First time author Allistair Mitchell fooled the world with a publicity stunt using a fake dragon and now he's reaping the rewards, with a $150,000 publishing deal. He talks to Sarah Foster.

IT seemed incredible, and yet it had an undeniable ring of authenticity about it. David Hart, an ordinary bloke from Oxfordshire, had apparently found a baby dragon in a jar in his garage, along with documents suggesting it was part of an elaborate hoax. His friend Allistair Mitchell, a willing spokesman, claimed that German scientists in the 1890s, wanting to get one over on their English counterparts, had sent the creature, trying to pass it off as real.

When they were rumbled by the Natural History Museum, the model was meant to be destroyed, but ended up in the possession of Hart's grandfather, a museum porter. Reappearing in January, more than a century later, it provoked massive interest.

"All the media loved it and it flashed around the world," says Allistair, 43. "We were doorstepped by Sky and the History Channel sent a television crew." The story seemed watertight - the staggeringly real looking dragon came in a proper specimen jar, accompanied by papers written in old German - but Allistair knew differently. He had, in effect, pulled off a hoax of a hoax to promote his new book, the fantasy novel Unearthly History.

"I sent it to seven publishers and literary agents and it was like, 'Thanks, but no thanks,' so I felt I would have to do something different. This was in keeping with the story and everyone loves dragons, so I thought, 'I can't lose'," he says. Drawing on his experience of running a marketing firm, Allistair began by approaching Crawley Creatures, which supplied models for the television series Walking with Dinosaurs. It cost him £6,000 to have the dragon made, and a further £1,400 for the specimen jar.

Having attracted more publicity for the dragon than he could have hoped for, Allistair, who writes as PR Moredun, began trying to focus this on the book. He secured a meeting with the head buyer at Waterstones and prepared an innovative press release containing newspaper cuttings about the hoax. The buyer loved the whole concept, immediately agreeing to stock Unearthly History. But there was still the matter of the hoax, which the world's media still believed was genuine.

"Four days before April Fools' Day, it was revealed to be a hoax of a hoax," says Allistair. "It was leaked by Waterstones in time for my appearance on Richard and Judy at the end of March." The reaction was mainly good humoured, but there were some sour grapes, with The Guardian ringing Waterstones to complain that it was "rewarding a liar", after printing Allistair's story.

Yet despite winning the major book chain's support, he still couldn't get a publisher, so ended up publishing the novel himself. Launched exclusively by Waterstones this month, it will be out on general release from July, and has already sold an impressive 2,500 copies.

Allistair describes Unearthly History as a "crossover" novel, suitable for both adults and children. While he lives in Oxford, he has chosen to set it on the Northumberland coast, where he enjoyed childhood holidays. He still makes regular trips to the region to visit his parents, who live in East Rainton, near Durham.

The plot has two main strands - the adventures of young James Kinghorn in the magical world of Eldaterra in 1910, and a murder mystery in 1895. Allistair says it stemmed from stories he told his sons, Duncan, 11, and Edward, nine, on car journeys between his home and their mother's house in Warrington. "They would say, 'Tell us a story, Dad,' and I would make up stories as we were going," he says. "The book has a historical backdrop to it - now they love history."

While British publishers have been slow to pick up on it, the prestigious American branch of Harper Collins has snapped it up, offering Allistair a three-book deal worth $150,000. He acknowledges that the success of the Lord of the Rings film adaptations has opened a ready market for novels like his. "We've got a generation of people who are adults but who are still kids," he says. And indeed, Hollywood already beckons, with Allistair in talks with film makers.

As for his next novel, Underworld, Overworld, he says he's already halfway through it, adding, with a glint in his eye, that its launch will also be preceded by a hoax. "I think people would love the idea that they have to spot the hoax six months before," he says.