The Writer's Friend also includes valuable information for technical writers looking for assignments.

Reading this book and knowing what editors look for, paves the way to success.

"The Writer's Friend", it truly will become your friend. This book will give you powerful insight into the world of editors. Not only will you learn from the authors' of this book, but you will also learn from a number of editors as they tell you what they like and dislike in submissions. You will learn how to grab an editor's attention and begin earning money selling your articles.

"The Writer's Friend", in addition, gives you information on researching, giving interviews, preparing and submitting query letters, improving your writing skills, getting ideas for stories and articles, and a lot more. Not only did I find this book helpful but I also gained inspiration from it. Everytime I put the book down I found myself at my computer polishing up my articles, stories, and queries; that's how much "The Writer's Friend" inspired and helped me.

This book is a must for all freelance writers. It would even make a great book for teachers to aid them in teaching their courses on freelance writing. After you finish the book you will want to store it by your computer to keep referring to. It not only provides you with resources on and off-line, but an appendix of questions that you can always look back at.

If you find yourself down because of rejections and feel that you should just give up, think again, just pick up a copy of "The Writer's Friend" and you're sure to be back in your spirits of writing and submitting again! I give this book 5 stars for outstanding excellence!

The best part of this book is the way Mr. Davis uses everyday life and history and compares it to the teachings and actions of Jesus Christ. Napoleon compares himself and other conquerors to Jesus by showing how Jesus built His "empire" on love while the violence of the other conquerors didn't accomplish nearly as much.

There was the story on how Zacchaeus climbed a tree for Jesus then Jesus in turn climbed a tree for Zacchaeus.

My favorite line though was an explanation of too many churches today when Davis quotes someone as saying: "The church today is raising a whole generation of mules. They know how to sweat and work hard but they don't know how to reproduce themselves."

AndrewP/Doria2

He likens a shepherd sleeping at the sheepgate of a sheep pen to Jesus the shepherd. He likens taking a lamp into a dark place with a Christian witness proclaiming the Word. My favorite line so far is when Mr. Davis says, "One good witness = 3 good lawyers."

I'm just finishing up the book and will write more when I'm done.

God bless you Mr. Davis,

Your brother in Christ,

Doria2

A good example of the "need to know" philosophy of the book is that the book sometimes does not present all aspects of a particular point of grammar, simply because to do so would overwhelm students. When vowels are learned, no mention is made of _why_ they are called changeable long, unchangeable long, etc.; all the student need know is which is which. The significance of that distinction is raised in subsequent chapters. Also, it could be pointed out in early chapters that many substantives (e.g. cohen) are simply participial forms. But when I learned the word for priest in chapter 4 (?) that piece of information was totally useless and would only have served to aid in my forgetting of the vocabulary word.

I highly recommend Basics of Biblical Hebrew and the accompanying workbook.

***Personal Study Tip***
Complex languages like Hebrew and Greek can be really frustrating when you spend a lot of time learning the very basics. Once you have the alphabet and vowel system down, augment your studies with sections from later in the book. While you probably do not want to make a full study of the Qal stem at the same time as nouns, being able to compose simple phrases and sentences really helps to gain a sense of the language and it makes you feel as if you've done something useful.

Few variables are more likely to dictate short- and long-term commercial success than a firm's ability to convert intellectual assets into intellectual property (IP). The smaller the firm, the bigger the need, and the need only grows.
Most companies are careful to avoid IP infringement and are eager to sue direct competitors who do not. Many firms also educate key employees on their roles in perfecting and protecting intangible assets. Fewer give full attention to IP and antecedents that might nevertheless be regarded as assets. For example, those who would not hesitate to monitor and sue infringing competitors may not monitor non-competitors as potential licensees.
To extract the most from intellectual assets, many factors, e.g., legal, technical marketing and sales, must be weighed. Edison in the Boardroom offers important advice to help firms take steps to meet that need. Despite its reference to "assets" in the subtitle, however, most of this book focuses more narrowly - on IP, and on patents specifically.
Davis and Harrison, said to bring "a quarter century of IP consulting accomplishments between them," document that some companies have long engaged in trying to optimize the value of their intellectual assets. The authors also assign companies to a five-level hierarchy based on a range of IP-management strategies. A goldmining metaphor is usefully advanced at one point to describe those levels as: defensive (staking claims), panning (cost control), mining (deeper profit seeking), processing (integration), and sculpting. The heart of the book consists of five chapters that discuss these levels seriatim and offers a host of useful ideas and anecdotes.
The book is generally well-structured. For example, early in each of the five core chapters is a description of what "companies are trying to accomplish" at the corresponding level of IP-management sophistication. At the defensive level, of course, companies have processes for seeking, maintaining and enforcing IP. Yet, in the discussion of second-level companies, said to seek to reduce costs by exercising judgment about what is brought into and kept in their patent portfolios, it becomes clear how much various levels overlap. The first two topics may usefully be segregated for purposes of discussion, but it is hard to imagine any company that can afford, literally, to pursue protection without attempting to balance portfolio goals against concomitant costs. Indeed, one thesis of the second chapter is that no firm can seek the strongest protection for everything of potential patentability, much less seek it in every possible country.
The third chapter diverges considerably. Companies featured there are said to seek, e.g., to extract portfolio value as quickly and cheaply as possible. Several have gone well beyond suing competitors or easily discovered, non-competing infringers. The most aggressive of such firms regard IP departments as profit centers and actively solicit licensees. Their success is sometimes remarkable. As the authors point out, "Worldwide revenues from patent licensing have grown from $15 billion in 1990 to over $100 billion in 2000." Echoing the central theme of another recent book, Davis and Harrison also point out that, "Some experts estimate that companies are sitting on $1 trillion per year in unexploited licensing fees."
Fourth- and fifth-level firms are difficult to distinguish from ones discussed earlier - or from each other. For example, level-four companies are said to seek to integrate "IP awareness and operations throughout all functions of the company." That seems necessary, too, for allegedly less capable compatriots. Further, when level-five firms are described as embedding intellectual assets and their management into the company culture, it is difficult to find divergence.
The last are said to have as additional objectives: (1) staking a claim on the future and (2) encouraging "disruptive technologies." Still, these could easily been collapsed into "Get a Crystal Ball!" Heuristics for meeting them non-serendipitiously are weak.
Consider, for example, the mouse and graphic interface as commercialized on Macintosh computers. Steve Jobs is said to have derived both from the Alto computer developed by Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center. While Jobs became a billionaire, "Xerox completely failed to get into the personal computer business, missing one of the biggest business opportunities in history." To avoid repeating such mistakes, Davis and Harrison suggest that companies should "identify ways the corporation can benefit from [ideas outside their business capacity] before moving on." They, not surprisingly, can offer little guidance.
One IP attorney recently stressed the need for his colleagues better to understand the identification, protection and use of intellectual capital "effectively to address strategic corporate objectives." Those for whom this is novel terrrain will find Edison in the Boardroom helpful.
Also, senior IP counsel better acquainted with the topic may find the book useful. Some will face difficulty in convincing those at the same level or higher in the corporate hierarchy of its importance. To the extent that their advocacy of the critical role to be played by IP counsel is perceived as serving selfish aims, the book should help allay suspicions.
For these and other attorneys, the value of Edison in the Boardroom could easily, and vastly, exceed its modest price.

They quote examples at different levels of their framework and look at companies who are suceeding at managing and valuing their IP effectively. This is a skill which can only be more and more wanted in the future.

The most interesting takeaway is that most companies are very bad in this field, and there are very few success stories.

But, that aside, this book certainly has its laughs. I laughed a lot and this book (as long as you bring along EVERY other Treasury and the black and white books) is great for long car rides. People think Garfield is only for the little kids, but he's for the adults, too. The whole family can laugh at the fat cat's hilarious mischief and his practical jokes on Jon, his hapless owner. Some of the colored Sunday strips are from "Garfield Rounds Out," which is one of my favorite Garfield books. Having them in color here is a real treat. An especially funny strip in this one i where Garfield pretends to be a bird-bath, and gets more than he bargained for.

The 5th Garfield Treasury is laugh out loud funny! But then again, what Garfield book isn't?

Playclay - This is way better than the commercial playdough products you buy in the store. It sounds like a lot of effort to make your own, but this cooked playclay is so luxurious, wonderful and lasts for weeks. It is much better for toddlers than the store bought stuff since it is super soft and easier for tiny hands to roll, mold, and squeeze.

Waterpaint - Too easy to be true! Tips on taking a bucket of water and brushes and "painting" outdoors on a summer day.

Feelie Goop - A recipe of cornstarch and water with bizzare properties that fascinates toddlers, kids and adults alike.

First Color Mixing - This is such a favorite that I bought four ice cube trays and lots of food coloring and I bring this out often when my kids have friends over. I fill the trays with water, squeeze some red, blue and yellow in three of the compartments, and let them use pipettes (like easy eye droppers) from ...to drip the colors together in each compartment. This is an older toddler variation from the book. Great ideas for the youngest toddlers are in the book.

Early Scissors - My kids loved cutting playclay worms with plastic scissors and cutting strips of paper as they mastered the use of scissors. There are lots of great tips on getting toddlers started safely with scissors.

Buckets of Bubbles - My kids love to play in this stuff. It is like an outdoor bubble bath.

Scribble Book - Toddlers are fascinated with books. Make tiny homemade books that are OK to scribble in. The book has lots of great variations and ideas for this simple art experience.

Foil Squeeze - Foil paper is fun to make into shapes. I recently gave all my kids one sheet of foil paper on a long drive to Yosemite and the 3 year old made bowls and the 7 year olds created Half Domes.

Tabletop Fingerpainting - Here's a great recipe for homemade fingerpaint to do right on you table! My toddlers were fascinated and used their fingers to make endless patterns.

Color Tube - This takes a lot of time to set up, but I saw a huge version at a preschool carnival and it was such a hit. I tied lots of tubes and funnels to a board with twists and turns in the tubes. My kids and their playmates loved pouring colored water to see what would happen and what end it would stream out of.

I hope you enjoy these and the other projects as much as we have and still do. One tip that would have helped me when it started out is where to get inexpensive great art materials. Ask your local daycare, preschool, or elementary school teachers for teacher supply stores near you or the teacher's catalogs they order supplies from. In my area, anyone can shop through these venues and you will find the greatest stuff. (Always buy washable markers and paints! We stained lots of toddler clothes before I decided it was cheaper to just buy the more expensive washable art materials.)