Author Alicia Kirschenheiter and illustrator Maciej Zajac use some colorful and anthropomorphic cats to tell their tale, which is sure to hit home and prompt many families to work together on exercise plans.

The story begins with Oscar’s father learning that he has to reduce on advice from his physician. This prompts Oscar and his friend, Otis, to ponder how they, too, have habits that might make them susceptible to becoming overweight, bringing on health problems.

So they decide to visit a local television icon at the King Phineus Fitness center to explore whether the advertisements for the gym are true – can you look and feel better if you exercise? After seeing some workouts, Oscar and Otis are advised by King Phineus on ways they can become fit, even without joining a gym.

When Oscar relays his findings to his father, a light bulb goes off. Father and son begin exercising together, and mom makes healthier snacks and even joins in on the joys of movement, leaving a child with the sense that the family that exercises together is happier as well as healthier.

Would that getting people off the couch were that simple. But every journey starts with a first step, and the Oscar and Otis book provides a non-judgmental way to initiate the conversation about the importance of exercise in our video gaming-crazed society.

MARKETING:

Since the book is centered on the family, it would behoove the author to do anything and everything to get the book in front of families and create impulse buys. While retail shelf space is expensive, many independent retailers beyond booksellers are looking for ways to enhance the customer experience, and placing a shelf-talker near the cash register and offering the retailer a profit incentive on sales of the book has jump-started many publisher sales.

One way to sell this book may, in fact, be to give it away. The art of insertion is one that works well for many book publishers. Simply place a one-sheet of local fitness and nutritional business advertisementns as an insert in your book, then get retailers, grocers and other locals to give the book away to customers as a good-will gesture. Publishers have found great success by piggy-backing their book onto any number of related businesses, and a strong distribution plan, backed by a solid campaign of local advertising and appearances, often multiplies sales, particularly with books that can re-direct customers to a web site.

Another strong consideration: Oscar and Otis have the potential to be long-lived characters in the fitness war. The author should not overlook the potential of creating costumes so that live characters are available for local appearances, again redirecting people back to a web site for additional sales opportunities. There is something magical about seeing someone in costume for most children, and parents are only too glad to continue the experience at home by visiting a web site with their child, particularly if there is a strong health component to such visits.

A gorgeous coffee table book that combines English and Spanish in one edition, “Gattorno: A Cuban Painter For The World” would be a welcome addition to any art-lover’s collection, particularly those with a taste beyond the established art canon.

The book details the career of Cuban/American artist Antonio Gattorno, whose death caused his body of work to fall into the gray area inhabited by artists of less-than-superstar, more-than-amateur status. Fortunately, Sean Poole, a recognized expert in the art of Salvador Dali, was called in to appraise a collection of Gattorno’s work by a determined surviving relative.

Much to his delight, Poole has rediscovered a man whose work influenced the art world of his time, a creative chameleon whose body of accomplishment showed that he could work successfully in several mediums and was never satisfied being pigeonholed in any particular stylistic camp.

Why has Gattorno’s work been largely overlooked? His lack of self-promotion, his refusal to play to critics, his lack of superior management are all cited. His long estrangement from being thought a purely Cuban artist also plays a part in the lack of recognition. It may be hard to believe, given what passes for artistic genius in the 21st Century, that there once existed a creator who eschewed the limelight and made art to satisfy him. But that is Gattorno’s story, made all the more remarkable by his relative estrangement from the art establishment. He is truly a rediscovery in the classic sense of the word, and his remarkable body of work is lovingly recreated in the book, which covers a selection of oil painting, ceramics, works on paper and other mediums.

Readers with a taste for the underdog will find much to enjoy and learn from in Gattorno’s story. If nothing else, the book raises the question of how many other genius-level artists have been overlooked by the commercial establishment. It is the world’s loss if the answer reveals many who exhibited the quality output of Antonio Gattorno.

MARKETING:

We will presume for the moment that the publishers of this book understand the power and appeal of the story to the Cuban and art community. Thus, let us focus on those who would be receptive to it, but may not come across it in traditional bookstores or art locations.

The key to reaching such a customer lies beyond the bookstore. Indeed, the Gattorno book, like many such examinations of art, is something that should be packaged with the accoutrements of enjoyment and savored in private. Thus, we would suggest looking at ways to place the book in an impulsive-driven environment that would cause the casual reader to contemplate buying the book when they’re making another purchase.

For example: many publishers of art books have had great success working with wine shoppes and crafting a display that pairs their book with suitable vintages, suggesting the two work in tandem. A rich Spanish rojo and Gattorno’s book, some cheese and grapes are a perfect rainy Sunday afternoon for those with refined tastes. The retailer can be given a cut of the book’s cover price, or other deals not involving money can be worked if the publisher is providing the display.

Another suggestion: many restaurants are looking to create reasons for customers to visit them on evenings that aren’t quite as busy as the weekends. Special presentations in the restaurant paired to an evening with a particular artist have done wonders for publishers. The book can be given away as part of a special package, with both restaurateur and publisher taking a cut, or presented as a special “thank you” to those customers whose bill total exceeds a certain level. Such indirect sales experiences can also be paired with complimentary couponing from related businesses in order to make up the price shortfall that comes from any such arrangement.

VR: Well, I’ve been training people for the past 13 years under private contract for corporations about sales and sales managment. And what I found out was that I could teach people all the sales techniques and strategies that there are, and no matter how good the training is, many of these people — most of the people — would wind up self-destructing anyway. They knew about sales techniques, but they still weren’t successful, so what the hell was the point? And that’s when I realized I had to create a first step to my training, which was a success training. Because they needed the right basis upon which the sales training could take effect.

NYBF: Is this the business that led you to financial success, as you allude to in the book?

VR: Yes. It’s the first company I had a contract with, yes. It’s a public company.

NYBF: You had done a variety of things before entering the field.

VR: Yeah. I have an accounting degree. Worked on Wall Street for five years as an accountant, realized I hated it. I was the first person on either side of the family to ever go to college. My parents wanted me to become a professional, an accountant, a lawyer, a doctor. But we didn’t have the money for schools to be a lawyer or a doctor, so I became an accountant, found out that I hated it. But I always had this entrepreneurial spirit in me, and I wound up going into business with my father and then separately opening my own businesses.

I wound up with three stores in New York doing really well in the close-out business. I don’t know if you know what the close-out business is — job lots, odd lots, etc. — and that’s when I made a lot of money, but I made a lot of money from people, not for people. So I didn’t make it in the right way, and as a result, the money was actually a curse, as opposed to a blessing. And I wound up becoming addicted to drugs. It destroyed my business in the process. Almost destroyed my family, my marriage. I have five children. I wound up having to put myself into a drug rehab because I knew there was only one other option, which was suicide. Which I thought about many times.

It took my about three years to graduate that. When I came out, I worked in the construction business as a laborer for a while just to find out what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. It was a real easy job, it was physical. I didn’t have to think about anything. I could spend my time thinking while I worked, because I had to support my family. Because in order for me to go into the rehab, my family had to go on welfare. And we owed over $100,000, closer to $200,000, which was primarily sales tax and things you can’t escape. And then after that, I figured, "Well, let me try sales," because I was really good on selling people that I wasn’t addicted and all these other things. I didn’t know what sales was about, but I knew there was a lot of money in it, so I joined a sales organization from an ad in the NY Times. I was selling insurance. And in about a year and a half, because of the personal growth I had gone through in recovery, I became one step below the president.

NYBF: Has there been a turning point in your growth?

VR: Well, I’m a great admirer of Napoleon Hill. I think his work with Landmark and many public speakers and writers today simply do a takeoff of his work. There’s been very little innovative stuff since him. Maybe Deepak Chopra, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People."

NYBF: Have you extensively studied philosophy beyond the people you cited?

VR: Well, I talk about in the book my meteoric rise in a year and a half in which I gained financial independence, because if you know how insurance works, it’s a residual income type of situation. The company asked me if I would train their people. So I had to document what I did. So I order to do that, I started reading all these books. I mean, I have a vast library. I’ve read well over 100 books. I have more than 50 tapes sets. I wanted to document what I had done to achieve that and I didn’t find it in all the sales and marketing books and tapes that were available, so I started looking in other fields, like spirituality, philosophy, science, looking for the answers. And that’s where I came up with all the material for my success training, which is what the book reflects. And a lot of people had asked me over the years, to get back to your original question, "Is this in a book someplace? So that I can refer back to it and give it to my brother, and blah, blah, blah." And because of my self-image, I never saw myself as a writer. I never got a good mark in English in school. In fact, I even had a teacher tell me, "Don’t ever write anything for anybody." But I met Deepak Chopra at a conference in 1995 and he took about 15 minutes of personal time with me. Very nice of him. Even though there were 1000 people around him. And ultimately, he looked me dead in the eye and said, "Vinny, write a book." The insight that I gained into financial independence is in achieving your dreams. It’s becoming successful. I know that as a result of my personal growth, nobody is given an insight for themselves alone. There’s a responsibility that goes along with it, not only to use it to better your own family and achieve your own dreams, but to help other people do the same. And I’m very conscious of that responsibility that goes along with that insight.

NYBF: Your rules can be used by any human being. Is there any message that the creative community should focus on to glean from your book? Anything particularly apt?

VR: Yeah, I believe there is. One common thread that runs through everything — it doesn’t matter what field you’re in — everyone looks for success on the outside. And, you know, a lot of people tell you it’s about who you know and being in the right place at the right time and all these other things. But the reality is that success happens on the inside first. And then it materializes on the outside. So if you want to be a success, you first have to be a successful person. And that’s why even though you see some people like these sports figures or even some people in the Hollywood business, they’re in the right place at the right time. They get these acting roles or positions on these professional teams, but because they’re not successful people, they wind up self-destructing. So it was all for naught. And now it’s even worse, because you had it and you lost it. So I think that all exterior success comes from interior success and there’s very few people out there telling you that.

NYBF: Can you see who might embrace your message or who will turn off to it?

VR: You’ve got to remember, 93% of people don’t achieve financial independence in the greatest country in the world in which to be able to do that. So I’m always stemming a heavy tide. There’s no doubt about it. And I always get people that look at me like I’ve got two heads. But that’s okay. I’m giving them information they don’t know and what value am I to them if I give them information they already do know.

NYBF: Do you have a next book in mind?

VR: Yes. The spirituality of sales. This was the first step in a training process primarily focused on sales. And then the third one would be the spirituality of sales management. I don’t know if those are the titles they’ll end up with.

Ideas4writers (2007)

The charming tale of Dylan the dancing horse and his loyal feline companion, Red Tabby, is a delightful and well-structured children’s adventure that captures the magic of the circus and the thrill of being out on your own in the world.

Born to Dance begins with the sale of Dylan, who is pulling a milk wagon despite a show business heritage, to a nefarious dealer in horseflesh, Dangerous Dennis. Realizing his friend is in peril, good friend Red Tabby rescues him, and in the process of their escape, the pair discovers the down-on-its-luck Happy Days Circus, which has been abandoned by most of its human staff in an apparent pay dispute and left in the care of the circus animals.

Dylan and Red Tabby join the circus and merriment ensues, as the animal ensemble strives to bring the circus back to glory, thanks to the help of a cast of characters that seem torn from the pages of a Ringling Brothers version of “Harry Potter.”

The big dilemma in the third act of the novel revolves around the mysterious cancellation of a series of dates booked for the struggling show. It is soon revealed that Dangerous Dennis has returned and is up to no good.

However, the big surprise at the end of the story reforms and redeems all the major characters, and a touching reunion of Dylan and his long-lost mother should warm the heart of every reader.  The characters are poised for a long run of adventures, as the thrill of hitting the road and discovering new challenges proves to be too strong a lure to resist for Dylan and Red Tabby at the end of the story.

THE WRITING:

Katherine Reynolds’ strong voice and skilled plotting was honed in years of professional endeavors in television, film and journalism.  Unlike many writers, her work does not bog down in the third act, and the ingenious twists offered in her tale never pander to its intended young readership. This is a series that could potentially grow in stature as more readers take hold, and Reynolds’ main challenge is to stay true to the characters and her Bible for the series.

The initial book of the series eschews overt magic in its storytelling, if one can accept the basic anthropomorphous ways of the main characters. This is a good sign for the series, as too many young adult works get caught in a gumbo of sword and sorcery that shuts down the simple enjoyment of reading, instead requiring a Talmudic scholar level of attention to most plot details.  Bravo, Ms. Reynolds, for avoiding such overkill.  We look forward to more.

MARKETING:

The current web sites for Born To Dance are a Wordpress blog that focuses on the business aspects of the book and its marketing, and a brochure-ware publisher’s site intended for the trade.  Clearly, young readership will not be interested and demand more.  In fact, having an inviting web site where the COMMUNITY that will build behind the Born to Dance characters can linger may be the most important step taken in promoting the book next to writing a solid sequel.

It is suggested that the author visit some clever and well-designed children’s web sites for ideas, (i.e, pbskids.org) or others that gather a community. The web site constructed to serve Born To Dance absolutely has to allow for communication between readers, offer novel ways to get color print-outs of the characters, take readers behind the scenes for further glimpses of the characters and their intimate lives, and most assuredly allow copyright-free passing of images and text from the book.  While such a site may sound imposing and expensive, there are many shops in India and other highly technological companies that can do an amazing job producing a state of the art web site that will serve as the home for BTD’s readership in between books. Simply use Google to identify them, or place an ad in your local Craigslist looking for someone to manage the site. They will find you, trust me.

Once a community is established and growing, maintain momentum through a series of free online or phone webinars.  It is vitally important that the readership for this series be kept in the loop on new developments.  Doing so will build word of mouth exponentially at very little cost.

Although it may seem counter-intuitive, it might also be advisable to stage several free shows at various campuses in your local area and give away the book. Again, looking at the bigger picture, the goal is to build a community that will respond and recruit.  Any lost sales will be more than compensated by added web traffic and the anticipation for more news on the BTD characters.

The Court-Martial of Charlie Newell chronicles the Job-like travails of a North Carolina sharecropper who runs afoul of the military’s love of orders and procedure. The page-turning chronicle of one black man’s experience in World War I-era America is always engaging and brings alive a period in the nation’s history that many would rather forget. The story is a fictional account based on a 1918 court-martial.

Newell is part of a trio of church-going young black country men who belong to an obscure church that believes Saturday is the Sabbath and war – even wearing a military uniform – is wrong.  Denied conscientious objector status by their local draft board, and facing the prejudices of the early 20th-Century, the trio is forcibly inducated into the military. Problems ensue, as their refusal to adhere to military rules because of religious objections is by turns viewed as cowardice, insubordination and, finally, defiance that threatens orderly command..

At the center of the story is Charlie Newell, more educated and spiritual than his companions. As his two fellow objectors give in to the military demand to work on Saturday and take a Sunday Sabbath, as required by standard military practice and procedure, Newell clings to his belief that he is following the word of God and refuses to go along.  His stubborn insistence vexes a host of military commanders, some of them sympathetic, some wishing the whole problem would be handled on a small scale, others pushing for a full court martial in their desire to crush a presumedly defiant black man.

Eventually, Newell winds up in a series of military jails and prisons, including the dreaded Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.  There, his faith is tested by outside events and eventually subsumed by a hardening of the soul the institution and other circumstances bring out.  Yet, outside the prison, some with a sense of justice are working hard to right the wrongs against Charlie Newell.

Though eventually released from prison, Newell again runs afoul of the law, resulting in an ending that many readers will find disturbing.

THE WRITING

Author Gerard Shirar has a very crisp and engaging style, vividly painting the world of Charlie Newell and the attitudes of his contemporaries. Although the story’s focus is, by necessity, involved in endless meetings surrounding Newell and his stubborn refusal to follow orders, the pace of the story is never boring and seldom bogs down.  The author’s ear for dialog and dialect is strong, and the reader never feels that he’s being pandered to by caricatures.

While engaging, the problem with “Charlie Newell” as a novel lies in its plotting and a few missed opportunities.  The story loses steam in the third act (a common problem for many writers) and never really recovers its earlier footing.

Case in point:  Charlie’s faith is tested when he discovers his wife is murdered and he abandons his former Bible-loving ways for a time.  Yet this crisis of the soul, which demands an examination of his deeper motives and an introspective, Aquinas-like search for revelation, is not dealt with extensively.  Thus, Charlie’s actions appear governed more by circumstance and superstituion than unshakeable belief, which removes much of the power from his actions and reduces the overall tone of the story.  Much as Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” drew its strength from the subtext of McCarthyism and not its actual storyline of a witch hunt, so Charlie Newell’s saga must be about faith and its transformative power in order to resonate with a reader. Without a deep, enlightening examination of what has happened to him and a question of why it has happened, Charlie Newell loses momentum.

Likewise, as part of the lost momentum in the story, the missed opportunity posed by the introduction of Thomas Littleton, Charlie’s savior, is bothersome.  Although he leads Charlie toward the light of education, nothing is done to truly develop the character and expose his motivations until a surprise reveal at the very end of their interaction. The Littleton character should have served a much larger purpose in the story, particularly as a sounding board for Charlie’s question of faith.

Once Charlie leaves prison, the story veers off the noble path of its earlier storyline and devolves into a standard “whodunit” of the early 20th century, in some ways resembling “To Kill A Mockingbird” in its plot.  The ending of the story, although rooted in history, is somewhat preposterous and seems more of a vehicle to end the book rather than extend the ideas developed in the first two-thirds of the novel.

However, the sheer power and passion of the overall writing carries the day, and time spent with Charlie Newell will not disappoint any reader.

MARKETING:

There are two themes for the marketing of the book – those who believe in the power of faith and the dehumanizing yet enduring mire of prejudice. Both are spiritual themes and offer a rich field for discussion in public.

A natural fit for marketing is the church circuit.  The author could give a lecture on the power of faith in the face of overwhelming odds, then sell the book after the talk. Word of mouth on the appearances would fuel additional sales from this loyal and active group.

Likewise, religious bookstores have an active clientele and are one of the few outlets willing to experiment and take chances on new material, particularly when backed by a local appearance by an author. While the novel is not necessarily the standard issue for such stores, the marketing materials developed could emphasize its faith-based roots and downplay the somewhat negative ending to the work.

Blogs are also powerful word-of-mouth tool, particularly for a work rooted in faith and human understanding.  We would encourage the author to engage with spiritual blogs in a far-ranging discussion of the implications of Charlie Newell and his travails.  Not only will it boost your own efforts in search engines, but these active forums typically lead to more speaking engagements for authors. Take advantage of Amazon’s “Inside The Book” and Google’s online efforts to offer sample chapters of the work. The writing is engaging and the topic enticing enough that small samples should lead to greater readership.