The Organizing Sourcebook : Nine Strategies for Simplifying Your Life by Kathy Waddill
 Are piles of stuff cluttering your flat surfaces? Do you ever clean up one pile only to have another one reappear? Does it seem like everyone else is more organized than you are? Are you sick and tired of feeling like your life is out of control?
If so, read this book to see how other people tackled common organizing problems and solved them. Then learn to apply the same principles to yourself. Kathy Waddill's nine strategies of reasonably organized people provide an easy-to-follow blueprint for getting your life back under control and running smoothly. Details
How to Start a Magazine by James B. Kobak
 The one-time owner of Kirkus Reviews, James B. Kobak, imparts magazine-industry wisdom in How to Start a Magazine. Moving from the conceptual to the practical, Kobak approaches his lesson in five parts: trends and statistics about the business; steps in starting a new magazine (mission statements, business plans, pilot issues, testing through single-copy sales, etc.); the major operations involved in publishing a magazine (i.e., editorial, production, marketing, circulation); magazine as brand ("It earns the loyalty, friendship and confidence of its readers as it speaks to them one-on-one about a subject they are very interested in"; "It establishes a market-place between its readers and advertisers"; etc.); and industry facts and information sources. Discussing case studies and stats of publilcations from Martha Stewart Living to the Harvard Business Review in a friendly, down-to-earth style, Kobak renders the jargon, concepts and numbers accessible. Details
Words of Fire: Independent Journalists Who Challenge Dictators, Druglords, and Other Enemies of a Free Press by Anthony Collings
 It's no surprise that Collings earned his credentials as a reporter for Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press, and CNN and eventually won an Emmy for his reports on the Oklahoma City bombing. This groundbreaking account is told with an immediacy that could only have come from a reporter skilled in the techniques of "guerrilla" journalism. Here, he shares the courageous stories of the men and women who bring us the news from the frontlines of our global hot spots. The commitment Collings shares with the journalists he profiles is awe-inspiring, and the life-threatening risks that they take to maintain the ideals of a free press will shatter the skepticism with which most Americans view our media. Journalists can be assassinated (34 in 1999), imprisoned, tortured, and held hostage, and many jeopardize their careers and comfort for their determined refusal to be censored. Collings's extensive notes and bibliography provide further evidence that the fight to maintain and preserve a free and unbiased press is universal. Recommended for all journalism collections and libraries supporting interest in contemporary world events. - Denise S. Sticha, Murrysville Community Lib., PA. Details
The Well-Fed Writer by Peter Bowerman
 In this era of entrepreneurialism, Atlanta freelancer Bowerman shows those timid (but talented) souls how almost anyone can forge ahead as an independent writer. His advice is good, couched in brassy prose that is easy to read. He anticipates every conceivable question and issue, including typical charges, marketing oneself, types of available work, and dealing with deadbeats. There are great common-sense tips, too, in the psychology of handling clients who think they are writers, those with limited budgets, and others demanding creativity. Personal anecdotes make the life of a freelancer real; the author includes samples of cold-calling scripts, thank-you notes, and a story or three about starting a writers' group and partnering with other professionals. For beginning scribblers only; more experienced soloists may disagree with some points made. -Barbara Jacobs. Details
Feminine Wiles: Creative Techniques for Writing Women's Feature Stories that Sell by Donna Elizabeth Boetig
 Feminine Wiles is a great resource for writers yearning specifically to write for the Seven Sisters magazines, as their "rules" for publication really do differ from those for other types of publications. For starters, says Boetig, "When you write to an editor proposing a story idea, write a love letter.... Focus on passion, emotion, a sense of urgency, even a bit of breathlessness." If your subject is photogenic, say so. Give your piece a title that uses words like "you, new, latest, health, happiness, quiz, sex or any superlatives." Editors and readers love sidebars, Boetig confides, and they adore quizzes and lists. Using the intimate tone of a women's magazine, Boetig guides her readers through the complete article-publishing process, from submitting story ideas to interviewing subjects (confide in them, and they'll confide in you) to writing, editing, and fact-checking. -Jane Steinberg. Details
On the Art of Writing Copy: The Best of Print, Broadcast, Internet, Direct Mail (2nd. Ed) by Herschell Gordon Lewis
 Great promotional copy grabs you by the throat and demands your attention. Great copy promises you things you want (or maybe a better word is "crave"). But how do copywriters know what to promise...and how to promise it? In this book, Herschell Gordon Lewis, one of the great copywriting artists of our day, supplies actual rules anyone can implement to create powerful, effective copy. Details
How to Write It: A Complete Guide to Everything You'll Ever Write by Sandra E. Lamb
 Whether you seek protocol on accepting a formal invitation, turning down a job offer, challenging your credit record, writing a condolence letter, or penning a collection letter, How to Write It can help. With precision and humor, Sandra E. Lamb provides reliable guidance on all forms of written correspondence; for each type of communication, she considers such issues as content, wrong messages (how to eliminate them), format, effective writing, and editing. What in other hands might have been a dry reference manual takes on its own personality in the hands of this competent stylist. -Jane Steinberg. Details
The Lost Art of the Great Speech: How to Write One, How to Deliver It by Richard Dowis
The author, who has won numberous awards for editing, speech writing, and financial writing, provides practical advice and useful insights in this public speaking tutorial. He offers handy tips on writing, with concrete examples of ways to solve common problems. This book has something to benefit anyone who must speak in public. Details
Organizing Workspace : A to Z by Hope J. Lafferty
 Hope J. Lafferty's Organizing Workspace: A to Z is a tiny book-it won't add to the mess. Tired of the recent organizational encyclopedias that attempt to root out our existential reasoning behind disorganization, Lafferty simplifies the process and delivers an ingenious, alphabetical index format yielding real-world, organizational nuggets. These concise words of wisdom provide single-thought suggestions that describe how to organize your workspace. It is listener-friendly information to get organized in an easy-to-understand alphabetical. Details |
