Last week, Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust sold roughly 66,000 books through BookScan. If you walk into Barnes & Noble, you will likely see walls of her books, which her publisher has paid for, just like Coca-Cola pays for the first 50 feet of Walmart placement.
I don’t have an issue with that. This is how publishing has worked for a long time.
But to compete with monolithic forces that are banning my book due to my publisher (Amazon Publishing) — 1,000+ bookstores, including all of Barnes & Noble — I can’t play their game. I have to do things differently. It’s the Red Coats versus the colonies, and I must take attack using different means.
The New York Times bestseller list is highly skewed towards print retail. This makes it a hard target for me, though I’m still gunning for it. No matter, I want to hit #1 on BookScan to send a message to the incumbent world of publishing, to those who want everything to remain in the 1900's. If The 4-Hour Chef “wins” in any capacity, authors will feel freedom to experiment. If this book “fails” because the old guard makes of an example of me, their message wins: don’t mess with the system that keeps us fat and happy, or we’ll punish you.
Enter The All-You-Can-Eat-Campaign of Goodness. This is a sniper shot directed at the heart of every member of the publishing oligarchy (not all publishers, mind you) who cares more about their parking spot at the country club than their end user: the reader. That pisses me off.
To attempt something different, I’ve recruited a small cadre of companies to make you offers that defy belief. I hope you enjoy them.
ALL OFFERS EXPIRE AT 5PM PST THIS SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17TH.
WORKAROUND ON U.S. ADDRESSES AND “LIMITED TO U.S. ONLY”: This offer is only available to those with shipping addresses in the United States… but not to fear! There’s a workaround. If you live outside the US, you can use http://www.hopshopgo.com/. It’s a simple service that allows non-U.S. customers to have goods delivered to a U.S. address; the goods are then forwarded to wherever you live. You actually save 10% on international shipping.
THE DEAL WITH PRINT: For reasons unknown, The New York Times omits any advice/how-to e-books from their E-Book Nonfiction bestseller lists (even Ina Garten!). I don’t know why, and I wish I did. In the meantime, that means that only print copies of The 4-Hour Chef count towards The NYT bestseller list. The good news: as much as I love digital, I optimized the reader experience for print. It’s a beautiful, tactile experience intended to be read in two-page spreads.
Now, onward to the packages…
Buy 1 print book ($21) and get the following:
- One sweet, tasty hardcover that you’ll enjoy again and again for years. Also suitable for self-defense and bicep curls. I will raise a wine glass to you and your family and send good karma your way.
Buy 3 print books ($63) for yourself and X-mas gifts, and you get the following ($130 value and 2-hour live Q&A) — Limited to first 2,000 people:
- Exclusive 2-hour Q&A with me after launch — ask whatever you want. I’ll be drinking wine and in a sharing mood, no doubt. Limited to people who buy 3 or more books.
- 428-page PDF — The Best of The 4-Hour Workweek Forum (value: $25): The 4HWW Forum was vibrant for years, a repository of great lessons from readers, until it became simply too buggy. It’s now read-only, but I’ve curated the best material and put it all into a 428-page PDF, complete with a Table of Contents.
- 850-page PDF of full interview transcripts from Mastery by Robert Greene (value: $50). See my post, “The Magic of Apprenticeship — A How-to Guide,” for more on Robert and Mastery and how to gain control over your life. This document contains full interview transcripts that dive into the thought processes of nine living masters, including Paul Graham, Freddie Roach, and Temple Grandin.
- 3 months of Evernote Premium (value: $15)
- 3 months free of CLEAR card, (value: $40) which allows you to skip airport security lines (Example: reduced my wait time in SF from 60 minutes to less than 5 minutes).
Interested in this package? Sweet! Just buy 3 *print* books on Amazon and fill out this form: https://4hb.wufoo.com/forms/z7x2s9/
If you already bought a copy, no problem. Just buy two more copies on Amazon and fill out the same form.
Buy 25 print books ($525) and get the following ($1,008 value) — Limited to first 200 people. Get all of your Christmas shopping done in one fell swoop!
- Kindle Fire HD (value: $199) Super awesome. ‘Nuff said.
- Breville Control Grip Immersion Blender (value: $149) I’ve used this to make 100s of dishes, many of them in The 4-Hour Chef.
- CLEAR card: 2 free years (value: $179 x 2 = $358)
- Evernote Premium: 1 free year (value: $45) I use Evernote to gather all of my online and offline research in one place. It’s my external brain.
- Athletic Greens: free jug (30-day supply) (value: $97) My all-in-one nutritional insurance.
- BioTrust low-carb protein: free jug (value: $49.95) — 4g of net carbs. I get asked all the time which protein powder I use. This is the answer. I have no affiliation or affiliate link.
- Amrap Refuel: one box of Refuel bars (8 count, value: $24) Delish without fat guilt. Win-win.
- TaskRabbit: $50 of credit. One of my favorite start-ups of all-time. Addictive like crack.
- Havalon Piranta-EDGE knife (value: $36) – The first surgically-sharp knife I’ve ever owned. Less than 3 oz, includes 12 replacement blades.
Interested in this package? DON’T buy it on Amazon. Since there are only 200 spots, buy your package on this page: http://fourhourchef.eventbrite.com/ First come, first served.
FOR THE NEXT FEW PACKAGES, PLEASE NOTE: I do not want books sitting in warehouses or garages. If you order the big packages, I want every book to get to one of your customers, partners, or employees. If you need suggestions for distribution, let my team know, but I don’t want any copies going unread. This is very important to me.
Buy 250 print books ($5,250) and get the following (value: Priceless!! hahaha…) — Limited to first 20 people:
- Full-day group retreat in SF at an award-winning restaurant and/or hotel (e.g. Central Kitchen) — lunch, 4-hour jam session, dinner, and drinks, maybe more – Theme: “Caribou and Karaoke”
- 1 hotel night in SF included
- BodyMetrix ultrasound bodyfat tester (value: $495)
- Ultimate Driving Experience (value: $500). Ride a Lamborghini or an Audi with lessons from a professional driver around a racing track in one of 14 major cities. Videos/pictures included to cherish for a lifetime.
Interested in this package? Magnanimous! DON’T buy it on Amazon. Since there are only 20 spots, buy your package on this page: http://fourhourchef.eventbrite.com/ First come, first served.
Buy 1,000 print books ($21,000) and get the following (Priceless!!!! That’s FOUR exclamation points!) — Limited to first 6 people:
- Awesome all-expenses-paid trip somewhere in the world. You’ve seen me do this in India, Africa, and elsewhere. I don’t half-ass trips. I don’t even three-quarter-ass trips. I full-ass my trips! This will be a life-changing, amazing, all-inclusive trip somewhere in the world. High probability: high-end trip through Tuscany, dates TBD with people who sign up.
- CLEAR card: lifetime membership (value: $125,300 [$179/year x 70 years = $125,300]).
- WellnessFX Performance assessment: Early access (will not be public until late Q1 2013) to an exclusive version (value: over $700). This package builds off of of Baseline diagnostics to give people a deep look into their cardiovascular, metabolic, nutritional and hormonal health & performance. Here’s what’s included: all lab & phlebotomy fees, data in your own private WFX dashboard, and 50+ biomarkers (total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, Triglycerides, etc).
Interested in this package? Great! But…DON’T buy it on Amazon. Since there are only 6 spots, fill out this page: https://4hb.wufoo.com/forms/z7x1k9/ First come, first served. This bad boy will be epic.
Buy 4,000 books ($84,000) and get the following ($200,000 value). Limit 1 person:
- I will give two 60-minute keynotes at venues of your choice in the US or Canada, timing and content to be mutually agreed upon.
- Everything in the 1,000-book package above
Interested in this package? Words fail me. I’ve fallen and I can’t get up. Now… DON’T buy it on Amazon. First, it’s impossible. Second, there is only one slot up for grabs. Fill out this page: https://4hb.wufoo.com/forms/z7x1k9/ Danke sehr!
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In closing, let us remember one lesson that Winston Churchill delivered as perhaps the shortest commencement speech of all-time:
“Never, never, never give up.”
Deciding to fight is half the battle.
Posted on November 15th, 2012
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