SELL YOURSELF WITHOUT SELLING YOUR SOUL: A Woman's Guide to Promoting Herself, Her Business, Her Product, or Her Cause with Integrity and Spirit

Self-promotion and self-respect are directly related, says Harrow, media coach and "established leader in the authenticity movement," in this Rumi–meets–Seth Godin public relations handbook. Harrow says that women, especially, need to hear this message, since she believes that they are intrinsically less comfortable with hype than men are. Many of her case studies center on the communications challenges faced by her female clients, lots of whom live and work in the San Francisco Bay area. Thus, much of her business and spiritual advice—and indeed the melding of the two—may appeal more to, say, writers and artists in Marin County and Santa Fe rather than East Coast business types. Depending upon their spiritual proclivities, readers will either enjoy or dismiss the chapter on "publicity secrets of spiritual masters," which, for example, likens business networking to making connections "from warm hand to warm hand." Mantras aside, the book offers a great deal of commonsense advice. How to handle a hostile interviewer? Don't insult back. Dressing for a television interview? Wear a blue shirt rather than white one and avoid stripes, checks or plaids. Self-employed people and small organizations without PR or marketing staffs will especially benefit from Harrow's sample pitch letters to editors and producers and her guidelines and checklists for creating marketing and publicity plans. This book is useful for both men and women who don't have the resources of a big corporation or extensive marketing experience. (May)

Forecast:If Harrow can practice what she preaches, her book will do well—it's brimming with advice Zen-minded small entrepreneurs will love.