Bob Shallit: Consultant could write a book on publishing

Local consultant Roger Peterson figured he'd make some real money a decade ago when he co-authored a book on marketing. Then he learned the economics of book publishing. His book retailed for $39.95. His take? Less than a buck per copy.

"I had hoped to send my daughter to Stanford," he jokes. She went to Humboldt State instead.

But Peterson's a quick study. He and Intel executive Nick Montoya have just completed a book on project management, and Peterson expects to do better this time.

The new book -- "The Magic Megaphone," based on Montoya's system of getting bogged-down projects "unstuck" in just 60 minutes -- is being self-published, with a $21.95 cover price. The authors have contracted with a local book designer and illustrator. They've hired a Kansas firm to print it.

Peterson and Montoya still must give 55 percent of each sale to their distributor -- the same amount a big publisher would pay. And most of the rest of the proceeds from the initial press run -- scheduled for Sept. 25 -- will go to the designer and illustrator.

But if sales take off, future runs will return a lot more than $1 per copy to the authors.

The authors have planned a whole series of "megaphone books" -- for teachers, teens, campaign workers, coaches and religious leaders. Their goal: to sell a million copies.

If they succeed, maybe Peterson's grandkids can go to Stanford.

Logic(al) thinking: Last week's sale of tech startup Sierra Logic -- and Tuesday's sale of International DisplayWorks -- validates the prediction we ran here recently from Gilles Attia. The local attorney suggested several big tech acquisitions would be announced before the end of the year.

What company will be next? We're guessing a good candidate is CoreLogic Systems.

The Sacramento firm is a phenomenal success story, with sales of $71.2 million in the fiscal year that ended June 30. Its software, which helps mortgage lenders detect fraud, is in hot demand. Were equity markets better, CoreLogic would be an IPO candidate.

But now a sale to a larger company makes the most sense.

CoreLogic's take on this? What you'd expect. "It's not our practice to comment on speculation," says spokesman Pete Kreiser.

Ahead of his time: Plenty of fond memories are being shared about longtime developer Preston Thurtle, who died last week in L.A. at the age of 78.

Back when most builders were satisfied with "functional," Thurtle was putting up local shopping centers, office buildings and apartment complexes that stood out. His mixed-use California Workspace on Highway 50 brought a little "Miami Vice" to Sacramento with palm trees, fountains and pastels. He built the Crestview Shopping Center in Carmichael, a "power center" before anybody coined that term.

His son, Steve Thurtle, remembers going to work for his dad's firm, Beneficial Equities, in 1985 and pleading with him not to make so many late changes in projects because they drove up costs. "But he was right every time. They made the projects better," says Steve, who now runs Richland Planned Communities in Northern California.

Steve also remembers his dad as a dedicated family man and a gentleman -- a guy who felt comfortable sealing a deal with a handshake.

"He had style and grace," Steve says. "They don't make them like that anymore."

Retail redux: Arne Sernholt is glad to see development at the intersection of Sutterville Road and Freeport Boulevard. The planned mix of quick food and other uses targeting Sac City students and local residents should be well received.

But Sernholt, a retired water pump installer, knows a number of restaurants and coffee shops have tried to make a go at the intersection and failed.

One was Herfy's, a burger chain that was there two decades ago. Sernholt's son, Jonathon, worked there "flipping burgers" and brought home a bunch of the eatery's menu pads when it closed.

Arne still has them and shared one with us. Burgers were 33 cents, fries went for 30 cents, shakes for 40.

Prices may be higher at the new businesses? "Oh," Arne says, "you're darn right."

About the writer:

• Reach Bob Shallit at (916) 321-1049 or bshallit@sacbee.com. Back columns: www.sacbee.com/shallit.