Being the author of two successful self-published books allowed me to enjoy reading the meaningful Nov. 2 Chronicle article "Sell the book."

This remarkable article identified my experiences with self-publishing. I was totally involved with self-promotion, self-marketing, self-distribution and self-sales. In essence, I enjoyed all aspects of the self-publishing process and had great fun while being involved with something that brought me wonderful pleasure and excitement.

Also, while I was involved with all aspects of the self-publishing process, I had total control over my work, and this was the beauty for me as a self-publisher. My involvement with self-publishing has proved to be beneficial because, for my two books, I sold a combined total of 4,000 books.

I don't think I would have sold this number of books if I had been directly involved with a traditional publishing company. In all honesty, I probably wouldn't have sold any books and would have ended up owing the publishing company a lot of money.

I do encourage aspiring writers to self-publish their literature because it's far less expensive than to be dealing with publishing companies. It's a known fact that many publishing companies have ripped writers off for large sums of money, and I want writers to be aware of the pitfalls that can occur with the involvement of publishing companies.

I'm contemplating writing a third book, and this would be my finale if I follow through with the project. And if I write the third book, I'm definitely going to self-publish because it's going to be a winning proposition for me. Self-publishing has become a popular trend in America for writers. Therefore, aspiring writers shouldn't be afraid or doubt themselves when it come to self-publishing their literature. It's just the safe and appropriate thing for them to do.

E. Maner, Augusta