Authors Should Model Nathan Handwerker

 

Who is Nathan Handwerker, you ask?

He was a Polish immigrant who came to Brooklyn at the start of the last century and launched what would become a national sensation, Nathan’s Famous. As in hot dogs. And the company he built just sold for $450 million.

In 1916, at 24, he started selling hot dogs from a push cart on the street corner of Surf Avenue and Stillwell Avenue, in Coney Island, for five cents a piece, undercutting his competition. He needed startup money and he was seeded some funds from two singing waiters, Jimmy Durante and Eddie Cantor, and he sold his possessions to raise $300. Then would come the building that is now a historical landmark and the site of the annual July 4th hot dog eating contest.

Ok, so why should authors follow the lead of a hot dog vendor-turned-millionaire entrepreneur?

Nathan did several things of note along the way to building an iconic brand. Authors, pay attention. This is your MBA moment.

First, he pursued a dream and hustled his way to success. He worked hard because he had to. What is a guy in a new country with little education to do when he has a family to feed? You, too, need to push past any self-imposed limitations and pour in your blood, sweat, and tears — and time, equity, and energy to make your dream come true. Work harder, smarter, longer than others. That is the recipe.

Second, he took a risk and borrowed money to launch a business. Don’t mortgage the home to market your book but get ready to alter your lifestyle budget if you are serious about being a writer.  Will you need to make changes and choices in order to get the money you need, even borrow some, so that you can properly market your book? Absolutely.

Third, his product was a low-cost basic item, one that anyone could produce and sell, but he found a way to beat the competition. His wife created the winning hot dog recipe and family helped to cook, clean, and run the business. He made it a family affair. The lesson here is to get help and do what you can to be better or to differentiate. His price was lower than others. His dogs tasted better. You need to write a better book but you also need a team of paid or volunteer help.

Fourth, he did business where customers already were, meeting and not creating a demand. He was not the first person to sell a hot dog and he was not the only food vendor in the area. But he sold something that people want and sold it where people always congregate — by a beach and an amusement park. You need to market your book where your book genre’s readers exist, whether online or in person. Find your beach!

We know that far more startups fail than survive, and even far fewer break out with wild success. Nathan’s is admittedly a special case but it is not a unicorn. The principles behind its success, on some level, can be replicated by authors right now: Work hard; borrow and sacrifice; get help; sell where customers already congregate.

The fifth principle? Expand. His thick, ridged French fries are the best in the world. He did not just rest on the hot dog. He built a menu around the tastes and preferences of his clients. You too can diversify and build a portfolio of various genre books and in a variety of formats.

Ok, go out there and launch your literary version of Nathan’s Famous!

 

Do You Need Book Marketing Help?

Brian Feinblum can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator! 

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 5,400,000 page views. With 5,500+ posts over the past 14 years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs  by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2026.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully). He was recently interviewed by the IBPA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0BhO9m8jbs

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum