Best Independent Books May 15
We are delighted to recommend the following books from the independent publishing sector.
NON-FICTION
The Why Whisperer: How to Motivate and Align Teams That Get Your Strategy Done
by Hans Lagerweij
This book is a practical roadmap for aligning teams with a clear and compelling direction. Drawing on decades of international leadership experience, the author demonstrates how to connect purpose, vision and strategy to daily execution.
The author explores how to clarify mission, vision and goals for maximum impact while crafting an organizational direction that resonates with teams. He shows how to align strategy with daily work to drive results, master purposeful communication, and implement reverse elevator speech to inspire and motivate. Using the Six Cs model, he guides leaders in fostering a culture where all team members understand their role in achieving success.
This resource is essential for leaders seeking to transform uninspired teams into high-performing organizations. It challenges readers to rethink their approach to leadership, emphasizing collaboration, motivation and lasting organizational change.
Honors: seen on MarketWatch
Category: Business
ISBN: 979-8310573062
Plainify AI: Simple For A Novice, Useful For A Pro
by Cupid Chan
This book explores the world of artificial intelligence, using relatable analogies and a mix of humor and insight. It turns complex AI ideas into everyday conversations, making artificial intelligence clear and practical for everyone.
The author helps leaders understand AI’s impact and how to apply it in the real world, delivering clear explanations and relatable examples. In Chapter Two, he even uses a food analogy to explain data feeding, making complex concepts easy to digest and fun to learn. For those who want to dig deeper, there are profound insights into the field.
This book masterfully demystifies AI, transforming intricate concepts into crystal-clear insights. This isn't just another technical manual — it's an enlightening journey that makes the transformative power of AI accessible to everyone.
Honors: seen on MarketWatch
Category: Business
ISBN: 978-1637353455
Quitless: The Power of Persistence in Business and Life
by Alinka Rutkowska, Akintoye Akindele et al.
This book is an honest, thoughtful look at the mental fortitude and dexterity it takes to be a great entrepreneur.
This book is a comprehensive anthology of some of the most successful, die-hard and tirelessly working entrepreneurs in the world. It is a compelling narrative about the cruciality of persistence. It describes the art of responding purposefully, deliberately and pragmatically to the myriad obstacles standing between an entrepreneur and success. It teaches specific tactics and strategies for perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds. It explains how to develop a mindset that welcomes challenges and adversity via cognitive programming. It explores the value and usefulness of failure in developing resilience and new points of view.
Every single day there is an entrepreneur that comes to life for the first time, and every single day there is another who gives up on his dreams. Persistence is all that separates them.
This book… is uplifting and supportive to all the people who wish to succeed in what they love doing… The message is simple: never give up. — GoodreadsHonors: Honorable Mention, Non-Fiction Anthology, Readers’ Favorite Book Awards
Category: Business
ISBN: 978-1637350539
Designed to Win: What Every Business Needs to Know to Go Truly Global
by Po Chung
This book, written by the co-founder of DHL, reveals the industry secrets that were used to build a worldwide network that now operates in more than 200 countries and territories.
The author explains how caring about things bigger than ourselves drives effective leadership. He shows how a unique marriage between Eastern and Western values inspired an intercultural leadership model. He reveals why it’s important to address leadership needs rather than management needs. He tells how to design, develop, and lead a global service network.
In this book, the author describes the reasons why superior leaders practice noble visions, competence, character and care. He delights to convey the message that happy people led by happy leaders run like a well-oiled machine.
Honors: seen on ABC, CBS and NBC
Category: Business
ISBN: 978-1943386505
Your VIP Biography: How to Write Your Autobiography to Land a Hollywood Deal
by Kenneth Atchity and Alinka Rutkowska
There’s a big market that’s hungry for a wide variety of personal stories, yet for all the memoirs that grab Hollywood’s attention, many, many more fail to make a mark. Why do some stories get passed over while others are snatched up by Hollywood producers? This book explains why.
USA Today bestselling author Alinka Rutkowska and Hollywood producer Kenneth Atchity together share what a memoir is and what it’s not; what a character is and how to craft a character readers and viewers identify with; how to craft a conflict that will keep your reader glued to the pages and how to up the stakes to keep the reader on the edge of her seat; and what a structure scene and theme are and how they make up a story worthy of Hollywood.
This book is essentially a guide to turning a personal story into a bestseller and then that bestseller into a movie deal!
Honors: seen on ABC, CBS, NBC and Yahoo
Recognition for Author: Bronze Medal, Business/Finance, Readers’ Favorite Book Awards, 2016
Category: Business
ISBN: 978-1943386697
In case you missed the books featured in the last newsletter, here they are again:
FICTION
A Climate of Chaos: This Parched Earth
by Nawtej Dosanjh
In a near-future world in which water equals power, climate expert Mark Wells is running out of time. His revolutionary water-sharing network in East Africa offers hope to millions struggling to survive devastating droughts. When Wells stumbles upon a deep-rooted conspiracy that reaches the highest levels of global power, he finds himself in a battle not just for his project but for his life.
From Ethiopia’s barren landscapes to Washington’s corridors of influence, from desperate water refugees at the U.S.-Mexico border to Russian satellite deception, Wells must navigate treacherous international intrigue while dodging assassins and facing betrayals that threaten to unravel everything. As waves of climate refugees trigger worldwide instability, those determined to control Earth’s most precious resource will stop at nothing to maintain their grip on power.
Blending cutting-edge science with electrifying suspense, this gripping political thriller portrays a disturbingly plausible future, in which water is humanity’s most sought-after and deadly weapon.
Honors: seen on MarketWatch
Category: Literature & Fiction
ISBN: 978-1637353776
The Inevitable Loss of Innocence: From Girl to Real World
by Zara D. Macias
In this book, the author writes of the joy and pain of growing up as reflected through one specific rite of passage — the college experience.
This story of a Mexican “Kentucky girl” pursuing higher education in the hallowed halls of White University in the national capital is a testament to the power of youth to seek out authentic experiences, even through the disillusionment that may come with it. The narrator feels doubly out of place at White University, as a girl from Kentucky and a Latina among the many wealthy and sometimes snobbish students. Nevertheless, she does her best to fit in, even if her wealthy roommate’s ability to spend lavishly on overpriced cocktails far outstrips her own. She quickly finds herself the subject of male attention but yearns for the type of meaningful connection that the young men she meets aren’t necessarily inclined to reciprocate or able to.
Written from the perspective of an outsider to the affluent milieu of an elite university, this novelette is both a paean to the hope and reality of chasing one's youthful dreams and a lyrical ode to the highs and lows of the college experience. The author’s distinctive voice and viewpoint radiates authenticity as she tells the story of a small-town girl who finds herself in a world of privilege far different from the comfortable surroundings of her Kentucky upbringing.
Honors: seen on MarketWatch
Category: Literature & Fiction
ISBN: 978-1637351925
NON-FICTION
The Learning Revolution: AI's influence on Intelligence and Education
by Dr. Sarah Chardonnens
Artificial intelligence is transforming the way we learn, think, and adapt. In this book, the author explores the intersection of AI and cognitive science, offering a groundbreaking perspective on how education must evolve in the digital age.
This book provides an innovative framework for understanding the synergy between AI and human cognition. The author examines the differences between human and artificial intelligence, introducing the Synapse model — a fresh approach to how the brain learns and adapts. She offers practical insights into how AI impacts sensory input, memory and emotional regulation, while exploring strategies to foster self-regulation, motivation and curiosity in AI-driven education.
Beyond learning techniques, the author delves into the ethical implications of AI in education, questioning its effects on creativity and cognitive diversity. As technology reshapes the way people acquire knowledge, this book empowers educators, students, and tech enthusiasts to rethink the future of learning.
Honors: seen on MarketWatch
Category: Education
ISBN: 978-3952422076
Why They Buy: A Bulletproof Method to Closing Any Sale
by David Fuess
Companies spend thousands of hours and millions of dollars annually teaching their people how to sell instead of investing in answering the only question that ever matters to the bottom line — why they buy.
Whether selling goods or services, this informative play-by-play guide explains how to close any sale.
In this book, the author describes how to become highly attuned to the people that are being sold to; how to present ideas to target customers in a way that they are inspired to sell themselves; and how this art of the sale creates customers for life.
Why They Buy is the ultimate guide that will show how to take sales from where they currently are to where they need to be.
Honors: seen on ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC
Category: Business
ISBN: 978-1943386321
Next Level Selling: The Definitive Guide to Closing High Dollar Deals
by Tom Fedro
This book, written by an award-winning sales leader and CEO, is a master work that reveals the steps of the Million Dollar Framework. It explains the eight critical steps of the framework — identifying the ideal customer profile, engaging the prospect, asking quality questions to establish the pain, establishing the authority, ensuring the money is there, creating a compelling proposal, then implementation, followed by growth and renewal.
The author introduces “a smart gal named PAM” as a mnemonic for pain, authority and money — the criteria for establishing whether there is a sales deal to be made. He shows how the PAM sales process has identified, closed and delivered high-value deals with the largest, most respected brands on the planet, including American Airlines, ASUS, Cisco, Comcast, Dell, GoPro, HP, Logitech, Microsoft and Toshiba.
This book shows how to identify, qualify, and close valuable opportunities while developing long-term relationships with target audiences.
Honors: Bronze Medal, Business/Finance, Readers’ Favorite Book Awards
Category: Business
ISBN: 978-1943386529
We trust that your readers will enjoy our hand-picked selection.
For more bestselling and award-winning books from the independent publishing sector, please go here.
Warm regards,
Alinka Rutkowska
CEO, LibraryBub
