Author: selfpublishingadvisor

Book Reviews, Self-Publishing, Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week

Self-publishing Book Review of the Week: “Deadly Portfolio”

Deadly Portfolio: A Killing In Hedge Funds

John J. Hohn (2010) ISBN 9781432758752

Investing has always proven to be risky, but there are safer, less volatile bets than others. Hopefully trust in a financial advisor adds security to choices made, but how well do you really know him??? Who can you trust?

In the affluent lakeside community of Heron Lake, NC, the Fourth of July is a time for golfing, sailing, barbecuing and social climbing. Every year at this time financial advisors Matthew Wirth and Morrie Clay host a summer bash, entertaining wealthy friends and clients with the idea of cementing business deals and establishing social position. For Matthew Wirth this year marks hopes for a comfortable retirement, having worked hard to establish old-age security. Morrie Clay, quite a bit younger and more ambitious is eager to take over the client list and firmly establish his own name in financial and social circles. A bit over eager, he crosses ethical lines when he invests a client’s money in a hedge fund to make a quick profit. Without client consent he finds himself in career ending position when the fund tanks.

Rene McAllister, wife of multi-millionaire Alan “Mac” McAllister, is the client at the center of this misappropriation of funds. The morning after the party her dead body washes on shore. This begins to look more like a murder than a suicide to Detective James Raker. When young neighbor Jamie Sherman, a suspected drug dealer is also found dead, there is perhaps reason to believe the deaths are related. Adding to the mix is Mac’s discovery of mishandling of his wife’s funds. Morrie’s career is threatened as is his family’s comfortable lifestyle. Matthew’s reputation and retirement are also in jeopardy. In the midst of the investigation, law enforcement agencies seem to clash in cross purpose as Detective Raker doggedly follows his gut in pursuit of the killer.

“Deadly Portfolio” is a well written, intriguing mystery guaranteed to entertain. It provides study of the impact of acquisition of wealth of those who compromise their values only to discover that greed causes corruption and downfall.

Self-published Book Review of the Week by Enid Grabiner for RebeccasReads.com

 

Self-Publishing

Book Publishing and Self-publishing a Book: What 2011 Holds

“The future of books is at stake, for some readers and industry members,” reads the opening line of an article published on the onlinecollege.org website yesterday. Ominous! The article goes on to read the the following ten predictions for 2011 is something for even the most nostalgic of us should be excited about.

And we here at Self-publishing Advice are certainly among the excited. Among the predictions for 2011 are:

Be sure to check out the full Article HERE, and let’s get excited for an exciting 2011 for self-publishing!

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Uncategorized

Self-publishing Amazon and the Kindle

I love the feel of a book in my hand, marking up pages and highlighting my favorite passages. The process of it all. And books are also a contribution to my physical space in a design sort of function. I enjoy the presence of the different sizes, shapes, and colors on my bookshelves. The collection is somewhat a statement of self, and often a conversation catalyst with visitors.

But for the publishing industry, the importance of e-books is undeniable. This past Christmas, for the second year in a row, the # 1 selling item on Amazon.com was the Kindle e-book reader. Guess what – if people are buying e-book readers, their buying ebooks. Your e-books. The advantage for self-publishing authors is that you can price your e-book version more competitively, sell in more places instantaneously, and market for virtually nothing.

Do you have a Facebook page and Twitter handle? Are they linked to your publisher? Do you follow and participate in your publisher’s blog? If not, now is the time to start. Social media avenues provide a great place to promote your books.

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Book Doctor, Editing Your Self-Published Book

Book Editing & Point of View

Q: Can you tell me if editors (and even reviewers) specifically check or look out for consistency of viewpoint in a novel? I have been reading about being consistent with time and with how close you focus with one or many characters, and it seems a little confusing. Is this something I should take a class in? I was just wondering if many published authors keep these things in mind when writing a story.

A: Editors come in many forms. Some simply handle acquisitions for a publisher and do not edit at all, much less comment on viewpoint. Some editors edit for grammar, punctuation, and syntax and do not pay attention to viewpoint. Only an editor or book doctor who also analyzes the content will pay attention to, point out, or correct viewpoint flaws, which certainly should be addressed, because publishers want clear, consistent, and logical viewpoints in novels.

Viewpoint (also called point of view or POV) is a tricky matter. It refers to which character perceives that particular scene—in whose point of view the action takes place.

Consistency is important in that the point of view should be only one per scene (that is, never get into the head of more than one character per scene). You can get into another character’s point of view by starting a new scene.

Your best bet is to use only main characters as point-of-view characters, and the best novels have no more than three main characters. How the time per character is divvied up, though, does not matter. The choice is up to the author.

I think it’s easier to find a book on point of view than find a class that specifically addresses that issue, but no matter how you choose to educate yourself, if you want to write novels, you do need to know about point of view and how and when to use it to its best advantage.

Bobbie Christmas, book editor, author of Write In Style (Union Square Publishing), and owner of Zebra Communications, will answer your questions, too. Send them to Bobbie@zebraeditor.com. Read more “Ask the Book Doctor” questions and answers at www.zebraeditor.com

Self-publishing Advice guest Post: Ask the Book Doctor

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Self-Publishing, Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week

Self-published Book Review of the Week: “DUH”


DUH !: “The good Lord set definite limits on man’s wisdom, but set no limits on his stupidity and that’s just not fair” Konrad Adenauer
Douglas R. Manley
ISBN 9781432746360

It took a bit of time for the humor of the book took hold. The author drags on about how he entered the Auto Dealing Industry and rambles about his qualifications to such a degree that I felt as though I was reading an excessively long resume. At one point he actually includes the report he had written up for the small “mom and pop” dealership he was working at. This took several pages and while informative to the issues surrounding the dealership, and to a small degree perhaps even integral to the continuation of the story, was dull and boring and felt more like page filling than actual, necessary text.

There were amusing stories and a few characters that anyone reading the story can easily identify with but this is not the book to pick up for a laugh or even for entertainment unless you work in this field. That said, I do believe that anyone in the auto dealing business will likely find this a very enjoyable book packed full of knowledge acquired from years of working in the industry. The anecdotes the author tells will strike a cord with those that have dealt with the absurd demands placed on the author; as well as the ridiculous expectations that cannot be met due to the general hand tying that he dealt with in his career.

Self-published Book review of the Week

Reviewed by Melissa Koltes for RebeccasReads (12/10)

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