Monday, October 5, 2009

Ignore Everybody

I'm a regular reader of Derek Siver's blog. He's the founder of the very successful CDbaby who, a few years ago, sold the company and now travels the world having adventures and offering his advice to anyone who will listen. He always has great advice, words of encouragement, and interesting ideas on how to keep and use your creativity in entrepreneurial ways.

So, when his latest post mentioned a book that he called his "highest book reading recommendation" it caught my attention.

The books is called "Ignore Everybody and 39 Other Keys to Creativity." by writer and cartoonist Hugh MacLeod.

As for what the book is about, Derek has already summed it up much better than I ever could have. So, I'll let his words have the floor for a minute:

"He really gets and speaks to that dark struggle that artists go through: wanting to quit your day job, selling out to get successful and having it fail, or having it succeed, or not-selling-out and having it fail, or having it succeed.

But this is not a self-help book! He's slightly cranky, very realistic, and can describe your situation exactly since he's been there himself, then say, “But here's what I've noticed...” - and give you an insight you'll find useful for your own career or art.

It's a short lean book. Perfect for those who rarely find the time to read a whole book."

What I was really impressed by was, if you go to Hugh's website and read an excerpt from his book, he puts over a THIRD of the book on his blog for FREE. At first what I thought was giving away milk from the cow for free (or some other colorful metaphor) actually turned out to be a brilliant marketing strategy. Because, after I had read that free section, I really wanted more.

So much so that I ran right down to the closest Barnes and Noble and picked up a copy.

I've already read through it once and am getting ready to read through it a second time. It's a great book and just what I needed right now.

To check out Hugh's website and read a good chunk of the book hit the link and enjoy the fun!
Hugh MacLeod's website

No comments: