sf business times

The First Time I Got Paid For It: Writers' Tales From The Hollywood Trenches Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Maybe I missed the fine-print or something, but this book isn't what I was expecting, really, or what I was looking for. The book doesn't get three stars because it's bad -- it's not a bad book -- but because I think, well, the title is a sort of false advertising. When I picked up the book, I was expecting essays by successful writers about how they broke into the business of screenwriting ... inspirational-type stuff. Instead, what the book contains are stories about:
"The first time I ...
"... sold a tv-pilot after working for fifteen years as a staff-writer for a highly successful television show."
Or ...
"The first time I ...
"... adapted one of my highly sucessful stage plays into a screenplay."
And so on.
Many of the personal essays are interesting, some are funny, and the book is worth reading, if what you want to read are the kind of mildly amusing, sometimes hopeful essays contained in this book. If what you want is a book of essays by highly successful screenwriters about how the broke into the business, you'll find little (although some) of that here.

Click Here to see more reviews about: The First Time I Got Paid For It: Writers' Tales From The Hollywood Trenches

Click here for more information about The First Time I Got Paid For It: Writers' Tales From The Hollywood Trenches

Value in Time: Better Trading through Effective Volume (Wiley Trading) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The author uses inexpensive off-the-shelf software to slice each trading day of a stock into one-minute segments. He finds the average one-minute volume for the day and separates the minutes into those with above or below average volume. In each group, he adds up the volume of minutes with rising prices and subtracts the volume of minutes with falling prices. This gives him two cumulative volume lines: one for the minutes with above average and the other for below average volume. He named them Large and Small Effective Volume.
The minutes with above average volume reflect the impact of the big money and often have predictive value. When you find a condition in which the big money starts pushing up a stock, while the small money remains negative or neutral, an upside reversal is in the cards. When the big money starts pushing the stock down while the small money is flat or buying, a downside reversal is more likely.
The author introduces another key concept which he calls Active Boundaries. When the returns from a stock over a period of time reach their upper boundary, the expectations for a further rise diminish and a downside reversal is more likely. When a stock declines and hits its lower Active Boundary, bullish expectations become high and the stock has a greater probability of an upside reversal. Numerous charts show how to catch reversals using these concepts.
In addition to Effective Volume and Active Boundaries the author describes several other concepts. He has a very rare ability to stand apart of the crowd, to question accepted concepts, and to come up with new ideas.
In the interest of full disclosure: I met Pascal a couple of years ago while working on my book Entries & Exits (John Wiley & Sons, 2005), which includes a chapter on his approach.
During the past year I have been receiving Pascal's analytic emails in which he shares his research into current markets. After you read this book, I suggest you write to Pascal and ask to be added to his mailing list!
I expect the concepts of Effective Volume, Active Boundaries, and others in this book to become accepted by many serious traders. As always, the early adopters will reap the greatest rewards.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Value in Time: Better Trading through Effective Volume (Wiley Trading)

Get 27% OFF

Click here for more information about Value in Time: Better Trading through Effective Volume (Wiley Trading)

Making Time to Lead: How Principals Can Stay on Top of It All Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The book is a compilation of tips for principals as the authors go through different areas of a principal's job, they give ways to make the most of your time. Any person preparing to become a principal or who is struggling under all the pressure should read this helpful step by step book. The authors want to help others get a grasp and to manage the massive job that principals have. The authors realize how busy a principal's job is. They know how things adjust with new personnel and new technology. They put together sixty pages of tips and ways to double your efforts and become a principal who can handle all the little things, as well as keep a good rapport with the students, teachers, parents and community.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Making Time to Lead: How Principals Can Stay on Top of It All

Get 1% OFF

Click here for more information about Making Time to Lead: How Principals Can Stay on Top of It All

The Difference: How Anyone Can Prosper in Even The Toughest Times Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I found this author from Oprah's web site and read this book. What I love about Jean Chatzky's book The Difference is that she gets to the point in a very calming way.
Money is often times linked to survival and fear in the modern society. I know many of us are raised to have this love-hate relationship with money. For instance, we love to have more money (e.g. one way to get there is to save and invest) but then we spend them instead of keeping them. In Jean's book, she started off describing the research she has done on the individuals who are classified in the following categories:
1.Wealthy
2.Financially Comfortable
3.Paycheck to Paycheck
4.Further In Debtors
Instead of being judgmental to any group of individuals, she simply pointed out "The Difference" wealthy people & financially comfortable people have (traits, the things they do, their beliefs, etc) versus individuals who are in the paycheck to paycheck & further in-debtors categories. Jean never for once went down the path to portray the "wealthy greedy" nor did she judge the "further-in-debtors" as financially irresponsible in her book. Instead, she mentioned many things wealthy and financially comfortable do are things paycheck to paycheck & further in debtors can learn to do to improve financially and our overall happiness (you can find her detailed suggestions in this book). She inspired all of us that to become financially comfortable and/or wealthy is not unrealistic goal in this life time through the research, her findings in the research and her interviews
I love these interviews. I used to have a gut feeling the not all wealthy and/or financially comfortable people are evil/greedy but I had no solid proof of such. Furthermore, if one has watched the news lately, it really does shaken some of my faith about this gut feeling I had all along (especially those news I hear about Wall Street big wigs cashing bonuses, etc). However, Jean's interviews in each chapter helps re-assuring us that pursuing financial goals does not automatically turn us into wealthy greedy categories. In fact, if we read through these interviews, one might realize the inner strengths many of the wealthy & financially comfortable individuals have and is something to admire and follow some of their paths.
Excellent book to get inspired to get our finances together. I highly recommend it!

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Difference: How Anyone Can Prosper in Even The Toughest Times

Get 23% OFF

Click here for more information about The Difference: How Anyone Can Prosper in Even The Toughest Times

5 Necessary Skills: to Maintain Employment in Tumultuous Times Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This book- 5 Necessary Skills is a great advice book. It is well written, easy to read and succinctly outlines what every worker should know about keeping an edge in the workplace today. These are scary times, but Pearson give us a road map of how to keep in front of the unstable job market today. Being prepared for any kind of situation is truly taking control of our own career instead of allowing companies to take control of our lives.

Click Here to see more reviews about: 5 Necessary Skills: to Maintain Employment in Tumultuous Times

The Job-Seeker's BibleHow to Find and Keep the Right Job.In this tough market, we can no longer count on the institutions of government, corporations, and education to provide for us. We must change and grow intellectually to survive, and this book will show you how.Whether you're searching for a new job or trying to hang on to the one you have, 5 Necessary Skills will give you the advantages you need. You'll learn: - how to be proactive- how to be cognizant of and recognize what's going on in your company- the importance of networking- the importance of finding a mentor- and how to deal with bad bosses. Those people who exhibit the 5 Necessary Skills are the ones who will get and hold onto the best jobs - and you could be one of them"Being prepared for the twists and turns and disappointments of today's job market means we have to take control of our lives and gain knowledge about how to handle them." -Carol Kleiman, Author of Winning the Job Game: The New Rules for Finding and Keeping the Job You Want

Get 22% OFF

Click here for more information about 5 Necessary Skills: to Maintain Employment in Tumultuous Times

I'm Dying Up Here: Heartbreak and High Times in Stand-up Comedy's Golden Era Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)How did this story go untold for so long? Before some of America's best known comics were household names in homes like yours, they were household names in but their own homes. That is, they were nobodies. And most of those homes were hovels. This book tells the largely untold story of how they -- or at least many of them -- made it big while turning standup into a business and art form as culturally vital as rock and roll. Though you'll instantly key in on people like Robin Williams and Richard Lewis, after but a few pages you'll feel like you're best friends with a lot of people that I at least had never heard of, and root for them in their many battles against unfair working conditions, addiction and changing tastes. Author Knoedelseder is a reader's writer --he respects your intelligence and your time. He's got a witty, engaging style that makes you feel like you're chatting over a beer or cup of coffee and the writing is super tight. Not a wasted word. You won't be able to put this one down.

Click Here to see more reviews about: I'm Dying Up Here: Heartbreak and High Times in Stand-up Comedy's Golden Era

Get 60% OFF

Click here for more information about I'm Dying Up Here: Heartbreak and High Times in Stand-up Comedy's Golden Era

The Only Negotiating Guide You'll Ever Need: 101 Ways to Win Every Time in Any Situation Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)If you are in sales, get this book. If you are in management, get this book. If you have to go and buy a car, and you want to be able to hold your ground on the buyers side of the table, buy this book.
There is plenty of common sense here, some of the techniques will be old hat to some, but there is always something to learn or get better at, so for those that work in a business environment especially a selling position, this is a good book to go through and sharpen your skills with.
The first part of the book gives examples and definitions. It explains what the authors find as good negotiating and bad negotiating. There are tips ranging from understanding body language to understanding clues given by the other party, tips about questions and tips about location, information, using third parties, working in groups or alone and many other topics.
The second part of the book has the "101 ways to win every time". Basically it involves giving a brief description of a type of negotiating, a skill or technique, and the counter to this technique if it is used on you. They take about a page and are quick reading.
This is definitely a book worth owning and reviewing from time to time.

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Only Negotiating Guide You'll Ever Need: 101 Ways to Win Every Time in Any Situation

The Essential Guide to the Power of PersuasionIn The Only Negotiating Guide You'll Ever Need, Peter Stark and Jane Flaherty, celebrated consultants to some of the country's top companies, take the dread out of persuasion. Their 101 Winning Tactics make powerful negotiating skills easy and accessible, giving you tools and knowledge you can put to use right away. Each tactic is on a single page, with a clever and memorable name, a true-to-life example of how to use it, and suggested counter tactics in case someone tries it on you. All 101 tactics are so accessible and empowering that you will find yourself using them immediately--and maybe not just at work.

Get 22% OFF

Click here for more information about The Only Negotiating Guide You'll Ever Need: 101 Ways to Win Every Time in Any Situation

Blog Archive