On June 3, the winners of the first IndieReader Discovery Awards (IRDAs) were announced at BookExpo America (BEA), a major trade show in New York City.
On June 3, the winners of the first IndieReader Discovery Awards (IRDAs) were announced at BookExpo America (BEA), a major trade show in New York City.
“They Cooked the Books, A Humorous Look at the World of White-Collar Crime” by Patrick M. Edwards of Hilo won in the business category. It was awarded five stars out of five by IndieReader’s reviewers (http://indiereader.com/2012/06/meet-your-2012-irda-winners-and-read-their-books/ ).
IndieReader (www.indiereader.com ), the essential consumer guide to self-published books and the people who write them, launched the IRDA’s in order to help worthy Indie authors get the attention of top Indie professionals, with the goal of reaching more readers. Noted Amy Edelman, founder of IR, “The books that won the IRDA’s this year are not just great Indie books, they are great books, period.”
Edwards’ project, which took two years and more than 2,500 hours in research of both white-collar crime and the self-publishing book market, involved three local professionals. Leslie Lang was his copy editor, Ralph Smith was the photographer and Audrey Wilson’s kitchen was used for the back cover.
Edwards combines historical references with today’s opinionated satire to investigate both the origin of popular sayings and how they’ve been connected to crime on Wall Street. Edwards allows the reader to first take a look into the history of fraud from the ancient times and brings the reader up-to-date with current references. Along the way, Edwards incorporates quotes from famous individuals, such as Albert Einstein and Jay Leno, to describe in their words the theory and subject of crime and the involvement of what are today called white-collar crimes.
For instance, the idiom “cooking the books” seems to have first appeared in 1636, and was coined by the Earl of Strafford in his Letters and Dispatches, where he states, “The proof was one clear, however, they have cooked it ever since.” These words refer to changing the ingredients of a recipe, not the alteration of a balance sheet.
The Jay Leno quote during the exposure of the Madoff fraud appears at the beginning of chapter 9: “It looks like more than 13,000 people were caught up in that Madoff Ponzi scheme. You know what a Ponzi scheme is? That’s when you throw good money after bad, or as the government calls it, a stimulus package.”
“This is a historical, humorous, yet thought-provoking look at the fascinating world of white-collar crime and Wall Street fraud,” said Edwards. The author explains the inspiration for the book came from a conversation he had with a friend in 2008 about a stock he had lost all of his money in. His friend used the term “they cooked the books” when referring to the company’s failing.
Edwards believes his work will speak to younger as well as older generations, as they have both witnessed many frauds or schemes over the years.
“It is very gratifying to win this prestigious award for my first book,” said Edwards. “My heart and soul went into this project for over two years and my passion about the subject drove me to the end.”
Edwards was born in Burbank, Calif. He joined the U.S. Coast Guard and served in the Vietnam War in a search and rescue capacity before attending California Polytechnic State University, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences. Edwards was a consultant in the pharmaceutical industry for 30 years, and after his sales career began writing. He is the founder and CEO of Big Island Publishers in Hilo. Visit www.bigislandpublishers.com.