I have 12 best-selling books with major publishers, and these titles have sold, collectively, hundreds of thousands of copies. I've made money on the books directly and indirectly, so I have no reason to complain.

But in some cases, I've done better, publishing products on my own, particularly with audios and videos.

You have to take a hard look at conventional publishing before convincing me that it is the best route to take to achieve success. In fact, I think self-publishing is superior for at least five reasons:

(1) It's fast. For example, I have a book proposal out right now at a few conventional houses. If they say yes, today, it will still take 9-12 months for the book to appear in stores. If I self-publish, I can have it in my hands, ready for distribution, within weeks.

If you're writing novels, timeliness may be of less concern, but if you're writing for business, you need to be faster to the market.

(2) It's more profitable. Despite my substantial sales of books, I've probably brought in more dollars from publishing and selling my own tapes.

(3) You know your topic better than any editor does. I can't tell you how many times editors and editorial committees just didn't understand the demand for my subject matter. You are often a better judge of the potential for your work product.

(4) You will not be misled into thinking that a publisher's job is promotion. They're terrible at promoting lesser known authors, and they expect us to work ourselves to exhaustion promoting and selling our own titles. In light of this, what functions are they actually serving?

(5) Bookstore distribution is getting tougher all the time, and it's certainly not the best channel or the only one for moving your products. When I

sold and managed for Time-Life Books, we moved hundreds of thousands of copies of books every year that never appeared on any best-seller list, and why? Because they were NOT sold through stores, but by phone, mail, at kiosks, and other venues not tracked by the bean counters.

Explore all of your options before you sign-on with that conventional publishing firm.

If you truly believe in your product, put your money and marketing efforts behind it, as well!

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