I've been local for the last two months and everyone in the hoods I be at in Long Island, NY are asking me when am I coming out with a new book? How come you're not doing this or that? They ask because ever since "Love Don't Live Here (revised edition) released in Oct 2005 I've been on the run. I'd be around the way out and about periodically then I'd disappear. Authors and industry folks have been asking what am I up to? They don't see me in the stores or on the streets like they're used to.

In the last quarter of 2007 our distributor to the mainstream chain retail market Biblio Distribution went out of business and Atlas/Bookmasters took over their contracts Feb 2008. I immediately strived to get out the contract once I did my research and decided that my company and Atlas were not a good fit. Needless to say the Publisher Representative was uncorporative although I did give her notice that I would like Atlas to stop distributing Third Eye Publishing titles immediately. Anyway after hooting and hollaring for about a month I was sent a bill, mentioning I had to pay this sum before the account could be closed. I'm from the streets, but I've also worked in corporate America so I'm aware of the language of contracts and the fact that Atlas for the life of the contracts they took over were obligated to act in accordance with Biblios contract. I immediately went and seen a lawyer and he advised me that I could either pay him to take them to court and sue them out the contract, or I could just wait it out until they try to take it to collections, or maybe they would come to some terms I agree with. Either way he told me they could not stop me from my day to day activities so just go around them, I would just not have access to the inventory they possessed, nor would I have access to the online stores which they controlled since they took over the contracts. So we had no control over the companies four titles on amazon.com, borders.com, barnesandnoble.com

I decided to wait it out and with no store distribution I concentrated on the street market. Four months later I get a call from collections. I state my case, my terms and let it be known I was not complying with Atlas demands of payment terms. The collections representative agreed with me, and stated Atlas by law needed to acknowledge the terms Biblio held with its publisher clients, especially since I never signed a contract with Atlas. I paid a settlement for stock, warehouse and some other fees which was nothing close to what they desired, and I winded up letting them keep the books in inventory (about 1200 books). I realized I was going to release eight new titles in the next two quarters of the year and I needed to move on as soon as possible. I knew since late 2007 my desires for 2008 otherwise I definitely would of took them to court and sued them out the contract and for lost earnings during this period. Clearly they were in violation and I wondered about how many other publishers from Biblio were in the same situation I was in and wanted to get out?

With a little more than two years in the business at this time I already learned some valueable lessons. For starters I will never let a distributor control distribution of Third Eye Publishing titles to the online retailers. Amazon.com etc will be controlled by us. Furthermore, exclusive distribution contracts are not something I'm too interested in. Why? For starters if the company folds you are left with no distribution, or scrambling to look for a distributor which could force you to get into business with a company who does not fit your program. Or better yet you could end up in the middle of a merger or a contract buy out like I went through and deal with this mess. The only exclusive distribution deal I would be interested in is if our titles were distributed by Random House Publishing or some other large publisher because, they have a better relationship with the stores than distributors having done business with these companies for several years.

After all this I immediately go back to where I started in the first place and link back up with Baker & Taylor Distributors/Wholesalers. I knew I would not get the burst of immediate sales from a title once it released like I would when dealing with a mainstream distributor. But I knew I would be able to control and move at my own pace. I realized that I was now at the point where I needed to do a lot of back end work with Third Eye Publishing since by the end of 2008 the company will have released eleven titles, six of them the last two quarters of the year.

Biblio dissolving was something I did not foresee, and even when they mentioned it three months earlier I did not foresee any issues because they mentioned Atlas would conduct business in the same manner. 2008 was a year where I accomplished much. But it is also a year where it cost me to lose much in regards to time and money. Putting together seven projects cost money, and no distribution for about six months cost me to lose money.

Now, it's 2009 and I'm getting offers from distributors, and other opportunities. But I'm mindful of the past, and I'm checking everyone out who comes to me because business is business and no one is doing me any favors. They approach me because they see an opportunity to make money. I'm making sure that their program is in line what I'm striving to do-otherwise there is nothing happening. I've learned the hard way to be very upfront and blunt about where I stand, and don't be afraid to look past an opportunity and pass if I have a bad feeling.

Aside from distribution I've been plagued with early on signing my first author and putting myself in the position where I'm playing publisher, publicist, and manager. Finally by Sept 2008 just before I realize the company will release six more titles I make the decision that 2009 is going to be different. And I was going to take a new direction with the company. Never would I put my career on the back burner because, I am the companies franchise player. My titles sales and personality have built the foundation for this company. Besides this my booksigning numbers at my worste have been greater than what some of the authors have done as their best. Sales generate capital, and capital fuels growth. I could not have eleven titles without book sales.

With all the above said I will say to anyone wondering what I'm doing for starters at this point I'm working with our eleven titles, and getting them into the channels I need to get them into. Without mainstream distribution the process is a little slower, but it's ok. Secondly with the recession alot of people and companies are hurting financially so some accounts are paying slower, so the flow of capital is slower. As a precaution I've cut down the amount of vendors I deal with, and I'm not printing as much books as before. I'm taking it easy, playing it safe, looking down the road, checking out opportunities, setting up others for the future. At this point I'm doing some things that in the past I was too busy to be concerned with. One of these things is building business credit. I've been in a program the last three months-and it's definitely going to help Third Eye Publishing coming into 2010.

The 2nd of edition of The Secrets of Self Publishing will come out in Dec 2009. I'm putting together an inspiration cd titled "Survivor" I Changed the rules-which will be an introduction to my autobiography with the same title(the cd will release in Sept-Oct 2009). It will be a forty-sixty minute motivational piece. Something really deep and inspiring. My autobiography is late in coming but the edits will be completely wrapped up by the end of April. From there I will set a release date. I'm also working on another novel and an outline for another. One of my New Years Resolutions was to write three complete books in 2009. And it looks like I may have this done by Oct. Aside from this I have other personal projects which are in the works. 2009-2011 its all about my personal brand and expanding my name. So aside from the companies current titles I'm concentrating on my own projects for the next three years. From books, cds to dvd's I'm going to be dropping projects consistently toward the end of 2009 and on.