No, it’s not what you think ‘it’ is and it’s not what this book is all about. Ralph Frank Magnotta’s The Joy of Making Out is your ultimate financial guide to making more out of what you have.

This self-published book outlines helpful tips for those who find themselves in financial clutter and suggests smart ideas to grow your money and using it well.

By focusing into the basics of financial management, you can be able to properly establish and handle your money, allowing you financial security and stability in the long run.

From setting up an automatic savings plan and cutting federal, state and local taxes, The Joy of Making Out also provides helpful online resources that help you get more value for your money.

Ralph Frank Magnotta graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Finance and Accounting. He also took the Army Air Corp Cadet accelerated course in Syracuse University.

The book author is former Vice-president of the National Association of Internal Revenue (NAIRE) and is a member of various professional organizations such as American Association of Certified Public Accountants and National Association of Tax Professionals.

With the help of this book, making out will never be this good.

US President Barack Obama has been pushing for health care reform ever since he was elected to office in 2008. As part of his administration’s effort to make health care more accessible for every American, the White House is now asking help from doctors in promoting the planned health insurance overhaul.

In the President’s proposed reform, health care insurance would be made more available in all its forms, provide more options for the public, and generally lower the cost of medical care. Enlisting the aid of doctors indicates that the administration is depending on interest groups to support the health insurance reforms.

The ongoing health care reform issue is not only a concern for the Obama administration and the politicians who have the ability to approve or decline the proposals, but this most importantly impacts professionals in the medical field, health insurance companies and the American public who is at the receiving end of this conundrum.

There is a need for everyone involved – the physicians, politicians and patients – to know important insights about health care related concerns.

Dr. Arndt von Hippel, in his self-published book Better Health Care at Half the Cost, covers health-related topics ranging from the economy, the medical/industrial complex, taxation and outsourced jobs, to inexpensive remedies for certain health issues.

The book author explains how cheap and effective treatments benefit the patient while discussing hundreds of ways to reduce health care costs and improve patient outcomes. Von Hippel further empowers patients by reviewing what medical care can and cannot achieve, and why screening tests and biopsies often give ambiguous results.

Better Health Care at Half the Cost will certainly give legislators and laymen the leverage they need to make better decisions concerning health care and eventually pass laws that will not only benefit insurance companies, but more importantly make health care more available and affordable to everyone.

Systems in any court of law, though created to work for everyone, are still never perfect. Convicted of a crime he was not guilty of, Rick Haley was determined to stand up for his rights and struggle for freedom.

Determined to win the fight, he made an appeal and succeeded. Haley believes that one who has been wrongfully served should strive to defend his/her rights. This inspired him to write a book entitled How to Process a Legal Appeal Successfully.

This self-published book is created for a prisoner who was wrongfully convicted or was not given proper representation in the court of law.

The book author outlines the things you should and should not do when preparing an appeal. Having gone through the process himself, Haley is confident that any determined prisoner can be successful with his/her appeal by properly following the procedures in the book.

The procedures explained have also been used many times as a surefire means to gain an appeal in the state and federal courts.

How to Process a Legal Appeal Successfully is a helpful guide for prisoners and families of prisoners in their struggle for justice.

Rick Haley was sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment in the New York State prison system for a crime he knew he was not guilty of. He studied law and obtained two degrees as a paralegal.

One experiences a great deal of change when hitting 40. It is a particular time when one enters a new stage and faces challenges s/he has never encountered before.

G. Richard Ambrosius, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, first became interested in the changing face of aging. This led him to publish a book on aging and living life well.

The self-published book, Choices and Changes shows how adults aged 40 and above could develop a detailed road map for getting the most from life’s second half.

“This is not a guide to help you plan for disengagement and leisure activities… nor does it focus on the years ahead as a time of decline when your biggest concern might be how to pay for long term health care.” Ambrosius explained.

“On the contrary, it addresses how prevention and positive planning can actually negate the need for many such healthcare expenses.”

The book author challenges his readers to become involved in communities, to begin second (third, fourth) careers, to continue to learn and grow, and to develop a positive self-image.

Choices and Changes contains questions and activities on each section that will help you evaluate where you are and where you plan to go as you traverse life’s second half.

Ambrosius aggressively countered aging stereotypes through his research, products, articles, lectures and workshops in the past 25 years. He is widely known as a humorous and inspiring motivational speaker on the subject of changing population trends and their impact on sales, marketing, customer service and management practices.

G. Richard Ambrosius served as Executive Director of an Area Agency on Aging in Northwest Iowa in 1976. He is the founder and president of Positive Aging and has testified before Congress on several occasions covering the topic. He is happily married is a proud father to three children.

Choices and Changes is published with Xlibris and is a top royalty earner.

I’m not in DC so I just watched the whole inaugural ceremonies on CNN at home and waited for Obama’s inaugural speech with much anticipation.

I was not disapppointed.

Despite daunting challenges the President describes as “they are serious and they are many”, he continues to convey a message of  hope with a caveat of great and heavy reponsibility lying ahead.  It was full of promise.  Big promises that are equally big to keep.

Millions in America along with billions around the world watched President Obama sworn into the most powerful office in the most powerful country in the world.  He’s not only an icon of hope in this country he leads.  He’s become an icon of hope in the countries this country touches.

Thousands upon thousands are blogged about this man who is a phenomenon in America’s history.  But here’s an article about a self-published book about him that really caught my attention.

Philip Ephraim published Barack Obama, The Audacity of Being A Global President.   The book author highlights the President not only as the choice of America, but of the world.

I checked the book and I’m so glad to know that it is available online at Xlibris.  And it’s print on demand.  That means it never runs out of copies.

I looked at the pile of unread books on my bedroom floor.  They will have to remain unread for a few days.  And boy, I haven’t even opened the last one I bought!

There’s a new published book I  urgently need to read.

The success of the Obama’s administration doesn’t lie on the bigness of his inauguration or on his usual eloquence.  Everything depends on how he delivers his promises.

The whole world is watching and waiting.

A friend invited to me to a cool treat in a popular uptown bar to celebrate his 30th birthday. But I could only turn up for dessert since our company president called for a very important meeting last night.

They were finishing dinner when I arrived but I was just right in time for the gang to hop to the nearby ice cream parlor. We indulged in several scoops as we enjoyed watching my friend trying so hard to blow the single sparkling candle on his black forest birthday cup cake prepared by his girlfriend as a surprise.

We moved to Starbucks after and had a really strong coffee around 11 in the evening.  The caffeine was actually enough to keep me awake the whole night. I could finish reading The Catcher  in the Rye tonight, I told myself.

I was home a little after 1am, took a warm bath and I tried to read a few pages of J.D. Salinger’s published book. I  was too tired to proceed that I dozed off a few minutes after.

I never thought caffeine would keep me from reading the witty and humorous book author.

Or maybe, it was because of too much gelato.

I planned to re-read The Art of War when the Gaza news hit me on the first working day this year.  But when I visited a local bookstore to check if the books I reserved have already arrived, my reading plans changed.

Instead of re-reading Sun Tzu in an effort to understand what’s going on in Gaza, I found myself re-reading The Catcher in The Rye, J. D. Salinger’s revolutionary book published in the early 50s.

It was a must read in college and I enjoyed the book author’s wit, candidness and spontaneity. I read it in the university library but thought of buying a copy a few years after graduation.  It was always out of stock until I literally forgot about it.

I’m grateful for my never ending book rearrangement and cleaning up project.  It made me realize that the number of classics in my bookshelf is diminishing and slowly replaced by contemporary writers.  So I made a list of my favorites and did a reservation at a local bookstore.  The Catcher in The Rye is one of them and I now finally have my own copy of the published book.

This morning, I was doing my usual routine of checking the news.  Same highlights.  The crisis in the Middle East.

It still somehow worries me a bit but  I’m neither a political analyst nor a war strategist: I’m a book lover.  And I’ve got several new books to read and re-read.  Not to mention those I’ve bought before that I haven’t touched yet.

There’s so much good reads that get published everyday.

It’s crazy, but I really wish to read them all!

It’s the first day of work after the wonderful Christmas holidays so I took a quick look at the BBC News before going back to reality and embracing the corporate world again this morning.

The war going on in Gaza is still the main highlight with the Israeli ground troops advancing to the city.  I switched to CNN hoping that they’ll probably showcase Obama’s inauguration or any other news except war.  But the same story is being told.  Israel doesn’t budge and the Hamas militants are willing to die no matter what.  The never-ending war goes on.

I still had time but I decided to stop watching the news.  When I was about to press the power button of the remote control my eyes traveled to the pile of books lying beside the television set, and fixed on Sun Tzu’s published book titled The Art of War.

There’s another book author to re-read.

I’m just starting to read Follet’s World Without End. This means I will have to set it aside.  After all, with a drop of a bomb, even the most mighty of cathedrals is easily blown to oblivion.

But will this conflict in the Middle East come to an end?  Who is willing to throw in the towel?

The truce negotiations are failing.

I left my pad with a heavy heart.   If people only give in and decide to co-exist.

My book cleaning up spree isn’t over yet because every time I stumble upon a good book, I stop cleaning and start reading.

Last night, I started to re-read Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth. I think this is already my seventh copy. I either gave away the other copies or they were simply borrowed and not returned.

The novel is one of the book author’s best books. I first read it in the early 90’s and re-read it probably 4 times since then.  The book always holds me that the moment I start reading the first page, I can’t put it down anymore!

It’s amazing how Follett allows his readers to get passionately involved in the world of Gothic architecture construction spiced by love, hate, greed and pride staged in 12th century England.

Reading the published book again brings me back to old memories full of almost lost but now rekindled passion for arts and architecture.  And being inside several gothic cathedrals during my trips to Europe makes the story more alive.

Pillars of the Earth has a sequel, World Without End, written by Follett for three years and set two centuries later in the same fictional town – Kingsbridge.

I will have a lot of re-readings to do and Follett is definitely one of the book authors I would spend the holidays with.

Life is a bit uneventful in the past few days that all my energies are simply focused on emptying my pad – literally!

There’s nothing you can see inside but books.  I have mountains of them because there are thousands of book authors who get published everyday.  Though I keep on giving books away, I also keep on accumulating new ones.

In my vain effort to cluster my books by category, they are scattered everywhere that I practically walk on them!  And believe me, I’m not exaggerating.   My pad is no more than a library with bedroom amenities.

Maybe I should now look for a bigger place that has space for all my books.  Moving out would be a major event.  But maybe it’s about time to go and have another round of fresh start!

I’m now seriously considering a new place to stay.  It doesn’t really matter where it would be for as long as I keep with me the very core of my passion – books.

I was cleaning my pad last weekend and was happy to find out that I only have 14 books left unread! Not bad.  It used to be 32!

And what’s more exciting was the fact that I have more than 50 books ready to be given away for Christmas.  I know some friends will be elated to receive them.

But the most exciting part of my weekend cleaning engagement was the rediscovery of my high school journals which were just sleeping inside a green box. I browsed through the pages and couldn’t help but laugh at my entries.

I’ve been writing journals since I was eight and I once dreamed of being a published book author on detective stories when I was still reading Nancy Drew  and Hardy Boys.  I became more imaginative when in 6th grade, I started reading Robert Ludlum and Agatha Christie (thanks to my best friend who owns a whole library of novels written by authors of different genres).

But will I ever get to publish a book?  That still remains a million-dollar question.  Publishing entails more than just dreaming of having a book displayed in bookstores.  It takes dedication, discipline and a firm decision to finish the manuscript.  Not only that, when published, the writer must be ready to face all kinds of critics and must be willing to take the risk of succeeding or failing.  I will expound this in another post.

As I was randomly musing on all these things about publishing, I stumbled upon a succinctly written article on how to publish.  It’s very helpful especially to those who are seriously working on a manuscript for publishing.

It’s very helpful to me, at least.

I had a quick chat with my life coach early this morning about wellness and how food intake is associated with diseases like cancer, which now attacks younger people. I thought of our conversation when I stumbled upon this published book about how boosting the immune system causes cancer to regress. Kindly click on this link to read the story: book author on cancer regression.

I lost a very close friend of mine to lung cancer. She was only 29 years old and never had a cigarette all her life. Just a few months ago, another very close friend died of breast and brain cancer after more than a year of battling with it and going through chemo and radiation treatments.

Cancer still sounds scary despite available advanced treatments. It’s even scarier to think when we read stories about the more dangerous side effects of these treatments.

The old adage that health is wealth holds true. Nothing can beat wellness and being good stewards of our health.

Last night, I finished reading the six books I studied in the last 3 weeks or so. Now, I’m finally re-reading Against the Gods with full attention!

This published book gives me so much insight especially when Peter L. Bernstein, the book author, pointed out how ZERO revolutionized the old numbering system.

It first caught my attention in December 2006. I was re-reading this book (I first read it in 2002) when out of the blue, my then four-year old niece asked, “Do you know that zero means empty?”

The question was very condescending but since it’s coming from a little child, anyone could be forgiving.

Of course I said “yes” and immediately she beamed with so much delight knowing that an adult actually understands something she does.

I simply shook my head and thought that I was probably like her as a kid.

Nevertheless, her question connects with what Bernstein described in the book I was re-reading then and am re-reading now. The book author explained that ZERO makes the whole structure of the numbering system immediately visible and clear – 0 to 9, and makes calculation a whole lot easier compared to the Roman Numerals – I, II, III, IV, etc.

WAIT! Don’t worry, this blog is not about mathematics. It’s about this thing I call ZERO moments – the times in our lives when we feel empty and useless.

It’s not easy when we are going through these moments. When we feel that it’s too much, we always want to give up. But we need these moments because they shape us and make us better persons.

I dunno what the world would have been if ZERO wasn’t discovered.   I dunno what my life would have been without the empty moments that break me and shape me up into a new whole.

There’s so much to write about ZERO moments.  It can be a whole blog site.

In the meantime, I’ve got to finish re-reading Against the Gods.

In my recent post titled busy with the lamppost, I wrote my insights on the importance of slowing down.

This morning, as I was taking time to read the sites on my Blogroll, I stumbled upon the work of self-published book author Dr. Kay Jurgenson. She wrote about slowing down and taking time to enjoy the mundane things in life.

Is it coincidence that books like these get published and catch my attention almost at the same time?

I don’t believe in accidents. Everything happens by appointment.

Providential circumstances are teaching me to slow down.

It’s loud and clear.

Yes, I hear it!

And yes, I’m listening…

Tagged: book author, book publisher, book publishing, get published, how to publish, publishing company, publishing guide, publishing services, self-publishing ]]> http://booklover1020.wordpress.com/2008/11/19/slowing-down/feed/ 0 Booklover stop http://booklover1020.wordpress.com/2008/11/19/my-management-guru/ http://booklover1020.wordpress.com/2008/11/19/my-management-guru/#comments Wed, 19 Nov 2008 06:33:35 +0000 Booklover1020 http://booklover1020.wordpress.com/?p=236 ]]>

I’m scheduled to have a meeting tomorrow with my management mentor to discuss a consultancy project on an expansion plan of the company where my sister works as a human resource specialist.

As I read a blog about a self-published book author who wrote her story as a mentor and a mentee, I thought of writing something about my own guru who, to me, is a legend worth sharing.

I call him Mr. A. And much of the way I am as a professional is because of what he teaches me by what he models. 

How to publish this legend is another story.  Blogging it is a good start.

Mr. A was once my boss and a consultant in several projects I was running when I was still spinning in the world of development work. He was also the guru I always put heads with when I took my masters in management.

He is such a man of integrity: he walks the talk, always honors his word, always comes prepared, never pretends to know everything and is never late.

I can actually write a whole book about him and the wisdom he imparts. Who knows one day the book can get published? That would then be a legacy.

But much time has to be spent in publishing a book. It’s a serious commitment and something I don’t have for the moment.

In the meantime, blogging would suffice.