Until Thursday, November 3rd at around 4 p.m. Eastern, Scott Berkun’s book, Mindfire: Big Ideas for Curious Minds, will be available in various ebook formats (PDF, ePub, mobi) for free-as-in-beer. All he asks for in exchange is that you join his mailing list, which sends out a single email each month containing his best posts. I think that’s a fair deal.
Mindfire is a collection of Berkun’s essays and articles, all of which you can find online on his site or other places. If you’ve never read his work before – I would also recommend Confessions of a Public Speaker, especially if you have to do presentations or speak in front of an audience – it’s a great introduction to his writing; if you’re familair with his stuff, it’s many of his gems gathered into one place.
Here’s the Mindfire’s table of contents, which should give you an idea of what’s in it:
Warning
PrefacePart 1: Gasoline
1. The cult of busy
2. Wants vs. Beliefs
3. How to be a free thinker
4. How to detect bullshit
5. Should you be Popular or Good?
6. There are two kinds of people: complexifiers and simplifiers
7. Are you indifferent?
8. Does transparency matter?
9. How I found my passion
10. How to be passionatePart 2: Sparks
11. On God and Integrity
12. Hating vs. Loving
13. The surprise inspiration of death bonus: Your quota of worry and how to shrink it
14. How to make a difference
15. Why you must lead or follow
16. Why the world is a mess: a theory
17. The size of ideas
18. Book Smarts vs. Street Smarts
19. Why does faith matter?
20. Can you be great, with grace?Part 3: Fire
21. How to give and receive criticism
22. How to learn from your mistakes
23. How to keep your mouth shut
24. Creative thinking hacks
25. Dr. Seuss and wicked constraints
26. Why smart people defend bad ideas
27. Why you are not an artist
28. How to convince anyone of anything
29. Attention and Sex
30. A strawman for everythingEpilogue
How to Help This Book in 60 Seconds
Notes and References on the Essays
Acknowledgements
Index
Colophon
If Mindfire sounds interesting to you, this is your chance to get it for free – just download it before the deadline passes!