The Publishing List: The Self-Publishers' Book of Essential Information

Book Description

The Publishing List is an easy-to-follow guide which is complete with names, phone and fax numbers, addresses, and a check-list to take your book from manuscript to the shelves of every bookstore. You will learn how to start a business, contact book stores, wholesalers, distributors, and industry magazine reviewers. And, it is blended with every business, marketing, and promotional tool that you will need to get started today! The Publishing List reveals the publishing industry's inside jargon, discounts, and common practices. You will find out what discounts to offer, what to expect from headquarters' buyers, billing cycles--even complete website addresses for easy access to information. It also guides you through tax issues, invoicing, shipping, and every other pertinent function. You will even be able to view actual copies of the forms you will need to get started, and various examples of forms to track sales and run a publishing house. If you are contemplating self-publishing or have already made the commitment, there is no better source of information than The Publishing List.

Customer Reviews:

Some useful information, but overall dissappointing........2000-10-30

What I liked about this book was that the information in it was pretty current. Some of the other books on this subject haven't been updated for years. It did contain a lot of useful information and I don't regret buying it,. However, I can't rate it very high for several reasons.

In the introduction, the author goes on at great length about how this book is so much better than other self-publishing books. He alleges that it provides information that no other book does. One of the author's claims is that his book breaks the "unspoken industry silence." This book is supposed to provide information that other books won't. The problems is that when you get to the sections where you expect to get this "inside information," you read things like: "It would not be fair to disclose which sellers, wholesalers, and distributors will negotiate better terms . . . ." Based on the Introduction I thought that this book was going to contain a lot of information that was unavailable in other books. Needless to say, I was disappointed. This book contains useful information but it is not superior to other self-publishing books. I would recommend purchasing books by authors such as Poynter, Ross & Ross, Cardoza or Brownstone before this one.

The title of this book suggests that it will contain lists and about one third of the book is a collection of "industry addresses." There are a lot of helpful addresses here but the font used on this list is rather large and spacing is generous. In many cases there are only about 4 addresses per page. Another 35 pages consist of copies of Sample Forms (e.g ISBN application form, sample packing slip). The sample forms have been made so small as to almost be unreadable and there is no accompanying text to explain specific information about the contents of the forms. It seems to me that these sections were included just to add pages and make the book thicker.

Overall it's not a bad book, but there are better ones out there.

Book Description

" Teachers Mentoring Teachers is timely, practical, and engaging—a welcome addition to the literature on retaining and providing meaningful professional development for teachers."
Sandra R. Hurley, Associate Dean
Program Director, Literacy Education
The University of Texas at El Paso

A comprehensive source for mastering mentoring and shaping effective teachers!

As more and more good teachers are leaving the profession out of frustration and lack of guidance, mentoring may be the key ingredient to retaining new teachers, and helping them become more effective. This highly interactive, step-by-step method for implementing and evaluating mentor programs and relationships uncovers the many benefits to both the mentor and the protégé.

Key features of the book include:

Planning and implementing a mentor program
Developing benchmarks to measure the progress of the plan
Using mentors for veteran teachers and new teachers alike
Finding good mentor-protégé matches
Assessing and evaluating a successful mentor program

This strategy-based guide asserts that a mentor relationship is one between peers. It effectively illustrates how fellow teachers can listen to one another and share their common experiences and unique insights to foster mutual job satisfaction.

Average customer rating:
The " Financial Times" Guide to Alternative Investments
Jackie Wullschlager
Manufacturer: Financial Times Business Information Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Active Alpha: A Portfolio Approach to Selecting and Managing Alternative Investments (Wiley Finance)
Alan H. Dorsey
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0471791326

Book Description

Praise for Active Alpha

"Active alpha is the quest for every sophisticated investor. This book covers all of the key alpha sources currently mined by active managers, reduces the complexity of the subject, and helps the investor get started in the right direction."
-Mark Anson, Chief Executive Officer, Hermes Pensions Management Ltd.

"Long-held traditional methods for investing large portfolios are giving way to new processes that are designed to improve productivity and diversification. These changes find their locus in the sometimes overly mysterious world of absolute return strategies. In this book, Alan Dorsey demystifies that new world and provides a guiding pathway into the future of professional portfolio management. This is an important read for any investor who plans to succeed going forward."
-Britt Harris, Chief Investment Officer, Teacher Retirement System of Texas

"With great lucidity, Alan Dorsey's book, Active Alpha, fills an important void by identifying the relevant institutional features of this complex subject and by providing a unifying analytic framework for understanding and constructing portfolios of alternative assets. For anyone investing in the alternative class, from the new student to the experienced practitioner, Active Alpha is a necessary read. I am recommending it to everyone I know with such an interest, and it is destined to become a much thumbed reference on my shelf."
-Steve Ross, Franco Modigliani Professor of Financial Economics, Sloan School, MIT

Mortgage Securities: The Low-Risk Alternative to Stocks : The High-Yield Alternative to Cds

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Mortgage Securities: The Low-Risk Alternative to Stocks : The High-Yield Alternative to Cds
Daniel R. Amerman
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Securitisation of Derivatives And Alternative Asset Classes: Yearbook (Global Trade and Finance)

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a mixed bag

The Handbook of Alternative Investments

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ASIN: 0471418609

Book Description

Praise for The Handbook of alternative investments

"Finally, one book explains the ins and outs of alternative investments and what investors should expect from this asset class."
-Daniel A. Strachman
author of Getting Started in Hedge Funds

"Many forward-thinking fund managers have recognized the benefits of treating alternative investments as a comprehensive asset class, including both marketable and nonmarketable assets, rather than setting policies and targets for individual components. This kind of treatment allows more efficient understanding and management of this pool of uncorrelated assets. However you treat alternatives, this excellent book is a necessary reference."
-Hilda Ochoa-Brillembourg
President and CEO, Strategic Investment Group

"A wonderful introduction to the fascinating world of alternative investments . . . should be on the desk of every senior investment management consultant."
-James P. Owen, The Prudent Investor Network
author of The Prudent Investor's Guide to Hedge Funds: Profiting from Uncertainty and Volatility

Customer Reviews:

a mixed bag.......2003-10-26

as a reasonably sophisticated individual investor, i was hoping for some additional insights over what i already know re: convertibles, metals, hedge funds, etc. --the successes and failures of this book are largely section specific: for example, the chapters on Energy, Distressed Securities and Hedge Funds were insightful and worthwhile, whereas the chapters on Gold and Microcaps were hardly worth reading (i.e. no insights whatsoever). In general, Tremont Advisors did a great job in their sections, and the rest (except the one on Energy) were woefully inadequate.

It seems this book was written with a target audience of unsophisticated / non-critical high-net worth individuals in mind...how many of them are out there, hmmm?

Book Description

This book discusses and describes four types of alternative assets: hedge funds, private equity, credit derivatives, and commodity futures. Hedge funds and private equity are the best known of the alternative assets, but certainly not the only alternative assets available. The author explores each one of these alternative asset classes in detail, providing practicaal advice along with useful research.

Customer Reviews:

Great Reference.......2007-09-01

Nice overview of alternative asset classes. One reference of many we use for research, cross-reference, marketing and new associate education.

Uneven.......2007-08-29

I have to agree with the woman from SC below -- this book is horribly edited. The typos are everywhere, and it is distracting. Authors' names are misspelled, equations are referred to inconsistently, odd commas cause a sentence to be read more than one way. It's really frequent -- you will notice it.

Also, some of the statements are questionable generalizations - e.g. p.100, Anson is quoting a hedge fund document:

Anson:
"Consider the following language from a hedge fund disclosure document.

'The fund's objective is to make investments in public securities that generate a long term return in excess of that generated by the overall US equity market...'

...[T]he manager identifies that it invests in the US public equity market."

In fact, the sentence quoted from the hedge fund document does not state what Anson says, only that the return should exceed the US market, long-run.

Here's another: "Hedge funds tend to have portfolios that are much more concentrated than their mutual fund brethren." p.33.
This may have been true in the 1990s, but circa 2007, this is very questionable.

There are also questionable statements made about portfolio theory: p.21 "Diversification, [comma? sic] is a way to minimize the risk of underperformance, but, at the same time, it minimizes the probability of outperformance."
In fact, diversification's benefit can be divorced from any benchmark, and the conclusion that a reader might be drawn from this (that concentrated managers will outperform more diversified ones with regularity, or are somehow more attractive) is an error. Concentrated managers will simply have higher variance. Diversification decreases the expected variance around the expected return -- it does not necessarily lower the expected return (if you diversify with higher returning investments, your expected return can go up while your expected variance can come down, even if the new investments are more volatile that the old), or the "probability of outperformance", which is not an output of portfolio theory.
A more accurate statement in this context would be that, "As your portfolio converges to the benchmark portfolio, your returns will converge to the benchmark return."

There are honestly other examples of sweeping generalizations that are questionable, or have exceptions that go unmentioned, but I suppose that Wiley wanted to get this thing out the door. It's a little bit of a disappointment that such a high profile author did this - he clearly has a ton of experience.

Here's one more: p. 102
"Generally, process risk is not a risk that investors wish to bear. Nor is it a risk for which they expect to be compensated. How would an investor go about pricing the process risk of a hedge fund manager? It can't be quantified, and it can't be calibrated. There is no way to tell whether an institutional investor is being properly compensated for this risk."
The second sentence here answers the fifth sentence? Since process risk is entirely diversifiable, the proper expected compensation (risk premium) for this risk is simply zero.

There are lots of these. It's just too broad, too sweeping in it's generalizations, which lead to more questions.

Good content, but horribly edited.......2007-07-18

I had to buy this for the CAIA exam. In reading it, I find on average one typo a page. I have found at least one chart misreferenced in the text. It is very distracting. Given that Mr. Anson is on the Curriculum Committee for the exam, it is not surprising that his text is on the list of required readings. Perhaps it is all that is out there. But Shame on Wiley for publishing it in the rough draft that it seems to be.

Clear overview of all 10 Hedge Fund Strategies.......2007-07-06

This book is part of the CAIA exam reading and well worth it. It clearly explains what are some of the strategies put to work by the Hedge Fund managers. Very clearly articulates the similarities and differences between all the 10 possible Hedge Fund strategies (ex: equity long/short, market neutral, convertable arbitrage)

This is the best book on Hedge Funds for someone looking for an overview of the industry.

Truely a Handbook.......2004-02-16

.
I used this book for my preparations towards CAIA Level 1 exam. And I am impressed. Mr. Anson is an authority and this is truely a great book for Alternative Investment aspirants.

If you want to have a very solid grasp of any of the following alternative investment approaches then this is the book you should turn to -

Hedge funds
Commodity and managed futures
Private equity (5 catagories)
....Venture Capital
....LBOs
....Mezzannine Financing
....Distressed Debt

....CrossOver/Interval/PIPE and PEPE funds
Credit derivatives
Corporate Governance

Mr. Anson helps you build strong fundamentals. Actually he clearly explains what constitutes Alternative Assets(Aha !!!) as against fundamental and/or capital assets and what is meant by alternative investment strategies.

This is followed by a rigorous analysis of the topics listed above in that order.

I particularly enjoyed his coverage of Hedge Funds. He explains each of the 10 Hedge Fund strategies in a systematic fashion. From a variety of angles including Market(S&P500), Risk, Regulatory, Due Diligence/Operational/Administrative perspective.

The coverage of Commodity Derivatives is also superb. Although confined to 4 chapters this coverage is sufficient to gain an intermediate level insight into the Commodities.

The coverage for Private Equity is less comprehensive(but good) compared to it's actual scope in real world. I particularly expected a more rigorous coverage for LBOs.

Although I did not touch credit derivatives and CorpGov I could tell you for sure that these topics must have been covered well.
As I read 19 out of 22 chapters.

To put it in a nutshell - This is a very good book for Hedge fund aspirants and prospective Alternative investment professionals.

Book Description

The Handbook of Alternative Investment Strategies brings you strategic insights and practical research on institutional investments in a range of alternative asset classes by the most successful practitioners and leading applied academics. In a single volume of over 300 pages, The Handbook of Alternative Investment Strategies is your complete guide to portfolio techniques, asset allocation, performance measurement and product selection in a range of assets including: hedge funds, managed futures, derivatives, private equity and venture capital, oil ; gas, energy futures, and more. It's the latest thinking by the leading experts that you need to know to make informed decisions on investing and avoid pitfalls in illiquid, high-risk investments. This book is a must-read for all senior-level investment decision-makers, including: Hedge Fund Managers, Portfolio Managers, Corporate Plan Sponsors, Family Office Executives, Insurance Company Executives, Institutional Salespersons and Consultants, and Chief Investment Officers.

Customer Reviews:

The Authoritative Handbook on Alternative Investments.......2000-08-27

As a doctoral student, I strongly recommend this book to academics and practitioners wishing to understand the universe of alternative investments. Dr. Thomas Schneeweis is recognized as the world's leading authority in this field and provides us with the latest on hedge funds and managed futures. He has created the first comprehensive handbook on the fastest growing asset class in the industry and has done a superb job in the selection of the articles for this book. Learn how to reduce your portfolio risk with alternative investments. This is a must read for serious investors.

Book Description

Process Management to Quality Improvement is the first book to address both business process design and quality management in a single framework. Unlike most books in these fields, it provides practical guidance, where the emphasis is on how to implement the principles effectively and efficiently. This book provides a complete approach to both areas and also links the two. For practitioners of Business Process Re-engineering, it provides step-by-step guidance on how to check for quality in their radically redesigned processes. Quality management professionals can learn how to express their approaches within a process framework. The book provides guidance and summary process charts for three popular management models, the ISO 9000 International Quality Standard, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and the European Quality Award. This book provides the answer for managers and consultants who need to bridge the gap between finding a systematic approach to quality and the wider needs of the organization. Those needing to write procedures and instructions and to document business processes will find the book invaluable. It also provides a foundation for those studying process modelling, quality management and business re-engineering.

Customer Reviews:

Essential Reading.......2000-03-19

The author of this book brings analytic ability, wisdom and insight of an exceptional order. It has established itself among the business systems elite as a major contribution. It is highly recommended to all those in process management, quality improvement and business systems as a book that will illuminate and enhance the reader.

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