Indie Spotlight: Business and Personal Finance 2021
In this edition of our monthly thematic roundup of BookLife titles, we’re celebrating business and personal finance books by indie authors.
Stories for Financial Education
Financial Infidelity: Love and Theft in Retirement: Conversations with a Victim
Laura L. Whittemore, ISBN 978-0-9824094-5-9
About the book: Brenda is the perfect prey: retired, single, and living in an affluent neighborhood. What began as a love affair and became a marriage turns into half-truths and theft.
Author statement: “This is the true story of my friend caught in the dilemma of love and financial betrayal. Hopefully, seeing Brenda’s predicament will encourage women to take off the blinders of love and question the financial security of a potential partner.”
Side Adventure: The Playbook to Leverage Your Corporate Job, Pursue a Side Venture, and Find Happiness and Fulfillment
Artin Nazarian, ISBN 978-1-66290-623-7
About the book: This is a book for aspiring founders who need to maintain a day job, have opted out of an expensive MBA program, or lack the technical background or right connections.
Author statement: “Sticking with the theme of the book, I wrote this book as a side venture, at nights or weekends, during my now-two-and-a-half-year-old son’s nap time. After being asked questions like ‘How did you become an executive at Disney while launching a startup?’ or ‘I have an idea for an app. How do I build it?’ many times, I decided to put my experience and learning in a book.”
Financial Strategy Guides
Build Wealth with Common Stocks: Market-Beating Strategies for the Individual Investor
David J. Waldron, ISBN 978-1-73555-240-8
About the book: Written for individual investors by an individual investor, the book shares actionable ideas to construct a potentially market-beating portfolio of the common shares of enduring companies to fund life’s significant milestones. Selected as a quarterfinalist for the BookLife Prize for nonfiction.
Author statement: “Inspired by my market-beating family portfolio of total return common stocks, the book’s mission is to offer everyday investors a real-time case study on the merits of buy-and-hold, value-based, retail-level investing.”
The Illustrated Guide to Financial Independence
Larry Faulkner, ISBN 978-1-67159-526-2
About the book: Faulkner offers step-by-step strategies that help readers build a strong financial framework.
Author statement: “This book really captured magic in a bottle when I partnered with illustrator Douglas Brown, who drew cartoons, diagrams, and other illustrations to bring these financial concepts to life. The book covers everything from setting goals, saving money, investing, and portfolio design all the way through business cycles and much more—all made completely understandable for a nonfinancial reader.”
7 Unicorn Drive: From Startup to a Billion Dollar Sale in 7 Years—The Adventure of Iza and Samo Login
Dani Polajnar, ISBN 978-9-92577-312-1
About the book: In 2009, Slovenian tech entrepreneurs Iza and Samo Login set out on a mission to create a startup with the intention of selling in seven years, in order to dedicate their time and wealth to philanthropic pursuits. In exactly seven years, the Logins sold their $250,000 startup, Outfit7, for $1 billion to a Chinese investment group, catapulting them into the ranks of the wealthiest Europeans and making them the wealthiest individuals in Slovenia. Following the sale, they have been focusing their efforts on making our planet a better place through their Login5 Foundation.
Author statement: “The Logins are the first married couple in the world to reach this level of accomplishment in business—creating a true 'unicorn' in such a short time. This book explores how their unique approach to business and leadership paved the way to financial success. Readers will learn about the Logins’ management philosophy, which includes using spirituality as a tool for leadership. But most importantly, it transforms from a classic business story about how to make a billion dollars to an immersive narrative about why to pursue the billion in the first place.”
Career Counsel—Improving Yourself and Your Business
The Art of Choice: Making Changes That Count in Work and Life
Terry Warren, ISBN 978-1-953865-29-8
About the book: Drawing on interviews with successful businesspeople and his own professional experience, executive coach Terry Warren shows readers how to make positive and lasting life-changing choices.
Author statement: “After coaching high-level achievers for a few years, I saw a pattern among my clients. Every client who made an intentional choice, along with a personal commitment to change, succeeded. One hundred percent success. Regardless of where the reader is on the career or life journey, the underlying principles of being intentional, committed, and willing to be held accountable are useful.”
Bring Inner Greatness Out: Personal Brand
Mansur Hasib, ASIN B08L5Y7DF1
About the book: Mansur Hasib draws from his experience of building his global personal brand and his work as an international speaker, author, and leader in education to advise readers on gaining control of their incomes and professional lives.
Author statement: “When I came to the U.S. in the late 1970s, I observed a thriving capitalist society where people generally earned according to their contributions. I watched a steady decline of real income for the workers producing value and a rise of the bureaucratic class who used organizational rank and power to extract higher proportions of the profits for themselves. I wanted to return the power back to the value producers.”
Business Storytelling from Hype to Hack
Jyoti Guptara, ISBN 978-1-913738-98-3
About the book: In this definitive guide, storytelling expert Jyoti Guptara draws on insights from neuroscience to demonstrate the fastest way to communicate better.
Author statement: “Despite being a professional novelist, I did not appreciate the value of storytelling in business until I was a fellow at a United Nations partner organization. There, I realized that some of the best content came after and between presentations, informally—when people told stories. I was able to apply my decade of experience with fiction to developing and applying strategy, to executive education, and to helping business leaders find and tell stories to more effectively give talks, pitch ideas, and influence meetings.”
Pitching for Profit: The Bad Bitches’ Playbook for Turning Conversations into Currency
Precious L. Williams, ASIN B08XLMZQJV
About the book: Precious L. Williams, a Shark Tank pitcher, international professional speaker, and corporate trainer for top Fortune 500 clients, unveils proven strategies to secure desired results with precision.
Author statement: “I wrote this book to show others how to truly profit from their pitches day after day, week after week, year after year. This book truly shows you how to monetize your network, build, and rebuild lucrative and lasting business and personal relationships, and get your name spoken in places you never even knew existed!”
Write to Influence! Personnel Appraisals, Resumes, Awards, Grants, Scholarships, Internships, Reports, Bid Proposals, Web Pages, Marketing, and More
Carla D. Bass, ISBN 978-0-9975930-2-0
About the book: This guide to effective writing originated during the author’s years educating members of her Air Force unit.
Author statement: “I am a retired Air Force colonel. My battle cry is ‘Powerful writing changes lives!’ I’ve seen it. I’ve done it for 30 years on active duty! The genesis of this book was sudden, unexpected, and pivotal for my life and for many others, as well. I composed Write to Influence! to empower others through the strength of their own words and now teach workshops to government agencies, corporations, private businesses, NGOs, and academics.”
