UK Guardian

Read UK Guardian article with my comments on the "fiscal cliff."

Negotiator Magazine

Read my article "Ten Tips" in Negotiator Magazine.

This is the Korean edition of Negotiation Boot Camp.

Xmas Shopping: Get the Most for Your Money

Going Xmas shopping? Read my article at www.brodow.com/.

Negotiating in 2013

Read Ed Brodow's article "Ten Tips for Negotiating in 2013" in Lab Manager's Magazine.

Intriguing Decisions

Latest review of WOMEN FROM VENUS by Ed Brodow:
"Decisions we make may change our lives irrevocably. Women from Venus is a collection of short fiction from Ed Brodow as he presents many stories of people with serious decisions ahead of them and the aftermath of facing such realities. Women from Venus explores many intriguing ideas and is much recommended reading."
Midwest Book Review/Susan Bethany

HIGHLY Recommended!

Review of GETTING A SUCCESS CHANGE by Ed Brodow:
"I highly, highly, highly, highly (did I say highly? Yep. I'll say it again...), HIGHLY, recommend this book. It's mainly about how people spend their lives constructing things they don't want, and don't need, only to cut themselves off from their actual personal selves and dreams. It will wake you up and make you remember who you are and where you want to be."

The Quill of Deana Zhollis

 

Champagne for Caesar

I'm off on a European speaking tour and was just connecting with a friend who lives in Paris. She told me this strange story. While attending a wine and cheese tasting event on a riverboat in the Seine, she was handed a sword -- a long, curved scimitar -- and asked to open a bottle of champagne. What you do, they told her, is rub the sword along the curve of the bottle neck until the cork pops out. She was skeptical but she tried it and behold...it worked! And so it has occurred to me that this offers an interesting history lesson. Champagne is the cause of man's predilection for war. Not a psychological disposition of human beings, but Champagne! Swords were created in order to facilitate the problem of corkage. So once again the French have had their impact on history and they have left us with a double-edged (pun intended) legacy. On the one hand, incessant warfare. On the other, the joy of champagne. So next time you are enjoying a glass of bubbly, offer up a toast to Mars. (And be sure to open the bottle with a sword.)

Negotiation Boot Camp Gets a Boost

New review of Negotiation Boot Camp: 

 

"This book made me understand many mistakes I made in past negotiations. Also I didn't think before reading this book that I can negotiate for just so many things in life. Highly recommended."

(Five Stars)

Raul E. Gallegos Barragan, Mexico City, Mexico

 

Storeybook Reviews Likes Venus

New review of Women From Venus by Ed Brodow:

"Ed had a lot to live up to after I read Fixer and loved it! He did not disappoint with these four short stories. In fact, I didn’t want the stories to end, I wanted them to continue! The stories twist and turn in the end and what you think is going to happen or should happen, doesn’t. My favorite was I'll Take Manhattan."
Storeybook Reviews

Ed's Latest Interview

Read this latest interview of Ed Brodow and The Man Who Could Not Make Up His Mind in Free Book Reviews.
http://freebookreviews.blogspot.com/2012/09/author-interview-ed-brodow-author-of.html

Where to find Ed Brodow's Books

Purchase Ed Brodow's books and learn about them at:
http://www.brodow.com/products.html

Women From Venus

Fixer

Negotiation Boot Camp

Getting a Success Change

Wolf at the Door – Essay on Dramatic Conflict

Dramatic Conflict, Character Development, and the Wolf

by Ed Brodow

Conflict is the essence of dramatic story telling. Conflict may manifest as external or internal. External conflict usually involves the protagonist and the antagonist. In fiction, it is helpful to include a strong bad guy who offers opposition to the main character’s drive. This type of conflict can be exciting. But internal conflict, I believe, is much more compelling. Internal conflict is the struggle that occurs in the mind of the main character. The inner demons that vie for supremacy in our hero’s psyche. The hero against himself. The psychology of drama: What makes the hero tick?

As I look back at the story of my own life, it is clear that a major theme has been the tug-of-war between struggling to adapt myself to the system and the need to achieve independence from it. Wanting to fit in and yet wanting to follow my own drummer. Where does the answer lie? For me, the benefits have accumulated on the side of independence. I do better following my own instincts than I do when I make the effort to conform.

I have produced five fictional narratives in the form of one full-length novel and four novellas. The inner conflicts of my fictional characters have reflected the inner struggle in my personal story. It is no coincidence that all of my main characters deal with the tension between being an outsider, on the one hand, and conforming with the system, on the other. But my characters exhibit some clear differences.

In my novel, Fixer, Harry Leonnoff begins as an outsider and gradually moves toward the system. Starting out in life, he realizes that he can accomplish more on the fringes of the New York City political scene than he can by pursuing a law degree. Ironically, the more he succeeds as an outsider, the more he is drawn into the political game he plays so well. The same can be said of Dr. Robert Elgar in Women From Venus. Elgar is doing quite well as a psychotherapist in private practice but his strong desire for public approval leads him more and more into the mainstream. The trajectories of both Leonnoff and Elgar move from outsider toward some degree of conformity.

In The Man Who Could Not Make Up His Mind, Clifford Day Vanderwall starts out as the poster boy for the status quo. In many ways, he is almost a stereotype for conformity, a Man in the Gray Flannel Suit. What gives him flesh and blood is his colossal imperfection, the inability to make decisions. And yet, to everyone’s surprise, Clifford ultimately discovers that he actually functions more effectively on the outside. In The Stamp, Tommy Courten begins as a functionary of the military industrial complex but also eventually moves to the outside. The structure of the system — the organizations of which it is comprised — stifles Tommy’s creativity and his soul. Only by breaking away can he find self-actualization.

In The Man Who Could Not Make Up His Mind and in The Stamp, the protagonists find success as they move away from the system. But in Fixer and in Women From Venus, when the heroes move from self-reliance to conformity, life kicks them in the pants as if to say, "You should have maintained your independence, dummy!" What all four of these stories have in common is the hero’s discovery that, in the final analysis, being independent bestows more benefits than conformity.

I'll Take Manhattan is different. Melvin Van Zipper begins as a total outsider, the complete loser. When presented with a challenge that appeals to his sense of values, he finds that his path to success lies, if not in total acquiescence, at least in finding a common ground with the system. He is the only one of my characters, so far, who ultimately flourishes within the system, but even he does it in a thoroughly individualistic manner. He compromises by learning how to “play the game” without sacrificing his heart and soul. It reminds me of the scene from the film, Sergeant York, where Gary Cooper says, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.” In my fiction, Caesar is a metaphor for the system and God is a metaphor for being true to oneself and going one’s own way. So that even when some form of compromise has to be made, the main character is essentially a lone wolf.

And now I am reminded of the movie, Wolf at the Door, in which Donald Sutherland plays the painter Gauguin and tells the story of the starving wolf who meets a fat and happy dog.

           

            “Why don’t you come with me,” says the dog. “My human will give you food and shelter and you will never have to starve again.”

            “Sounds like a terrific idea,” says the wolf. “But what is that thing around your neck?”

            “Oh, that’s nothing,” says the dog. “It’s just a collar.”

The wolf starves to death rather than wear the collar. Go wolfie baby!

Copyright © 2012 Ed Brodow. All rights reserved.

Where to Purchase Ed Brodow's Books

Purchase Ed Brodow's books at: http://www.brodow.com/products.html

Excerpt from Women From Venus

Excerpt from Chapter 1 of Women From Venus by Ed Brodow
Copyright © 2012 Ed Brodow. All rights Reserved.
http://www.fixerbook.com/womenfromvenus.com

“They were staring at me,” said the woman. “Their eyes. They kept their horrible eyes fixed on me. It was as if their eyes went right into my head.”
“What did they look like?” asked Dr. Robert Elgar.
“I don’t know. They were horrible creatures with big heads. The one who seemed to be in charge had a blinding light beam coming out of its forehead.”
“Did they speak to you?”
“No. They just stared at me. I was naked.” The woman began to cry. “I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t move. I was helpless. I was naked. They had me spread out on an examining table. I was completely at their mercy.”
“Did they touch you?”
“Yes.” The crying continued. “They kept probing me with cold metal instruments. I was naked!”
“And you said one of them had a light in its forehead?” He handed her a box of Kleenex.
“Yes. A glaring light. It practically blinded me.”
“Susan,” said Dr. Elgar. “When you were a child, did you have any operations?”
“Yes. I had a large growth removed when I was about five.”
“What can you tell me about that operation?”
“Nothing. Only what my parents told me. They told me I had an operation. I don’t remember anything.”
“Surgeons often have a reflector on their forehead that concentrates light onto the area they are working on,” said Dr. Elgar. “Did you know that?”
“No I didn’t,” said Susan. Her eyes were red and she was sniffling.
“What you are describing to me could be repressed memories from that early surgery, memories that are only now coming to the surface.”
“The memory of being in that spaceship lying on the table is so vivid,” said Susan. “I can feel it. Oh God!” Susan abruptly threw up all over herself and part of Elgar’s carpet.
“That’s okay sweetheart,” said Elgar as he offered her a roll of paper towels. She tried to clean up the mess.
“Think about it for a moment,” said Elgar after a brief period of silence. “Everything you have described could have taken place in a hospital when you were five years old. Lying exposed on an operating table with strange people staring at you, doing things to you, shining lights at you. This is traumatic for a child. Sometimes these early traumas don’t go away.”
“Where do they go?” She was making an effort to stay focused.
“They remain in your subconscious. When the feelings decide to break out into the daylight, they place a burden on your conscious mind. The traumatic event is remembered from a child’s perspective. It’s completely unrelated to how you view the world as an adult, so your subconscious takes over again and creates a story to explain the pre-adult memories.”
“Oh my God. So perhaps I was never abducted after all?”
“Precisely. The aliens are a metaphor in the same way that your dreams are told in metaphors. Have you ever had a dream that seemed so real to you that you thought it actually might have happened in fact?”
“Yes. Many times.”
“Think of the alien abduction story as a metaphor for what you experienced at the age of five. You were alienated from your home, from your parents, from everything that made you feel safe. Alienated. Aliens. Get it?”
“Yes,” Susan realized. “I see what you mean. I know that I have always had a vibrant imagination. Oh my God, I can’t believe it. I think you may be right.”
“Sleep on it, sweetheart, and we’ll talk about it some more next time.”
“Thanks Dr. Bob!”

New Sales Article at The Speakers Group

Selling Value article by Ed Brodow at
http://www.thespeakersgroup.com/blog/three-steps-to-selling-value

More Five Stars for Venus

Five Stars for Women From Venus by Ed Brodow:

"Brodow has a way of drawing the reader into his fiction world without any chance of release until the very last page is reached. His books are fascinating, suspenseful, and I highly recommend anything that the author has written. His books are the perfect solution for a winter weekend in front of the fire!" (Five Stars)

Brenda Ballard for ReadersFavorite.com

Another Five Star Review for Fixer

Readers Favorite review of Fixer by Ed Brodow:
"The author is gifted with the ability to draw the readers in. Much history is in this story, something that New Yorkers will enjoy. The 1930's was a decade of significance in the city and the book does an excellent job portraying the life of the people who were there. This is a fantastic read." (Five Stars)
Brenda Ballard for ReadersFavorite.com

Five-Star Review for Venus

5-Star Review of Women From Venus:
"If you are looking for something to read that is off the wall from the plethora of novels that fill the bookshelves, this book from Ed Brodow should go a long way in filling the bill. The stories are all interesting and well constructed and the characters are well developed."
J. Guild, Amazon Top 1000 Reviewer

Keynoting for 1000+ government purchasers at NIGP in Seattle.

BlueInk Review of Venus

New review of Women From Venus by Ed Brodow:
"Good reads, told with a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor and crafted with an appealing voice."
BlueInk Review

Webinar Points the Arrow

Webinar Negotiating in Turbulent Times for Arrow Electronics.

Venus Wins Wolterding Prize

Women From Venus by Ed Brodow has been awarded the 2012 Wolterding Prize for Fiction.
Read press release.

New Website for Venus

Women From Venus has a new website: http://www.fixerbook.com/womenfromvenus.html

The Meaning of Value

In my Negotiation Boot Camp® seminars, one of the major negotiation learning points for salespeople is to shift the focus from price to value. We know that the buyer wants a lower price. But if the seller can provide value, then the buyer will pay more. Value is the key to sales negotiation. But we tend to be cavalier in the way we use the word value. What do we mean when we say, “Sell Value!”

Read the entire article on the NegotiationBootCamp website.

Women From Venus Now in Paperback and Ebook

Women From Venus by Ed Brodow is now available in paperback for $15.95 at Lulu.
Ebook available for $6.99 at Amazon.

Women From Venus is Live!

http://www.amazon.com/Women-From-Venus-ebook/dp/B008LUM5JA

Order the Kindle version of Women From Venus by Ed Brodow, now on sale for $6.99 at Amazon.

The sales force from Mission Foods enjoying the negotiation role-play in Austin, Texas.

Negotiation Boot Camp in Milan

European partners of McKinsey & Company participate in negotiation role-play during Milan seminar.

Ed with Tony in Mexico

Ed Brodow sharing the platform with Tony Robbins in beautiful Riviera Maya, Mexico.

New International Bureau Listing

Ed is now listed with A-Speakers International Speakers Bureau based in Denmark. See his listing here: http://www.a-speakers.com/speakers/ed-brodow/

More Negotiation Tips

Ed was interviewed on My Quest for the Best with host Bill Ringle and it's now posted for you to enjoy. Ed share some great examples and key points from his book, Negotiation Boot Camp. Check it out and share what you think.
http://www.BillRingle.com/MQ4B-interview-Ed-Brodow

Learn How to Negotiate in 15 Minutes

Listen to this new audio file -- How to Negotiate in 15 Minutes -- on The Speakers Group blog. Ed is interviewed by Shawn Ellis, President of The Speakers Group speakers bureau.

The Sporting Life

Ed Brodow addresses the Annual Convention of The National Sporting Goods Association in San Antonio. Ed's topic: SALES NEGOTIATION: MORE IS BETTER!

Ed Leads a Double Life

Ed Brodow recently conducted a combo for Luxury Link's Sales Summit in Los Angeles: Negotiation Boot Camp® PLUS Sales Training. It's all about providing value to the client. This is what the client said: "The way you customized the program to our unique model was key to keeping our sales team engaged and receptive; simply put, without your contribution our Sales Summit would not have been as successful as it was. The comments from the team have all been glowing."

The Stamp Hits Home Today

The Stamp is today's banner at Kindle Boards.

Success Banner Today

Getting a Success Change is today's banner on Kindle Boards.

About Dot Me Slash

Check out my new site at about.me/edbrodow.

Another Banner Day

Negotiation Boot Camp by Ed Brodow is today's banner at Kindle Boards.

The Meaning of Success

Failure is the Catalyst for Success, excerpted from GETTING A SUCCESS CHANGE

Read this excerpt at http://www.thespeakersgroup.com/blog/failure-the-catalyst-for-success/

Perfect Graduation Gift

Buy it on Amazon

With graduation coming up, what are you giving your grad? GETTING A SUCCESS CHANGE is a wonderful graduation gift book.

A Banner Day for FIXER

FIXER is the banner today on Kindle Boards at
http://www.kindleboards.com/

Negotiation Boot Camp® at the Bellagio

Ed Brodow presents Negotiation Boot Camp® to a large crowd of salespeople at the Bellagio, Las Vegas, on April 10.

Las Vegas Showtime

Ed is presenting a general session for a sales convention tomorrow at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Terrific negotiation video produced by Art Bauer and Media Partners in Seattle.
http://www.media-partners.com/communication_skills/6_principles_to_negotiate_anything_with_ed_brodow.htm

FIXER is Book of the Day at Kindle Nation Daily
http://kindlenationdaily.com/2012/03/kindle-nation-daily-bargain-book-alert-ed-brodows-fixer-is-our-ebook-of-the-day-at-just-2-99-with-4-8-stars-on-20-reviews-and-heres-a-free-sample/

FIXER is Book of the Day at bookgorilla.com
http://www.bookgorilla.com/2012/03/bookgorilla-kindle-free-book-alert-for-tuesday-march-27-287-brand-new-freebies-in-the-last-24-hours-added-to-our-3500-free-titles-sorted-by-category-date-added-bestselling-or-review-rating-plus/

Allbooks Review Recommends The Stamp

Genre:          Fiction

Title:             THE STAMP

Author:         Ed Brodow

Good looking, athletic Lieutenant Tommy Courten has a bad guy, good guy personality.  Rough and ready to go at a moment’s notice,  necessary attributes for the front lines of Vietnam, with a gentle, thoughtful interior that gives him the control and ability to reason, making it possible to live in an ordinary society.  He marries but that doesn’t work. He works for IBM, but that company is too confining and controlling.  He just doesn’t fit.  Though Tommy doesn't really fit the Marines either, he does his best and learns some valuable skills he will soon need. Then his kid sister, Ellen, is killed. Her boyfriend cannot keep her around once she becomes pregnant because he is married.  If she had just left him alone, it would not have happened, he theorizes.  Tommy must get revenge.  The police and military do not seem to be able to do anything because the accused, Private Rodney Zapata, has fled to Bogota.  Tommy takes justice into his own hands and flies to Columbia in search of Rodney.  There he finds his prey but he also finds Luz from an area called Guajira.  Only Luz and her people can save Tommy’s life, not just his physical body but also his heart and soul.

Ed Brodow has written a crisp, intense story about the life of one man, Tommy Courten through the eyes of another, a friend of Tommy’s.  This unique treatment gives this novel a sense of intensity as his friend sees Tommy’s life through his own reflections on his life and those of friends and family close to him. Tommy’s friend sees different experiences as “Stamps on the Forehead” of individuals. The Vietnamese War was a stamp on Tommy’s forehead, a time in his life that would change him and not allow him to move forward. Then, as he is trying to do just that, Ellen’s death again forces him back into his old pattern. Only exceptional wisdom and love can change the stamp on Tommy’s forehead.

This is an exceptionally well written story and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND it.

Reviewer:  Elaine Fuhr, Allbooks Reviews

Storeybook Reviews Gives Fixer (Two) Thumbs Up

"My normal preferred genres of books usually doesn’t include historical novels.  I don’t know why, but maybe the writers didn’t really impress me with their descriptions…or maybe I just got older and my tastes changed (kind of like they do with food).  Needless to say, I truly enjoyed reading Fixer and getting a taste of what it was like in the early 1900′s in New York and what it was like to be an immigrant and Jewish on top of that.  Politics were a whole different game back then and it was fascinating to learn about positions that don’t exist any more, but perhaps they should.

"The author takes you through a very historic period in New York and the dark and seedy underbelly of politics.  While the book is fiction, there is some truth to the story.  He weaves a tale that makes you feel like you are there and living in that moment and can imagine what it was like to be an immigrant at the turn of the century.

"This story really grabbed me and kept me entranced with the characters and how they overcame adversity for their time.

"I definitely recommend this book and give it 2 thumbs up!  If you have a Kindle or other E-book reader it is a steal at $2.99 on Smashwords."

Storeybook Reviews

Ed Brodow Interview on Indian Blog

Read interview about Ed's novel Fixer.

5 Stars for The Man Who Could Not Make Up His Mind

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous Satire!, February 7, 2012

By 

mrswd - Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Man Who Could Not Make Up His Mind (Kindle Edition)

I wasn't sure at first what to expect from this zany inside view of New York's creme de la creme but the author captured my attention on page one and never let go. Clifford Day Vanderwall reminds me of so many people. He is a good person but a kind of poor soul who is vulnerable to less-principled individuals like Shirley Horner, a predatory woman who takes him for all he is worth, financially and spiritually. But what really impressed me about this story is the witty way in which Brodow presents his characters. Not since Bonfire of the Vanities have I read a black comedy that works as well as this one does. The zingers, one-liners, and absurd situations that Brodow concocts are worthy of a contemporary Oscar Wilde. The characters are fleshed out beautifully, even the lesser ones. I felt like I knew these people intimately. Brodow kept me guessing where we were going up until the last five pages but the ending was so hysterical that I felt amply rewarded for all the suspense I had endured. "The Man Who..." had me laughing out loud over and over again. This is an incredible read.

New Novel in Progress

My latest effort, a novel about alien abductions, is under way. I started writing yesterday and got up at 5AM today to continue. Working title is "Women from Venus" -- A psychologist who specializes in debunking alien abductions falls for a woman who challenges his strongly-held views. It is loosely based on a relationship I once had with a woman who believed she had been abducted.

The Stupid Bowl Bowls Them Over

In its first day as a Free Kindle Book, The Stupid Bowl hit number two in Sports Fiction on Amazon. Today, Feb. 7, is the second and last day of this promotion. Order your free Kindle copy here: ORDER

5 Stars for Negotiation Boot Camp

5.0 out of 5 stars ABSOLUTE PERFECTION, A MASTERPIECE!, February 5, 2012

By 

SURETY RISK MANAGEMENT - Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Negotiation Boot Camp: How to Resolve Conflict, Satisfy Customers, and Make Better Deals (Hardcover)

I first found your book on the shelf at my local library. I enjoyed it so much, in fact, that I bought a copy for myself and my Team of Professional Operators. I'm going to have all of my Team Members read your book before I have them accompany me on any future business venture marketing meetings. This is absolutely "must know" stuff for anybody involved in the business of negotiating contracts. Your book has truly enlightened me and confirmed a whole lot of suspicions that I have developed over time. I can tell that you really poured your heart and soul into this book. You really hit the bulls-eye with your work! Thank you so very much!
Jason P.
Owner, Surety Risk Management

Today Is the Day

Don't forget: The Stupid Bowl is FREE today!

February Speaker of the Month

Ed Brodow is FEBRUARY SPEAKER OF THE MONTH at CBA Speakers Bureau.

5 Stars for The Stamp

Stuck on The Stamp (5 out of 5 stars)

Review of The Stamp by Cara Wilson-Granat, Amazon

I recently finished reading author Ed Brodow's compelling novel, The Stamp and now wish I could go see the movie! It's that good and that real you can almost taste and smell the edge on which this story straddles. On one level The Stamp is about an ex-Marine in search of his beloved younger sister's killer. The brother's passionate search for blood-thirsty revenge takes him to the darkest jungles of Columbia and we are both cheering for him and holding our breath in fear as he finds himself deeper into a maze of misery that reflects his own inner demons. And that's the other level--the inner journey that Tommy, the main character, fights with the most when he is finally faced with realities and questions that shake him to the core. Who's the real killer? Who really wins in this quest of an eye-for-an-eye battle to the death?

Brodow is a fine-tuned story teller who manages this heart-pounding modern-day classic with deftness and grit. Like a hologram, the story and perspective flip back and forth keeping the reader flipping pages wildly in search of answers along with the extraordinary characters he introduces in this fascinating read. One thing's for sure, The Stamp will definitely stick to you long after you put it down. It's that damned good.

Can You Make Up Your Mind?

The Man Who Could Not Make Up His Mind by Ed Brodow has been published on Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords and sells for 99 cents.

Hilarious satire about a born victim and the predator who loves him.

Clifford Day Vanderwall, a Wasp who attended Princeton and The Wharton School, has a trust fund, a nifty job at IBM, and a spacious apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. What’s wrong with this picture? Clifford cannot make decisions. He would rather procrastinate hoping the decision will go away by itself. He becomes the helpless victim of Shirley Horner, a predatory fortune hunter who traps him in a web of deceit and gradually assumes control over every aspect of Clifford’s life. She eventually destroys his career, his love life, and his self-esteem. Lacking the ability to make up his mind, Clifford appears to be doomed in this outrageous satire about love among New York’s upper crust.

Free Kindle Book

THE STUPID BOWL by Ed Brodow will be FREE on Monday Feb. 6 and Tuesday Feb. 7.

Are you sick and tired of the Super Bowl? The Stupid Bowl is a short satire about Elliott Madera, a middle-aged New Yorker who is fed up with people asking "Who won the game?" Holding court on his bar stool at a popular West Side watering hole, Elliott is a recovering sports addict who harangues his handball buddies for being brainwashed by all the sports they watch on television. A humorous breath of fresh air for anyone who ever wanted to throw their TV out of the window.