Fake dragon rakes in huge deal for self-published author
Posted on 29/03/2004After Allistair Mitchell's first book was turned down by 7 publishers and 36 literary agents, he didn't let that stop him. He pretended that he had found a baby dragon in a jar, complete with wings, and this propelled his book, Unearthly History (about dragons) into a huge marketing deal with book chain Waterstones. Mitchell published the book at his own expense, but the publicity that surrounded his 'find' meant that the book chain will give his book high profile display.
Mitchell's claim fooled two national newspapers and an evening paper- but his 'dragon' was actually made by model makers involved with the BBC's Walking With Dinosaurs series.
On hearing that the author had been revealed as a fraud, Waterstone's said: 'There is a tradition of literary hoaxes. I would hope this one was relatively harmless.' The book chain are clearly hoping the book will fly off the shelves.
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