sillypunk's review
4.0
The weirdest thing about this book was how much I already knew. Amazing reaffirmation of good principles though!
chiaraogan's review
5.0
This is a fantastic overview and introduction to content management. I want to give a copy to all my clients doing a web redesign.
puzumaki's review
4.0
A quick read, but has some organized thoughts on how to deal with content on the Web. Since being organized about content on the Web is often overlooked, this is a great primer to turn that practice around.
danaj's review
4.0
First chapter is excellent. The question of what is "quality content" is nailed down quite well in a very satisfying way.
Second chapter is ok, but doesn't really bring the material together that well. You get a bunch of ideas that don't coalesce as well as they should.
Third chapter is the weakest - it feels the most uncertain about it's content, probably because this part of the process (the actual process and methodologies) doesn't have hard and fast answers. Some areas like ongoing content assessment is all but completely skimmed over.
I think this is definitely a good book to get started with Content Strategy ... or even as a technical writer the first chapter is probably worth the price of admission.
Second chapter is ok, but doesn't really bring the material together that well. You get a bunch of ideas that don't coalesce as well as they should.
Third chapter is the weakest - it feels the most uncertain about it's content, probably because this part of the process (the actual process and methodologies) doesn't have hard and fast answers. Some areas like ongoing content assessment is all but completely skimmed over.
I think this is definitely a good book to get started with Content Strategy ... or even as a technical writer the first chapter is probably worth the price of admission.
kirabug's review
5.0
As an Information Architect, I've dabbled in the more IA-like parts of Content Strategy for a number of years... but without necessarily knowing that's what I was doing. CS has been a thing that the Documentation/Writing/Marketing teams did, not something that directly affected me. On the other hand, when I've worked with Content Strategists, we've produced better projects than I could dream of doing on my own.
Erin Kissane's book, as a primer on content strategy, will provide you with a short history of the field, the kinds of skillsets that are adjacent to Content Strategy, the kinds of work that Content Strategists do, and the kinds of pitfalls to look out for as a Content Strategist.
If you know nothing about Content Strategy, pay close attention to the Design Principles provided at the beginning of the book. Strategists I've worked with who align to those principles have been highly successful; strategists who work off of "please the client" principles instead have caused nothing but disruption for otherwise on-track work.
For me, one of the biggest takeaways is that I need to learn more about editorial work if I want to pitch in as a content strategist as needed. Your takeaways will likely be different, because you likely don't have my work history ;)
Erin Kissane's book, as a primer on content strategy, will provide you with a short history of the field, the kinds of skillsets that are adjacent to Content Strategy, the kinds of work that Content Strategists do, and the kinds of pitfalls to look out for as a Content Strategist.
If you know nothing about Content Strategy, pay close attention to the Design Principles provided at the beginning of the book. Strategists I've worked with who align to those principles have been highly successful; strategists who work off of "please the client" principles instead have caused nothing but disruption for otherwise on-track work.
For me, one of the biggest takeaways is that I need to learn more about editorial work if I want to pitch in as a content strategist as needed. Your takeaways will likely be different, because you likely don't have my work history ;)