If I can do it, so can you! I had no idea that I could ever become a successful author. I still remember hearing what my English teacher once said to me, “If you don’t pass this next test, you’re going to flunk out of high school.”

When I wrote my first book this message was still stuck in my head. I believed that because I wasn’t good in English, I wouldn’t be a good writer. That’s why I decided to write my first book interview-style. By adding other experts to my book, I felt more confident about publishing a book that I could put my name on.

My first book was a small 100-page niche book for retailers called Trade Secrets of Retail Stars. I enjoyed the interviews and creative process of putting the book together. But when it was completed I remember being so clueless that I didn’t even know how to download the file onto a floppy disc (I’m dating myself here). So I took my entire computer to a printer and asked them to copy it and print the book. Yes, clueless for sure!

Back then, short-run printing was not available, so I asked my local printer to print 1,500 copies. My speaking career was just beginning; I had no clue how to market the book and had no joint venture partners to help me sell books. And if someone asked me what Amazon was I would have said, “It’s a JUNGLE!”

But I was an author! A newly published author with not just one book but with 1,500 books. It took me seven years to sell them all and get them out of my garage. Yikes! It’s amazing I ever wrote another book, right?

While there was still a pile of books in my garage, I was about to reinvent my expert business. I was going from being a retail business expert to more of a mainstream marketing expert once my second book was launched on self-promotion marketing. This book became a bestseller. And now I’ve written my sixth book.

Lesson here: You can go from clueless to bestseller when you learn the book publishing business and get some great marketing behind you. Happy writing!