From Editorial Nudes From Lens Diaries™
“FACT: The job market is a viciously competitive and is being played with new rules. It’s way more aggressive than any you’ve seen before and it’s going to stay that way! This is a MUST read. Ignore it at your career peril!” —- David Perry, Co-auth
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“Your only job is to help your players be better.” That single idea had a huge impact on Tony Dungy when he heard it from one of his earliest mentors, and it led him to develop the successful leadership style so admired by players and coaches thr
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Everything you need to know to succeed in the programming interview and get the job you want Whether you are a veteran programmer seeking a new position or a whiz kid starting your career, interviewing for a programming job requires special preparat
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THE FIRST BOOK WITH ONE FOOT ON THE COFFEE TABLE, AND ONE FOOT IN THE
CLASSROOM
Joe McNally, one of the world’s top pro digital photographers, whose celebrated work has graced the pages of Sports Illustrated, Time, and National Geographic (to
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(out of 202 reviews)
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Review by Conrad J. Obregon for The Moment It Clicks: Photography secrets from one of the world’s top shooters
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Picture this. You meet one of the world’s great photographers in a bar. He has a stack of pictures with him from his portfolio. As you go through the pictures, he talks about them, about the people in the photographs, and how he made each of them. About a third of the way through you realize that when he talks about the technical details he talks mostly about the lighting, and you are sorry you didn’t pick up on that right from the beginning, but now you listen avidly to try to learn his lighting techniques.
Then, about two-thirds of the way through, he stops talking about the lighting, and starts meandering about the photo editors he knew, and how he may have sacrificed some of his family life to be a photographer, and how he came up through the ranks, and that’s interesting too.
When Joe McNally talks about lighting a picture of James Brown, or Sophia Loren, or Larry Tisch, the techniques he uses seem to be ones you could use. But when he talks about getting a bunch of masks from the Smithsonian to shoot Michelle Pfeiffer, or five full length mirrors set up on the field for a picture of shortstop Ozzie Smith, or using 10 or 15 2400 watt lights to light fielder Eric Davis, you may hope that you can at least get inspiration because you are never going to have that kind of equipment, or if you are, then to quote McNally, “you don’t need my advice”. And don’t take a peek at McNally’s equipment until you come to that page in normal reading or you may decide the book is not for you.
If you are looking for instruction, it’s here amongst the stories, even if it’s delivered in a non-structured sort of way. I haven’t invested in a dozen Speedotrons, but after reading this book, I did decide to upgrade my umbrella to a couple of softboxes. On the other hand if you are interested in looking at a portfolio of great pictures, McNally has them. And if you like to listen to photographers tell stories about photography, often at their own expense, you’ll probably love this book.
Other then the lighting there is little of a technical nature here. There’s nothing about exposure, or depth of field or Photoshop. I am certain that the people that talked the author into writing this book loved the stories and the way they were told and how they related back occasionally to transforming a vision into an image by using equipment. McNally’s personality comes through. Whether this is the way for you to learn some lighting tricks will depend on what you feel about winnowing them out of the stories and pictures. On the other hand, Joe McNally is a great guy to have a drink with.
Review by Cruising for The Moment It Clicks: Photography secrets from one of the world’s top shooters
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This book is written in such a way that photographers of every experience, style and age will gain huge value.
This is now my favorite book to date on photography.
My one line summary:
It will teach you “how to have a single photo tell a real story”, with emotion and from different perspectives. In my opinion it is a must for amateurs through pros.
Pros:
The books is written simply with no unexplained jargon. If the author mentions an industry word (e.g. Ripping Film), he goes on to explain what it means. You learn some of the industry street terms and get a feel for the authors experience shooting.
Every turn of the page has a compelling photo which is the subject of the lesson. Some lessons are technical such as how-to on lighting, while others are lessons on approach, demeanor or attitude.
The book is emotionally engaging. You want to put the book down and immediate try some of the approaches.
The author isn’t demonstrating ego – this book is NOT about him! It’s about the the world around him. You turn each page and learn how he captured an amazing picture of someone like James Brown, or how he found the real story in Augusta.
It will give you ideas on how to have a single photo tell a real story.
Cons:
The only real complaint: This is a soft cover and Amazon shipped it in an envelope instead of a box. The edges of the cover got crimped a bit.
Feedback for the author:
I’d love for more – just simply put – I want the second volume. I’d love to figure out how to get this signed 
This is a real gem and I would have loved it in perfect condition for my office desktop.
Great job to the author.
Review by Randall L. Steffens for The Moment It Clicks: Photography secrets from one of the world’s top shooters
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I am writing this review from the perspective of someone who is known as the “Eternal Optimist”. I got the book for the purpose of gaining a serious insight into “how he did it” – kind of like Scott Kelby’s How-to books – which by the way, are all very good.
When Joe McNally’s photos are seen, one can only wonder, “how did he do that?”, so naturally, we are all inclined to want to get our hands on his book, so we can reproduce his shots, and ultimately learn by doing.
Sadly, this book just doesn’t come close to providing that end! Half the entire book is simply a full page of his glorious shots. The other half of the book is “supposed to be showing you how he did it”.
Each photo is supposed to represent a single element that he wants to stress as the critical component necessary for that particular shot. But seriously, those glorious shots consist of a constellation of critical factors that can NOT be explained on the basis of one “hint” only.
Most of us are buying the book so that we can fully reproduce his shots, but this will never be accomplished by his book alone. Truly, he is providing only a “miniscule hint” as to the thought processes behind each shot. Some of the hints are useful, but the majority of the book simply represents the interesting story behind the shot, without providing much useful information as to how we can accomplish the same scenario.
After reading the book, one has to ask, Does Joe, himself not know how he got the shot? Or is he intentionally just trying to keep us all in the dark, hoping that we’ll buy more of his books so that one day we’ll come a little closer to a better understanding? Is he afraid that if he tells us too much we may all become his competitors?
If you want a pretty “picture book” then this is it! But if you’re desiring a critical guide to reproducing his shots, you’ll finish this book very disappointed, wondering what his motive was for writing the book? Was it simply to make a buck? Or did he really think we were going to get much out of it?
While there is something important that can be learned from all photography books, I tend to believe that this book falls into the category of other similar books, which is to say – If you finish most books and come away with 2-3 seriously important points, that change your philosophy and actions, then your money has been well spent.
If your goals and intent for reading this book are appropriate, then you won’t be disappointed. However, if you think that you’ll be reproducing Joe’s shots after reading this book, you’ll likely come away angry or even feel betrayed – sad to say.
This book underscores the fact that there is no simple solution to creating great, world-class photographs. The more you read, the more you’ll know. This book is simply one small step on the road to a lifetime of perpetual self-education.
Do I recommend this book? I will reservedly say yes, but understand that realistically, you’ll come away with more questions than you had before you started, and you’ll still be asking yourself the eternal question, “I wish I knew just how did he did it”.
Addendum – 3-14-10
I would like to emphasize, that I have no negativity towards Joe or his books / DVDs. There is no question that he is an exceptionally talented photographer, but that in this book, he doesn’t do a very good job at explaining his workflow.
For those of you who are interested in other works that Joe has authored, I would strongly recommend you consider his DVD published by Nikon, “Nikon School presents A Hands-on Guide to Creative Lighting”.
The information presented within this DVD, is extraordinary and prodigus! He clearly is able to present all of the techniques and rationale behind the photographs, and does a very good job with explaining his various thought processes.
For all inquiring minds, Joe has done a first rate job with this DVD, and I highly recommend it to all students of photography!
Review by Daniel Ablan for The Moment It Clicks: Photography secrets from one of the world’s top shooters
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If I could choose a career in Photography, it would be the one Joe McNally has had. And since my Photography is more for creative purposes and an adjunct to my 3D work, rather than the primary part of my work, I feel that I can live vicariously through Joe thanks to “The Moment It Clicks.” When I first heard about this book, I was excited because Joe’s work is outstanding, if not iconic. For Joe to do a book on his career, you can really get a sense of what drives him, what motivates him, and soon you get a complete understanding of how he got the shot. What I particularly like is that he discusses, in straight talk, the situation behind various images. Imagine sitting down with Joe McNally, looking through his portfolio, and asking him about the shot. Everything from using a fill flash, to making your pictures “shout”, to finding your way into a lunch with the head of Disney, simply to get the shot you want.
When I started writing books for 3D animation, people often asked me why I would do such a thing. How could I “give away my secrets.” I told them that it’s just software instruction, technique, and tips. I can’t teach anyone to be a 3D artist, but only how to use their software and help guide them. So when I started reading Joe’s book, I thought to myself “how can he give us all this valuable information…” Suddenly I caught myself. I realized that I was asking the same question people had asked me. Joe can’t teach you to be an photographic artist. But it’s his insight, experience, and outlook that can help you see better, and perhaps, become a better photographer – if you allow it.
This book is a welcomed addition to the arsenal of photo books on the market that continually talk about the same thing. Exposure, perspective, types of lighting, etc. Only a few books come along that you can refer to time and time again, once you know the basics. Joe’s book is one of those books and it will remain on my bookshelf for years to come. I’m so glad I signed up for Moose Peterson’s Digital Landscape Photography Workshop next fall, as Joe is one of the instructors!
Review by SFC Shoemaker for The Moment It Clicks: Photography secrets from one of the world’s top shooters
Rating: 
I was expecting a well written book by a expert in his field. This book was well reccomended by Scott Kelby which was good enough for me. I was highly dissapointed. The entire book was based around how he used thousands of dollars worth of lighting to get ordinary pictures. I understand lighting is important but 240 pages of how he lit his pictures was to much. No real insite to how he composed or planned the pictures. Or even the camera set up he used. I am no expert but I do know when something is written to make a couple of dollars. The last 14 pages of the book is a glossary of the terms he used in the book (some made up). I read the entire book in a evening. Some comments were interesting but woke up the next morning trying to remember a single thing I liked about the book. Only thing I can remember is that he uses a lot of very expensive lighting for his shots.
Shame on Scott Kelby for reccomending this book.
Already a classic in the genre, DoWhat You Are has helped hundreds of thousands of people find truly satisfying work. Do What You Are introduces Personality Type – how you process information, make decisions and interact with the world around you – a
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Review by for Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type
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I’m a career counselor in private practice, working with mid-career changers and young people making these decisions for the first time. This is one of the two truly extraordinary career books I ask all of my clients to buy. It was written for people who want to choose a direction that is a perfect fit with their personality. It does a wonderful job of introducing you to the 16 types. However, personality type is only one of many important factors in making a satisfying choice of direction. I recommend that you also get yourself a copy of: “The Pathfinder: How to Choose or Change Your Career for a Lifetime of Satisfaction and Success”, by Nicholas Lore. It is by far the best guide to picking your career. Whether you are thinking of changing careers in mid-life or are a student trying to figure out how to be successful and love your work, buy both of these books, and use them! Together they will guide you to putting the pieces of the puzzle together in a way that will keep you getting out of the right side of your bed for years to come.
Review by Al B. for Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type
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I had several very smart and successful mid-career changers tell me this was a must-buy book, so I bought it.
I think it’s also a must read for anyone putting together a business partnership or management team that seeks personnel that will complement each others’ strengths.
I wish I had read this book years ago. The authors have written a book around the Myers-Briggs personality type concept. Many other career advice authors may devote a chapter to this, but the Tiegers have really delved into this more than others. For instance, each of the sixteen 4-letter Myers-Briggs personality types (INTJ, ENTP, etc.) gets a full chapter on that type, including the person’s strengths, weaknesses, typical best job fits and 2 or 3 case studies of men and women with those personality types. After I took the test, I found their chapter on my particular type captured me almost perfectly and taken 20 years ago, would have predicted many of the career successes and challenges I’ve experienced.
The original pioneers of the Myers-Briggs methodology were Isabel Briggs Myers and her mother, Katherine Myers. Starting in the 1920s they identified 4 different aspects of personality (introverted vs. extroverted, sensing vs. perceiving, etc.) to come up with 8 traits. There are a total of 16 possible combinations of these traits and these are the “personality types”.
While some may find some fault with Myers-Briggs personality type theory, it’s sure good enough to be a powerful, insightful tool. The official Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test has been around for decades and has been thoroughly researched and critiqued as well as widely used by millions.
The Tiegers also cover additional Myers-Briggs material I have not seen in other career advice books. An example is how your personality evolves with age — certain Myers-Briggs traits become more pronounced at different times in life.
The buyer should be aware of two things, however, when they buy this book:
1. First, this book does not cover other aspects of career planning, self-assessment and job-hunting. It’s 95+% personality type material. You’ll still want to get another book (or books) on other aspects of career planning and job-hunting.
2. The true Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Test is copyrighted and available only through organizations, counselors and therapists approved by the Myers & Briggs Foundation — see myersbriggs.org (their site has also has a lot of other useful stuff).
The authors cannot include the test, but they describe each of the 8 traits in sufficient detail that you can estimate what you are — BUT you may be wrong, as I found out when I took the actual MBTI test. My estimate was very accurate for 3 traits and way off the mark for the 4th. As I read over the material in the book, I could see how I was wrong. I recommend paying the extra money, taking the real test and going over the result with someone certified by the Myers & Briggs Foundation — they can interpret those results that may surprise you. After speaking with the counselor and re-reading the relevant sections of the Tieger book, I could see how I made my mistake. The meanings of some of the terms — introverted, extroverted , judging, etc. — are subtly different in the psychological type world from the way they’re used in daily conversation.
There are thousands of people out there certified to do this and many college career placement offices also administer the test to students for free. You can also take the test online using a link at myersbriggs.org site and then discuss the results remotely with a trained counselor. Some of this control may be due to the foundation wanting to preserve test revenues, but it’s also driven by concerns about untrained people administering it inappropriately (for instance, to identify some neurotic boss’s idea of “bad personality types”) or interpreting it incorrectly.
Also, I tried two different on-line free sites that offered seemingly similar tests to come up with a Myers-Briggs type. These tests gave wildly inaccurate and conflicting results — I recommend staying away from them.
Review by Renaaah for Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type
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The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is a personality test based on Jungian theory. In a nutshell, it states that every person falls into one of sixteen categories, and each one of these categories or “Types” has distinct needs, ways of interacting with others, manners of processing information, etc. “Do What You Are” attempts to help individuals plot their own careers based on their own Myers Briggs “Type.” Before finding this book, the only other career-related thing I had read was “What Colour is your Parachute,” which was terrific. But I loved “Do What you Are” because it stated something that is so rarely said today… that you should find a job and career that suits who you really are. I passed this book around to all my friends and family, and most (but not all) loved it, too.Something I found particularly delightful was that it affirmed a lot of things I had been thinkingabout my own situation, but had considered “unimportant.” My type is “ENFP” (I know it might sound like jibberish to you now, but it will make sense if you read the book). This is a type that thrives on creativity, feels confined by rigid rules, and needs lots of friendly social interaction on the job. But, since I have a high IQ and did well at school, others have constantly tried to push me into “status” fields like medecine and litigation. In my heart, I had always felt those kinds of careers would kill me, but I couldn’t really articulate why. After reading “Do What you Are,” I was better able to accept my instincts and explored PR, fundraising, and finally settled on a job in publishing. I LOVE my job, and although I think I would have arrived here eventually, I do think that it would have taken me twice as long to arrive had I not read this book.
Review by Shane A. Brewer for Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type
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“Do What You Are” is about finding out what job is best suited for you based on your Myers-Briggs personality type. I was highly excited to read this book as most books don’t take your personality type into consideration.
First off, you will probably get a lot more out of this book if you have already determined your Myers-Briggs personality type. The beginning of the book does try to help you determine your type, but it is mostly just picking one type over another when the actually score is really based on a continuum.
After determining your time, the book has a chapter for each personality type. Since you only have one personality type, you only need to read one of the 16 chapters.
The chapter written specifically for your type was just ok. The chapter was filled with examples of people who are that type. I just wanted to read about how my personality type applies to the job situation, not read example about my type. Eventually the chapter did get to what jobs would work best for you and things you should keep in mind when selecting a job. However, I was hopeing for a more in-depth explanation and analysis.
While the book does an excellent job of focusing on your personality type, it does next to nothing to help you with determining your interests, passions and goals, all of which are vital to picking the correct job.
So… if you know your Myers-Briggs type, which you should before you read this book, you only really need to read 10-15 pages out of this book. If you are really stuck on what job you are best suited for, pick this book up or just skim it in the bookstore. 3 out of 5 stars.
Review by for Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type
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This book is well written, fun, and a great source of ideas if you already know your Myers-Briggs type. If you don’t, the section on identifying your type is weak; I recommend Kiersey’s “Please Understand Me” instead (or inquire at your local educational institutions: I took the Myers-Briggs, had it professionally interpreted, and got loads of helpful reference material from a $40 seminar at a community college).
The book is most useful if you’re discontented with your present career (or have qualms about the career you’re preparing for, if you’re a student). I was railroaded into a career that didn’t suit me because of my family’s expectations, although I was determined and intelligent enough to become moderately good at it. But I never felt comfortable with it, and it was only after many unhappy years that I realized I was in the wrong job and broke away to find a more congenial career path. I wish this book had existed 30 years ago!
I agree with other readers that the book is short on practical guidance as to WHICH career you should choose — I’ve found Barbara Sher’s books much more helpful. Nonetheless, this is a good place to start, at a reasonable price, and it’s excellent as far as it goes.
Do you want to get ahead in life?
Climb the ladder to personal success?
The secret, master networker Keith Ferrazzi claims, is in reaching out to other people. As Ferrazzi discovered early in life, what distinguishes highly successful
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Review by Christine Kenney for Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time
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It seems like much of the efficacy of Ferrazzi’s tactics lies in blurring the distinction between the personal and the professional connections. Not even church-going remains sacred.
At what point does a close-knit network become more invaluable than acquaintanceships struck during in-flight snackbreaks? Are 500 people willing to answer your calls (after the umpteenth time you’ve attempted to ambush them on the phone during their off hours) really an asset? Readers should keep in mind that one will not be able to fool all of the people all of the time with false pretenses of friendship. Ferrazzi’s work would be more effective if he differentiated between intensities of friendship and the tactics most appropriate for each.
Further difficulties include:
-Networking Plan of Action (unfortunately acronymed NAP) includes scarcely a page of information about how to construct one.
-The arguments are often internally inconsistent: receiving an invitation to a 15 min coffee break is an affront, while sending one tops the personal arsenal list. Katharine Graham is eulogized as a champion of both “somebodies” and “nobodies.” Yet Ferrazzi’s lists of “people he’d like to meet” and his incessant extolling of the virtues of name-dropping seems to indicate “nobodies” are nobodies in his book. Finally, the distinction between a “networking jerk” and commendable behavior is, at best, subtle.
-For an individual so concerned with connectedness, it is curious that a bibliography or appendix of suggested reading is entirely absent.
May I suggest:
*How to Win Friends and Influence People: soft skills development
*Big Fish (a novel of “mythic proportions” by Daniel Wallace): a more sympathetic view on spin, for contemplating your own self-marketing plan or why Ferrazzi really left Deloitte.
*The Tipping Point: Chapter 2 is a more rigorous exploration of the roles the uber-connected play in social networks.
Review by M. DiVirgilio for Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time
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The book isn’t that bad, but it isnt worth buying with so many other masters out there writing about how to get it done. Here’s what’s wrong….
First, it’s billed as “revolutionary” concepts which I found to hardly be true. Almost evey idea was something that I’ve read in a Covey, Mackay, Peters, etc book. Recycled.
Further, he’s so proud of his accomplishments it becomes exhausting to keep up with all the great things KF did in his life.
Finally, he writes often about how he was from poor, underprivileged family and he had nothing but his “revolutionary” concepts to break him into The Club. I believe it at first, until he started (and then repeated) to tell the reader about how he went to a private elementary and HS, then to Yale and Harvard BS. He was IN the club from first grade – hardly a life course that demonstrated how unique and terrific his practices were.
Review by D. Buxman for Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time
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I’m a naturally shy person and I’ve always hated the concept of “networking.” Everyone I know that practices it in the commonly accepted sense is a complete jerk. This book, however, addresses the true power behind networking; building actual relationships. I would probably give the book 4.5 stars, since too much of it is devoted to name dropping, but this small flaw does not detract from the value of the book. Mr. Ferrazzi takes the approach of building meaningful relationships with others, even when time is short. He doesn’t advocate carpet bombing a room with your business cards or hanging out with people you despise as a means of getting ahead. I appreciate the fact that the author came from humble beginnings and was able to reach such heights in the world of business. There are several practical approaches that are discussed in this book that can be of help to both extroverts and the relatively introverted.
Review by R. Bose for Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time
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While I was reading the book, I actually convinced myself to go the extra mile and keep open lines of communication with random people (albeit, financially/socially powerful) in my naive enjoyment. However, after I finally made it through (its 250+ pgs), I realized that a lot of the content is bogus and not realistic in a “regular” lifestyle (unless your dad fed you into Yale and you cruised your way to a Harvard MBA, and then could afford to finally ask yourself what you actually want to do). I do love how some authors pride themselves on their humble upbringing, but yet somehow acsend to Ivy League undergrad & grad school through a favor. Anyways getting back to my point, do not buy the book – I recommend sitting at Barnes, Borders, etc. and reading the first 60-80 pgs (max). If you’re looking for some motivation/tactics of networking, you might find it within that portion. The rest 150+ pgs just beats a dead horse. I’m a slow reader and the small amount of time it takes to hit the first 60 pages isn’t worth paying for.
Review by Carlos J. Torres for Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time
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He really has something to say, but he stresses too much on his personal accomplishments. The book seems to me very egocentric. He is also very subjective and ambiguous in some of his maxims. Sometimes I had the feeling that this book is part of his networking tools, using it to promote himself and friends. But there is good information in this book; you just have to bear with the style to extract it.
A complete how-to from two of the world’s top bloggers Thousands of aspiring bloggers launch new blogs every day, hoping to boost their income. Without solid advice from experts, most will fail. This bestselling guide, now fully revised with
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Review by Tom Carpenter for ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income
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This is the 12th book I’ve read on blogging. The books I’ve read have run the gamut from marketing brochures clothed in the covers of a book to real sources of valued information. This book is clearly in the latter category and I would place it in the top one or two positions as my favorite so far.
I appreciated the author’s very quick overvew of “what is a blog”. Blogs are very easy to understand and the authors who have gone on for 20+ pages just describing a blog have obviously just been shooting for page count. This author gets into the real meat of the topic very quickly. The brief overvier of professional blogging as opposed to just blogging in chapter 1 was also helpful.
From the first chapter on, it’s all about getting your game on. You have to realize that blogging your way to a six-figure income does not happen overnight just like building an email list (in a valid way) that has hundreds of thousands of opt-in emails doesn’t happen overnight. This book holds your hand along this prolonged journey.
Review by Jeff Lippincott for ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income
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I loved this book. It is the first one I have read that actually explains how blogging can be used to make money directly. Most books I have read, and what I have experienced, indicate that blogging is not something to be done to make money directly.
In this book the author explains that there are direct ways to make money from one’s blog, and there are indirect ways.
Direct Monetization:
>>Advertising
>>Sponsorships
>>Affiliate commissions
>>Paid reviews
Indirect Monetization:
>>Freelance writing contracts
>>Book deals
>>Speaking engagements
>>Consulting opportunities
>>Service contracts
>>Sell your own products
After reading this book I am still a believer that blogs are not something to consider if you want to make money from them directly. However, it can be done! But probably not the way you would think. It’s not done by creating a blog, i.e., one blog and making it popular online. It’s done by creating many blogs. Creating an empire of blogs and getting well connected in the blogoshere does it. Writing on any topic that can generate advertisers, sponsorships, affiliate commissions, and paid reviews does it. One blog won’t do it. Two blogs won’t do it. But a lot of blogs creating little streams of income will do it.
The authors provide us with some lessons they have learned about blogging:
1. Blogging for income takes time
2. Take it one step at a time
3. It takes hard work and discipline
4. Follow your dreams
Does this sound familiar? It should if you regularly read books for entrepreneurs. Blogging for bucks is just another small business. Instead of writing content for an arsenal of magazines, you are writing an arsenal of content for various blogs. Instead of selling paper copies of writings, you are selling through Web 2.0. And you are using Web 2.0 strategies and tactics to make your blogs profitable.
If you have an interest in blogs, and you want two books on the subject that discuss blogs from completely different perspectives, then read this book and read “Blog Schmog” (ISBN: 078521576X). Both books are well written, organized, and sound. If you read both of these books, then you should have a pretty good idea of what blogs are all about, what you can do with them, and what you cannot do with them. 5 stars!
Review by Cathy Stucker for ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income
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I have been looking forward to reading this book, and I couldn’t wait to tear into the package as soon as UPS brought it to my door.
“ProBlogger” does not disappoint. Each page includes useful tips and techniques for building a successful blog. The chapters include:
Blogging for Money
Niche Blogging
Setting Up Your Blog
Blog Writing
Blog Income and Earning Strategies
Buying and Selling Blogs
Blog Networks
Blog Promotion and Marketing
Secrets of Successful Blogs
Creating Something Worthwhile
Reading this book from cover to cover will give you a solid education in blogging. It is the most comprehensive and realistic book I have seen on blogging, but it is not overwhelming. It covers everything from choosing a blogging platform and a topic, through design, what (and how often) to post, monetization strategies, interacting with your readers, using social media and getting links, and much, much more.
I found several tips that will help me focus my efforts and produce a better blog.
Once you finish reading the book, keep it near your computer so you can reference it frequently. This is not just a book for beginners. Even experienced bloggers will learn things they can use to gain readership and increase profits.
If you are going to buy a book about blogging, make it this one.
Cathy Stucker, [...]
Author of Mystery Shopper’s Manual, 6th Edition
Review by Farnoosh for ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income
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A great book and I was already a big fan of Darren Rowse and his blog. He is a very successful pro blogger, a fine example to follow and learn from and having the 2 perspectives – different backgrounds, both end up at pro blogging and both very successful – is very effective. The book is easy to follow, written for anyone who even hasn’t the basics of technology down, and has a reasonably good flow. I just wish it covered the tricks of the trade in much more depth, with examples, case studies, personal experience, and tips that you do not find anywhere else. It was a bit general for me. I am still glad I read it.
Review by Riyad Kalla for ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income
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I’ve been blogging for a few years now casually and didn’t find this book useful almost at all. The authors don’t give away any of their “secrets” or point you at what they have had successes with personally, it’s one giant introductory piece of writing that just tips you towards different things to try.
For someone that has a brand new blog and has never done it before, this is a good intro.
For someone looking to take their blogging to the next level, this book is a boring read and won’t say anything you can’t get online by Googling.
I’d also point out that this book is written exactly like the ProBlogger articles are written — it gives you just enough to peak your interest in a subject, then never *actually* addresses the question conclusively. Their articles online are very much the same way except every one of those articles point you at buying their book.
Also don’t expect to see any monetary numbers in this book either, they far away from giving indications of how much they make, made, could make or should make… you’re on your own there if you are trying to get a feel for your site’s value as well (trying to price CPM and such).
I’d suggest renaming the book to “ProBlogger: Getting Started with Blogging”, this book is not full of secrets or any specifics that would indicate how you get a six-figure income.
John H. Kaplan 7:48 am on November 4, 2010 Permalink
Review by John H. Kaplan for Programming Interviews Exposed: Secrets to Landing Your Next Job
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I just finished rereading this book, and read the earlier Amazon interviews. Though I agree with many of the observations in the other reviews, their judgments are mostly too extreme. This book is definitely of value, but reading it won’t unlock the keys to any secret kingdom of guaranteed job-landing success.
I’ve been interviewing and hiring software developers for almost 15 years, and I know one thing you can be sure about software interview processes: their inconsistency. Interviewing and hiring practices for software development are all over the map. As a matter of fact, all software development practices are all over the map, and how you are judged a success or failure once you land a job are at least as subjective and error-prone as how you are evaluated in interviews.
Landing a particular software development job and being successful at it once you get it require a lot of learning about the particular mix of priorities and practices on each particular team, and fitting into that mix. You could be interviewing with a sixty-year-old toy manufacturing veteran doing tiny embedded systems, and any mention of object-oriented technology could be immediate grounds for a religious no-hire. On the other hand, you could be interviewing with a young hotshot at a new Silicon Valley startup. In this case you’d not only better be fluent with every aspect of object-oriented technology, best practices, and the latest open-source frameworks, but you’d better not make too much of space optimizations or “the overhead of a subroutine call” or you’ll be branded as hopelessly old fashioned.
Consequently, the advice in this book is quite valuable about communicating throughout the interview, telling the interviewer the thoughts behind what you are doing and asking clarifying questions as you go. No book by itself can help you with any interview you might encounter. However, with all its flaws, this book does a better job than any other available book in discussing programming questions, how to approach them, and possible answers. The idea that only “recent grads” are ever asked general programming questions like this is hogwash. I hire veteran developers for high-end product development jobs almost exclusively, and I ask programming questions like the ones in this book all the time, and so do most of the good interviewers I know. I’ve found over the years that programming questions give me among the most direct and accurate assessments of a developer’s skills. Asking programming questions is enough of a best practice that you should be suspicious of a technology company that doesn’t include them in its interview process. (Hey, I said that development practices were all over the map, but I didn’t say that most of them were any good. How else could the software industry achieve its miserable 40% success rate?)
As far as the books weaknesses, probably the biggest is that almost all the questions, answers, and discussion are in straight procedural C. It’s hard to reason why this book shows such a lack of emphasis on object-oriented technology considering it had been the state of the art for 10 years when this book was published in 2000. So, though there are a few small examples of OO class designs thrown in, discussion is missing of important topics like inheritance, composition, encapsulation, and structured exception handling. Even when you are programming in an OO language, however, the logic inside the methods you write for these kinds of general exercises is mostly the same as you would write in a procedural language. So most of this book is relevant, but you must translate to OO on your own.
A more subtle and perhaps more important weakness of this book is that topics such as performance, scalability, error handling, and public vs. internal interface design are haphazardly covered and sometimes skipped. Because of the inconsistency of development practices, there is usually no ultimate “right” answer to any of these questions. Some of the recommended “best” answers in this book have some glaring failure cases that are not covered, and covering these cases will obliterate the simplicity and performance characteristics of the “best” answer. So you always need to probe your interviewers for your constraints, such as invalid inputs, what if memory allocation fails, who are your users, etc…
Ultimately, this is a useful book. You will probably do better on a software development job interview if you read this book. Stay away from the superficial treatment most people give books such as this of just trying to memorize the questions and answers. If you read this book thoughtfully, coding and testing your own answers to the exercises as you go, and evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of what’s in the book, you’ll definitely do better on any interview where you are asked direct coding questions. It is like learning one more person’s point of view on relevant development practices, and the more you do that, the more rounded you will be and better you will do overall at both interviews and once on the job. Best of luck and I hope you find a programming job that fits you well.
J.S.R. 8:06 am on November 4, 2010 Permalink
Review by J.S.R. for Programming Interviews Exposed: Secrets to Landing Your Next Job
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The bulk (90%) of this book focuses on basic C.S. algorithms. A few pages at the end are dedicated to the “soft questions”, or non-technical stuff.
Really, this book is a direct result of the “Interview 2.0″ concept that came out in the late 90s and still persists. I feel that a lot of tech companies (except perhaps a select few, such as Google and MS) have realized that interviews based exclusively on basic C.S. algorithm knowledge isn’t the way to pick the best candidate.
There is a *ton* of material in this book. If you focus on it, you may end up shooting yourself in the foot. So make sure your target company is going to be focused on algorithm questions before you put the time into doing the problems here. Or avoid those companies. Honestly, you’re wasting your life relearning this stuff, as interesting as it is, unless you’re going to be designing algorithmic libraries.
Also, don’t forget the soft questions (your past experience is really important!).
Update, 2009-02-23:
Looking back at this review, I may have been a bit too harsh. This is an excellent book in a lot of ways. It is a great review of some of the more famous algorithm problems in computer science (although I’d recommend picking up Bentley’s Programming Pearls if you want a real glance into famous algorithmic problems). It also has some general good advice on soft questions, although I wish it had spent more time on this area – as I learned the hard way in one of my first interviews looking for a new job. And hence why I rated this 3 stars at the time.
Regardless, I still flip through it every time before an interview… So if I could, I would revise my rating up to 4 stars.
Anonymous 8:54 am on November 4, 2010 Permalink
Review by for Programming Interviews Exposed: Secrets to Landing Your Next Job
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There are many types and levels of programming jobs. This book is useful advice for people aiming for system level or hardcore type jobs e.g. embedded systems, networks and operating systems etc. For example, this book would be highly useful for you if you go for a developer’s job interview in Cisco systems, IBM, Microsoft, Sun or Lucent etc. This is not too useful for application programming stuff, as one of the reviewers mentioned about Sybase etc. I have been giving programming interviews for many years and believe me, I have come across a surprising number of questions right from this book. The other good books for these type of interviews are “Expert C Programming” by Van der Linden, “Programming Pearls” and ” C interfaces and Implementations” by Hansen. The interviews in companies I have mentioned do indeed last full working days, or at least five to six hours, involving lunch. The interviewers include three to four people from the engineering team, one from Human Resources and one senior level person e.g. director or head of the group type person to finish it off. The engineering team asks you to write significant code involving commonly used data structures, linked lists and trees etc. and also code that would require certain tricks of the trade that only veteran or seasoned programmers would know. So in my opinion, this is a timely arrival and gives lots of useful information to build the required confidence and thinking pattern to ace such interviews. The techniques described are all familiar and used frequently by most engineers and computer scientists in the field, but being able to answer promptly in an interview is a different ball game and I have suffered because of the lack of confidence in interviews. So, in my opinion, it deserves at least four stars.
Ferdi Tern 9:52 am on November 4, 2010 Permalink
Review by Ferdi Tern for Programming Interviews Exposed: Secrets to Landing Your Next Job
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I just had an interview appointment at Microsoft campus just this morning. I was applying a tech job as a software tester thru Volt Services. Volt (or any technology hiring services) would give some interview tips and prep for applicants vying for vacant positions.
The Microsoft interviewer asked me brain teasers like how many hamburgers have been consumed this year in the US alone. And he asked me how did I arrive with my conclusions by writing it on the whiteboard. (After the interview, he told me that he was not interested whether my answer was accurate or not, but he was more interested no how I arrived with my conclusion by writing it on a whiteboard).
After the brain teaser, he asked about network troubleshooting and remote file searching accross the network and that was easy. And then the interviewer began to ask about programming algorithms and how these algorithms be tested against predefined testing procedures. One of the questions given to me was similar in this book! The question was to create an algorithm of a string, “This is a string” to display on a screen written in a reversed order. And test the result of the algorithm against the methodical procedures applied to software testing.
Microsoft and other tech companies out there asked questions of many kind. And they may or may not be in any book available. But having and reading this book can increase your chances of a better interview results. I hope this review helps.
Yardbwoy 10:26 am on November 4, 2010 Permalink
Review by Yardbwoy for Programming Interviews Exposed: Secrets to Landing Your Next Job
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This book played a significant part in landing me a job at major technology company. Although out of the entire all-day interview process there was only one question that was actually very similar to one I read about in the book, I did benefit greatly from the advice on how to approach the interviewer, how to be verbal with my problem solving process, how to dress, even how to write my sample code on the white board. These are intangibles that relate particularly to the software development world, and some of the specifics were a welcome departure from the ‘generic’ advice you get from most sources.
It was my first interview with a major tech company, and I was fresh out of grad school, so though some of those things may be obvious to the more experienced, for me it made a world of difference bringing that with me to the interview. Just made me very comfortable and familiar in what should have been a very unfamiliar environment. And the one question that was very similar to the one I read in the book came from an interviewer that I later found out was pivotal in the final decision to hire. So.. you never know.
Reading this book is not a substitute for being technically adept, and certainly will not guarantee a job, but it does leave you better equipped to handle the interview. Seasoned and beginner alike should find many useful tidbits.