Should Authors Pretend Their Books Are Wanted?

Book marketing and public relations, to be highly effective, often involve a certain level of manipulation, embellishment, trickery, omissions, and distraction. Somewhere in there are truths and facts, but everything is presented in a distorted and carefully manicured way.  Of course, some of this crosses into lies and things like fake book reviews, and that is illegal, unethical, and often ineffective. 

But, how far should or could an author go to stage their book for mass consumption?

Should authors make up testimonials or endorsements for their books? 

One famous food brand did.

 

“When Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs first opened in 1916, the owner hired people to dress as doctors and eat hot dogs outside his shop, to convince people his hot dogs were healthy.”

 

I read this on Instagram, but in order to make sure it was not another Instascam lie, I looked into it. According to AI and Reddit, it is true. A Google search stated:

 

“The Reason: Nathan’s slashed the price of his hot dogs to five cents—half the price of competitors—which made customers suspicious that the meat was unsafe or low-quality.

 

The Strategy: To build trust, Nathan’s hired people to wear white medical coats and stethoscopes to act as "doctors" enjoying his food.

“The Result: Passersby saw the "doctors" enjoying the food, assumed the food was safe and healthy, and flocked to the stand, launching a successful business.”

 

Is what Nathan’s did a legitimate practice?  Hiring actors to consume a product happens all of the time on television, but we are told they are commercials and understand these are actors or paid endorsers.

When you don’t tell people that what they see is fake and a dramatization, you have crossed a line. In this case, Nathan’s did not just plant fake out customers to give the illusion of a high demand for their product; they clearly pulled off a hoax, in essence, presenting false health claims by impersonating doctors. 

 

Authors can do a lot of things today that are as bad, or worse than what Nathan’s did. For instance, authors can blatantly lie about the merits of their book. They can hire people to post fake Amazon reviews. They can orchestrate hitting a bestseller list by buying up copies of their own book. They can pay for testimonials and forewords and are not required to identify the pay-for-play. They can buy fake followers to bloat their social media numbers.

The marketing industry lives on lies, false assumptions, opinions presented as if fact, unprovable claims, and a lot of other BS deception and trickery. The question for all authors is: How much of the game will they play?

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 5,850,000 page views. With 5,600+ 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