Rework is a great book to read if you want to get more out of your workday. Nothing in the book is revolutionary, but the ideas will get you get you back to basics or set you on the right path. I worked for a company where I found myself pulling data for nearly half a day in order to get ready for a weekly meeting. The data really wasn’t useful in my optimization and, honestly, wasn’t really what my manager needed to be looking at to determine my effectiveness. We also had another group meeting in which our entire team would present data for 2 hours. Each of us spent another entire morning preparing and then 2 hours in the meeting. That left just a couple of hours for actual work. The information presented by other members was interesting, but didn’t really impact my job.

Rework provides ways to cut down on meetings such as these and some great tips on how to organize your work and be more productive. The Rework website has some great videos and even a PDF excerpt for download.

Most business books give you the same old advice: Write a business plan, study the competition, seek investors, yadda yadda. If you’re looking for a book like that, put this one back on the shelf. “Rework “shows you a better, faster, easier way to succeed in business. Read it and you’ll know why plans are actually harmful, why you don’t need outside investors, and why you’re better off ignoring the competition.

The truth is, you need less than you think.
You don’t need to be a workaholic.
You don’t need to staff up.
You don’t need to waste time on paperwork or meetings.
You don’t even need an office.

Those are all just excuses.

Head over to Lulu.com and purchase Rework for just $14.45 if you enter the code “rework” at check-out (expires June 30). They are offering FREE Shipping on all orders over $19.95 this summer!

Nearly every writer wanted their book to look just like a book that can be found on the shelves at any Barnes & Noble or local bookstore. What many writers fail to see is that more money can be made by selling the same content in eBook format. Numerous writers who use Lulu will often have two versions of their books available; a print version and a downloadable eBook version. The royalties on the eBook version are much higher than with the printed copy enabling the author to make more money per sale. eBook versions are often priced a few dollars less as well, making this version more appealing to a reader who has no prior knowledge of the author and may not be willing to spend $15 on a book they might be wary of purchasing due to the “self-published” stigma attached.

One issue with eBooks is that many readers lack a decent eBook reader in which to consume the content. The format Lulu provides is easily readable on a computer (it is basically a pdf), but reading a long book on such a screen can be less than ideal. The Kindle, Nook and other readers are ideal for such content, but these devices are still gaining traction and many owners stick to best-sellers and only a few dive into non-mainstream content. Apple’s release of the iPad has put an eBook reader into the hands of 300,000 in one day. A better stat for writers is the fact that Apple announced that nearly 250,000 eBooks were downloaded on the same day. While many of these readers might stick to the best-seller list, the fact that such a huge number of people now have an eBook reader enables the chance to sell to more people.

Pricing an eBook correctly as a self-published author is vital and the key to driving sales. I have seen many self-published authors price their content way too high. As a reader who purchases about 5 books a month, I may not take a chance on an author that I don’t know unless the book is at a discount or priced lower than average books.

Check out Lulu’s iPad formatting here.

According to TechCrunch the iPad sold 300,000 units on opening weekend. The bigger number is that 250,000 eBooks were purchased for the device. At $9.99 as an average price per eBook = $2,500,000 in sales. A pretty significant number.

Looking at the iPhone as a comparable marker, look at the search trends for each device:

The iPad has a much larger search volume near launch than the iPhone had. This could be due to the iPhone being able to pave the way for more consumers to become aware of the Apple brand. While these users might have been PC only at that time, once they switched from a Blackberry to an iPhone they were more open to what Apple had to offer. While a switch to an Apple laptop might have been a huge leap, the switch to an Apple phone was much easier. The iPad’s sales numbers for were higher than the Iphone’s during launch.

Do i want an iPad?

I’m not sure. I really can’t figure out what I would do with one. My son might use it on road trips, but the iPhone works just fine for him now (as does the mini-DVD) player we own. I might use it to read magazines, but the initial cost of the device just does not make a purchase worthwhile. I don’t watch a ton of web-TV and when I do, I just plug my MacBook directly into my TV. The applications available look nice, but how many are just larger versions of their iPhone counterparts?

I think I’ll wait on getting an iPad for now. I am curious to know what the next iPhone upgrade will entail? Thinner? More memory? Better camera?

Some iPad Links:

10 Essential iPad Tips & Tricks
iPad Sales
Gregory Ng’s iPad Love (he makes a good point about using it as a notetaker)

Lego iPad photo via jmenomeno

I’ve written a few posts about eBook readers, but still don’t feel like I’d enjoy reading a book on a Kindle or Nook. I don’t know if the iPad will be any different. Using the device to read magazines could be interesting, but the subscription price would have to be lower than the physical version. I like grabbing a book and just digging in and being able to throw it down on the coffee table or shelf when I’m done. With an eBook Reader that experience would change. I do use my iPhone to read numerous RSS feeds and enjoy that, but the content is usually shorter.

What I’m Reading:

Scratch Beginnings – Adam Shepard: A book about his experience trying to get from only having $25 and nowhere to live to $5000 in his bank account and an apartment. A good read and interesting story. I read this book in one day (not something that is uncommon for me). I do wish the book was longer, as he mentioned a few events in the epilogue that seemed like they would have been very interesting. Adam lives in Raleigh and does public speaking about his experience.

Rework – Jason Fried and David Hansson: The latest offering from the founders of 37Signals. They published their first book using Lulu and it sold extremely well. This is one book that I’ll have a notebook open while I read in order to take notes.

Skinema – Chris Nieratako: I have always been accused of reading weird books. This would definitely fall into the “weird” category. Chris is a decent writer and his short passages are quick to read yet engaging.

Flip The Funnel – Joseph Jaffe: I received this book for free from the author. He ran a Facebook contest and gave the 1st 30 people to become a fan of the book, free copies. It is a great read so far and I hope to implement some of his ideas for customer engagement.

(UPDATED)

I also read The Lie by Chad Kultgen. He is also the author of The Average American Male. Both are excellent books and are highly recommended. I finished The Lie in just over 24 hours. His first book was promoted using YouTube and was noted for going “viral” and getting a big lift from social media, but I really don’t recall hearing about it at all last year before or after I had read it. Find out more on Chad’s official site.

This is just a short list of what I have waiting to be read on my bookshelf. I’d love to get other recommendations in the comments.

I do suspect that we will see Gowalla or Brightkite get bought by a big player. I really doubt the founders of Foursquare will sell after the Dodgeball debacle with Google.

Photo Credit: DeanJ

Cost

The Kindle 2 costs $359. Each book costs $9.99. The last 6 books I bought at the bookstore cost me a total of around $95 (A few hardcovers and a few Buy 2 get 1 Free). To read those books on the Kindle 2 it would have cost me around the same amount. Add in that I’d have had to pay the $359 for the Kindle and we’d be looking at $455. In fact, the book Reality Check by Guy Kawasaki costs $18.65 for the hardcover and $16.47 for the Kindle version. For two dollars more, I have a version that I can let my wife read, give to a friend, take notes in the margins or even sell.

If the Kindle versions were much cheaper and I could see a point where I’d save money by buying the eBook versions of what I want to read, then I might make the switch. I just don’t see how I’d save money at all by buying a Kindle and eBooks.

Comfort

I own an iPhone. Before that I had a BlackBerry and before that I had a Handspring. I don’t talk on the phone very much, but I do use the devices to read. I currently use an RSS reader app on the iPhone to read quite a few websites and find that after about an hour my eyes get pretty tired. Sitting in from of a computer screen all day is hard enough, so relaxing with a smaller screen isn’t very appealing to me. A book is a bit easier on the eyes.

I took a look at the iPhone Kindle app and, while it is free, the books still cost the same. It will be interesting to see how rapid eBook readers gain traction and how much of a dent they will really put into the sale of paper books.