Page 16 - Midas Touch

The reason I self-published Rich Dad Poor Dad was because every
publisher I sent it to turned it down. Most publishers were polite, but
simply told me they had no interest in the book. Two sounded like my
English teachers telling me I needed to learn how to write. One publisher
said, “Your story is preposterous! No reader will ever believe it.” And an

editor who specializes in financial books rejected it, saying, “You don’t
know what you’re talking about.” He was referring to my lesson in Rich
Dad Poor Dad where I stated, “Your house is not an asset.” Of course, after
the subprime crisis, millions of foreclosures, and all the homes that are
worth less than their mortgages, I wonder if that editor would reconsider
my message in Rich Dad Poor Dad.

Taking the rejection in stride, Kim and I self-published 1,000 copies of the
book and quietly released it at my birthday party in April 1997.

From 1997 to 2000, Rich Dad Poor Dad grew by word of mouth. Friends
would hand it to friends, and friends would give it to family members. The
book slowly climbed its way to The New York Times bestseller list, the
only self-published book on the list at the time. Oprah’s producer called
shortly after the book made The New York Times bestseller list. Ten years
later, in 2010, I estimated that Oprah’s push helped me sell over 22 million

copies of Rich Dad Poor Dad in over 100 countries. The book has now
been translated into more than 50 languages. That is the power of Oprah.

Immediately after the show aired, the press came to call. Most loved the
simple story of my two dads. A few were skeptical, critical, or
condemning.

Failure Leads to Success

Several TV hosts and magazine articles labeled me an “overnight
success.” Every time I heard or read those words, I chuckled. While it was
true that I went from obscurity to world-famous in one hour, I was hardly
an overnight success. In 2000, I was 53 years old. For most of those 53

years, I was far from successful.

Thomas Edison, inventor of the light bulb and founder of General Electric,
once said, “I haven’t failed. I’ve found 10,000 ways that don’t work.”