More CEOs are putting pen to paper, turning the book into a new kind of business card. A published book by a CEO can provide opportunities for speaking engagements, establish the author as an ‘expert’ in their field, or even act like an advertisement for one’s business when given to potential clients or investors.

Brown Book Publishing Group in Dallas is experiencing incredible growth due to this trend in publishing. Milli Brown, founder and publisher of this unique, independent publishing company calls her business "relationship publishing." Since Brown Books does not advertise, ninety-five percent of their authors are through referrals from previous published clients.

"Until I cam along," Ms. Brown says, "there were vanity publishers, the people who'll take anybody's money and print anything, and the big boys in Manhattan: Random House, Simon and Schuster, and the rest of the royalty houses. What we offer is an alternative in the publishing business."

What began as a small, three-staff publishing house sixteen years ago, Brown Books has grown into an in-house staff of eleven that utilizes more than 300 of some of the nations top publishing professionals on a freelance basis (writers, editors, proof-readers).

Authors that publish with Brown Books are interested in owning the rights to their intellectual property. To many this is a sound business strategy and allows them to publish a book no different in quality from a title from a royalty house. With her entrepreneurial spirit, Milli Brown has grown her company into a full-service, turnkey publishing house, offering ghostwriting, editing, design, printing, marketing, warehousing, distribution, and even public relations services. Most clients aren't polished writers. "Many are successful CEOs and entrepreneurs who aren't intimidated about this being a product to be sold," she says. "When you combine the energy of an entrepreneurial publisher and an entrepreneurial client working toward the same objectives, sparks fly."

For a professional who desires to publish a book to raise the profile of their company or themselves, Brown Books is becoming a leader in the field. "Many of our authors have previously published with royalty houses like Random House, Simon & Schuster and John Wiley before deciding that retaining the rights to their intellectual property was a more economical route to pursue," says Ms. Brown.

Current sales are up by 117% from purchases made through the national distributor Ingram Books since 2004. For those that know of Brown Books, they are the best kept secret in the publishing world.