Relentless Signs Publishing Deal with G-Unit/Pocket Books

50 CENT, RELENTLESS AARON & NIKKI TURNER

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It's Official! The hard work has paid off.

Relentless signs second publishing deal with G-Unit/Pocket Books.


Video, K. Elliott, Nikki Turner & Relentless Aaron SIgn with G-Unit Books - 50 Cent's imprint in collaboration with Pocket Books, Simon & Schuster and MTV

Family, I never saw anything like this. 50 Cent has single-handedly turned authors into rock stars. When I first arrived at the Borders superstore on Columbus Circle, NYC I never expected what I found.

Lines of young men and women in and out of the store; 15 to 20 security personnel, police officers and bodyguards, and probably three times the usual staff were on hand to bring in the New Year with a book launch to shut down all others.

Now this is a twist for these two authors, Nikki Turner & K. Elliot. Had they come to this store alone, without the fanfare of photographers, the pre-press and the promotion (stuff that us authors are not accustomed to), there wouldn't be a sliver of the amount of people in attendance.

And, that's not the author's fault. It's that there's never any big budget attached to launching these books. You have to have your own big following in order to justify the publisher's advertising and marketing dollars.

But, thanks to this new alliance between G-Unit, Pocket Books/Simon & Schuster and MTV, there are enough hype machines to DRAG people, (even non-readers) to this new forum called books. And, even if the buyers are not buying for the reading pleasure, at least they'll be able to show an autographed book to a load of friends. What's that worth?

And it's not as if books haven't been around for centuries; they have! It's just that the most popular rapper in the world has made the effort to endorse the practice.

In essence folks, 50 Cent, the rapper you love to both love and hate, is endorsing reading! He's making reading cool. And that's significant because, growing up in the hood, we were always told that reading is for whitey, and that books were for nerds.

The funny thing about this alliance and the popularity of 50 Cent, is that no matter if the buyer is or isn't a reader, at least they can now be familiar with a book, and they can appreciate the feel of it in their hands, and can finally be proud to hold onto a book in public because "Fitty" endorsed it. And, I know from experience that those who are introduced to reading, however they're introduced, will eventually pick up another book because they want to satisfy that same dose of pleasure they got the first time.

Before you know it, this becomes a practice. And the reading will stretch into other dimensions like non-fiction, or self help, or God-knows-what else. The point to all of this is that reading is being encouraged, more than ever, amongst the younger generation. A good thing.

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So, I'm proud to be the next author on G-Unit Books, and I look forward to my day at Borders in the summertime. Besides, it will be warmer, with a lot more interesting sights for me to see.

Border's CEOs w/50 Cent

Above: A fan loses it.

Another 50 Cent fan gets so excited that he gets carried away.

This guy slapped down $1,000 cash on the table and let 50 Cent have it. "I just want you to hear my CD" the guy said. I listened to his CD on the way home. I wish him luck.

Another rapper!

My book (untitled) will be coming out this summer on G-Unit Books. I also have about 4 books coming out through St.Martin's Press, including Lady First, (as well as re-releases) The Last Kingpin, Push, and (maybe) Triple Threat.

Okay, now can I say: GGGGGGGGG-Unit!


'Story and Photos Courtesy of Relentless Aaron, Copyright ' 2007



Related Links

Relentless Aaron Official Web Site
www.relentlessaaron.com

Relentless Thoughts on New Deal with G-Unit/Pocket Books
http://aalbc.com/authors/on_working_with_g-unit.htm

K. Elliot on AALBC.com
http://authors.aalbc.com/kelliott.htm

Nikki Turner on AALBC.com
http://authors.aalbc.com/nikki_turner.htm

Relentless Aaron on AALBC.com
http://aalbc.com/authors/relentless.htm

50 Cent Interview on AALBC.com
http://aalbc.com/reviews/50_cent_interview.htm