Love me some book learnin’…
I think this is a complete list of the books that accompanied my daily diet of various internet sources. As expected there are photography business books and some others. See 2020’s list over here.
- The Practice: Shipping Creative Work by Seth Godin. Consider this as a companion book to The War of Art. Godin discusses forming a regular practice for your creative efforts, much as Pressfield has encouraged us to move past the Resistance.
- The Business of Expertise: How Entrepreneurial Experts Convert Insight to Impact + Wealth by David C. Baker. At the time I read this I was considering various options in the consulting services I provide for photographers around their online presence. This was a good look at how to position oneself for a successful business of expertise.
- One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way by Robert Maurer. I was previously familiar with kaizen – the Japanese concept of continuous improvement. This was a good refresher and reminder of the core tenets, along with practical application to various areas of life whether including work and relationships.
- The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. A collection of short stories, lessons, and experiences shared by the author as he is approaching the end of his battle with cancer and looking back to reflect on his life.
- This Could Help by Patrick Rhone. An easy-reading collection of short thoughts, essays, and contemplations on life, productivity, relationships, and general betterment. I’ve followed Patrick online for quite a while and always find his perspective to be refreshing. Spoiler: it did help.
- The Biggest Bluff by Maria Konnikova. What happens when an intelligent person with no formal poker experience decides to learn the game and thrown down with world-class players? A fun read with a lot of discussion around mindset, decision-making, and confidence.
- The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder. Warrant Buffet has had a fascinating career and I enjoyed this (very long and thorough) look at his experiences, the decisions he made, and the people along the way. While I have no delusions of achieving his wealth, I do think I picked up a few nuggets of wisdom here.
- How to Decide by Annie Duke. Having previously read Thinking in Bets I was eager to dive into this followup. In this book, Duke lays out not just the various thinking processes around decision-making, but includes quite a few worksheets and exercises to help you apply those concepts to situations you’ve had in your own life. The older I get, the more I think about thinking, and this book made me think.
- How to Make Money While You are Sleeping: A Photographer’s Guide to Passive Income – And Other Savvy Business Strategies by Rick Sammon. A fast read outlining over 15 passive income opportunities for photographers. While I was familiar with all of the methods outlined in the book, I respect Rick’s tenacity and attitude and was curious to learn from his experiences. As expected, I picked up a few tips and ideas for future ventures.
- Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t: And Other Tough-Love Truths to Make You a Better Writer by Steven Pressfield. An enjoyable collection of thoughts, many only a single page, on various aspects of writing as learned throughout Pressfield’s experiences. Broken into sections around various genres of writing (advertising, screenplays, fiction, nonfiction), he ties it all together with some running themes to help developing compelling work. Recommended if you need to words more better.
A varied list (not just photography business books), but a generally-interesting one. Does something jump to mind that you read last year that stuck with you? I’d love a recommendation in a comment below.
Leave a Reply