Two of my friends recently released new books and I am excited to share the news with you.

The first is a book about Self Love.  Evelyn Lim of Abundance Tapestry wrote this book after receiving many emails in response to a couple of posts she had written about self love.  She discovered that normal people, just like you and me, often have trouble loving themselves unconditionally.

The second book is a collection of witty and entertaining stories written by KJ Force.  KJ is one of the contributors to my upcoming ebook about learning to fall asleep.  I enjoy her entertaining perspective on life.

Self Love Secrets by Evelyn Lim

Self-Love Secrets is written in a very easy-to-understand format.  Whether you are 21 or 70 years old, you should be able to learn some useful things from this book.  It is a great starter guide in your self-discovery journey.

Self Love Secrets covers all three mind-body-spirit aspects of the practice.  It gets your questions answered, helps you to flip your negative self-talk to a positive one, equips you with strategies and facilitates spiritual awareness.  You will learn about the importance of having balance, without tipping over to self-deprecation or narcissism, in order to be healthy.   You will find true self-love.

Self Love Secrets sells for $27 and includes a number of bonus items.  For more information or to order, click here: Self-Love Secrets

You may also be interested in Evelyn’s other book Abundance Alchemy

Whatever… I’m Still Here by KJ Force

Whatever… I’m Still Here is a book full of fun little stories that KJ has collected over the years.  KJ has a knack for finding humor in the everyday.

Going through changes in our lives we often make decisions and choices that we later question – what was I thinking?  We even have aahha moments, but there are also times (more often than not) filled with consequences we must deal with.  So if this sounds like you, welcome and enjoy.  However, if your life is and always has been perfect and no question or doubt in your mind, this book is not for you, so if you would please put it back on the shelf for someone less fortunate.

Whatever… I’m Still Here is available at Amazon in paperback for $9.95 or on Kindle for $3.99.  For more information or to order, click here: Whatever… I’m Still Here

Successful Blogging by Annabel Candy is an eBook guides us through the steps to create a successful blog.  Annabel has a lot of experience with all the ins and outs of blogging from running her own blog, Get in the Hot Spot, as well as from running Mucho, her Internet marketing company.

Overview

Annabel asked me to review this shortly after the release, which was many months ago at this point.  With most ebooks, I can whip through them pretty quickly.  Every once in a while I get one that is so packed with content that I have trouble reading it from my computer screen.  This was one of those cases; I ended up printing out all 65 pages so that I could more easily read through it.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I first open the pdf file.  I had read a number of ebooks on blogging, and I wasn’t sure what else could be said on this topic.  Annabel approached this ebook from a slight different angle, and in doing so sets herself apart from a number of the other blogging ebooks out there.  Her approach was to look at what pieces and parts need to go into a blog to make it successful.  So it’s not really a hot to be a blogger ebook, but rather a how to create a successful blog.  It may sound like a slight distinction, but it is really quite a departure from the basic how to of blogging.  It’s a little hard to describe actually, I’d maybe consider it to be an advanced course with a lot of the basics thrown in.

One thing I was surprised to see missing was details on how to get a basic blog installed and setup on a web host.  Annabel purposely leaves this out because she suggests that you leave this task to someone experienced with this type of work.  I feel like the ebook is more targeted towards people that want to build and grow a blog as a business or to support and enhance an already established business.  These folks would be better served by focusing on content rather than all the technical background stuff.  That’s not to say the hobbyist won’t get anything out of this, because it’s actually quite the contrary.  There is plenty for the hobby blogger in here as well.

The layout of Successful Blogging is very nice and it reads much like a textbook – that is if text books were interesting to read.  Each chapter starts with an overview that tells you what to expect from that chapter.  Next is the Thinking Point section which covers the core of the instruction.  Following that is a Take Action section where the reader is challenged to complete a small list of activities that will directly benefit their blog.  At the end of each chapter is a checklist that summarizes all the steps that you should have taken as you worked through that chapter.  Also spread throughout the book are Hot Tip boxes that share interesting tips and tidbits related to the materials in that chapter.

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Introduction
• Step1: Topic & Goals
• Step 2: Branding
• Step 3: Planning a Blog
• Step 4: Blog Set Up
• Step 5: Writing Static Content
• Step 6: Writing Blog Posts
• Step 7: Writing for the Web
• Step 8: Reality Check and Adding Value
• Step 9: Blogging and Other Social Media
• Step 10: Online Networking
• Step 11: Search Engine Optimization
• Statistics and Rating Progress
• Step 12: Guest Posting
• Bonus Chapter: Committing to Blogging and Staying Motivated
• The Final Word
• Resources

What’s Included

Hot Package – The 65 page eBook including a bonus chapter on motivation.

Super Hot Package – The 65 page eBook including a bonus chapter on motivation, an audio book recording, and five blog case studies.

Super Hot Consultation Package – The 65 page eBook including a bonus chapter on motivation, an audio book recording, and five blog case studies. It also includes a 2 hour consultation package that includes an analysis of your blog featuring a review of your topics, goals, and design.

Price/Value

$29 for the Hot Package, $39 for the Super Hot Package, and $499 for the Super Hot Consultation Package.    I think the Hot and Super Hot Packages both offer good value.  The content in Successful Blogging can really help you take your blog to a new level.  The audio book is a nice bonus in the Super Hot Package, especially if you are more of an auditory learner.  The 5 blogging case studies are also a very nice bonus, as you can see many of the ideas in the ebook put into practice.    I can’t speak for the value on the Super Hot Consultation Package, as I didn’t go through her consultation.  With Annabel’s experience I imagine the consultation would prove to be beneficial.

Pluses

• The author speaks from experience and I could sense her passion for the topic.
• I love the layout and organization.  It’s laid out like a textbook, and I could easily see it being used in a classroom setting.
• Each section starts with an overview, includes thinking point and a take action section, and concludes with a checklist.
• Hot Tips scattered throughout to highlight tips in key areas.
• The content is really meaty with many actionable items to use in your own blog.
• The audio book version in the Super Hot Package is a nice addition, especially if you are an auditory leaner.

Minuses

I was a little disappointed that Annabel didn’t hit on the basics of the initial blog setup.  Since this information is so readily available all over the Internet, and since she recommends using a professional for this step, it’s an acceptable omission.

Verdict

5 stars.  I could easily see this book being used to teach a course on blogging.  Annabel really digs into everything that makes up a successful blog, and walks you along a path that starts from an empty blog and ends in a masterpiece (or at least providing all the information so that you can create your masterpiece.)  I’ve been blogging for nearly two years now and I found a number of useful items.  One of my favorites was her list of blog sites that offer free pictures to use in blog posts.  She lists a few that have very professional photos, and as a bonus they don’t require attribution.

Another nice thing about Successful Blogging is that it is suitable for a very wide variety of bloggers.  There is good content for the hobby blogger, the professional blogger, and the business person using a blog to support and enhance their company.  It’s really not the typical how to blog type of ebook, but rather an ebook that fills you in on all the secrets that make a blog successful.

Click here to purchase a copy of Successful Blogging

Click here to learn more about Successful Blogging

Sell Your Crap by Adam Baker is a complete guide to selling on eBay, Craigslist, and Amazon.  That alone is a great package, but then he also included a module that covers the how and whys of purging a bunch of crap from our homes and from our lives.  Baker has firsthand experience with this.  He and his wife did a big purge two years ago, and following their big purge, they traveled Australia and New Zealand for several months.

Overview

Sell Your Crap is comprised of four modules.  Each module is a standalone pdf, and each on focuses on a different topic.  The Sell Your Crap Main Module is a 67 page eBook that focuses on some reasons why we should sell our crap, differentiates between stuff and crap, gives us a battle plan for selling our crap, and some tips to prevent relapse into a home full of crap.

The next three modules focus on selling on eBay, Craigslist, and Amazon.  The eBay module is the biggest weighing in at 171 pages.  The Craigslist Module is 49 pages, and the Amazon Module is 41 pages.  Each of these modules takes you by the hand and lead you, start to finish, through the process of selling through these online mediums.  When I say start to finish, I mean Baker takes you through every step of signing up to be a seller, through the listing process, through making the sale, shipping the product and finally with any feedback options.  These are very comprehensive guides.

Since there are four modules, the table of contents is a bit long, but I’m going to list it anyway since it will give you a great look at what’s included in Sell Your Crap.

Table of Contents

Sell Your Crap – Main Module

• Welcome… You Rock!
• The Case Against Crap
  • The Wake Up Call
  • Stuff Vs. Crap
  • Three Core Problems with Crap
  • The True Cost of Crap
  • Needs Vs. Wants… A Call to Appreciate
  • Clutter Does Not Equal Security
  • The Power of Sexy Goals

• The Battle Plan
  • Two Ways to Fire the First Shot
  • Decide What Stays. Not What Goes
  • Free Yourself from Sentimental Crap
  • Curing the Just In Case Syndrome
  • Realize the True Value of Your Crap
  • How to Rally your Spouse and Kids
  • What to Sell Where
  • Crap that Sells Well Online
  • Yard Sales… Your Last Ditch Effort
  • Donate, Recycles, and Trash
  • Our Step by Step Attack Plan

• Preventing Relapses
• Three Keys to Avoiding Binges
• Practice Conscious Spending
• Organizing the Stuff You Keep
• Purge Hard, Purge Fast, Purge Often
• Final Thoughts

EBay Module

• Introduction: eBay Strengths/Weaknesses
• Getting to Know eBay
  • How to Set-Up your eBay Account
  • Creating a PayPal Account
  • Prep Your eBay Account for Selling

• Researching an Item
  • What You Need to Know Before You Research
  • Putting the “Search” in Research
  • Getting the Right Number of Results
  • Hunting for Similar Listings
  • Quick Summary of the Research Process

• Planning Ahead… Pictures and Shipping
  • Snapping Fantastic Photographs
  • The Time to Plan Shipping… Is Now
  • Deciding the Best Way to Ship
  • Packing Materials, Boxes, and More

• Listing an Item on eBay
  • Initiate the Listing
  • Categories, Titles, and Subtitles
  • Uploading and Inserting Photos
  • Creating a Compelling Description
  • Choosing “How” to Sell your Item
  • Payment, Shipping, and Returns
  • Finishing Up: Review and Submit Your Listing

• During the Auction
  • “my eBay” and Buyer’s Questions
  • Fixing Problems During an Auction

• After the Auction Ends
  • Invoicing and Getting Paid
  • Tackling Unsuccessful Auctions
  • Streamlined Packing and Shipping
  • Rare Problems After Shipping
  • Leaving and Receiving Feedback

• Final Thoughts: Bringing it All Together

Craigslist Module

• Introduction to craigslist Strengths/Weaknesses
• Getting to Know craigslist
  • Navigating the craigslist Homepage
  • Setting up Your craigslist Account
  • My Accounts Main Page

• The craigslist Process
  • Researching an Item
  • Planning Ahead
  • Listing the Item
  • Not So Ordinary Resources

• Maintenance
  • How NOT to Get Flagged
  • Removing and Editing Your Ad
  • Communicating with Buyers
  • A craigslist Case Study

Amazon Module

• Introduction Amazon Strengths/Weaknesses
• Getting to Know Amazon
  • Navigating the Homepage
  • Setting Up Your Account
  • Navigating Your Seller Account

• The Amazon Process
  • Introduction: Why Media?
  • Researching an Item
  • Listing Your Item

• Maintaining Your Account
  • Introduction: Low Maintenance
  • Removing and Editing Items
  • Shipping
  • Refunds and Returns
  • Getting Paid

What’s Included

Sell Your Crap is available in two different editions.

Sell Your Crap – Barebones Edition – ($37)

• “Sell Your Crap” Main Guide
• The Definitive Step-by-Step Guide to Selling Your Crap on eBay
• $100 Effectiveness Guarantee

Sell Your Crap – Clutter Crusher Edition – ($47)

• “Sell Your Crap” Main Guide
• The Definitive Step-by-Step Guide to Selling Your Crap on eBay
• The Definitive Step-by-Step Guide to Selling Your Crap on craigslist
• The Definitive Step-by-Step Guide to Selling Your Crap on Amazon
• Special Access to All 10 “Anti-Clutter Rockstar” Video Interviews
• $100 Effectiveness Guarantee
• 30-Day “Ask Anything” Email support!

Price/Value

The Barebones Edition $37

The Clutter Crusher Edition $47

Both versions are a good value, but bulk of the material, and in my mind, the bulk of the value comes from the two items included in the Barebones Edition: Sell Your Crap Main Guide and the eBay Module.  If your funds are limited, I recommend this version.

For just $10 more than the Barebones Edition, you get the craigslist module, the Amazon module, some video interviews to boost your motivation, and 30 days of email support.  All this makes the $10 add on a pretty good value.

The thing that jumps out at me as far as value goes is that Baker is offering a $100 effectiveness guarantee; meaning that if you don’t make at least $100 by selling your own crap, he will refund the purchase price.  Essentially, he’s guaranteeing that you will be able to pay for the eBook and make 50 bucks just by following the detailed instructions in Sell Your Crap.

Pluses

• The author speaks from experience and I could sense his passion for the topic
• Instructions are step by step and very detailed
• Great way for beginners to get started
• Many good tips even for an experienced eBay seller
• The main module is full of motivation and logical arguments for selling unused/unneeded items
• Full of tips that will help you make money

Minuses

Anyone experienced with selling through craigslist and Amazon won’t gain much from those modules.

Verdict

I give Sell Your Crap 5 stars.  Adam Baker does exactly what he set out to do in writing the eBook; he gives you a reason to declutter and a step by step guide to do it.  I am very impressed with the main module.  I wasn’t expecting the content there to be so good and so compelling.  I’ve even started going through my stuff to find the crap that I no longer have a need for.  I especially like his approach to determining what is crap (that we don’t need) and what is stuff (that we do need.)

He also shares his fantastic approach to tackling the decluttering process.  One that upon testing, I’ve found to work very very well.  I ended up finding a ton of stuff in my closet that I had no reason to keep anymore.  Using Bakers approach I realized I really had no reason to keep these items.

The eBay module is packed full of great tips and instructions.  Baker shares a great method for making the whole eBay experience flow, from identifying, photographing, listing, packaging, and selling the items.  I’m finding his process to be less of a headache than my prior listing experiences.

I even emailed him with a question, as part of the 30 day support and received a reply in less than 24 hours.  I highly recommend Sell Your Crap as a top notch way to eliminate clutter from your life and make some money in the process.

Click here to learn more about  the Clutter Crusher Edition $47

Click here to learn more about  the Barebones Edition $37

With most of the eBooks I review, I give away a free copy to one of my mailing list subscribers.  Adam Baker has graciously allowed me to give away one copy of Sell Your Crap.  The lucky winner is Zengirl.

No worries if you didn’t win, we’ll have lots more eBooks to give away.  If you’d like to get in on the give aways be sure to sign up for my mailing list.

The Raw Food Lifestyle by Andrew Perlot is an eBook about the lifestyle surrounding a raw foodist.  Andrew runs a blog called Raw Food Health where he discusses many aspects of a raw food diet.

Overview

When Andrew first contacted me, I wasn’t sure what his ebook, The Raw Food Lifestyle, was all about.  He said it was about the lifestyle surrounding a raw food diet.  Even after reading it the title strikes me as slightly ill-fitting.  This is very much a personal development eBook, equal or better to any I’ve read so far.  It’s the true life story of Andrew Perlot’s path to improve his own life.

He was overweight in his early years and on into middle and high school.  He also had some beliefs cast on him by society that further held him back.  His path led him to learning Ninjitsu, Yoga, and eventually to a Raw Food Diet.  I suppose that makes him the only raw food ninja that I know.

His path led him out of depression and an overweight body, and into happiness and a much more athletic body.   During this journey he has learned many great lessons, and it’s through this eBook that he shares these lessons.

The Raw Food Lifestyle is comprised of four main sections: Overcoming Depression, The Mind, The Body, and Other Needs.  Each section shares revelations and tips from Andrews own life.  He has lived the personal development he shares in this eBook.

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Raw Food Book That Wasn’t

How To Use This Book

Overcoming Depression

• Cast Into The Pig Sty
• You’re Not Alone
• It’s Not Too Late Because Of A Bad Start
• Misguided Treatments
• Treating Symptoms – The Medical Model Keeps Failing
• Don’t Examine The Filth, Move Out Of It
• A Different Way To Examine The Problem
• Making A Clean Break
• Logic Is Your Friend
• Emotion – Don’t Embrace It For A Change
• Be Calm
• Resurrecting The Laugh
• Separate Old Failures From Your Future
• Get Up And Move
• Distract Yourself To Happiness
• Take On Your Problems And Regain Control
• For The Stuck
• A Quick Review
• Moving On

Our Needs

The Realm Between Your Temples

• Introducing The Mind
• Starting To Unplug And A Bit Of Perspective.
• Switch The Lens, Change Your Life
• Three More Examples Of Changing Lenses
  • Running Feet
  • The I Hate Cooked Food Lens
  • Colitis

• How You Change Lenses
• Lenses Q&A
• Ideas To Consider Incorporating Into Your Life
  • Absolute Responsibility
  • Never Complain
  • The Mirror Concept
  • Reasoning Yourself Raw
  • Finding The Meaning Of Life
  • Chasing Arete

• Society Will Remain Two Steps Behind
• Friends And Loved Ones
• On Existing In An Alien Society
• You Didn’t Sign A Contract To Become A Hippie
• Setting Goals
• Getting Started With Goals
• Advice For The Goalless
• Daily Doses Of Inspiration
• Motivation
• A Lifetime Of Learning
• Why We Pursue Knowledge
• Dealing With Mnemosyne
• The Importance of Stories
• Healing And Hurting Through Stories
• The Threat of Negative Stories and Reclaiming Our Mental Space
• Television
• Crafting New Stories
• On Not Being A Pawn
• The Mind Is Not Everything.
• The Eventual Goal: Living For the Moment
• Body Energy Awareness

The Body And Our Physical Existence

• The Temple We Live In
• That Urge To Move
• Deep Vein Thrombosis, AKA Death By Sloth
• Movement Breaks: An Easy First Step
• The Benefits For Those Willing To Go Farther
• You’ll Get There
• A Better Way To Exercise
• Body Temperature And Warmth In The Winter
• Sleep
• How Much Is Enough
• The Role of Sleep in Depression, Body Repair, and Physical and Mental Growth
• Diet And Sleep
• Sensible Sleep Advice
• Developing A Sleep Ritual

The Other Needs

• Meaning And Purpose
• Feeling Part Of A Wider Community
• Control Over Your Life
• Emotional Intimacy
• The Wonders Of Touch
• Competence And Achievement
• Security
• Sleep
• Privacy
• Smiling, Laughter And Happiness
• Proper Food And Drink
• Appreciation Of Art
• Time Outdoors And Biophilia
• Sunlight
• Rethinking Sun Exposure
• Other Applications
  • Healing:
  • Building Strength and Endurance:
  • Fertility:
  • Relaxation and Well Being:

• Should You Get The Hell Out Of Dodge?

Conclusion
About The Author
Human Needs Audit

What’s Included

The 111 page eBook

Price/Value

$29.99  This is a good value due to the vast quantity of information, the authority through personal experience, and the professional manner in which it was written.  This is one of those eBooks that I could imagine reading in hardback at the local bookstore.

Pluses

• The author speaks from experience and I could sense his passion for the topic.
• A great section on overcoming depression, not from some doctor studying theory, but by someone who has lived it and discovered a way to overcome it.
• Covers a wide variety of personal development topics.
• Lots of great examples from the author’s life.
• I liked the areas where his own experience conflicted with ideas from doctors or mainstream opinion.  This is an area where eBooks shine as they give you real firsthand accounts from actual experiences.

Minuses

This is nitpicking, but Andrew occasionally uses some words that are outside of the average reader’s vocabulary.  I would have liked to see a little more content about the raw food diet itself, like what his typical daily menu looks like and how he transitioned to raw foods.  I suspect this was intentionally left out as it may have diluted the personal development focus.

Verdict

5 stars.  I initially had a difficult time getting past the title.  It really doesn’t lead you to expect a book full of great personal development ideas, yet after reading it, it somehow seems appropriate.   It’s as if the title Raw Food Lifestyle should be at the end of the book instead of the beginning, then you would have the benefit of reading the entire eBook and saying, “aha, this is about the lifestyle surrounding the type of person that lives on a raw food diet.”  It would be like me writing a book about a Jeep owner’s lifestyle and talking about the outdoorsy lifestyle many Jeep owners lead.

A few chapters really resonated with me, as they reflect some ideas that I’ve held that aren’t mainstream in the personal development world.  One is around the idea of sleep and waking up early.  I’ve often read from personal development and productivity blogs about the benefits of waking up early.  Andrew discusses the reality of this, which looks at an early bedtime as the key to making this work.  He also talks about the benefits of sleep, including the processing of our waking life, and the healing of the body, which are often overlooked by the productivity types.

The other was on the topic of sunlight.  The sun often gets a bad rap, and Andrew shares his own views of proper sun exposure and the benefits he’s seen.  I can whole heartedly agree with his outlook on sun exposure, having lived in a sunny area and seeing the benefits of the sun on my psoriasis.

He also has a great chapter on the lenses we use to view life, with lenses being a metaphor for beliefs.  He talks about wearing colored lenses that we eventually get used to, and after a while we don’t even notice them.  He then goes on to discuss how you need to remove one set of lenses to try on new sets.  It’s a really creative way to look at beliefs and it really made a lot of sense to me.

Click here to learn more or to purchase of The Raw Food Lifestyle

If you are already on a raw food diet, or if you are considering one, you might also check out his Savory Raw Dressings and Sauces eBook.  It’s full of ideas to spice up your raw foods.

Win Free eBooks

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’m giving away or offering discounts on the eBooks I review.  These giveaways will be limited to those people that have joined my mailing list.

The winner of a free copy of The Raw Food Lifestyle is Steven.  Steven also won an eBook during my recent contest.

If you would like a chance to win free eBooks, sign up for my mailing list using the form below.  I promise not to spam you or to send too many emails.  I’m shooting for once or twice a month max.

The Buddha Blueprint is an eBook based on the first teaching that Buddha gave after he attained enlightenment.  Nadia Ballas-Ruta shares with us the things she has learned about this first teaching while she walks her own path towards enlightenment.

Nadia Ballas-Ruta blogs at Happy Lotus Lifestyles, a blog that aims to make you extraordinary.  The great thing about Happy Lotus Lifestyles is Nadia’s personal touch.  She brings us along on her journey and shares all the insights and lessons she learns as she moves along her path.

Overview

The first thing that struck me when I began reading The Buddha Blueprint is the font.  Nadia used a font that resembles hand writing.  It seemed odd at first, but as I began reading, I realized it to be the perfect choice.  The entire eBook reads like a personal letter to me from Nadia.  The hand written font mixes perfectly with her style and tone.

The structure of this eBook is very flat.  It doesn’t really have chapters, instead it’s more like sections, but each section flows naturally into the next.  This continues the feeling of a hand written letter, and works very well for this eBook.  The bulk of The Buddha Blueprint discusses the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path.  We also get a great introduction to Nadia’s life and then we learn how she tries to apply these teaching in her own life, and how you can apply them in yours.

Table of Contents

• Preface
• Introduction
• The Struggle between Living and Dying
• A Prayer Answered
• The Student was Ready & the Teacher Appeared
• So what is the Buddha Blueprint?
• Who was Lord Buddha?
• The First Noble Truth
• The Second Noble Truth
• The Third Noble Truth
• The Fourth Noble Truth
• The Noble Eightfold Path – Step One – Right View
• The Noble Eightfold Path – Step Two – Right Intention
• The Noble Eightfold Path – Step Three – Right Speech
• The Noble Eightfold Path – Step Four – Right Action
• The Noble Eightfold Path – Step Five – Right Livelihood
• The Noble Eightfold Path – Step Six – Right Effort
• The Noble Eightfold Path – Step Seven – Right Mindfulness
• The Noble Eightfold Path – Step Eight – Right Concentration
• Application
• About the Author

Price/Value

$22.50 – This is a great value.  It’s packed full of useful and applicable information, and it’s at the lower end of the price range for an eBook.

What’s Included

Just the eBook

Pluses

• The author speaks from experience, and brings examples from her own life to enhance the lessons taught by Buddha.
• Very easy reading.  It flows very naturally and feels like it was written just for me.
• Powerful lessons taught in an easy to learn style.
• It’s a great introduction to the core concepts of Buddhism.
• Excellent descriptions of the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path.

Minuses

This is one of the few eBooks I’ve read that really doesn’t have any minuses; it’s really well done.

Verdict

5 stars.  It left me wanting more, but at the same time it felt like this was exactly enough.  It’s like eating a yummy meal at one of those fancy small portion restaurants.  The meal is so yummy and the portions are just the right size to leave you content.  You still want more, but you realize that more isn’t necessary.  I’ve read some books on Buddhism, and The Buddha Blueprint is on par with my favorites.  I loved the style, the personal touch, and the lessons taught in this book.

The Buddha Blueprint isn’t just for folks interested in Buddhism, it’s for people interested in improving aspects of their lives while striving towards enlightenment.  The lessons taught here are applicable to anyone and everyone.  I highly recommend this eBook.

Assess-Decide-Do by Dragos Roua is a revolutionary way of approaching Life Management.  Dragos Roua is the creator of the very popular blog Dragos Roua – Brilliantly Better, which focuses on personal development and productivity.  He’s experimented with different methods of becoming more productive and one day he realized all the methods he had learned weren’t working.  What does one do when all the known methods don’t work?  If you are Dragos Roua, you create your own method.  That’s when ADD or Assess-Decide-Do was born.  He created this new method of organizing daily life.  He describes ADD as a Life Management Framework, and I think that’s the perfect description of this system.

Overview

Assess-Decide-Do, Natural Productivity is the eBook that describes this Life Management Framework.  In it, Dragos covers the entire process of making decisions and getting things done.  His framework for this is a completely new concept.  Many people will find this new process useful to increase productivity and the eBook is really the only way to learn it.

The eBook is divided into three sections.  The first section explains the basic concepts of Assess-Decide-Do.  The second section tells you how to apply these concepts.  The third section discusses the use of the iPhone/iPad/iPod application that will make it a little easier to put these concepts into practice.  You can still put this into practice without the app, but the app does make it a little easier.

Table of Contents

Part One: What Is ADD?

• A Life Management Framework
  • The Assess State
  • The Decide State
  • The Do State

• The 5 Elements Of ADD
  • Assess
  • Decide
  • Do
  • Focus
  • Flow

• ADD As An Object Oriented Paradigm
  • Just A Few Lines Of Code
  • Make Your Own ADD

• Life Imbalances Explained With ADD
  • Analysis Paralysis – Too Much Assess
  • Someday Syndrome – Too Much Decide
  • Productivity Obsession – Too Much Do
  • Assess – Decide – Do and Attention Deficit Disorder

Part Two: Applied ADD

• ADD for Relationships
  • Assess For Relationships
  • Decide For Relationships
  • Do For Relationships

• ADD for Dealing With Interruptions
  • Interruptions Are Not Toxic

• Personal Crisis Management With ADD
  • Itʼs Not A Crisis, Itʼs A Result
  • The Decision: Make A New Space/Time Projection Of Yourself
  • What Do You Do In A Personal Crisis?

• ADD and Inbox Zero
• The Death Of The Deadline As We Know It
  • The Word
  • For A Liveline Philosophy
  • Inject Some Life Into That Deadline

• ADD – Natural Productivity
  • 1. Eliminate The Deadline Guilt
  • 2. Incorporate Procrastination
  • 3. Endless Projects
  • 4. Learning By Doing

Part Three: iAdd – The iPhone / iPad App

• What Is iAdd For iPhone/iPad Good For?
• Framework Compliance
• iAdd For iPhone Versus iAdd For iPad
• Assess
  • Realm Definition And Allowed Activities
  • Adding Items
  • Single Tasks
  • Managing A Task
  • Task: Realm-Specific Actions
  • Events
  • Event Data
  • Managing An Event
  • Event: Realm-Specific Actions
  • Projects
  • Project Data
  • Managing A Project
  • Project: Realm-Specific Actions
  • Ideas
  • Idea Data
  • Managing An Idea
  • Idea: Assess-Specific Actions
  • Contexts
  • Collections

• Decide
  • Realm Definition And Allowed Activities
  • Single Tasks
  • Deciding On A Single Task
  • Single Tasks: Decide-Specific Actions
  • Events
  • Deciding On An Event
  • Events: Decide-Specific Actions
  • Projects
  • Deciding On A Task From A Project
  • Projects: Decide-Specific Actions

• Do
  • Realm Definition And Allowed Activities
  • Time Based Views
  • Context Based Views
  • Switching Between Tasks And Events
  • Project Based Views
  • Do-Specific Actions

• Settings & Syncing
  • Default Realm
  • Badge Count
  • Syncing

• iAdd Usage Scenarios
  • iAdd for Blogging
  • iAdd For Shopping
  • Single Tasks, Ideas and Projects – Which One To Use When?
  • Single Tasks And Tasks In Projects/Ideas
  • Events vs Tasks

• Where To From Here?

Price/Value

$27

What’s Included

Just the eBook

Pluses

• The author speaks from experience, he found something that wasn’t working and created something that does.
• Thorough explanations and many good examples.
• Easy to read and well organized.

Minuses

The last section of the Assess-Decide-Do describes the iPhone app that helps you put ADD into practice.  It looks so good that I really wish I had an iPhone.  So the only real minus here is that I don’t have an iPhone, iPad, or iPod to try this on.

Verdict

As I started reading Assess-Decide-Do, Natural Productivity, I felt a little lost.  It’s like I was starting a new fiction novel, and I had to get to know the characters.  This is because the concepts Dragos is teaching are completely new.  I had to slowly learn these new concepts, and Dragos did a great job introducing the concepts and then developing them as I read along.

In addition to the new concepts he slides in some great advice, which I really enjoyed.  Things like, “If the decision will not change something in your reality, it’s not a decision, it’s still an assessment.”  Another quote I liked is when he talks about typical task list style of project management as a continuous killing of tasks up until the day of your own death, “The ultimate project management victory: I solved my own death today.”

I give Assess-Decide-Do, Natural Productivity five stars.  The five stars is for the eBook, the content, the organization, and the way Dragos presents these new ideas.  As for the effectiveness of the ADD method, it will take me some time to practice before I could rate that, so I’ll leave that up to you.  If you are looking for a new method of organization and a better way to get things done, then this is definitely a must read for you.

Affiliate Marketing for Beginners is an online, self study course created by Corbett Bar.  Corbett has been self employed since 1996, and due to his online income, he is able to spend time traveling the US and Mexico.  Today he runs two blogs, Free Pursuits and Think Traffic, as well has a number of successful minisites.  Since leaving the corporate world, Corbett has developed several sources of income.  He currently earns about 30 percent of his income from affiliate marketing, with half of that coming from minisites.  With a big portion of his income derived from affiliate marketing, he has lots of experience that he’s excited to share.

Affiliate Marketing for Beginners is an online course.  It’s similar to the eBooks that I normally review here, but there are a few differences.  With an online course, the content is all online, so it’s not easy to print it out or take in with you on a laptop that’s not web enabled.  What you gain, however, is the ability to interact with the author, which is a huge factor in something like affiliate marketing.

Overview of topics

Affiliate Marketing for Beginners covers the full array of topics in order to begin the path to earning income through affiliate marketing.  It covers the basics of choosing a product through an affiliate program, how to choose good niches, how to create an affiliate minisite, how to get traffic to that site, and ultimately how to earn that allusive affiliate income.

Table of Contents

Welcome

• How to Use this Course
• A Hearty Welcome

Introducing Affiliate Marketing

• Introducing Affiliate Marketing
• Ways to Earn Money Through Affiliate Marketing
• Types of Affiliate Marketing Sites and Programs
• How Much Money Can Be Made?
• What is Required of You in This Course
• The Steps Involved in Building a Complete Affiliate Marketing Minisite

Finding Opportunities

• Introduction to Keyword Research and Topic Selection
• Our Secret Keyword Recipe for a Successful Affiliate Minisite
• Time for Some Keyword Research!
• Affiliate Program Selection

Creating Your Site

• Introduction to Site Creation
• Setting Up Hosting and WordPress
• Configuring WordPress and Installing a Theme
• Writing Content
• Cleaning Up Your Design

Generating Traffic

• Introduction to SEO and Traffic Building
• Getting Our Site Indexed and Ranked
• Getting Your First Sale

Advanced Topics + Scaling Up

• Scaling Up Your Site and Your Business
• On Strengths, Contributions and Passions
• Other Advanced Topics

Price/Value

$77 The Complete Course

Includes membership to the course, the 5 modules, 21 lessons, two functional (profitable) example sites to follow, ability to ask questions directly within the course, complete money-back guarantee, and a free upgrade to the next version of the course.

$97 The Complete Course Deluxe Package

Includes everything in the Complete Course plus all of the following.

• The “affiliate experts” interview series, including “building an entire business around affiliate marketing” with Karol Gajda, “what makes a product successful for affiliates” with Adam Baker and “finding and selling affiliate products you love” with Everett Bogue.
• The “getting started” interview with Trever Clark, a successful Affiliate Marketing for Beginners classmate. Trever shares how the AMfB course led him from zero knowledge to successful affiliate in just six weeks.
• Access to special monthly group coaching sessions, where you can ask me your questions live on the phone, and access to every recorded group session.
• The 5-part “successful affiliate” tips series, a special set of lessons where I share advanced techniques and strategies. Find out how to get a 5x return for no additional work, how I’ve earned over $1000 an hour from affiliate marketing on more than one occasion, and what my top affiliate programs and niches are right now.

The Complete Course is a good value.  If the course were formatted into an eBook it would be a little expensive, but as a course, it’s a pretty good value.  Especially when you consider that similar courses can go for upwards of $500.

Once you’ve committed to the course, the extra $20 for the Deluxe Package is a good investment.  In fact, I would say the Deluxe Package makes the entire course a much better value.  The monthly coaching sessions are a great way to ask questions, and they are recorded, so you can access past sessions.  These past coaching sessions are a great source of additional information, as you get to hear from others that may be struggling on similar issues.  The other videos and audio content are also helpful and are great for inspiration and ideas.

What’s Included

• Membership to the course
• The 5 modules and 21 lessons
• The ability to ask questions directly within the course
• The two functional (profitable) example sites to follow
• The complete money-back guarantee
• A free upgrade to the next version of the course when it comes out

Pluses

• The course format makes it possible to converse with the author.
• The “beginners” nature of this course means it’s great for anyone with little or no experience.
• The phased nature of the lessons help you to progress in stages and avoid feeling overwhelmed.
• After working through the course, I feel like Corbett genuinely wants me to be successful.
• Example sites give you a real life look at an affiliate marketing minisite.
• Money back guarantee.

Minuses

The minisites rely on a blog format, so if have no experience with blogs, you might have a bit of a learning curve.  Once you get the first one done though, others should come easier.

Rating

I’m going to give Affiliate Marketing for Beginners 4 stars for the standard package and 5 stars for the deluxe package.  This course does exactly what it set out to do, and that is to teach beginners how to make money through affiliate marketing.  The course details every step, and does a good job of walking your through the process.  Everything is organized well and you have to opportunity to converse with the authors through a comments section at the end of each lesson.

Once you have the basics down, and have created an affiliate site or two, the deluxe package really begins to shine.  The group coaching sessions are fantastic, the tips series is helpful, and the videos are inspiring.  The deluxe package really makes this into a course instead of just an eBook.  I would definitely spring for the extra $20 to add the deluxe features.

Check out Affiliate Marketing for Beginners so you can join the ranks of online income earners.

If you have taken the Affiliate Marketing Course for Beginners, I’d love it if you would leave a comment and gave it your own star rating.  Thanks!

Upgrade Reality is a personal development eBook by Dirk de Bruin.  You probably know him as Diggy.  He authors the very popular blog Upgrade Reality and has released a new eBook by the same name.  He really went all out on this eBook and compiled all the best lessons he has learned in life.

Diggy has a rather non-traditional rise to success.  He finished high school a year early at 16, co-owned a supermarket with his dad at 17, learned forex trading at 20, and now he’s sharing his passion for personal development with thousands of people around the globe through his blog Upgrade Reality.

In Upgrade Reality, Diggy covers a wide range of topics, but all with a central theme of upgrading your own reality; that is, making your life the best it can be.  One of the great things about this eBook is that it is well rounded, focusing on a number of different areas of life.  Diggy draws from his own experience and really put a lot of thought into all the area in life that he has sought to improve.

Overview of topics

Diggy really filled Upgrade Reality with a full range of content covering all facets of personal development.  He covers Achievement & Success, Productivity, Confidence & Self-Esteem, Business, Body & Mind, and People & Relationships.

Table of Contents

Acheivement & Success

• Creativity
• Failure
• Quitting
• Goal-Setting
• Inspiration
• Motivation
• Take Action
• Success
• Vision Boards
• Leadership
• Travel

Productivity

• Productivity
• Relaxation

Confidence & Self-Esteem

• Anxiety
• Abundance
• Confidence
• Self-Esteem/Positivity
• Passion
• Purpose

Business

• Blogging
• Business
• Money

Body & Mind

• Emotional Control
• Gratitude
• Happiness
• Health /Exercise /Diet
• Now (The Present)
• Yes

People & Relationships

• Dating
• Friendship
• Love
• Networking
• Parting Words
• Resource Section
• My Favorite Story
• Upgrade
• Your Reality
• Your Perception of reality is reality!

Price/Value

$27.  This is a good value for so much content.  Most eBooks at this price point don’t even have half the content that Diggy has packed into Upgrade Reality.

What’s Included

The 122 page eBook

Pluses

• A wealth of personal development information
• A completeness of topics that touch on many facets of life and personal growth
• Great organization of topics and well written
• Leading by example, Diggy includes many personal examples
• Excellent design and layout

Minuses

Only one minus, and it’s just a pet peeve of mine.  He uses URL shorteners in the links, so I can see where the link is actually pointing.

Rating

5 stars.  Upgrade Reality is fantastic.  The thing I like most is its completeness.  Diggy really made a strong effort to cover a full range of topics to make for a well rounded look at personal development.  Upgrade Reality is a 122 page eBook that is really more like 244 pages since the layout essentially has two pages per printed page.  That is 244 pages completely full of super content.  I would love to see something like this taught in school.  Upgrade Reality would be a perfect fit in a high school class, where instead of theoretical concepts, you could get some stuff to really apply in life.  Content to make your life better, to motivate, and to inspire confidence.  It’s the kind of content that would really make a difference in life.

To be clear, when I say it would be great for high school students, it’s because I think that’s the best starting point to be armed with the kind of information Diggy includes in Upgrade Reality.  It’s definitely not the only starting point though.  I’m 35 years old and I still found a wealth of information that I can apply in my own life.  Upgrade Reality is a fantastic eBook, and its content would be equally at home in a real published book.  In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Upgrade Reality make the transition from eBook to published book.  It’s really that good.

Check it out for yourself.  Click the Order Now button to head over to Upgrade Reality to read what Diggy has to say, what others are saying, and to purchase a copy for yourself.

How to Create a Movement by Everett Bogue is a simple straight-forward guide to creating a movement.  Everett Bogue is the leader of a Minimalism movement at his blog Far Beyond the Stars.  He is also author of The Art of Being Minimalist and Minimalist Business: How to Live and Work Anywhere.  His views on a minimalist lifestyle have come from his own experience.  He lives with less than 100 things, and because of this he is able to live and work from anywhere.

Overview

The title says it all; this eBook is about creating a movement.  Everett Bogue shares with us the lessons he learned when creating his own minimalism movement.   His movement even shines through into this eBook.  The book is simple and neatly organized.  It’s also packed full of information, yet done so in a to-the-point style that excludes superfluous words or ideas to fit into a 20 page eBook.  It is a prime example of his minimalistic way, showing us that minimal can effective.

Everett Bogue has certainly created a minimalism movement, and he has developed quite a following on his blog.  I love it when an author lives the example before teaching it.  Everett has lived the example, and now that he has the experience, he has shared his techniques in his free eBook, How to Create a Movement.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• The Leader
• The Idea
• Believe in Something
• Help People
• The Second Follower
• The First 100
• Existing Architecture
• Permission
• Isolation
• Failure is not an Option
• The Critics
• The Money
• Freedom
• Ownership
• This is Bigger than Us
• Share this eBook
• The Legal Stuff
• About Everett Bogue

Price/Value

Free, no strings attached.

What’s Included

Just the eBook

Pluses

• The author  speaks from experience
• Short concise ideas that are easy to understand
• Beautiful formatting
• Easy to read

Minuses

This eBook is nearly perfect as I see it.  I’d like to read more about details of the movement that Everett is leading, which is outside the scope of this eBook, and instead is included in his premium eBook, The Art of Being Minimalist.

Verdict

I give How to Create a Movement five stars.  I definitely recommend this one.  I love how Everett has brought in his minimalist style to create an eBook that is useful and concise.  I’m planning to implement some of his ideas to grow my blog.  The idea of creating a movement can be applied in a variety of areas, pretty much anywhere you desire to make a difference.  How to Create a Movement is a great outline to get you started.

Head over to Far Beyond the Stars now to get your free copy of How to Create a Movement.

If you’ve read How to Create a Movement, please leave a comment and rate it using the star ratings in the comments section.  Thanks!

279 Days to Overnight Success is a guide to creating a successful blog.  Chris Guillebeau mocks the overnight success marketers with the title, and explains how he grew his blog, The Art of Non-Conformity, into platform to become a full time writer and blogger in approximately 279 days.

In 279 Days to Overnight Success Chris Guillebeau tells us how he became a full time writer in 279 days.  He really lays it all out for us, including the income he’s seeing from his efforts.  I liked seeing how he achieved success, and how he defines success.  He says the audience for this eBook is anyone interested in unconventional living.  Chris says 279 Days to Overnight Success is targeted at bloggers, writers, and online artists.  I felt it was mostly targeted at bloggers, but I could see how the other groups could gain from it as well.

Overview of topics

• How I Became a Full-Time Writer in 279 Days
• The Complete Revenue Estimate for my Personal Site in 2009
• The World Domination Strategy for Establishing Your Brand
• Avoiding the Vampires who Want You to Fail
• Why Adsense (and most other Web Advertising) Sucks
• How to Stay Off the Digg Home Page and Still Get All the Traffic You Need

Table of Contents

Part I: How to Become a Problogger in 10 Months

• Introduction
• What Does Success Look Like
• Show Me the Money
• World Domination Strategy
• Big Mistakes
• Part II: Fire Google and Hire Yourself
• Why Adsense Sucks

How to Get Paid for Meeting the Needs of Your Followers

• Listening
• Examples
• Scaling Up

Part III: Short Notes on Vampires, Rule-Breaking, Email Lists, Etc.

• The Vampire Chronicles
• Hard Work and Working for Free
• Logistics
• Wrap-Up: Go and Be Awesome

Price/Value

Free. Chris only asks two things in return for downloading this free eBook.  He asks that you provide feedback and spread the word by sharing his blog and this eBook with your friends.  You don’t need to sign up for any email list like many other free eBooks, so that’s a nice plus.

What’s Included

Just the eBook

Pluses

• Beautiful aesthetics and layout.
• Great instruction for anyone looking to get started in blogging.
• He leads by example, telling us exactly how he created his own successful blog.
• A “Mistakes” section that shows us the mistakes he made along his way.
• A decent section on how to make money on your blog.
• Great examples of three other people that are achieving success online.
• A good section on how to handle the Vampires or Naysayers.
• He gives some good suggestions on statistics to track and how often to check them.

Minuses

Some of the lessons in 279 Days to Overnight Success may be difficult to apply (or will take longer) if you aren’t able to work on it full time.

I would have liked to see more detail on the monetization strategies and product launch.  I’m sure an entire book could be written on that alone, but I felt the overview left me wanting more.  He may have included this in his premium offerings, but I haven’t had a chance to read them yet, so I can’t say for sure.

Rating

I give 279 Days to Overnight Success 4 stars.  It’s a beautiful eBook filled with good content.  It’s a must read for anyone planning to start a blog, and a good review for current bloggers.  I found lots of good content that reinforced things I had learned along the way, and a few ideas for the future.  I really liked his mistakes section, as it demonstrated that you don’t have to be perfect to achieve success, it showed there are multiple paths to the top.  The examples section really stood out to me as well as it showed how a three people are progressing through differing outlets on their own paths to success.

Head on over to The Art of Non-Conformity and download your copy 279 Days to Overnight Success!

If you have read this eBook, please leave a review and a star rating in the comments area below.  Thanks!