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Bookshelf If the future of marketing truly lies with social media, many old-style advertising professionals will need a guidebook to make it through the new terrain. Fortunately, in Inbound Marketing, Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah have set out to provide just that. They've assembled a practi- cal and easy-to-understand book that explains how online media work and how to best exploit them. It's not enough to pro- duce an attractive Web site; you must constantly update it with new, intriguing content that people not only read but forward on to friends. It's not enough to write a blog; you must fill it with keywords that will trip the attention of anyone making a Google search. And don't think you're going to use that blog as an electronic sales pitch. "The most frequent reason blogs fail is because the author or company writing the blog oversells their product," write Halligan and Shah. "You want your blog to turn your web site into a hub for your industry, not just be an advertisement for your product." This book is a great start for anyone cautiously eying the online waters, wondering if it's time to swim. (Wiley, $29.95) How will the evolving political and economic climate in China really shape the country's future and influ- ence the rest of the world? More than 20 scholars from around the world debate these points in China Rules, a collection of essays drawn from the "China Goes Global" proj- ect hosted in late 2008 by Harvard University. The first essays present overviews of China's economy and governance; the next set examines 64 BizEd JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010 international trade and investment pat- terns; and the final essays take closer looks at particular industries. One overarching theme is that popular misconceptions of China's culture hamper the ability of the developed world to understand the country and collaborate with its growing roster of multination- als. Other interesting contributions examine China's changing relation- ships with Europe and Africa. For instance, authors Amir Shoham and Mosi Rosenboim argue that Chinese foreign direct investment, which is government-funded and directed, is mainly driven by the need to secure the future supply of resources for the growing Chinese economy. The book is edited by Ilan Alon and Marc Fetscherin of Rollins College, Julian Chang of Harvard, Christoph Lattemann of Potsdam University, and John R. McIntyre of Georgia Tech. (Palgrave MacMillan, $94.95) "Publishing does not occur just because you are an intelligent and knowledgeable scholar," says Missouri State Uni- versity dean Danny R. Arnold in his friendly and useful little book, 147 Publishing Tips for Professors. "You absolutely must have a plan." First he encourages scholars to ana- lyze what kinds of publishing their institutions reward, as well as what kind of writing skills they possess. Then he walks them through choos- ing a publication vehicle, generating article ideas, managing their time, and partnering with co-authors. While some of the tips might be obvious to someone with a long resume, they're all insightful and to the point. For instance, in Tip 26 Arnold recom- mends that management scholars expand their knowledge into other fields such as psychology and sociol- ogy. He adds, "The Product Life Cycle concept is a venerable element in marketing—where did it originate? Think the recession is coming to an end? Maybe, but an even worse downturn might be just around the corner. In The Buyout of America, journalist Josh Kosman takes a hard look at private equity firms, which acquire businesses through leveraged buyouts, get the businesses to assume the debt, and insist on cost-cutting mea- sures that often cripple the firms. Then they sell off their own stake long before those companies go bankrupt, as they often do. PE firms make millions; the ones who suffer are employees and stake- holders, which include underfunded pension funds eager for high- yield investments. Kosman compares the post-2000 private equity frenzy to the junk bond craze of the 1980s and the subprime mort- gage escalation—and expects similar results. "The coming buyout crash, like the mortgage meltdown, will have global dimensions," Kosman predicts. "Many overburdened PE-owned companies will go under when their balloon debt payments come due, which in most cases will not happen until 2012." Kosman provides thumbnail profiles of the key players, from private equity superstars to the politicians who've cozied up to them, and most of them end up looking like Gordon Gekko of "Wall Street." It's a scary book—and it's meant to be. (Portfolio, $26.95)