cover image How to Create Your Own Fad and Make a Million Dollars

How to Create Your Own Fad and Make a Million Dollars

Ken Hakuta. William Morrow & Company, $12.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-688-07601-6

This is the last word on multimillion dollar fads like the Hula Hoop, Pet Rock, Rubik's Cube and the author's own Wallwalker imported from Japana soft rubber ball (to toss at a wall) with protuberances that cling then slowly let go as the toy ``walks'' down the wall's surface. Anyone with a catchy item can make millions as Hakuta claims to have done. His formula: do it all yourself. Register your trademark, borrow to the hilt, buy and distribute on credit, name the product right, don't over- or underprice, show off in public, give away samples, send publicity to small papers and radio stations (big ones will pick up the stories and call you), avoid slick brochures (crayons and magic markers get more attention), get invited to appear on talk shows and don't share the money with anybody. There are many more tips and hard information on relevant government bureaus, distributors, trade fairs (including his own Fad Fair), etc., all told in a sassy, bubbly style that makes the guide fun to read and encourages dreams of untold millions. ``Dr. Fad'' Hukuta seems to hold nothing back, but he is a dynamo and his formula may not work so well for someone who isn't. Fortune Book Club, BOMC and QPBC alternates. (June)