"There is no plan" and other Bunko career advice

As readers of the Blue Skunk know, I am a Daniel Pink fan. So I was excited to get my very own copy of his latest book, The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need.

It's great. Period.

Published in manga format (and supported by a blog/website), the short book takes about 30 minutes to read and offers six simple lessons about achieving satisfaction at work and life. The first lesson is "There is no plan." You'll need to buy the book or find another source to learn the other five (like here). Don't expect a lot of depth, but a parable along the lines of Who Moved My Cheese.

Bunko would make an interesting discussion book for any high school career planning effort. I wonder what guidance counselors will make of it? More than a few mid-career adults will stop and ponder their choices if they think about Pink's advice as well.

I am anxious to get a "review" from my son who will be graduating from college this August and who is more in the target market for the book. As a manga fan, he might even read it.

Get a copy for your school's library - or the Johnny Bunkos in your life. 

Link here for a review by my 22-year-old son on this book.

images from http://www.johnnybunko.com/

"Machines are the easy part" now a free download

I suppose we could call this an Earth Day tribute. My son's and my little book, Machines are the easy part; people are the hard part is now available as a free (paperless, non-polluting, environmentally friendly) download from Lulu.

You can also buy a print copy, but I haven't seen it yet, so no guarantees. Watch the shipping charges - the default setting is very expensive.

The book was a joint project for Brady and me during his senior year of high school four years ago. It was a genuine labor of love. I don't always understand my shy, talented son, but I appreciate him.

I've sold or given away about 1,000 copies since the book came out. Being the astute businessman that I am, I sold the book that cost me $14 a copy to publish for $12. So I figured every time I gave one away, I was saving $2. 

Brady was smart - getting paid for his art work up front.

A few notes about publishing on Lulu:

1. The text was easy to format and submit to Lulu. I still can't quite figure out how to do a cover I like. Creating a cover just seems harder than it needs to be.
   
2. Lulu allows you to place a Creative Commons license on the work. The site says "Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0". It's really 3.0.
3. I've already spotted a few typos in the Lulu edition that weren't there in the earlier print version. Yes, folks, I do know when to use "its" and when to use "it's." I just can't seem to see the mistakes in my own work. What is up with that? (Now I am still confused about "lie" and "lay" and substitute other words whenever possible.)
   
4. I really like how you can set your own price, give electronic copies away, and revise the work as needed. No cost for publishing either.
   

Anyway, Brady and I hope you enjoy our effort. I think we need to start another book once he graduates from college this summer!

Happy Earth Day. 

The Terror

Every reader his book; every book its reader. S.R. Ranganathan

When the book opens, 120 officers and men of the HMS Terror and HMS Erebus have already been trapped in the Arctic ice of northern Canada for two years. Led by the incompetent Sir John Franklin in search of the Northwest Passage (and based on a mid 19th century historical event), the men are working in temperatures of -50 to -100 F, are running out of food, fuel and medicine, are suffering from the maritime discipline of the day, and are showing signs of scurvy along with their frostbite. There is no game to hunt and no hope of rescue. The ships' ironclad hulls are breaking up from the pressure of the ice floes. Oh, and there is a giant monster with fangs and claws out on the ice that is taking great pleasure in making man-sushi out of the crew one and two at a time.

And for the next 700 pages, things go downhill for the expedition.

The author of The Terror is Dan Simmons, one of my favorite science fiction writers. His Illium, Hyperion and Endymion series are about the best thing going on the sci-fi front. The Terror is a very well-written story told from multiple points of view.  Simmons displays incredible research, provides great detail, and creates well-drawn characters (who for the most part are eaten soon after you get to know them.) This is compelling reading.

But it is grim, as I have been telling the LWW on nearly a daily basis, And she asks in rely why I keep reading the book. I think it might be because Minnesota has experienced 20+ consecutive days of below zero temperatures - and I am identifying. 

I am watching for creatures on the lake ice. Just out the back door.

Middle Jefferson Lake, LeSueur County, MN, January 2008 - D. Johnson

Every book its reader... I guess.