Book Notes

No hype, no jargon, no acronyms: The Cluetrain Manifesto, by Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searle, and David Weinberger, may be the most unusual business book you ever read. The message is simple: Your customers are already talking to each other. Your employees are already talking to each other. Companies have to learn to relinquish control and let that happen, because Internet-age consumers respond as positively to an authentic human voice as they do negatively to corporate doublespeak. 190 pages. Paperback. $14. Perseus Publishing, 11 Cambridge Ctr., Cambridge, MA 02142; (617) 252-5200.

Starting a business? Why reinvent the wheel? The Business Plan Example can be followed simply by substituting the information you've gathered for your own new enterprise. The plan contains an Executive Summary, Mission Statement, Marketing Plan, Advertising and PR Plans, Production Plan, Funding Sources, Future Products, Financial Analysis, Competitive Strengths and Weaknesses, Key Employees, Advisors, and more. Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow spreadsheets for three years are also included. $29.95. American Institute of Small Business, 7515 Wayzata Blvd., Minneapolis 55426; (800) 328-2906.

Most retailers only sell a business once or twice in a lifetime. The Business Valuation Bluebook, by Chad Simmons, can help you get top dollar when you're ready to sell your business. Learn how to calculate the selling value of your business, not just the hard asset value, as well as how to handle an experienced buyer, react to a first proposal, and convert verbal offers to written. 244 pp. Paperback. $16.95. The Corinth Press, 200 Somerset, suite 245, Prairie Village, KS 66208; (888) 649-7785.

Public Relations Kit for Dummies, by Eric Yaverbaum, owner of Jericho Communications, helps retailers use the media to produce positive word-of-mouth for a fraction of the cost of advertising. Tips from the book and CD set include thinking big, tying into events the media is already covering, creating outrageous visuals, giving to charity to promote your corporate image, and offering the basic information journalists are looking for on your Web site. $29.99. IDG Books Worldwide Inc., 909 Third Ave., 20th fl., New York 10022; (212) 884-5000.

The Little Website That Could, by Lynne Schlumpf, teaches how to avoid the common mistakes that have lead to dot-com failures. Includes tips on how to make your site grab visitors in the first seven seconds, how to use electronic newsletters and e-books, how to establish an online store for $100 a month or less, and more. Visit www.littlewebsitethatcould.net for more information. The book is available on a CD-ROM for $24.95 or in print. Route 66 Cyber Café, P.O. Box 612, Jenks, OK 74037; (918) 224-6480.

The Artists' Specials is a six-volume set of one-hour programs for young people, profiling artistic greats with a mix of fact and fiction. Titles in the series include Degas and the Dancer, Mary Cassatt: American Impressionist, Monet: Shadow and Light, Rembrandt: Fathers and Sons, Goya: Awakened in a Dream, and Winslow Homer: An American Original. $19.95 each. Devine Entertainment through Steeplechase Entertainment, 4872 Topanga Canyon Blvd., suite 347, Woodland Hills, CA 91364.

Farm Country Ahead is the sixth video in the award-winning Little Hardhats series by Fred Levine. The film offers toddlers and preschoolers 47 minutes of huge farming equipment and how it works, as well as where some of their favorite foods come from. Children see corn planting, alfalfa cutting, cow milking, apple picking, hay baling, and a variety of other farm chores. $14.95. Fred Levine Productions Inc., 64 Main St., Montpelier, VT 05602; (802) 229-6902.