Ah, remember those heady days when you didn’t even need to finish a sentence to get your internet IPO rolling? Times have changed, but in the post-post-bubble business world, California authors are still writing the book on getting your big dream across. Recent offerings:

Good in a Room, by Stephanie Palmer. A former MGM Director of Creative Affairs — who’s taken over 3000 pitch meetings [ed note: yikes!] — discusses techniques used by Hollywood’s top writers, directors and producers to get project financing and explains how to use these techniques to be more successful in your own high-stakes meetings. Read an excerpt at stephaniepalmer.com.

Back of the Napkin, by Dan Roam. The author wants you to know that you don’t have to be an artist to think visually. And, if you can draw a rectangle, a triangle, an arrow and a smily face, you can put the power of visual thinking to work as you present your Big Idea to the funders-that-be. Learn more about it at his web site, thebackofthenapkin.com, where he — what else — uses simple illos to make his point.