This is a curious approach.

Joe Vitale’s book “The Attractor Factor: 5 Easy Steps for Creating Wealth (or anything else) From the Inside Out” (Wiley, $29.95) hit #2 at Amazon and #2 at Barnes and Noble yesterday.

The latest Potter book – still unreleased – is #1.

His method has been grassroots and (he says) inexpensive:

First: He made an offer few could refuse. Go to http://www.mrfire.com/factor and you’ll see a list of 23 bonuses – “ethical bribes,” Vitale calls them – for anyone who buys his book today. This encourages sales in one day. Many people are buying hundreds of copies to support the author.

Second: He has used allies to win the war. Vitale contacted owners of large lists and asked them to do a mailing for him. Most agreed, knowing it would be good publicity for them to be involved in Vitale’s one-man underground campaign to sell books.

Third: Friends of his posted a creative auction on EBay to sell two million books in one week. Whether he does it or not will have to be seen. See the listing at http://www.JasonMangrum.com/2MillionCopiesSoldOnEbay/

Not sure if he’s footing the bill for the 4 day/3 night Caribbean cruise (worth $800) of if he got someone to donate it.

This technique may work for the nonfiction author who relies on a writing/speaking/consulting triumvirate, but what about the fiction novelist struggling for publicity? Hmmmm…