance selection, and even offers marketing tips for utilizing the Internet. Successful Independent Consulting is further enhanced with a recommended list of resources for independent consultants and worksheets to help launch and maintain a consulting business. If you are contemplating becoming a career of professional consultation in your chosen field, begin with a thorough reading of Douglas Florzak's Successful Independent Consulting.

This is an excellent guide for anyone new to starting independent consulting and a good refresher to established consultants. After going through several similar books, this one, by far, is the best written, most helpful of the lot. He guides you through basic and more advanced steps in making your idea a reality in a clear, concise, and "user friendly" way. His approach is realistic and not stuck in the mundane as so many other "start your own business" books seem to be. While another book insults your intelligence by emphasizing the importance of street lighting for your new office (no kidding!) or devotes boring paragraphs on the evolution of their own business card logos, this author guides the novice entrepreneur effectively and intelligently from concept to practice. This book is highly recommended for professionals who do not have a background in business and who find "business speak" confusing and want a cogent initial guide. So if you are thinking of expanding your career path through independent consulting, and if you think "starship" when someone says "Enterprise," then you need this book to start thinking clearly about your new endeavor.

"Successful Independent Consulting" is the goal of my Entrepreneurship class, so the book of the same name by Douglas Florzak is a natural choice for my class text.

Mr. Florzak is a technical communicator himself, which matches the background and aspirations of a majority of my students. The examples provided in the book are the same situations found by all aspiring business owners, so the students find the reading interesting, relevant and practical. Most of my students are working adults who are studying for their Masters, and most have not done any prior consulting nor have they owned and operated their own business. The book provides a natural bridge for them, as the author explains how he transitioned from corporate `security' to the riskier world of independent consulting.

I teach in the Technical Communication program at the Illinois Institute of Technology; one of my classes is Entrepreneurship for Technical Communicators. To support the overall goal of successful independent consulting, we teach two main content areas: business planning and consulting skills. "Successful Independent Consulting" supports both areas, and we also use Peter Block's text "Flawless Consulting" for additional perspectives on consulting skills needed for large projects.

What Students Want to Learn

When you ask graduate students to list, as I do, what they hope to learn about starting and operating their own consulting business, you get a list of questions that correlates highly with the book's table of contents.
* How do I decide to start my own business? (See chapters 1-3 on why and when you might want to go independent, and how to leverage your current skills to get started.)
* What research do I have to do to on my business idea? What do I need to do to get financing? (See chapter 4 regarding the components of a business plan, and chapter 5 on the setting of rates.)
* What do I need to do to help ensure long term success? (See chapters 10-14 on marketing activities and the marketing plan, and chapter 17 on the delivery of services.)
* Do I need a lawyer? An accountant? (See chapters 6, 7, 8, 15 and 16 which cover legal entities, tax issues, record keeping, insurance, retirement funding, and contracts.)

In addition to the straightforward advice regarding business operations, the author also contributes to the consulting side of the equation. In one section, he reviews the characteristics of successful independent consultants, and then provides a discussion on how to assess your own qualifications as a consultant. A separate chapter is used to discuss the setting of rates, which addresses competitive research, types of rates for agency and your own projects, and projecting revenue to build a cash flow projection and therefore decisions regarding expenses.

Why You Will Like the Book Too

The biggest benefit for me from using the text is its approach to the business planning process. Some students need a business plan just for the planning exercise, so they are shown how to capture the spirit of their business through the coordinated use of vision, strategy, services/product, and marketing. Other students will be going to the bank or a venture capitalist for initial funding, and the business plan is the first step in that direction. While there are many business planning resources available, Mr. Florzak's compact and practical approach works well in the non B-school environment of our department. Through an example and a series of worksheets, the reader is led through the business planning process, shown how the spirit of the business is tied to the financials and operations through market analysis, competitor analysis, and cash flow projections.

As you can see from my comments here, I find many reasons, as an instructor, to like this book. The best recommendation, however, is reserved for my students: they rate it as easy to read and extremely relevant to their work. They are always positive when referring to the text.

Every so often a known concept is re-invented and served with a new garnish on a new plate. The environment of sudden public attention fertilized with ignorance breeds enormous hype, which in turn makes air so thick that you hardly can hear the voice of reason. This environment morphs the concept into something so vague and different from the original that only sales people feel comfortable talking about it. I believe this has happened to the SOA concept.

In this world of insanity, it is paramount to find islands of logic and reason that can teach and validate a hype-free understanding of the issues. Sources like ZapThink and Gartner have been very helpful, but "Understanding SOA with Web Services" is truly indispensable in putting everything in the right perspective. I bought the book primarily because one of the authors, Greg Lomow, wrote of one of my favorite books, "C++ FAQs", which I also strongly recommend to anyone who enjoys learning about new ideas and observations.

The book draws a conceptual and architectural views of SOA and its implementation using WebServices standards' stack. It covers not just history and latest developments on the subject, but also hints on the future directions. Just like "C++ FAQs", this book focuses on the core understanding of the issues, and on pros and cons of technologies and standards. But most important and enjoyable to me is its language of reason. Reading it simply makes me feel good!

I'm back here to purchase my 6th copy of this book, and 7th of Newcomer's earlier book ("Understanding Web Services"), as they are becoming compulsory reading in my division of a large and highly influential Financial Services technology player.

Newcomer and Lomow have done an outstanding job of putting a pragmatic, business and user-focused face on a field that is often either over-hyped, or too focused on technology for technology's sake. That is not to say that they only address the business-heads in this book (far from it - Newcomer in particular has been deeply involved in Web services technology and standards development since the very beginning, and this depth of knowledge of the technology is evident throughout), it is just that their discussion of the technology, even at its most abstract is easy to follow and well grounded in real-world benefits.

Rarely will you find a technical book written in such an approachable tone. Even more rarely will it cover the technology with the breadth and depth that these two industry luminaries demonstrate.

I have been working on the cutting edge of Web services and Mobile Web services for about five years, but was pleasantly surprised to find many new and refreshing insights and invaluable examples based on the real-world experience of the authors.

Perhaps the real value of this book, though, is demonstrated by my recent experience - When I show a copy to a senior manager they come back a few days later and ask me to get more copies. When I show a copy to a technical colleague, I have to fight to get it back!

Buy this book.

This is one of the main books I recommend to clients on SOA and Web Services. Several parts of the book that stand out from what I have seen in the rest of the field including the section on Advanced Messaging and Transactions. The work is particularly strong in the "why are we here and how did we get here" with regard to web service evolving from various technologies like MQ, Tx systems, and mainframes, and describes where Web services has advantages and disadvantages over those technologies in a non-religious format. In Chapter 3, for example, MQ, CORBA, and XML web Services are compared across a set of criteria including: service contracts, data management, registration and discovery, security, interaction patterns, communication, and QoS. These objective analyses are some of the most valuable resources in the book, because when looking at Web Services' integration it helps the architect see where the strengthes and weaknesses lie.

The only nit is section on security is good by normal programming books standards, but more emphasis on the gaps in the standards would be useful, for example input validation, and security exceptions which are a fact of life in distributed security, but are not dealt with by standards are not covered.

This book describes what gaps SOA/Web Services address and why, where the technology is going, and what you can do about it today. Very valuable.

This book is really good at distilling the web services standards down to the core essentials - what are the most important things to know and more importantly, where the specifications still have room for improvement. So if you would prefer to save yourself a lot of time wading through specs in order to be able to hold your own in front of the whiteboard (or keyboard) there is no better book than this. What I like most about Eric's books is they are always written in a very honest and straightforward manner and they are obviously informed by years of real world experience - in other words basically the opposite of a David Linthicum book.

Firstly this book is an excellent compliment to Eric's other book: Understanding Web Services. Definitely worth reading that one as well (it doesn't really make a difference which order).

This book is a great introduction to the differences between SOA and Web Services. Too many other books tie these two concepts together as though SOA didn't exist before Web Services. SOA had been around for a long time prior to Web Services, which is simply one way of doing SOA. In this book you don't really get into the meat of Web services until page 100, which is the way it should be: the authors lay the groundwork for a concrete realisation of SOA by going into detail about what SOA is, how it's important and how to plan for it within an organisation.

I found the book a very easy read, which is important for this subject: the architectural principles behind this stuff aren't rocket science, but too often other texts dive straight into specifications/standards and blind you with Three Letter Acornyms. The authors of this book build up the book in a way which flows naturally and each chapter delivers on technical and business-oriented rationals.

Summary: if you're looking for a good text on what SOA is, what it means to you as an architect or as a business, and how Web Services may fit into that picture, then don't hesitate to get this book.