My Buy Essay

Posts Tagged ‘book review’

The Frugal Book Promoter &ndash How to do What Your Publisher Won’t is the third book written by author Carolyn Howard &ndashJohnson, but by far &ndash it is not the last. Already she is planning on releasing a book of poetry. The Frugal Book Promoter has won the USA Book News award for Best Book 2004, and has also been an Irwin Award winner.

For Dave and I, the promotion of our two books and promoting the upcoming e-book has been an uphill battle. Intensive research on our part for more than three years has prepared us for most of the work, and because of this research and hands-on experience I found very little in this book that was actually new to me. I also found it somewhat lacking in areas that could have used more attention, such as its organization.

Carolyn’s sentence structure and grammar use was confusing and frustrating at times for me to read. There was also repetitive use of information and examples, which I found a bit redundant. Personally, I would have preferred another method of organization for the book. For instance, there are many aspects of reviews, but I felt all of these should be discussed in one chapter rather than scattered throughout the book. While few links on the site were new to me, of the dozen or so that I tried one or two were no longer active. This is no fault of the author, however, and is due solely to the ever-changing Internet.

However, I was reminded of some weak areas in our marketing plan and was given some incentive for those areas I am about to broach in our schedule. I appreciated many of the links that I discovered and have had excellent responses from them.

Overall, I think The Frugal Promoter is a book that reads like you are sitting across from the author having a discussion. This is an aspect of the writing style that I certainly enjoyed. It could be considered a useful beginner’s tool that would save time by providing links, basic promotion options to choose from and several marketing ideas that are outside the norm.

ISBN#: 1-932993-10-X

Author: Carolyn Howard-Johnson

Publisher: Star Publish

Published: 2004

Pages: 288

Marshall Frank, author of six books, has proved an exceptional ability to write absorbing who-dun-it’s time and time again. According to his website he is able to do this by embellishing on real life experiences during his 30-year career investigating homicides in the Miami-Dade region of Florida. In doing so he creates a realistic, action-packed, suspenseful detective story with his recent release, The Latent &ndash a fiction novel, that I found difficult to put down.

The Latent focuses on one main character – the completely stressed out, heart-broken police investigator, Rock Burgamy. Haunted by a childhood experience and the loss of his young son, Rock battles an inclination to numb his sorrow and stress with booze. And these are not his only secrets. Twice divorced, Rock is slammed regularly with alimony and child support payments for his two other children. In order to keep up with it all, Rock must take as much overtime as possible. Unfortunately, with all of this happening at once, he delves further and further into the bottle. But he is a good man, a stubborn man who will not let a case go unsolved without giving it his all &ndash even if it means his life or sacrificing love.

A chain of gay men killings appear to have a connection and over-worked Burgamy is assigned the case. Plots thicken as the investigation deepens and poor Burgamy walks into several situations that set him up for a fall so big that he cannot get out alone.

Fantastic and intriguing insight into the underground street-sex establishments is only one of the many angles in this book. Problems within the police department from budget constraints and personal temptations to office politics is another. I am confident that The Latent will take readers inside this dark and dangerous world so smoothly that everything else fades away unnoticed.

ISBN#: 1-4137-9890-x

Author: Marshall Frank

Publisher: Publish America

Published: 2006

What’s it Like Being You? &ndash Living Life as Your True Self is co-written by John Roger and Paul Kaye, who have collaborated previously on another book. Both of these authors are successful and sought-after lecturers, educators and best-selling authors in the self-help and spirituality genres.

This 184-page non-fiction book is jammed packed with helpful commentary that readers can use in their own lives to change their attitude towards themselves. By doing this, we can learn more about our purpose in life, attain more energy and a positive outlook in every moment of every day.

The heavy, durable cover is designed with large inner flaps that can easily serve as bookmarks. To help readers through the ongoing challenges to attain peace within themselves and in their lives, the authors have provided us with an inspirational meditation CD of just over 45 minutes in length.

In all, I felt a kin-ship with many parts of What’s it Like Being You? . In fact, it was like the authors had read my book of poetry (Towards Understanding) and translated it for me. I was able to see the journey I have been on from a different angle and I found this comforting.

Certainly, this book has provided helpful advice that will aide me in tuning out the noise and stresses of the world and focus on what this life &ndash each moment of every day &ndash brings forth.

ISBN#: 1-89020-25-8

Authors: John Roger and Paul Kaye

Publisher: Mandeville Press

Published: Nov. 2004

Wooffer is a collection of thirty-three short animal-adventure children stories originally written by Betty Fasig for her family. The center character is Wooffer, a hairy dachshund puppy that “mom”, the author, receives as a surprise Xmas gift from her fun-loving family.

A host of animals grace the pages of Wooffer, including Old Agnes the mouse, thoughtful and protective Margaret the hen, Marygrey the pregnant rabbit, a proud and endearing peacock named Cho Lee who loves to strut his stuff and falls in love with a quail, and best friends Ibie the Ibis and Maudie the horse.

The stories are thoughtfully placed in chronological order, right down to the season. It even includes a Xmas story! This is a book about a puppy that changes the opinions of those around him, wins hearts and becomes a reliable, heroic friend. Wooffer earns respect from all the animals for miles around and becomes a bit of a legend by the time he grows up.

Generally warm, fun and light-hearted, Wooffer also tackles real-life issues from moving, loneliness, gaining respect, discerning truth from what one is told, getting lost, overcoming bullies and more.

Having spent a few years on a farm in my youth, I see germs of truth in the animal relationships and can verify the strange and wonderful bonds that happen between species. The epilogue provides a nice closure by revealing how all the animals still return to the same area annually and spend time with Wooffer and his friends discussing the old times and having new adventures.

Inserted occasionally are several adorable amateur drawings of life and adventures on the farm that are sure to entertain children. The cover is a photograph of the inspiration for the main character &ndash the author’s dog – which gives a more realistic feel to the book than a characterization or drawing could have done.

The book’s underlying theme is that no matter how small a person may think they are, or how small of a thing they may do &ndash they can make a difference to the lives of those around them. And this is an encouraging thought.

Wooffer is an excellent book for bedtime stories, but will be best enjoyed when reading to groups of children. Written in such a way that the reader can easily characterize the animals and situations with their voice, the book is sure to bring giggles of joy to groups of children. As such, I think Wooffer would be an excellent addition to the bookshelves of libraries, schools, daycare centers and the like.

ISBN#: 1-4137-5587-9

Author: Betty Fasig

Publisher: Publish America