Booksellers Get a Crack at 'Cures'
by Charlotte Abbott -- Publishers Weekly, 6/27/2005
It's not hard to see why Kevin Trudeau's self-published Natural Cures 'They' Don't Want You to Know About has hit PW's bestseller list at #13 after its first few weeks on sale in bookstores. All it took was a popular $500,000-a-week infomercial campaign that, according to publishing consultant Bill Gladstone, has moved 1.5 million copies of the book since last September.
The book finally hit stores in early June, when CDS distributed 150,000 copies of an updated edition, which combines attacks on the pharmaceutical and food industries with advice about natural remedies for many common conditions from acid reflux to heart disease.
Trudeau has already ordered a reprint of 1.4 million copies, to be sold through five new infomercials set to air in the next few weeks, as well as large bookstore chains, vitamin shops and other specialty stores. CDS is currently in talks with Trudeau's Alliance Publishing Group about moving into Wal-Mart, Kmart, Target and the clubs, according to client services manager Kerry Liebling.
The second edition includes more than 100 pages of new material, including 10 pages on natural cures for cancer, diabetes and other diseases. Perhaps that's Trudeau's way of answering critics like the one on Amazon who complained that the book diverts readers seeking specific health advice to Trudeau's subscription Web site (www.naturalcures.com), quipping that his book should be titled "Natural cures I won't tell you about, unless you spend more money."
Trudeau, who has built a $2-billion global business empire through the sale of health products, has attracted his share of controversy. The Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against him last September for an on-air claim that his Coral Calcium Supreme product "cures cancer," and barred him from appearing in, producing or disseminating future infomercials selling health-related products, except for books, when he agreed to the $2 million settlement. Though a March 1 segment of Good Morning America debunked many of the claims he made in his TV pitch and in the first edition of the book, it doesn't appear to have made much of a dent in its sales.
