Critiques
Rules For Revolutionaries par Guy Kawasaki
APE is overwhelmingly a guide to the world of self-publishing, but large sections of the book are thoughtful meditations on the nature of publishing, on defining oneself as an author, and what makes a successful book. One doesn’t need to fully agree with everything Kawasaki says in order to enjoy his thoughts on reading, writing, and publishing.
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While I downloaded the Kindle version, the paperback version weighs in at 208 pages. In 19 chapters, Kawasaki provides a great primer on Google . The book is a quick read but provides a wealth of information gleaned from his personal experience. It was fun to read a book written by someone who so thoroughly enjoyed his topic. Read more
Watching scared cows being slaughtered is always a great pleasure, and with one gormless platitude or another garrotted every sentence or two, this book is a joy to read. And it's short too.
Read it twice.
I have recently switched to Twitter and am happy with that change. I’d like to figure out how to use it, particularly for personal marketing and network, and this book teaches me how to do it better.
Kawasaki and Fitzpatrick are big names in the arena of social media. They’ve experimented with social media platforms extensively and have learned to “game” the system for the purposes of business. They share their wisdom in this book.
Of course, social media is a changing thing. This book was written five years ago, and the algorithms continue to change. Nonetheless, most of their advice still rings true to my experience. This book is packaged into 12 chapters and 123 digestible tips. Each tip is explored in a few paragraphs.
The audience of people who long to have a more expansive social-media presence should read this book. Of course, much of the landscape (and much of the gains) have already went to the early birds. Nonetheless, the new format is with us to stay.
Guy delivers on the promise in the title. Power tips for Power users. Much to absorb and use for increasing positive visibility of a business or organization.
The book consists of vignettes, rambling from topic to topic, sometimes repetitive or disjointed, often sarcastic, full of insights, at times quite intimate, at other times quite brash and smart-alecky. It “reads” like I was sitting beside the author with him reminiscing. The book is full of white space and replete with personal scrapbook-like insertions of photos, past speeches which were given, and rambling, personal, at times intimate stories. He even includes contributions from his children whom he clearly loves deeply.
The author is at times witty, brash, brutally candid, wacky, playful, and self-deprecating. Incorporated throughout the book are wide-ranging boxed summaries of “Wisdom” distilled from Life Lessons Learned. Though often platitudinous, these lessons are nonetheless well worth thinking about given Guy’s amazing life experiences. Also woven throughout the book are well-chosen, thought-provoking timeless quotations that add value and fit well the topics addressed.
The book is replete with (un)conventional wisdom. At times it made me smile. Other times it irritated me or made me wince. It definitely gave me greater insight into not only the author but into myself. Though I encountered much with which I disagreed, that is part of the enlightenment process and the Path of continuous (re) learning. I found chapters 09 and 10 LOL (Laugh-Out Lessons) and Skills, particularly personally enlightening. Alas, Guy, I shall probably NOT follow up on your suggestion to take up surfing. Thanks, though for sharing your life lessons.
For instance, before he connected with Apple, he had worked in the diamond industry. Sorting diamonds, and selling them.
Which makes a certain kind of sense.
A lot of what he has to say is, on the surface, basic. Work hard, pay attention to details, pay attention to people. Make connections. Follow your passions.
His telling of it is a lot better than mine, and comes to life in his stories of his life.
Some of it, on the other hand, is less immediately obvious, and less commonly heard. Help people when you can--because you can, not because they'll pay you back. Accept help when you need it and it's offered. Don't be afraid to reach out; you might make a friend in addition to getting the help you need.
Of course, this is easier for some of us than others, but I can't help being reminded of my mother, who was nothing like Guy Kawasaki at all, whom you could set down in a crowded room where she knew no one and didn't want to be, and she'd come out with half a dozen stories of people she'd talked to.
I don't understand it, but it can be kind of fun to watch.
Guy is married and has four kids, three sons and a daughter, and while many parents want their kids to follow them, in their enthusiasms, the things they loved doing or the things they wish they'd been able o do, he took a slightly different approach to being an involved parent. As much time as he spent traveling on business, he was a all his kids' school games. But he wasn't content o just watch.
His two older kids played hockey, and Guy took up hockey, so that he could truly understand what they loved doing. Then his two younger kids took up surfing, and so did he, so he could truly understand what they loved.
And he has great stories about those experiences, and about the people he and his kids met because he was both really interested, and also both well-known and genuinely friendly.
This book is just a lot of fun, along with having useful life lessons to take in and use as suits you best.
Sadly, there is one problem, and no, it's not anything Guy wrote. I read an e-arc, and this may not apply to the published ebook, but the type font is both tiny, and not adjustable. This meant that despite the content and Guy's writing, this was a slow, painful read for me.
And with ebooks, there is quite literally no reason a all for that. Adjustable font size is one major reason to read ebooks. It's a basic accessibility issue. It's not acceptable to disable that functionality.
My most common response to this when I encounter it, is that the ebook goes straight in the bit bucket. I don't waste my time on books that the publisher has intentionally chosen to make harder for me to read. Because of my considerable confidence that I would enjoy Guy's new book, I persevered, and have merely read it slowly and painfully as I struggled with the font size.
And so my backup rule comes into play, on sites that include star ratings, I deduct one star for the publisher being idiots who don't have two or three brain cells to spare for the reader whose money they want.
Nevertheless, it's a very good, enjoyable book, and I do recommend it.
As stated above, I received a free electronic galley from the author, Guy Kawasaki, and I'm reviewing it voluntarily.
Guy Kawasaki and Peg Fitzpatrick have between them mastered all the social media tools you'll want to use. This book is a short, clear, practical presentation of what Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google , and Pinterest are good for, and how you can use them. Social media platforms are also, of course, opportunities to make a fool of yourself before a public of a size almost unimaginable for the average person twenty years ago. There are also helpful pointers here on how to avoid doing that. This includes guidance on the ways the different platforms are different. What's acceptable on Facebook isn't what is acceptable on LinkedIn, or Twitter, or Pinterest. Go hashtag-happy on Pinterest, but be more restrained on Twitter, for instance. You'll find guidance on how to present yourself effectively, both to potential future employers and to peers.
I want to emphasize that this book is clear. You won't be left with useful-sounding platitudes but then find when you try to follow them that the specifics you need aren't there. The specifics are here, including visuals where that's helpful.
Highly recommended.
I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.
Unlike many business books, it's neither a relentlessly detailed case study that wears you out trying to absorb lots of detail that may or may not be relevant to your industry and organization, nor a light'n'fluffy "how I inspire everyone around me with platitudes" book. Instead, Guy Kawasaki focuses on practical advice on how to sell your "cause" and how to be someone people want to do business with--how to be "enchanting" to customers, investors, employees. He's a former jeweler who joined Apple in 1983, when he got an early demo of the first Macintosh and was, in his chosen word, enchanted. He uses his own experience and well-chosen anecdotes from others to flesh out his message and illustrate the practical application of his advice.
The ten-cent version of that advice, after "have a product, service, or cause that's really worthwhile," can be summed up as: 1. Be likable. 2. Be trustworthy. 3. Be a mensch. Some of the specifics: Smile--a real smile, that moves the eye muscles and not just your lips. Approach people you meet with a goal of helping them first. Tell the truth. Don't shade it to downplay perceived weakness of your position. Instead, address those weaknesses and find a way to meet the real needs of the person you're dealing with. Do that, and you can make a loyal customer for life, not just one sale. Deliver bad news first--because the people you want to work for or do business with want to know the bad news so they can deal with it effectively. Someone who only wants good news is someone to be avoided, in business and in life.
Much of this book is applicable to almost any setting, including, as he points out in a few comments, marriage and parenting. The last third of the book is focused more specifically on working inside a corporate or organizational structure, on how to be a good employee and how to be a good boss. There's a short and helpful section dealing particularly with managing volunteers in a non-profit setting.
All of which covers the basics of the book, but doesn't capture the experience of reading it. Enchantment really is enchanting to read, enjoyable, enlightening, surprisingly practical, and a book you won't want to put aside until you're finished.
Highly recommended.
I received a free copy of Enchantment for review, from the author.
That's less easy that it seems, however. Publishers also have so many book proposals coming in that it's tough for your book to get accepted. It can take months, and if it is accepted, the process of getting the book to publication also takes months. You also lose a great deal of control over your book, once you've signed on the dotted line with a traditional publisher.
Getting your book published by a traditional publisher is a good course to take, but it's not the only course, and it's not the right course for every writer and every book. Self-publishing is now a realistic option, if it is the right course for you and for your book. Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch tell you how to do it.
This is a practical handbook on how to successfully master every step of the process and the tools to use while you do: writing your book, publishing it, and then, in some ways the most important and most challenging step, promoting it. At each stage, there are challenges and risks that are not always apparent to the novice. One example is editing. No, you cannot be your own editor. You need other eyes and other viewpoints to identify the weak spots, the inelegances, the plain errors and inconsistencies that you can't see because you know what you meant. This book offers practical guidance on how to obtain these services without getting taken to the cleaners by those who profit from the naivete of inexperienced self-publishing writers. It also covers more nitty-gritty practical questions, such as why you want to use Microsoft Word, and why you want to use Word styles from the very beginning, in the actual writing of your book.
In the section on publishing your book, again, covers everything from the basic strategies you can, should, or must pursue, to specific, practical guidance on how to carry out the essential tasks. One of these is converting your Word manuscript into both a print-publishable form and the different formats needed for electronic publishing on the different platforms available, including Kindle, Nook, and Kobo. There's valuable information on dealing with author services companies, working with a printer directly, and assessing which course is best for you.
Finally, there's that most difficult part of the process, promoting your own book. It's not enough to just make it available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or other online outlets. Without a traditional publisher behind you, you have to do the work of making people aware that your book exists and they want to read it. If you don't have a famous name, your odds of reaching the same size audience that you could with a traditional publisher are low--but that may not matter. What you need to reach is your audience, and most forms of marketing a self-published book allow you to keep a much larger percentage of the sale price than the royalty you would get from a traditional publisher. Self-publishing isn't a path to riches, but it can be a source of meaningful income if you are successful at it, and if what you are writing is specialized non-fiction, it can pay dividends in the form of making you better recognized in your own field.
Some parts of APE:Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur are fun to read, thought provoking and stimulating, while others are pure practical handbook for carrying out some of the more techie tasks involved in publishing your book. It's all worth reading, and indispensable if you are considering self-publishing your own book.
Highly recommended.
I received a free electronic galley from the authors.
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