I’ve been pleased with the reviews that have been coming in on Humanize so far. We’ve got 11 on Amazon to date (but feel free to add one!), and a host of blog reviews as well. Most of them are from folks who know Maddie or me pretty well, and it certainly makes me happy that they are enjoying the book and finding it insightful and think it would be valuable for others to read. But last week, Danny Brown wrote a review that really stopped me in my tracks. He listed it as one of the top 2 books on social media that has been released all year.

Wow. And if you don’t know him, Danny Brown is kind of a big deal in the social media world. He’s on a whole host of top 10 blog lists in the marketing and PR space, and is author of his own book, titled The Parables of Business.

But it’s not his fame that really impressed me here. It was the way in which he saw value in the book. He liked the book because you could actually USE it. His frustration with other business books is that they come at you with unrealistic dreams and goals, or “fluffy bunnies” that imply using social media to talk to each other will make everybody rich. This was my favorite quote from the review:

Additionally, Humanize treats you like an adult. This isn’t a book that you’ll put on a coffee table for a quick read. No – this is a business book that you’ll have sat in your office along with numerous notes you’ve made from it to integrate into your business.

Integrating the book into your business. Love.

Now that I have a book out, I am experiencing a universal truth, which is that when you put your work “out there” it is no longer fully yours. The readers are entitled to take what you’ve written and experience it and use it any way they like. But it sure does feel good when their use completely matches your intention. Maddie and I want this book to be underlined, highlighted, and dog-eared. We want it to be out, on the desk and not the coffee table,  read frequently, and, as Danny says, “integrated” into the business.

So thank you, Danny Brown, for spreading the word about the book and sharing with me a passion for actually making businesses better. And thanks to all of you who are not only reading the book, but using it to spark conversations and experiment with some new ways of doing things. Please keep me in the loop about how you are using it.