Rating: 
Summary: Pleasing In Some Ways
Review: Although I seem to be in the minority here I liked certain things about Smuchael Levine's Guerrilla PR: How You Can Wage an Effective Publicity Campaign...Without Going Broke. I think this book is really helpful to anybody out there that is looking to wage an effective publicity campaign...without going broke. People should embrace books like this that are looking out for their best interests. It's not like Smuchael is trying to tell you how you can wage an ineffective publicity campaign, and this is a good thing! What's even better is that he is not trying to get you to go broke in the process! WOW!!!! Thank you, Smuchael Levine!
Another thing I really liked about Guerrilla PR: How You Can Wage an Effective Publicity Campaign...Without Going Broke, besides the really long title, was the feeling it gave me. Reading this book is a lot like watching a dog take a dump. They sniff the ground, then hunch their back and point their holes toward the ground, then their waste just slowly pushes its way out of their bodies. It's hard to explain, but if you read this book you will know what I'm talking about.
But my favorite thing of all about Guerrilla PR: How You Can Wage an Effective Publicity Campaign...Without Going Broke is the section where Smuchael endorses internships at his prominent company. There is nothing that reeks of success like trying to recruit people to work for you for absolutely free. Smuchael is straight up saying "I'm so darn successful that I don't even need to pay my workforce!" You go boy!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Comfortable reading
Review: Great book that exemplifies our out-of-the-box marketing and p.r. mentality of this Los Angeles-based internet start-up. If you read this book and then think -- hey, I can do even *better* than these guys -- then send us your resume and tell us how and why.
Rating: 
Summary: Young, Guerilla-Minded, Publicist Seeking Opportunity?
Review: Great book that exemplifies our out-of-the-box marketing and p.r. mentality of this Los Angeles-based internet start-up. If you read this book and then think -- hey, I can do even *better* than these guys -- then send us your resume and tell us how and why.
Rating:
Summary: The book that changed my life...well, at least my career.
Review: I bought Levine's book to help me promote myself when I struck out on my own as a freelance copywriter. The book did more than help me promote myself--it gave me an outlook that reordered my relationship with my clients. And, oh yeah, helped me make stacks (small stacks, but stacks nonetheless) of money in the process. Specifically, the book provides tips and formats that allow writers of average ability to present themselves as professionals. The book's conversational style and logical, progressive organization make it both an easy read and a quick reference tool. Also, the book gives advice and starting reference materials to help PR novices get off the ground on their contact databases. Mostly, though, the book gave me an attitude--a concept of the way PR ought to be done. This has led to about 90% of my business being PR related. Thanks, Michael!
Rating:
Summary: A User-Friendly Guide to Creating Your Own PR
Review: I have had the good fortune of working with some of the top publicists in the country over the last 22 years, and wish that I could have read this book first. It would have made me much more effective in working with them, and also could have avoided a lot of their fees. The advice is sound, based on my own experiences with a 37 city book tour in 1999. What it took me 37 cities to learn, you could glean from just reading this book. I envy you this opportunity. Whatever your budget or appetite for public relations, the book will help you design and implement an effective program. It covers all of the basics, except for the Internet (which wasn't really a factor when this book was written). You will learn how to put out a press release, hold a press conference, do interviews, and create media events. Most of these things can be done relatively inexpensively, certainly at lower cost than with advertising. I especially liked the high ethical standards that the book sets. It's easy to cut corners, but that is both wrong and eventually becomes ineffective. May your 15 minutes of fame come soon as a result! Seriously, public relations is a highly effective way to introduce potential customers to your products or services. It serves a good secondary purpose of helping you think through your message and who your audience is. This book does a good job of giving you questions to help you do both of these tasks. Follow this advice, and your business should be more successful within a year. Remember Mr. Levine's advice though, it's quality . . . not quantity . . . that counts.
Rating:
Summary: A User-Friendly Guide to Creating Your Own PR
Review: I have had the good fortune of working with some of the top publicists in the country over the last 22 years, and wish that I could have read this book first. It would have made me much more effective in working with them, and also could have avoided a lot of their fees.
The advice is sound, based on my own experiences with a 37 city book tour in 1999. What it took me 37 cities to learn, you could glean from just reading this book. I envy you this opportunity. Whatever your budget or appetite for public relations, the book will help you design and implement an effective program. It covers all of the basics, except for the Internet (which wasn't really a factor when this book was written). You will learn how to put out a press release, hold a press conference, do interviews, and create media events. Most of these things can be done relatively inexpensively, certainly at lower cost than with advertising. I especially liked the high ethical standards that the book sets. It's easy to cut corners, but that is both wrong and eventually becomes ineffective. May your 15 minutes of fame come soon as a result! Seriously, public relations is a highly effective way to introduce potential customers to your products or services. It serves a good secondary purpose of helping you think through your message and who your audience is. This book does a good job of giving you questions to help you do both of these tasks. Follow this advice, and your business should be more successful within a year. Remember Mr. Levine's advice though, it's quality . . . not quantity . . . that counts.
Rating: 
Summary: Contradicts Most Teachings
Review: I have taken several courses on public relations in school. Most of what Michael Levine teaches is totally opposite of what several of my professors have taught me. In all fairness to Levine, perhaps the practices described in his book were sufficient way back when the book was written, but the world has changed quite a bit since then, and the pace of Public Relations has changed along with it. I understand he wrote a follow-up book called Guerrilla PR Wired which pertains to using the internet as a valuable PR tool, but I know that using his outdated techniques, even with the help of the internet, would still not be the least bit helpful. I certainly would not recommend this book to other students who are preparing for a career in the field of PR.
Rating:
Summary: Contradicts Most Teachings
Review: I have taken several courses on public relations in school. Most of what Michael Levine teaches is totally opposite of what several of my professors have taught me. In all fairness to Levine, perhaps the practices described in his book were sufficient way back when the book was written, but the world has changed quite a bit since then, and the pace of Public Relations has changed along with it. I understand he wrote a follow-up book called Guerrilla PR Wired which pertains to using the internet as a valuable PR tool, but I know that using his outdated techniques, even with the help of the internet, would still not be the least bit helpful. I certainly would not recommend this book to other students who are preparing for a career in the field of PR.
Rating:
Summary: Good Travel Reading
Review: I'm scared to fly so I took this book on a plane with me when I had to visit my grandparents in Winnipeg. It immediately transported me to the wonderful and magical world of public relations!!! I soon forgot I was on a plane, and suddenly I felt like Colin Farrell's character in Phone Booth--you know where that guy held him hostage on the phone to make him repent for his sleazy ways. I especially like how the guy called Farrell out for claiming to be this big shot PR guy with all these connections, but actually he had no real connections at all. I also visited the wonderful olden days of PR like in the movie Sweet Smell Of Success where Tony Curtis is the PR man. Whenever he walks into a room, people cannot hide their contempt for this scumbag. I like at the end how he ends up getting the stuffing kicked out of him.
I arrived in Winnipeg safely all thanks to Michael Levine and his book about what sleazy liars PR people are.
Rating:
Summary: Down-to-Earth, Tell-it-Like-it-is Book on PR and Publicity
Review: Michael Levine tells it like it is in how to put together a PR and Publicity Campaign. He knows what he talks about - no theory here. Any business or person seeking to promote themselve through the power of the media - should grab this book - ASAP!
I have dozens of books and tapes on PR and Publicity and this is at the top - my main reference when I want to put together a PR campaign for my business. All I know is that it works - hands-down.
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