Alternate Ways To Publish Or Promote Your Book!
By
Alan Abel
(abelalan2000@yahoo.com)

NOTE: I’ve had eight books published. My techniques are offbeat but effective. And if at first you don’t succeed, try again. Persistence and patience are required!

1. When my client Bob had submitted his first book manuscript to a dozen publishers, which they all rejected, he decided he wanted a major agent. The one he chose, a well -connected, attractive young lady, said she was too busy with published authors.
SOLUTION: I suggested he track the agent’s daily schedule and report back to me. Her lunch hour was 1 pm, returning to her office at 2:30. Bob’s roommate, Hugo, was a weightlifter and he agreed to participate in my charade. Briefly, Bob and Hugo waited until the agent entered her elevator, they followed and Hugo made an amorous advance on the agent; Bob knocked him out just as they arrived at her
floor. She invited Bob to her office, thanked him profusely and decided to handle his book. He was not only published but, through her contacts, obtained several commercials.
2. My first book manuscript was returned from Simon & Schuster with coffee stains, torn pages and someone balanced their checkbook on a back page.
SOLUTION: I wrote the CEO a scathing letter of protest. His secretary called me to arrange a lunch date with her boss. He apologized and agreed to publish “The Great American Hoax.” The book was serialized in the NEW YORK POST, sold overseas and optioned by Paramount Pictures for a movie.
3. When the Canadian publisher, McClelland & Stewart, agreed to publish my satire on advertising, “The Fallacy of Creative Thinking,” President Jack McClelland met me for lunch in New York City. He handed me my manuscript and said his editors had voted not to publish. I was devastated.
SOLUTION: The waiter brought the check and handed it to me. Mr. McClelland insisted on paying. I refused, saying, “I’m sure you’ve taken hundreds of authors to lunch and none ever picked up the check.” He nodded yes. “Well, sir,” I replied, “When you return to Toronto you’ll always remember one author who paid the check. Me.” He rolled his eyes, shook his head, smiling, and said, “And you are that one author who is also going to be published by me.” And I was, including a book tour across Canada.
4. I submitted my manuscript to 40 publishers and received 40 rejections.
SOLUTION: At a national book convention in Washington, DC I hired several people to put 3,000 flyers, describing my book, under hotel room doors where publishers were staying. A week later I received two calls asking to read the manuscript, “Don’t Get Mad…Get Even,” involving humorous way to seek revenge when wronged. W.W. Norton offered a $5,000 advance. The book became a best-seller, was published overseas, optioned for a video game and licensed to Books-on-Tape.
5. When Dr. Joe Vitale’s book, “There’s A Customer Born Every Minute,” required a promotional campaign, I was asked to design one. His book was a modern day version of P.T. Barnum’s selling ideas.
SOLUTION: I suggested he hold a Canine Concert in an Austin, TX park. Only dogs were invited because the band played music on such a high frequency, only they could hear it. Of course, their handlers came too, along with media coverage, A ton of books were sold that day. And the book continues to sell.
6. Author Patricia Hamilton developed a book, “California Healthy,” that described all the healthy restaurants, health clubs and hiking paths in California. Self-published, she was unable to obtain distribution or shelf space in book stores.
SOLUTION: I suggested she target her audience, namely tourists, and solicit hotels and motels to place a copy of her book in rooms. Travelers could browse or buy. The Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood was the first to order 750 books, followed by others and negotiations began with the Marriott Hotel chain. Last year, Ms. Hamilton and I won the coveted IRWIN AWARD for the best marketing plan by the California Book Publicists Association.
7. Dr. Joe Vitale had another book about to be published, “The Attractor Factor,” that described ways to turn peoples’ lives around and become successful. He needed a dynamic publicity campaign that would promote his book nationally. Could I help?
SOLUTION: Since the Powerball Lottery had reached $380 million without a winner, I decided to create a winner when the winning numbers were called. Then, my accomplice would immediately hold court in the city where they were called, and claim he chose the correct numbers by leafing through pages of “The Attractor Factor.” (There is no law against pretending to be a lottery winner, as long as you don’t try to claim the money.) My team staged this event in Lincoln, NE at the Village Inn Restaurant, soon overrun by the media, reported by Associated Press, CNN, Fox News, Good Morning America and others. “The Attractor Factor,” always held aloft, was Number One on amazon.com for three straight days! The real winners were hiding in a local hotel with family, lawyers, financial advisors and friends. They didn’t mind that we stole their thunder for several days, because they won the money.

8. Neither Barnes & Noble nor Borders would stock Dick Elder’s fascinating autobiography telling how he went from rags to riches with a dude ranch (“Which Way Is West?” So my team surreptitiously placed a dozen copies in the bio section of stores in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, DC. The books soon sold out, much to the consternation of home office sales directors. As customers ordered copies, (yes, we planted a few shills), the author was tracked down and he gladly supplied both stores.

CONCLUSION: I’ve always found a way to sell an idea, book, film, product or person. All it takes is IMAGINATION and the desire to succeed. Also a modest amount of money. There are no free lunches! ©2009 Alan Abel