Book Summary Services

By Edited by Carol Zarrow
Mon, July 15, 2002

It’s Sum- Sum- "Summary Time"

For many people, one of the joys of summer is relaxing on the beach (or porch or deck or in the backyard hammock) with a good book. The characteristics that make for a "good book" depend on the reader, but odds are that many people’s definitions won’t include the business management titles that Off the Shelf usually reviews.

So, in the interests of freeing up time this summer?or any season?for reading just for fun and relaxation, Off the Shelf departs from its usual format this month to present instead a roundup of book summary services that may help manage the "ought to" reading that never takes the summer off.

Even More Book Summary Services

Business Book Review
www.businessbookreview.com

The Business Source
www.thebusinesssource.com

MeansBusiness
www.meansbusiness.com

Summaries.com
www.summaries.com

Book Summary Service	Audio-Tech Business Books Summaries	Execubooks	getAbstract	Soundview Executive Book Summaries
Headquarters	Willowbrook, Ill.	Toronto	Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.	Concordville, Pa.
What you get	Subscribers receive two new 45-minute recorded book summaries every month, with 12-page transcripts.	One new summary is posted online each week, with an e-mail notification sent to subscribers, who can opt to have the summary delivered with it as a PDF attachment. Summaries average 2,000 words and take no more than 10 minutes to read.	Subscribers receive new five-page abstracts as PDF attachments to an e-mail notification. Subscribers can elect to be notified about only abstracts that match a personal reading interest profile. Average reading time is 15 minutes.	Thirty summaries are published per year. Summaries average eight pages and can be read in 15 minutes. Subscribers are notified of new summaries by e-mail.
Cost Of Service	One-year subscription (24 titles) $149. Backlist titles and summary "libraries" available for an extra charge. Samples available.	One-year subscription (52 titles) for $117. Includes unlimited access to an online library of backlist titles. Pay-per-month option for $9.95. Corporate subscriptions available. Samples available.	A one-year individual subscription is $299. Includes unlimited access to an online library of backlist titles. Corporate subscriptions available. Samples available. PDF and Palm	A one-year subscription ranges from $99 to $149. Includes unlimited online access to all summaries published since 2000. Corporate subscriptions available. Samples available.
Formats	CD or cassette	PDF, HTML, audio format for mobile phones	E-mail attachment	Print, cassette or CD, downloadable PDF files
Delivery	Mail (downloadable PDF transcripts also sent via e-mail)	E-mail PDF attachment or Web download to a PC, PDA or mobile phone	E-mail attachment		Mail or online
Backlist to	1993	1998	1982	1978
Titles in collection	168	100+	1,700+	720+
Recent Titles	Beyond Disruption: Changing the Rules in the Marketplace, by Jean-Marie Dru	Managing the Unexpected: Assuring High Performance in an Age of Complexity, by Karl E. Weick, Kathleen M. Sutcliffe and Robert E. Quinn	Creative Destruction: Why Companies That Are Built to Last Underperform the Market?And How to Successfully Transform Them, by Richard Foster and Sarah Kaplan	The EVA Challenge: Implementing Value Added Change in an Organization, by Joel M. Stern and John S. Shiely
For moreinformation	www.audiotech.com or 630 734-0500	www.execubook.com or 905 842-3352	www.getabstract.com or 954 359-4070 x116	www.summary.com or 610 558-9495

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