Border Guide in the Globe & Mail

The Border Guide, by Robert Keats
978-1551808550 | $24.95 pb | in stock
Self-Counsel Press (Jaguar)

The new 10th edition of The Border Guide was featured in an article in the Globe & Mail on Tuesday, Oct. 6. From the article:

“Canadians are clearly good savers,” says Robert Keats, author of The Border Guide: A Guide to Living, Working and Investing across the Border, a financial tool for aspiring and existing snowbirds that has just come out in its 10th edition.

Mr. Keats believes that there has never been a better time for Canadians to buy south of the border. “These are the best buying prices I have ever seen,” he says.

Other expenses, like golf or an evening out, are also getting cheaper, thanks to the stronger Canadian dollar. “Canadians are able to buy one-third more than they could have a few years ago,” he says. “Everything from gas to food is cheaper.”

Recent changes to the Canada-U.S. Tax Treaty also add up to another big plus for snowbirds, Mr. Keats said. The treaty, which he describes as one of the most important documents for the protection of Canadian financial assets in the U.S., helps prevent the double-taxation of Canadians.

Financial Post article features Divorce Dollars

Divorce Dollars (2nd Edition), by Akeela Davis
978-1551806860 | $17.95 pb | in stock
Self-Counsel Press / Jaguar Book Distribution

An article that ran in the Financial Post on Valentine’s Day featured Akeela Davis, author of Divorce Dollars:

A modern marriage of inconvenience

Couples would rather stay under the same roof than divorce in a downturn

By Dave McGinn, Financial Post, February 14, 2009

A few weeks ago, a woman considering divorcing her husband walked into Akeela Davis’s Vancouver office. A certified financial planner who specializes in divorce issues, Ms. Davis informed the woman that, given the details of her and her husband’s finances in the current recession, her financial future as a divorcee would be less than rosy.

So that was it. The woman realized that while there may not be any romance in her life these days, there was certainly a need for pragmatic decision-making.

“The picture didn’t look good and she said, ‘Well, I guess I’ll stick it out for now,’” says Ms. Davis, author of Divorce Dollars: Get Your Fair Share.

This is hardly an isolated case, says Ms. Davis. “The last six months, I have not heard of or seen a lot of separations. When you are concerned with day-to-day living, of making ends meet, yes it can serve to exaggerate the marital problems, but not to the point where you’re saying, ‘I can go off on my own.’ ”

With house prices dropping, portfolios plummeting and family worth diminishing, there is a smaller pie to divide among spouses, leaving some to ride out the tough times until a brighter financial picture emerges.

S&R an Adult Boutique featured on Nerve.com’s Modern Materialist

Start & Run an Adult Boutique, by Karen Bedinger
978-1551808345 | $22.95 pb | in stock
Self-Counsel Press (Jaguar Distribution)

Nerve.com’s Modern Materialist blog has featured Start & Run an Adult Boutique: 

DIY: Sexy Start-Up

Posted by Steph Auteri

So I’ve been hanging around my condo, feeling like a drain on society, and trying to figure out what to do for some extra cash.

I mean, I blog here, but one cannot live on blogging alone.

Or rather, you can, but at the moment I’m not.

So I took a careful inventory of my interests (shopping and vibrators) and decided to open a sex shop.

As I’m not the most savvy businesswoman there is, it was obvious I needed help. Luckily, this book (with accompanying CD-ROM) actually exists.

Bedinger’s book asks of me the usual questions for those planning a startup business, but then dives right into the nitty-gritty of the sex industry:

• researching the market: adult video stores, adult bookstores/superstores, & women- and couple-friendly shops
• location and market research
• developing a business plan
• financing your business
• merchandise inventory and packaging
• marketing and advertising
• etc.

The CD-Rom goes further, including a resource guide (vendors, industry literature, and more) and printable worksheets.

In short, it’s the startup business guide you’d want if you were starting any business, fleshed out with specifics for the industry at hand. For example, a section on customer service and sales techniques touches upon the comments you may hear from particularly obnoxious customers ("Will you model this for me?"), and tells you how to handle them. It also advises you to keep locks on your dressing room doors, so no one sneaks in there for nookie (hehe). Another section goes into every type of adult product you could ever think to stock, ensuring that you know your inventory like no one else.

Looking to get into something a little less…risque? Self-Counsel Press has a ton of these guides, including ones for bed & breakfasts, coffee bars, daycare, event planning, and more.

Boundless riches…here I come.

Do Your Own Home Staging

Do Your Own Home Staging, by Tina Parker
978-1-55180-838-3 | $22.95 pb | available December
Self-Counsel Press (Jaguar Distribution)

Do Your Own Home Staging is included in a Publishers Weekly story on the housing market:

How to Survive

Though it still may be possible for investors to prosper during the current crisis, many publishers have turned their attention to titles that help readers manage what real estate assets they haven’t yet lost. Richard Day, publisher at Self-Counsel Press, says it is impossible to venture a guess as to how and when the market will be steadied. Because of the grim forecast, Self-Counsel’s Do Your Own Home Staging by Tina Parker (Sept.) presents a realistic approach to surviving the crisis, according to Day. “The book addresses the issue of how one can make buyers want a house without price dumping.” In addition, Parker’s book tackles how one should go about selling one’s home in a town or suburb covered in for sale signs. Do Your Own Home Staging is not a get-rich-quick guide but rather a penultimate resort (price dumping being the last resort) for many struggling home owners.