I am the best-selling author of 12 books.

Collectively, they have sold hundreds of thousands of copies.

Major publishing companies issued all of these volumes, and in every case I was paid an advance against royalties.

I just want you to know Im the real-deal, a working writer who takes a professional view of his craft.

But Im also here to tell you that I started out very modestly, and you can do the same, and still succeed. In fact, you probably dont have another choice, unless youre a major public figure whose autobiography will be snapped up by a panting publisher and an eager public the instant they hear about it.

Here are some tips that spring from my own, successful experience:

(1) Dont write your first book-speak it to live audiences.

For years, I have conducted seminars across the country in my topical areas: sales, customer service, consulting, and management, before sitting down to write a word. This helped me to test my material before people, whose feedback in the form of laughter, applause, and even sighs and groans helped me to shape and to reshape my material.

Without knowing it, my books were taking form in my unconscious, making it a breeze to actually compose them when I got around to it.

(2) Next, speak your book into an audio or video program.

Does your audience consist of readers, viewers, or listeners? You may find that your profits are not in book publishing at all, but are in audios and videos.

I self-publish audio and video programs derived from my public and onsite seminars and sell them to participants and others, at a healthy price, commanding as much as $495.00 per program.

Each tape in a series typically translates into a book chapter.

By selling audios and videos youll be establishing a track record of success that will be influential in proving there is a market for your book, on the same topic. Editors will want to know this before committing to your project.

Of course, you can partner with other audio and video publishers, as I have with Nightingale-Conant, producer of my recent program: "The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable."

(3) Simultaneously, or alternatively, write and inexpensively publish outlines and workbooks in your subject areas. Sell them to your seminar attendees separately, or bundle them into the price of the event. Use Kinkos or your local print shop and duplicate only the number youre sure you can use at a given time.

Keep track of the number of copies you sell and distribute. Again, youll be establishing a record of your success.

(4) Talk your book into a readily available voice recognition software program. This will yield a rough draft that you, a co-author, or private editor can polish.

Talking a book assures that it will be more conversational, which will make it more enjoyable to read. Your audience will tell you, as theyve told me, I feel that I know you!

You cant expect to be a best-selling author overnight, but if you follow these tips, you can still get there quite quickly, profiting very nicely along the way. Good luck!