Autographed books are more valuable if the author is ... DEAD!

Here's how one creative author is promoting his book. Now playing on YouTube: HOW TO MAKE A KILLING IN THE BOOK WORLD



The author, Eric Meeks, is also a second-generation book dealer, and online bookselling is key to his plot:

... The Web giants of Amazon and eBay masked a new technology over the world of mom and pop bookstores as one of their own decided to leap into a foray of deep dark passions of guile and commerce.

Xanthe Anthony, owner of CelebrityBooks.com, is mistakenly accused of being involved with the grisly deaths and bountiful harvest which selling the signed works of murdered authors provides. He must find the killer and clear his good name before the next author signs his final book.

To make his video, Eric used an old Canon camera that had sat idle for two years. This summer, when he got the inspiration for the video, he finally read the owner's manual and taught himself to use its editing software.

Video-making is key to Eric's marketing plan for the book. He has an appearance lined up at a local bookstore, and to generate publicity, he's promising that everyone who attends the signing will get to witness a "real live author murder."

"Somebody from the crowd will get to 'kill' me with a retractable blade knife," Eric says. "At least I hope the blade retracts. Otherwise I'll be doing only one signing."