Haley's Comet Cleanser?

While Comet Halley will not be returning to the inner solar system until about 2061, another Haley is enjoying stellar sales. A strong backlist title since 1995 and now a major national bestseller, the self-published Haley's Hints and its followup breakout book, Haley's Cleaning Hints (published in 2000), claim a combined in-print total of more than 1,425,000 copies. Authors Rosemary and Graham Haley and their partner and marketing director, Margie Henderson, are the team behind Canada-based 3H Publishing, responsible for this huge success. Henderson notes that at least 90% of sales are in the U.S. Haley's Hints was originally published with a 5,000-copy printing and went on to sell 191,000 copies. Revised in 1999, the second edition has 684,000 copies in print, including 164,000 books printed in the first three months of this year. Cleaning Hints, which is tracking among PW's top 25 nonfiction hardcover bestsellers, is up to 550,000 copies; its first printing was 40,000.

How did these books do so well? The goal of the three partners was to get brand recognition. They certainly did that, via trade shows, newspaper and magazine columns (65 syndicated "Haley's Hints" columns), and TV and radio interviews. Graham Haley appeared on The View 13 times in one year, and has also been a regular on QVC—he sold 23,000 Hints books in 20 minutes. Also fueling sales are two one-hour PBS specials based on both books. The two shows began airing in June 2002 and are repeated on a regular four-month cycle. Says Henderson: "We are literally sending the books out to the stores as soon as the ink dries."