BOOK PUBLISHERS AND AUTHORS HONORED FOR PUBLISHING EXCELLENCE

HIGHLAND CITY, FL – September 15, 2008 – On Saturday, September 13, 2008, the Florida Publishers Association (FPA) presented its 2008 President’s Book Awards to members whose books were chosen as the best in 16 different categories and one special category.

FPA president Frank Gromling, founder and publisher of Ocean Publishing, Flagler Beach, FL, was the master of ceremonies for the President’s Book Awards Banquet at The Helmsley Sandcastle Hotel on Lido Beach, Sarasota.

The evening awards program was part of the two-day FPA Publishing Ed-U-Conference, themed “Making Fat Sales During Lean Times.” Participants attended presentations by nationally recognized book marketing expert Brian Jud of Book Marketing Works, LLC in CT and FPA-member publisher Meg Bertini of DreamTime Publishing, Inc. of South Pasadena, FL.

The following winners were selected by the competition’s 35 judges (32 librarians from across Florida and 3 members of a nationally recognized book design firm):

Best Adult Nonfiction: The Mollusks: A Guide to Their Study, Collection, and Preservation edited by C. F. Sturm, T. A. Pearce, and A. Valdés (ISBN-10: 158112930-0, Universal Publishers)

Best Adult Fiction: Two Lives, One Love by Jay Dickinson (ISBN-10: 0-9745098-4-1, Pioneer River Press)

Best Interior Design: Markawasi: Peru’s Inexplicable Stone Forest by Kathy Doore (ISBN-13:  978-0-9791713-5-2, Kathleen Doore, Inc.)

Best Cover Design: How to Open a Financially Successful Pizza & Sub Restaurant by Shri L. Henkel & Douglas R. Brown  (ISBN-13: 978-0-910627-80-1, Atlantic Publishing Group)

Best Business Book: The Complete Guide to Currency Trading & Investing: How to Earn High Rates of Return Safely and Take Control of Your Investments by Jamaine Burrell (ISBN-13: 978-1-60138-119-4, Atlantic Publishing Group)

Best Florida Book for Adults: The Florida Handbook 2007–2008 compiled by Allen Morris and Joan Perry Morris (ISBN-13: 978-9765846-2-9, The Peninsular Publishing Company)

Best Florida Book for Children: The Adventures of Ali Alligator by Rita T. Geringswald, illustrations by Bill Kitchen (ISBN-13: 978-0-9797566-1-0, R&D Publishing)

Best Children’s Picture Book: Little Skink’s Tail by Janet Halfmann, illustrated by Laurie Allen Klein (ISBN-13:  978-0-9768823-8-1, Sylvan Dell Publishing)

Best Children’s Fiction: Cry of the Cheetah by Bob Wallace (ISBN-13:  978-6024722-5-9, Tate Out Loud)

Best Children’s Nonfiction: Chicken Soup for the Soul: Kids in the Kitchen: Tasty Recipes and Fun Activities for Budding Chefs by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Chef Antonio Frontera (ISBN-13:  978-0-7573-0579-5, Health Communications, Inc.)

Best Young Adult Nonfiction: Excursions in Geography by James W. Lett, Ph.D. (ISBN-13: 978-0-9745098-6-0, Pioneer River Press)

Best Young Adult Fiction: Emmy’s Question by Jeannine Auth (ISBN-13:  978-0-9790395-2-2, Morningtide Press)

Best Writing/Writers: The Writer Within You: A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing and Publishing In Your Retirement Years by Charles Jacobs (ISBN-13:  978-0-9793636-0-3, Caros Books)

Best Coffee Table Book: Markawasi: Peru’s Inexplicable Stone Forest by Kathy Doore (ISBN-13:  978-0-9791713-5-2, Kathleen Doore, Inc.)

Biography/Autobiography: Mama:  Root, Hog, or Die by Barbara Oehlbeck (ISBN-10: 0-912451-59-9, Crabtree Press/Florida Classics Library)

The Best Overall Book, determined by the judges’ scores, was the children’s picture book, Little Skink’s Tail written by Janet Halfmann and illustrated by Laurie Allen Klein (ISBN-13:  978-0-9768823-8-1, Sylvan Dell Publishing).

Selected as President’s Pick by FPA President Frank Gromling was A Chance to Live by Pieter Kohnstam (ISBN-10: 0-9778199-1-4, Bardolf & Co.).

In addition to a handsome plaque commemorating their awards, winners and finalists in each category received an award certificate and President’s Book Awards labels for their book covers.

Florida Publishers Association, now in its 26th year, is a non-profit, statewide professional association of publishers, self-publishers, authors and others interested in book publishing in Florida. It conducts numerous educational conferences, seminars and workshops throughout Florida and is affiliated with the Independent Book Publishers Association (formerly PMA), the Association of American Publishers, Small Publishers Association of North America and Florida Center for the Book. It is also a member of the Florida Library Association and the Florida Association for Media in Education. Florida Publishers Association members are located throughout Florida, 13 other states and two countries.

The Complete Guide to Patents, Copyrights, and Trademarks: What You Need to Know Explained Simply

Hundreds of thousands of people apply for patents, copyrights, and trademarks in the United States every year. For example, the United States Patent and Trademark office reports that 452,633 patent applications were filed in 2006. You can easily become one of these people if you have created the greatest American invention, if you are the next Stephen King and have written a book to prove it, or if you have designed an eye-catching logo for your company. The Complete Guide to Patents, Copyrights, and Trademarks will provide you with all the information you need to know about acquiring, registering, maintaining, and protecting your intellectual property.

A patent is a grant of property rights to the inventor and essentially excludes others from making, using, and selling your invention, whereas a trademark is a word, symbol, or device used to indicate the source of goods and to distinguish your goods from those of others. A copyright, on the other hand, protects original works and the form of the expression rather than the subject matter. This new, exhaustively researched book will help you decide which of the three you need to apply for, as well as which things can be patented, trademarked, and copyrighted and which cannot.

In this book, you will learn how to file an application, how to register, how to avoid infringement, and how to avoid common problems. Additionally, you will become knowledgeable about where to file; the fees involved; laws and regulations associated with the process; the differences between copyrights, trademarks, and patents; the differences between utility, design, and plant patents; who may apply; attorneys and agents; and the forms you need to fill out.

Whether you are applying for a patent, copyright, or trademark, this book will provide you with all the necessary information necessary to do so. The Complete Guide to Patents, Copyrights, and Trademarks is the only book you need to read if you want to protect your intellectual property.

The Social Security and Medicare Handbook: What You Need to Know Explained Simply

The Social Security and Medicare Handbook includes the provisions of the Social Security Act, regulations issued under the Act, and recent case decisions (rulings). It is a readable, easy to understand resource for the extremely complex Social Security and Medicare programs and services.

Here in this new, groundbreaking, and exhaustively researched book you will learn an overview of the Social Security and Medicare system, how Social Security benefits are currently computed, how to become insured,
and how to file a claim. You also will learn about retirement and auxiliary benefits, survivor benefits, disability benefits and protection, evaluating disability, cash benefit rates, employees, employer responsibilities, special coverage provisions, state and local employment, earnings records and tax reports, the administrative review process, supplemental income, other benefit programs, hospital insurance (Part A), medical insurance (Part B), Medicare Advantage plans (Part C), prescription drug coverage (Part D), prescription programs, and special veteran benefits. This book will explain how current Social Security benefits are computed and provide insight into your Social Security benefits.

The Complete Guide to Robert’s Rules of Order Made Easy: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply

Robert’s Rules of Order have been around since 1876, when Henry Martyn Robert published the first edition of his book, which was then known as the Pocket Manual of Rules of Order for Deliberative Assemblies. The book based its outline on the House of Representatives’ meeting procedures and adapted these methods for use in society as a whole. Since these rules debuted, they have become the most commonly adopted parliamentary method in the United States, with approximately 95 percent of all clubs, organizations, and governments practicing them.

When the copyrights of the original editions expired, many other Robert’s Rules of Order began to surface. Today, many of these books are the same – with one apparent problem: a lack of focus on current trends, specifically the Internet. However, The Complete Guide to Robert’s Rules of Order Made Easy emphasizes this fact and stresses how society has changed due to the advent of the Internet. Clubs, organizations, and societies need to know how to meet and communicate online, and this book provides the answer.

In this book you will learn about technology, conducting meetings online, communicating online, teleconferences, Web conferences, and Web seminars. You will also learn the proper ways to address and send e-mails, as well as how to communicate using instant messenger software. The Internet has transformed the meeting space, and you need to incorporate these changes into your meetings.

Additionally, you will learn about all the more traditional rules, including such things as quorum, abstention votes, votes of no confidence, friendly amendments, proxy votes, executive sessions, points of privilege, parliamentary inquiries, and debates. You will also learn how you can adopt Robert’s Rules of Order, how to qualify as a legal meeting, how to follow the standard order of business, how to handle a motion, and how to nominate and elect officers. Also included is a discussion of the various motions, including privileged, incidental, subsidiary, main, and unclassified, as well as the basic by-laws and the required paperwork, such as minutes, treasurer’s reports, and committee reports.

The Complete Guide to Robert’s Rules of Order Made Easy will serve as your guide to conducting orderly and fair meetings in the 21st century. The rules for using the Internet as a meeting and communication space are clearly defined, easy to understand, and simple to apply.

The Secrets to Succeeding in Network Marketing Offline and Online: How to Achieve Financial Success Selling Network Marketing Products & Services

If you’ve been looking for a home-based business, you have undoubtedly come upon business opportunities that are referred to as Network Marketing programs. Also known as Multi-Level Marketing or MLM, Network Marketing is just a way for businesses to distribute their products. Rather than using the usual distribution method that moves from manufacturer to a wholesaler or distributor to retailer and   finally   to the consumer, Network Marketing companies use independent contractor sales people to sell the products directly.

If you are looking to be financially independent, own your own business, have more spare time, work from the comfort of your home, then MLM may be for you to be successful. In the past MLM required a lot of face-to-face meetings and sales presentations which are difficult to produce. The Internet, combined with Network Marketing, has created countless opportunities for individuals to develop their own business, working from home. The real ways to make a great deal of money in MLM is by recruiting a team of other independent marketers below you, and thus earn a percentage of their combined sales. This new groundbreaking book will show you how to build a successful business with MLM by harvesting the power of the Internet.
In this easy-to-read and comprehensive new book, you will learn what MLM is, how to get people talking about your product or service, how to get your customers to be your sales force, recruiting, goal setting and managing time, getting customers to come to you, getting your MLM message out quickly, creating awareness, working with bloggers and online activists, marketing, dealing with negative customer experience, automating MLM writing online press releases, creating a blog, creating a customer references and referral programs, starting a fan club/loyalist community, and setting up discussion forums and boards. You will learn to use affiliate marketing, flogs, viral marketing, evangelism, buzz marketing, online MLM methods, reputation management.
In addition, we went the extra mile and spent an unprecedented amount of time researching, interviewing, e-mailing, and communicating with hundreds of today’s most successful MLM marketers. Aside from learning the basics you will be privy to their secrets and proven successful ideas.

Instruction is great, but advice from experts is even better, and the experts chronicled in this book are earning millions. If you are interested in learning essentially everything there is to know about MLM in addition to hundreds of hints, tricks, and secrets on how to put MLM marketing techniques in place and start earning enormous profits, then this book is for you.

The Complete Guide to Writing Successful Fundraising Letters for Your Nonprofit Organization: With Companion CD-ROM

With more than 1.4 million nonprofit organizations in operation in the United States and an estimated 100 million fundraising letters mailed out each year, you may find yourself wondering how you can separate yourself from the hordes of nonprofits clamoring for donations. If you employ the techniques provided in The Complete Guide to Writing Successful Fundraising Letters for Nonprofit Organizations, you will ensure that your letter stands out and achieves its goal.

In this new, exhaustively researched book, you will learn everything you need to know about formatting a letter, using the word “you,” structuring a letter, emotional triggers, what works, what does not work, asking for year-end contributions, asking for the right amount, and common pitfalls to avoid. You will learn about follow-up letters, thank you letters, front-end premium letters, back-end premium letters, survey letters, special event letters, petition and protest letters, special appeal letters, renewal series letters, major donor letters, sustainer letters, and lapsed donor letters, as well as letters for recruiting new donors.

Additionally, you will learn how to generate the best response, how to phrase your appeals, how to address your letter, how to write strong leads, how to open and close your letters, how to structure your letter, how to use compelling stories to your advantage, how to be personal, how to write with a sense of urgency, and hundreds of other writing tips. The Complete Guide to Writing Successful Fundraising Letters for Nonprofit Organizations provides you with a wealth of sample letters, examples, writing exercises, and forms – all of which are included on the companion CD-ROM – as well as detailed advice and instructive case studies.

By reading this book, you will come to understand your donor and his attitudes. You will ultimately create a successful fundraising campaign and achieve your organization’s goals. Whether you are a nonprofit focused on the arts, charities, wildlife protection, religion, health, science, literature, or any other field, you will find valuable information in this book.

The Complete Tax Guide for Real Estate Investors: A Step-by-Step Plan to Limit Your Taxes

Many people invest in real estate, from second homes to apartment complexes, condos, townhouses, and commercial buildings and realize a profit from doing so. However, real estate investors have begun to discover that there are a plethora of tax issues associated with buying and selling real estate. The Complete Tax Guide for Real Estate Investors will take the mystery out of these tax issues and even provide you with tax planning strategies.
In this new book you will learn how to implement tax savings programs successfully to reduce or eliminate the resulting income tax from the sale of real estate, how to use the IRS tax code to your advantage through depreciation, how to set up annuity trusts and charitable remainder trusts, and how to avoid paying federal taxes. You will become knowledgeable about the different types of 1031 exchanges, including deferred exchanges, simultaneous exchanges, forward delayed exchanges, construction exchanges, reverse exchanges, two-party exchanges, and three-legged exchanges, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Additionally, you will learn about capital gains taxes, tax and legal loopholes, recapture of depreciation, deferring taxes, reducing a home’s tax basis, installment sales, tax liability, minimizing taxes on final divestment, stepped-up basis, taxation at the time of sale, and like-kind rules.
It does not matter if you are a first time investor or a veteran of the real estate market; you will find valuable information, along with tips and tricks, in this book. Tax issues can strain resources and drain profits, but if you implement the strategies in this book you will be able to limit your taxes, thereby increasing your earnings.

The Complete Guide to Investing in REITs—Real Estate Investment Trusts: How to Earn High Rates of Return Safely

Currently, there are nearly 200 publicly traded real estate investment trusts (more commonly referred to as REITs) in operation in the United Sates with a combined $500 billion in assets. An estimated two-thirds of REITS are traded on national stock exchanges. A REIT is a real estate company that offers its shares to the public. By doing so, a REIT stock becomes like any other stock that represents the holder’s ownership in a business. However, REITs have two distinct features: REITs manage groups of income-producing properties and must distribute 90 percent of profits as dividends. The Complete Guide to Investing in REITs will teach you everything you need to know about REITs and how you can earn high rates of return.

In this book, you will learn about publicly and privately held REITs, Net Asset Value (NAV), Adjusted Funds From Operations (AFFO), Cash Available for Distribution (CAD), the benefits associated with REITS, dividend reinvestment programs (DRiPs), capitalization rate, equitization, leverage, positive spread investing, securitization, and straight-lining. You will also learn about equity, mortgage, and hybrid REITs and the more specific types, including residential, office, industrial, and retail.

The Complete Guide to Investing in REITs will walk you through finding the appropriate REIT for you. This book will also teach you how to manage your REIT, how to limit your personal risk, how to understand REIT performance, and how to analyze REITs. By reading this book, you will know and understand the pitfalls of investing in REITs, you will know how REITs behave as an investment class and how to best integrate them into your portfolio, and you will know what economic issues affect real estate and the effects these have on REITs.

This book is not merely for the novice investor who wants to learn everything possible about real estate investment trusts; professional investors, financial planners, and investment advisors will also find valuable information in this book. Ultimately, The Complete Guide to Investing in REITs will help you stabilize and grow your portfolio and earn high rates of return by providing you with vital information and practical guidance.

The Complete Guide to Writing Effective and Award Winning Business Proposals: Step-by-Step Instructions

What do you do when you are trying to get your company off the ground and attract new customers? You write a business proposal, which is essentially a bid for business that can be either solicited or unsolicited. Business proposals cannot be thrown together at the last minute; they take a large amount of planning, writing, and revising. The Complete Guide to Writing Effective and Award Winning Business Proposals will walk you through the process, providing you with an easy to follow and easy to understand method of writing a successful business proposal.

In this new book you will learn about the various parts of a business proposal, including the cover letter, contact details, executive summary, solution description, success stories, references, costs breakdown, case studies, company profile, methodologies, and project milestones and deadlines. You will also learn the five key elements of effective business proposals: solutions, benefits, credibility, samples, and targeted.

Furthermore, you will learn how to write persuasively, how to analyze your proposal, how to write an effective vision or mission statement, how to understand and meet your client’s requirements, how to write client-centered proposals, how to establish credibility, and how to structure a letter and a formal proposal. In addition, this book is filled with sample proposals, suggestions, tips, and templates.

The Complete Guide to Writing Effective and Award Winning Business Proposals will teach you how to create consistently successful proposals that bring in new clients and contracts and impress your peers and senior management. Whether you are a new business trying to win contracts or you are an established business hoping to pick up some new tips, this book will help you achieve your goals.

The Reverse Mortgage Book: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply

Recent estimates have shown that there are more than 100,000 active reverse mortgages in the United States, and that number is on the rise. Reverse mortgages allow people over the age of 62 to release the equity in their property and defer payments until the homeowner dies. As these mortgages become more and more popular, it is becoming increasingly important for senior citizens to understand the process and the features of this unique loan. The Reverse Mortgage Book does just that, explaining everything you need to know in easy to understand terms.

In this new book, you will learn about the details of new legislation, payment plan options, tools that will help you calculate loan advances, financing fees, what to do with leftover equity, borrower qualifications, common mistakes people make, resources for securing reverse mortgages, and planning strategies. You will also learn about the types of reverse mortgages, including the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage, the Financial Freedom Cash Account, and the CHIP Reverse Mortgage for Seniors, and the different ways to receive payments, such as tenure, term, line of credit, modified tenure, and modified terms.

In addition, you will learn about the steps involved in a reverse mortgage, from the application to processing, from underwriting to closing. This book also goes into detail about how to convert equity into tax-free income, how to determine how much money you can get, how to determine if your home qualifies, how to shop for the best products, how to find a counselor, how reverse mortgages differ from other loans, and how to minimize setup fees.

This book will provide you with the answers to commonly asked questions, such as, “Is it possible for me to lose my home?” “What effect does my age have?” “What effect will my needs for long-term care have?” By reading this book, you will completely understand everything there is to know about reverse mortgages, enabling you to make wise decisions and maintain your financial independence.