What's in a (book's) name? Everything!

People who say there are no shortcuts are always late to meetings, right?

They're also wrong.

Of course there are shortcuts. Otherwise, why are there back roads to avoid the traffic on Interstate 80? Why is there a 10-items-or-less line at the supermarket?

Shortcuts are awesome and I found one.

It's almost like a license to print money: Piggy-back on the success of others.

That's the secret. That's the shortcut.

Today, I announce the launch of my new series of novels, which will actually be the same novel I published a few years ago (look me up on Amazon!), but under different titles. Rather than trying to write something new, I'm going to use the success of others to reach readers who might not otherwise read the brilliantly titled "Not Quite Camelot."

I may adjust the plot slightly so that the new title makes sense. Maybe.

Seem silly? You won't think so when you see "Hairy Potter: Book 8" at the top of The New York Times' best-seller list! It will have a minor character who is covered with body hair and makes ceramic pots. See? He's a hairy potter and he would fit in "Not Quite Camelot."

If you think people won't fall for it, you're mistaken. Because people watched both "Diff'rent Strokes" and "Webster." They watched both "The Addams Family" and "The Munsters."

The original can be copied and improved. My idea isn't to "steal" other people's ideas, because it's my idea. My novel. The titles will just be like others.

Notice that I put the word steal in quotation marks in the previous sentence, which means that if this ever goes to trial, I'll deny everything. It was in quotation marks!

My plan doesn't stop at "Hairy Potter." I have several other titles under which I plan to release NQC (we authors often refer to our books by their initials, except for something like "Case Review: Andrew Peterson," for obvious reasons).

I will release a book called "The Da Vinci Core," because I'll add a scene where the protagonist finds an apple core that's shaped like Leonardo Da Vinci. It's the Da Vinci core.

For readers who love the classics, there will be a version called "A Tale of Three Cities," which people may misconstrue as a sequel to the Charles Dickens classic. That's not my fault. The fact that the main character in my novel lives in three cities during the course of the plot seems like a great reason for that title.

Some readers may be intrigued by the version of the novel called "Loleta," which perhaps brings to mind the novel "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov. Again, not my fault. My novel will include a brief passage where the characters are in the small farming city of Loleta in Humboldt County. An honest mistake . . . by the reader who buys my novel!

Of course, the end game is to move into territory owned by the best-selling, most-owned book in history.

One version will be called "Brad's Interesting Book, Literary Excellence."

The fact that it will be called "BIBLE" on the front isn't my fault. Maybe the reader should have looked inside before spending hard-earned money!

Don't blame the author. Celebrate the author! He wrote the BIBLE!

Reach Brad Stanhope at bradstanhope@hotmail.com.