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When Getting a B is Better than Getting an A

Berrett-Koehler Publishers - A community dedicated to creating a world that works for all

V 9:2  Oct 30, 2014
Happy birthday, Fonzie!
Take Me To:

    
  








         
          
  






    
   











  
    








       
  
 
 



     


















  



















 
Knock it out of the park.





BK Communiqué

"Action, indeed, is the sole medium of expression for ethics.

-- Jane Addams

Spotlight
Why Read It? More than 1,000 companies from eighty industries and thirty countries are leading a global movement to redefine success in business. They're called B Corporations -- B Corps for short -- and these businesses create high quality jobs, help build stronger communities, and restore the environment, all while generating solid financial returns. 

Author and B Corp owner Ryan Honeyman worked closely with over 100 B Corp CEOs and senior executives to share their tips, advice, and best practice ideas for how to build a better business, and how to meet the rigorous standards for -- and enjoy the benefits of -- B Corp certification.

Read an excerpt here and buy the book for 30% off here.  
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For academic desk copies, please contact Mike Crowley.
For media review copies, please contact Kat Engh.
News, Features, and Free Stuff
Better Than Good 

In this issue of the Communiqué, we explore how B Corps are the new standard for ethical and sustainable business practices.

But haven't ethical and sustainable businesses always been around? What makes B Corps so special (other than just the certification)? Actually, B Corps are way ahead of their self-identified-as socially-conscious partners. For this issue, we present Eight Reasons Why B Corps Are Superior Even to Other More Traditional Sustainable Businesses.
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Other News  

+ A French novelist recently won the Nobel Prize for Literature. However, not even the French Minister for Culture could remember the novelist's name.

+ Guess which country publishes the most books per capita with twenty new titles being released every hour.

+ Harry Potter spin-offs are coming your way.

+ Apple and Amazon have a problem: no one wants to buy stuff any more, they want to rent.

+ So Tom Hanks published a short story in the New Yorker recently.

+ You probably already know that David Lynch's Twin Peaks is returning to television soon. And now the show's cocreator is writing a novel to "fill in all the gaps."

+ Speaking of Harry Potter, there's now a Harry Potter-themed hotel.

+ A man in the UK was accidentally locked in a bookstore overnight and apparently the experience wasn't quite the bibliophile's fantasy everyone imagined it would be. Still, the bookstore decided to turn the event into a marketing opportunity and is now offering sleepovers.

+ The literary director of the Booker Prize Foundation has been diagnosed with terminal cancer.

+ San Francisco local publisher McSweeney's is becoming a nonprofit.

+ So who won the Not the Booker Prize?
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Freebies 

+ Free Summary of a New York Times Bestseller: The Organized Mind, by Daniel Levitin. 

+ Free Resources: Learn ten simple ways to become a better writer here.

+ Free Stuff: Find the right free-use photo in seconds using PhotoDropper.
Which BK Book Is This?

This is the Korean edition of one of our top BKCurrents books. It has a very elaborate cover with gold embossing that shows a rather mercenary coat of arms. 

 

Some have even argued that this cover is better than our cover!

 

Well, you can judge for yourself. Click here to find out which Berrett-Koehler book this is.

Be a Pretentious Literary Snob
We provide you with obscure and impressive knowledge about literature and writing so that you can be a pretentious literary know-it-all.
Marginally Unethical Life Hacks
Some things are ethical; some things are not. And then there are those things that help you get ahead that, technically, are not unethical, but, well --

This time, we show you how to (possibly) get out of a ticket for disobeying a road sign.
Confessions of an Editorial Assistant
Editorial Assistant Anna Leinberger sees things here at BK -- sometimes these things are beautiful, sometimes they're ugly, and sometimes they're just plain silly. But now she's telling all.

For this issue, Anna says Don't Market Your Book!
Speaking of New Business
Based on Bill Fisher's master-class seminars -- featured at the World Bank, the University of California, and Draper University -- The Six Secrets of Raising Capital offers the kind of capital-raising street smarts that most entrepreneurs never tap into until it is too late. 

Fisher organizes the capital-raising process into six clear steps and then breaks through the myths to reveal the triggers for success. For example, entrepreneurs are told that great ideas get funded. Not true -- great stories get funded. Know the difference (and with this book, you will).

Be informed. Raise money. Remain profitable.
We Recommend
B Corps are growing in number all over the world. Learn everything about B Corps at this main site by investigating the following:

+ What exactly is a B Corp?

+ How do you become a B Corp?

+ Why you should become a B Corp?
Free E-Book (for 48 Hours)
For forty-eight hours, we are giving away e-copies of Street Smart Sustainability, by David Mager and Joe Sibilia, in a secret place on our website you can access only here

This offer is available exclusively for BK Communique subscribers. But act fast! After midnight on October 31, 2014, you're going to have to plunk down $16.95 like everyone else.
End Notes





  
Last time, I issued this challenge. The first correct answer came from Alexandra Smith. That answer can be found here.

Your next challenge can be found here.

Email me with any comments or rants. And now, please enjoy this culturally, ethnically, religiously, and politically correct cartoon.

Oh, and here's your biweekly dose of random.

                       Jeevan 


P.S. -- this isn't real, is it?
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