Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

About Soundview Executive Book Summaries

What's a book Summary?

Soundview Executive Book Summaries® are 5,000-word eight-page distillations of business books. A Summary covers the book's main points and highlights and gives you a working knowledge of its contents.

A Summary isn't merely a digest or excerpts strung together. It's a seamless document that reads (and holds your interest) like a magazine article. And you retain more of the content when you read a Summary than when you read a book. A major university study proved that a few years back.

Finally, Summaries not only save you time and money. They keep you abreast of the latest ideas and techniques, and they help you decide whether a book is worth reading in its entirety.

Who reads the Summaries and reviews and why?

Soundview screens and evaluates business books for executives worldwide. These people range from CEOs to managers just starting out, and all in between. Subscribers include managers, sales and marketing people, entrepreneurs, consultants, academics and students, people in manufacturing and finance, human resources -- you name it.

As diverse as this group is, the people have a few things in common. They are ambitious, for example, and they recognize that to succeed they must keep abreast of current business trends and ideas. They also know that, in the business world, education must be an ongoing process. To stop learning is to fall behind. Whatever their motivation, Summary readers find themselves more effective on the job and more successful in their careers.

What kinds of topics do the Summaries and reviews cover?

If it's of interest to business people, we cover it. These include the usual suspects like management books, books on finance or manufacturing, economics, sales, small business, career and success techniques, etc. But we also occasionally cover books on topics that affect all business people, like health care, the environment, politics, and so on.

Can I buy Summaries on the newsstand?

No. Soundview Executive Book Summaries® is a subscription publication available only by mail and on-line. Each month, subscribers receive a package with either two or three Summaries in it (for a total of thirty per year), and a separate publication, Speed Reviews, in which books and other productivity-enhancing products are reviewed. Additionally, our audio subscribers receive a cassette or CD each month with audio versions of the summaries.

How does Soundview choose the books it summarizes and reviews?

Publishers and authors submit nearly 1500 books for our consideration each year. Our selection process is rigorous. Each book must:

• Contain new ideas

• Have immediate value for readers

• Be well written.

The very best of these books become Summaries (once we receive permission from the publishers).

Other excellent titles including those on more specialized subjects are reviewed in Speed Reviews. This valuable companion piece also covers related Internet sites of interest.

You say the Summaries give you ideas and techniques you can use on the job to get better results. How else do people use Summaries?

Our readers often surprise us when they tell us how they use Summaries. For example, they use them as gifts to friends or junior colleagues, they use them to help subordinates improve their skills, and they use them to make points authoritatively at meetings. Perhaps most importantly, subscribers use Soundview as an executive book-screening service.

Do you summarize all the business bestsellers?

No. First of all, with the exception of books by Tom Peters, Peter Drucker, and a few others, there aren't many business bestsellers. Again, if the books contain fresh ideas and have immediate value for readers, we bring them to light.

How do authors feel about having their books summarized?

They love it. For one thing, there are 48,000 titles published in the U.S. each year. Unless you're a popular writer of fiction, it can be nearly impossible to get publicity for your book. Soundview provides unbeatable exposure for a book and its author -- and to a list of people perfectly matched to a book's message. A Summary can therefore have a strong impact on book sales. Also, imagine how an author feels knowing his or her book has been chosen out of more than a thousand for special attention. It's an honor.

Do you want to read the book after reading the Summary?

Yes, and that's the point of the service. Most Soundview subscribers want to read the books that concern them directly. In effect, Soundview acts as a screening service, pointing you in the direction of worthy books. We give you a taste of the book -- and many ideas and techniques you can put to use immediately -- so you can decide if you want the whole thing. And as a convenience to readers, we stock and sell all the books we summarize, as well as the many more that we review in our companion publication, New & Noteworthy.

How long has Soundview been doing this?

For 27 years -- longer than anyone. We have the experience to spot new ideas in books, and to know what topics are of interest to business readers.

So what is the organization's goal?

To make information in the best business books easily and quickly available for readers and to save them time. To provide them with useful, usable ideas, methods, and solutions.

Tell me again exactly what I get for my yearly subscription?

1. Order today and receive five great Summaries absolutely FREE. 

2. Each month you'll receive two or three eight-page Summaries of the best business books -- 30 a year -- more than any other summary service!

3. If you choose the audio summaries, you'll also receive a cassette or CD each month --- 12 per year --- with specially scripted audio summaries and reviews.

4. Also included is our monthly supplement called "Speed Reviews" containing reviewed books, software, videos, CD-ROMs, and other valuable business products.

5. You'll have the privilege of purchasing any of our past Summaries at special, subscriber only prices. We have over 300 titles to choose from!

6. Access to our research department -- tell us exactly what your problem is and we will try to recommend a book that will provide the answer.

7. Access to the "subscribers only" area of our web site, where you can purchase summary collections, use our on-line customer service, and check out our list of the very best Web sites for busy executives.

In what online formats are the summaries published?

Our online summaries are published in the following formats:

PDF – this can be read by any PDF reader, and is the best format for printing out the summaries. We recommend using Adobe Acrobat Reader.
HTML – this format can be read by most Web browsers, like those found on the majority of computers and PDA’s
Palm DOC – this format works on PDA’s that use the Palm OS, such as Palm, Handspring, and Sony handhelds.
LIT – this format works for most PocketPC’s, including Compaq’s iPaq, Hewlett Packard’s Jornada and Casio’s Cassiopeia, using Microsoft Reader.
MP3 – this is an online audio format which can be listened to on most PC's, Pocket PCs, and MP3 players, using Windows Media Player, the Real Player, and other MP3 software.

What are these "readers" that you refer to for viewing or listening to online summaries, and how do I get them?

The document readers that we refer to are software programs that are available for free by download from the Web. These readers will enable you to view or listen to our summaries in the various online formats we offer them in. For more information, check out the links listed below:

Adobe Acrobat Reader

Palm DOC Readers, such as:
Cspotrun
Palm Reader

Microsoft Reader:
PC Version
Pocket PC Version

MP3 Players:
Real Player
Windows Media Player

Web Browser – the HTML format is read by your Web browser

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About Soundview

In 1978, the founders of Soundview Executive Book Summaries pioneered the concept of outlining the key points and ideas of full-length business books into quick and easy-to-read print summaries.

Launched in Connecticut, co-founder and publisher Cynthia Folino moved the company to Vermont in the early 1980s. In 1999, the company was acquired by Clement Communications Publishing Group, a Concordville, Pennsylvania-based publisher of business-to-business newsletters and motivational posters for the workplace.

Throughout the years, Soundview has worked closely with the leading business book publishers of the world to offer print summaries of the thirty best business books of the year to its more than 40,000 worldwide subscribers. Always seeking to bring more business book information to its customers, Soundview launched an expanded version of its book review newsletter (now called New and Noteworthy), and went online with its summary.com Web site in 1995. In March 2000, Soundview began offering audio-cassette and CD versions of its summaries. In September 2001, Soundview introduced the electronic version of its book summaries.

For the past 28 years, Soundview Executive Book Summaries has evolved through new designs, added services, and even new addresses. We have never wavered, however, from our core mission: to present summaries of the cutting-edge ideas and hands-on, how-to management guides that the year’s 30 Best Business Books can offer.