Free (for some value of free) Books

My author’s copies of Network Flow Analysis should arrive later this week.  While my publisher sends review copies to all of the likely reviewers, I’d also like to give my readers a chance to get in an the free review copy goodness.   If you’re willing to write a review for your blog, Amazon, or (preferably) both, I might have a free book for you.

Want one of these free copies, in exchange for a thoughtful review?  Leave a comment on this post giving your name, a legitimate email address, and a sentence or two on why you think you, in particular, should get a review copy.

I’m certain that I’ll have more volunteers than I’ll have review copies, though.  How will I decide who gets a copy?

1) If you have a really good reason why you should get a copy, I’ll give you preference.

2) If you give a reason that makes me laugh out loud, you’ll also get preference.

3) Remember, I can be bribed to laugh out loud at your post.

4) Remaining copies will be distributed randomly to cogent comments.  I’ll contact you via the email address given in your comment to get your mailing address.

Note that I’m avoiding the word “good” in reference to these review copies.  Is a “good review” one that reviews the book positively, or a review that is thoughtful and well-written?  Specifically, I’m not offering “books in exchange for good reviews.”  I’m offering “books in exchange for thoughtful, well-written reviews.”  If you honestly believe that the book blows chunks and should only be used as an ephemeral lavatory accessory, and can write about that clearly and cogently, I’ll accept that as a legitimate review.  I’ll bawl like a teething baby, but I’ll accept it.

And why do I specifically want Amazon reviews?  Amazon changes its algorithm for recommending books based on the number of reviews.  A book with six reviews is treated differently than a book with zero reviews.  A book with twenty reviews is treated differently than a book with six.  The number of reviews appears to matter more than if those reviews are positive or negative.  Yes, you can buy my books at other Web sites, or even in brick-and-mortar stores… but Amazon is the 800-pound gerbil of book sales.

29 Replies to “Free (for some value of free) Books”

  1. Well I would say you should send me one because you got a copy of my book, but I already pre-ordered so I’m all set. 🙂 Looking forward to it, and I will put a review up on Amazon.

  2. I do consulting and one of the first things that I preach/teach is network visibility for knowing what is going on. I hope that Network Flow Analysis is an idea or resource that I can use in my work and point to as a reference when I leave a customer’s site.

    Also, I use Absolute FreeBSD 2nd Ed. for light reading. I know my wife LOL’s at that, but to most of us that seems like a reasonable thing 🙂 I will write and post reviews to my blog and Amazon.

  3. Just starting a new gig managing and moving (geographically) a national (Canada) webservice infrastructure; Could put book to immediate, direct use.

  4. Hi! My site is readed for a lot of spanish people (I’m one of the sysadmins of the http://www.es.freebsd.org), from Spain and other spanish speaker countries, and isn’t the first time we speak about your books in the freebsd spanish lists. I think I could make a reasonable review of your book for the spanish speaker audience.

    Have a nice day 😉
    TooManySecrets

  5. If this book helps me to write flow reporting tools for my cisco/juniper/etc administering girlfriend, then I’d love to study a copy. BTW I’m still waiting for a book on NetBSD.

  6. Well, I’d love to write an Amazon review on your book, since the topic is very interesting. But! If you don’t have a chapter on «patchpanel blinkenlights visible light scattering spectral analysis in a dark server room», then I can’t guarantee favourable review. Also, the chapter about graphs looks intriguing — more fancy graphs understandable by marketoids and CEOs could result in even MOAR! blinkenlights bought for our server rooms.

    But really — I could compare your book to „Silence on the Wire”, as your shows another approach to looking at the flow of bits in the network.

    Cheers,
    Marcin

  7. Well, let’s see, why do I think I should get a free copy of your book? Well, for starters, along with everyone else in the post, I too will write a damn good review on Amazon/my blog (whenever it comes to life…)/any other <800lb gerbil book site you need. Second, I enjoyed your other books and figure that this one has to be as good/useful as the others. Third, I am sick of looking for different ideas/places/etc…..for analysing network traffic; it would be nice to have a book that isn't a speaking platform for a big company product like solarwinds (not that their is anything wrong with that but you get the idea). Finally, my work table is still slightly slanted and thus when I am done reading this book, it will help level it out as I have no budget for improvements. So, you would not only be providing me with the knowledge I desire but you would be giving me the means to create a stable work environment as well! (That was my shot at making you laugh out loud…..I do have a wobbly work table though if that helps).

  8. Please help me to escape from Ciscoworks.
    I already tatooed my arm with all the good excuses I could find, I still have some free space on my legs.

  9. One of the guys above me wants a copy for his girlfriend. Unlike him I don’t have a girlfriend, but with this hip new book of yours I would be back in the game… HELP!

  10. I would like a copy for our network administrators at work, they do a great job, but feel this book would iron out the wrinkles in our system. I could become an evangelist and stride into their office with my booming authorative voice say “NO ! STEP AWAY FROM THE KEYBOARD ! I KNOW REGU^H^H^H^H INTERNETS AND AM NOT AFRAID TO USE THEM ! K THNX BAI !”

    I may not win many friends, but you’ll get a review or two, and we can get back to the work of astro physical science and not network trouble shooting. Your call.

  11. I would use to uncover any bank flows and redirect any money to the poorest people, then I would make sure all the bank accounts of celebs and athletes are used to save the world

    PS : i will post a review on http://www.sectechno.com/

  12. I’d love to receive a free copy of your book to review – for a few reasons. First, I do a lot of network security visualization work, but haven’t historically done a lot of network flow analysis. If I could learn more about an expert’s perspective on flow, I can better start applying visualization techniques and writing better tools. Second, I’m going to be FUNemployed this month, so will have some free time to spend giving your book some thought. 🙂

  13. Do I think I deserve this book, probably not. Am I a technical genius that could compare this book to others and everyday life in the IT field, no. So why should you send me a free copy? For starters, I am a college student studying information/network security and my professors are always asking what new books we have read and to write a paper on the subject. Second, because of the first issue, I have no money to buy any good books. I love to read and I know that the IT field is very cut throat and you need to stay on top of your game. So with that being said, if you want someone to read your book from a student’s perspective, then I am your man.

    P.S. I also follow you on twitter

  14. Hey, I’m a type of easy to get boring when i read some book that’s not worth up to its title, so i guess you better try me. It may save you a pain of ass getting various review’s perspective esp. from University student like me so whole world perhaps are able to know that your book is a good material for everyone interested in net flow analysis.

    ermm…do i get a copy now? ;P

  15. I work for a service provider where we do packet analysis on traffic for thousands of clients around the clock. Flow analysis is just one component of our strategy but I venture to say we do more of it than most singular corporations. Also interested to see how you position netflow analysis from a security perspective as I frequently contribute content to security certifications for inclusion in courseware.

  16. I collaborate in the securityandrisk blog. We would comment on the book. We gather more than 10 years of experience in information security and technical IT security.

  17. Joe: Beijtlich was the tech editor on this book. He gets a copy. Unfortunately, this precludes him reviewing the book — the whole “conflict of interest” thing.

    He generally posts something about books that he tech edits, but he doesn’t do formal reviews

  18. I don’t have a witty reason why I should receive a copy, but, as a developer that has fallen into the role of network admin, this looks like a book I should read.

    I would be willing to write an Amazon review from the perspective of someone without formal network administration training.

    Thanks, and good luck with the book!

  19. I’d love to read your book, too (I’m a poor student and won’t say no to a good book), but I think Justin Sherrill really deserves one 🙂 so +1 for Justin and his shiningsilence dflybsd blog

  20. I’d be willing to give the book a thorough review on both Amazon and Shelfari. It’d also be good to have a book on how to unclog your tubes. As we all know, it’s not a big truck.

  21. How about this: if you send me a free copy of your new book, I will not only review it on my blog (and all 2 of my readers will see it!), but also on Amazon, AND, I will rename my 3-day old son Michael!

    (Good thing my wife never reads the random comments I leave on blogs…)

    PS:

    btw, loved Absolute FreeBSD

    PSS:

    Yes, I really do have a 3 day old son (Our First!)

  22. Hello. I’m interested in reading your book and writing a review. I have extensive experience writing Netflow-based applications since 2002, including:

    – Full packet capture and Netflow emulators/aggregators for Windows and Solaris

    – Data reduction engine to reduce the volume of data for analysis by 95+% through source port obfuscation, application profiling and intelligent filtering based on basic protocol connectivity rules

    – Application of Netflow concepts on firewall, ACL and NIDS data, to include superimposing the data onto flow data and creating pseudo flows

    – Validating firewall policies & ACLs using Netflow data with a in application firewall/ACL emulator to highlight flows that violate the intent of the firewall policies and ACLs

    – Connectivity profiling down to individual IP addresses, with alerting capabilities based on out of profile activity

    – Interface packet count reconciliation through devices of a perimeter security stack that include multiple routers/switches with Netflow capability

    Checkout the Internet Connectivity Audit (ICA) tab on my blog for an example of the the type of analysis I do with Netflow data. I’ve done extensive non-signature based network intrusion detection analysis and network auditing for identification of mis-configured network devices and applications.

    And if I’m chosen to review your book, I would like the ebook version please. Thanks!

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