'Do Not Invent Buggy Whips' and 'Big Wave Surfing' named best small business books

The Amazon best-selling books, Do NOT Invent Buggy Whips and Big Wave Surfing: Extreme Technology Development, Management, Marketing and Investing have been named Winners in the 2013 Small Business Book Awards.

Do Not Invent took top honors in the category of Technology while Big Wave Surfing was named a winner in the category of Classics. Big Wave Surfing also took fifth place out of all books in all categories while Do Not Invent also finished in the top 20 out of all books.

Now in their fifth year, the 2013 Small Business Book Awards are a unique social online event that enables the small business community to nominate, show their support for, and vote (last year over 100,000 votes were cast) on their favorite business books.

“The Small Business Book Awards are a way to acknowledge the books that small business owners and entrepreneurs appreciated over the past year,” said Ivana Taylor, Book Editor at Small Business Trends, which produces the Awards.

The Genesis Of Do Not Invent

The book’s main theme of product reinvention and personal reinvention has resonated with reviewers and readers as evidenced by its awards and Amazon rankings. According to the author, Ken Thurber, Do NOT Invent had its genesis in unresolved questions and comments from his first book – Big Wave Surfing – Extreme Technology Development, Management, Marketing and Investing.

Thurber says, “I found that my first book raised many questions, chief among them was – how do people innovate and how do you define innovation.” Accordingly the main theme of the book is about reinvention and understanding how companies position their products. In the pages of Do NOT Invent you’ll find case studies of products like the Ford Mustang, the Segway and the iPod. The book examines why some products get it right while others don’t quite measure up.

Taking advantage of a “New Wave” in book promotion, Ken Thurber the author of best sellers – Big Wave Surfing and Do NOT Invent Buggy Whips – and Redbery Books, have announced the ability to order signed copies of Dr. Thurber’s books. Books can be picked up in-store or ordered online. Redbery, a leading independent book store, has been at the forefront of new ideas in book promotion. Many people are now buying and actively shopping for books signed by authors.

Dr. Thurber’s last two books have garnered a significant amount of critical (Big Wave Surfing has garnered over 35 awards since its launch in 2011) and consumer praise, ranking in the top tier of Amazon best sellers at their respective launch dates. According to the author, “Redbery has been an important partner from the start. When I wrote my first general interest non-fiction book, Big Wave Surfing, they were one of the first independent book stores to pick up the book.”

“I wrote Big Wave Surfing as an analogy to show how disruption causes big waves to form along the business landscape and that these disruptions will have far-reaching economic, political and social effects,” Thurber said

“We are talking about disruption, and often extreme techniques are needed to deal with this disruption,” he continued. “If we don’t boldly embrace the next wave, the innovation economy, where the next wave of entrepreneurs and job creators will be found, then profound structural changes will occur in American society.”