I am excited to share with you a perfect review that was posted on August 31st!

“Invent, Innovate & Prosper: A Step-By-Step Guide to Successful Inventing by Michael G. Colburn is a useful guide for those who may be interested in entering the world of invention but may not know quite how to start. The book is divided into seven digestible sections to help teach the aspiring inventor how to turn their idea into reality.

An inventor himself, Colburn has a deep understanding of the common roadblocks both in the development and execution of an idea. He begins by inviting the reader to change their mindset to allow the mind to look for problems to solve, since many inventions are inspired by the inconveniences of daily life. After deciding on an idea, the next step is doing more specific research into the problem you are looking to solve. After that, you need to turn the creativity back on, leveraging the strengths of both sides of your brain to further help you develop the best possible invention for solving the problem you have identified.

The remaining sections are finally putting your idea into action, starting with building a prototype of your new product, ending with getting a patent and actually selling your product. The back of the book provides additional useful information to help a new inventor get started, like how to look up existing patents, further reading, and sample forms for patents, agreements, and more.

This is a really helpful book for those looking to be inventors, not just for the practical advice of getting a patent and getting your product to market, but for adjusting your mindset, which is arguably even more important. While many similar guides may have the same kind of information about prototypes and patents, Colburn goes above and beyond by promoting the idea that being an inventor is looking out for opportunities. The techniques he suggests to help develop “the mind of an inventor” are tools that are useful in all aspects of life, such as self-confidence, open-mindedness, and curiosity. Some of the most famous inventions came from accidents, which shows that what ends up happening is not always what we imagine or expect. Another helpful aspect of this book is that it provides examples of inventors from the present and past, who serve as inspiring examples for the budding inventor.

This book could be great for both those who have dabbled in inventing and feel stuck, as well as those who have wanted to get started but didn’t know quite what to do. The emphasis on both the creative and practical processes of inventing is one of this book’s greatest strengths. By breaking the invention process down into easy-to-follow steps, Colburn uses his decades of experience to help guide new inventors into their own creative process based on what is important to them. I really didn’t find anything negative to say about this book! With all of that in mind, I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. It is engaging and well-written, and will be something an aspiring inventor will return to time and again.”