A thorough overview of the process of evaluating, buying, running, and selling a franchise. Definitely read through this book (even if only in parts) before you start to invest yourself (time and money) into a franchise. It is a frank, and straightforward book about a complicated subject.

Some clues from the book:

1) As a franchisee, you buy "the right to use the franchisor's expertise, brand name, experience, methods, and support." (pg. 14).

2) Although you get a proven system, the business is yours.
It is work and it is not for everyone. Successful franchisees must be very good operators who stick to the rules.

3) Franchisors vary. Since you will be paying a royalty going forward, make sure you do the research and know what you are getting for your money. A contract can be a life preserver and a trap.

4) The evaluation, preparation, funding, and negotiation for the franchise is paramount. This book gives detailed lists, and questions to ask before you sign on that contract.

5) Top two reasons franchises fail: 1) not enough money going into the investment 2) absentee owners

6) Factors in assessing your location: population density, neighboring stores (cross promotion), anchor tenants, traffic patterns, speed of traffic, seasonal factors, day / night, competition, security, access to employees, size of property, zoning, landscaping, parking, landlord reputation, visibility, signs, environmental concerns, title, buy vs. lease, hidden costs.

7) Royalties vary according to franchisors. Wendy's is 4%

8) In the end, franchising is a relationship business with franchisor, customers, other franchisees, suppliers, attorneys, bankers, and family.

9) When selling the franchise to others, the franchisor often has the "right of first refusal" which means they can purchase it on the same terms and conditions as the offer you received from a prospective buyer. Check this clause prior to signing.

10) Use the International Franchise Association's webpage:
www.franchise.org.

Chodroff's book, based on a year-long survey of thousands of sudents, is the quinticential book for the incoming Rutgers Freshman. It outlines nearly every aspect of life at Rutgers -- the majors, professors, dorms, food, and city. Wheter you're a student now or have already graduated, you will get a laugh from the wild lists Chodroff has compiled. The book isn't just about lists of favorites and fouls -- each category contains the comments written by the students answering the survey, all of which are hysterical, but for the most part true. I highly reccomend this book to any Rutgers student or grad.

A great reference that starts several billion years B.C. to about one thousand A.D. This book has up to Star Trek: Next Generation First Contact, Deep Space Nine Season Four, and Voyager Season Two. One favorite section of mine is the alternate universes section with ALL of the alternate universes up to date. Now I'm waiting for an revised edition...

Everything I need to know about Star Trek is in this amazing book. The only problem I have with it is that I bought it when Star Trek Deep Space Nine was ending it's fourth season, and in the book, it goes up to the end of it's fourth season. I had no idea what was happening for two years! Oh well, now I know. Anyway, this book really helped me to understand the world of Star Trek, and the amazing thing is, that everything in this book has followed history so far! Anyway, I reccommend this book to any true Star Trek fans!

As it says in the introduction, there are many contradictions and empty spaces in this history, but if there's a need to understand the way Star Trek works, it's an indispensable reference book. Also for writers who want to create between the time lines listed in the book, it is a very well organized tool, and when possible, it reveals the contradictions or problems found by the authors in conjunction with the original writers, so you can fill in the blanks of the history or propose new theories. Well, it's a must have for those REAL Star Trek fans!!!

P.D.: if you want a perfect book, please read the I-Ching...

The very best thing about this RPG has to be the character races. No other game I've seen has such original, and fully developed characters. The Eridani sword saint, all the way to the feministic Cizaracks.
One of the other great qualities about the game is the prices for the supplements. My friends all seem to baulk when I tell them I bought all of the books for less than $... For most RPG's it would take a life time to afford all of the supplements.

Battlelords is still an amazing RPG after 10 years. My friends and I have played countless other games, but this is the one we keep coming back too. It's easy to play, easy to learn, and lots of fun. If you could own only 1 sci-fi RPG, this would have to be the one.

Battlelords is one of 2 sci-fi rpg's that, after playing rpg's for almost 20 yrs, I can honestly say is a great game. The system is easy to use and understand, the wide variety of races (complete with histories and profiles), and equipment make Battelords a game that will keep both players and Battlemaster entertained for years.

The book itself is great, but the hardcover version which I saw first has more pictures, some of which are instrumental at bringing home the points. Also, the short and fat configuration of the softcover version obscures some of the pictures. Please get the hardcover version, it's worth the extra price.

DK books always have such great pictures. This book I found to contain many interesting things. But it seems like one of those coffee table books that you use to take up space.

An unbelievably low-priced 500-page paperbound survey of the evolution of design since 1900. Of particular value are the number and variety of its full-color illustrations of every conceivable kind of design (kitchen and dining room, clothing, transportation, graphics and more), arranged in a flashy yet functional way with every turn of the page. The concluding section offers 40 pages of brief biographical entries about major designers. (Copyright © by Roy R. Behrens, from Ballast Quarterly Review, Vol 15 No 2, Winter 1999-2000.)

Overall quality is just what I've come to expect from Simon & Schuster: very good. I do agree,however, that the reader here lacks variation and depth. It detracts seriously from the production for me. I found myself getting bored and sidetracked through no fault of the writing, but of the reader. The story itself seemed rather tame for Kirk and Co. Gone was the style and panash and great Errol Flynnish type of adventure. I missed that.

Star Trek-The Original Series written by Michael Jan Friedman is a double plotted book where the main character get split and the adventures begin.

"Faces of Fire" has the Enterprise and her crew on a mission to Alpha Malurian Six to resolve a "religious" dispute, but while enroute to this mission They happen to pass a terraforming. Spock wants to monitor this and requests to be left behind on Beta Canzandia Three. This is the first book where we meet David Marcus, Captain James T. Kirk's son.

So, one plot involves a "religious" dispute and the other involves a terraforming. But the plot thinckens as they say, and boy does it ever. What good is a Star Trek book if we don't have the bad guys... this time as Klingons. The Klingons have heard of the terraforming and want to nose around and in the process they capture both Carol and David Marcus. Also, Spock is captured and now faced with certain death Spock and David plan, with the other colonists, an escape.

At the same time, the Enterprise crew with Kirk, McCoy, and Scotty are trying to find a solution to end the religious conflict. Here we have McCoy's famous word uttered... "Damn it, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a veterinarian." Or, whatever he's suppost to be other than a doctor depending upon the situation.

This book was a well-crafted story and entertaining as the plots moved along they kept your interest. I enjoyed this book with McCoy and Scotty trying to help Kirk... interesting, indeed.

Set in the timeframe of the original Star Trek missions this book tells the story of how Kirk first met his son David.

I thought that this book, while not the greatest Star Trek book ever written did a good job establishing characters that we will met later.

It also has a fair amount of action to keep you interested in the general story.

This novel is an adaptation of an episode in the "Next Generation" television show. It is well-written, and any flaws in it are not truly the fault of the author, Michael Jan Friedman, but rather of Ron Moore, the writer of the teleplay for the episode it was based on.

My primary objection, perhaps surprisingly, is not the method of justifying (or even the very fact of) the existence of the character of Montgomery Scott nearly a hundred years after the original Star Trek series; I found myself willing and able to suspend disbelief for that concept. No, what I found troubling and implausible was the characterization of Mr. Scott, and his inability to recognize what he knew, and what he didn't, and to avoid being a danger to everyone when let loose in an engine room.

The man was no fool, and perfectly aware that technology had changed while he'd been "away". And he'd plenty of experience examining unfamiliar, superior technology. He'd not have made the stupid mistakes he was portrayed as making. Nor would he have failed to understand that a chief engineer can't be interrupted while on duty. The entire concept, essential to the story, was an insult to the character. Other than that flaw in characterization, the story was good, and it was a pleasure to see Scotty back in action. I just wish that the creator of the story had had more respect for the character.

A good book. The chemistry between Scott and TNG crew is a wonderful pleasure.

A good book, which follows the episode closely, with some additional scenes. The audio version even features an intorduction and conclusion from Levar Burton. A must for all ST:TNG book fans!

In Aztec, Jennings came close to producing a modern prose epic,a panoramic picture of an infinitely interesting, sadly vanishedculture. Aztec Autumn, unfortunately, cannot measure up to the earlier effort. If Jennings had had more artistic sense, he wouldn't have released it, but there were probably so much pressure from his publishers and his literary agent that he couldn't help but try to cash in on his earlier success. The most telling weakness of this novel is Jennings' reliance on gratuitous sex scenes to keep the story moving. This device was beginning to wear on me in Journeyer, but by this stage it is beyond banal, and I am by no means a prude. He was simply running out of ideas, so he succombed to the Harold Robbins school of best-sellers. If you want to read a truly dumbed-down version of Aztec (one of the greatest "reads" of all time) fork over your money for this one.

AZTEC is the best historical novel I've ever read. Thus, AZTEC AUTUMN can't possibly match it. But it comes pretty close.

The shortcomings: it doesn't cover the same sweeping segment of history that the first one does...it's wedging a story into the middle of the story we were told in the first book. It treads some of the same ground, particularly when it comes to lurid sex. The first book was packed with sex too, but, dare I say it, those scenes had a bit more context. THe ending is not entirely satisfying, but part of that is because history didn't exactly turn out all that satisfying either, if you're a fan of the Aztecs!

The pluses: The action and battle scenes are bigger and better. We get to see the Aztecs get some revenge, finally. (The book mostly follows an effort to drive out the Spaniards.) And it's always great to visit with familiar and much-loved characters.

I highly recommend the book, but ONLY, ONLY, ONLY if you've read the first one.

I have to say that I was extremelly impressed by Aztec. The book was a gift from a friend! This is a gift that I will certainly hold dear for a very long time. Although Aztec was awesome Aztec Autumn was intriguing. In reading the book I cried for the pain that young Mixtli felt at the death of his father the symbolism for the death of the One World. It is almost too coincidential that the Spanish burned the accused the same way they burned the cities and villages that they conquered so not to leave a single trace of the One World behind. But Mr. Jennings is a remarkable writer that takes the ashes of the past civilization and actually gives, it, its past form/richness. He is absolutely brilliant, because although this is fiction it's almost too close to the actual history of Mexico. I've indulged in history, and he does an excellent job in putting the history of Mexico and the seductive story of Mixtli together. I only hope that he continues the share the glimpse he has found into the past of the country we now call Mexico. Believe it or not if you mention pyramids people still only think of Egypt, but Mexico can bost of having the largest pyramid in the world. Please continue to share these wonders with the world!!