What a whirlwind of a week!
For those of you interested in how I sequence launches, or how punishing the last 7 days have been, or what’s required if you want a shot at #1 New York Times or BookScan, below is a very partial list of media coverage and partnerships. They are in rough chronological order. If I missed anyone, please let me know in the comments!
I’ve done more here than in my last two book launches combined, and reader results (Twitter examples here) have made it all worth it.
I was pleasantly surprised by how many bookstores are now stocking The 4-Hour Chef, which sat at Amazon #2 for most of this week (Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a juggernaut, but Ina Garten is my real competition). According to my readers on Facebook, stocking stores now include Tattered Cover, Copperfields, Powell’s, Elliot Bay, Vroman’s, Prairie Lights, Changing Hands, Boulder Bookstore, and even some Books Inc. (my local fave). Barnes & Noble continues to boycott nationwide, but indies are picking it up, which makes me very happy, of course. It’s exactly where I want a 600+-page full-color book!
Last but not least, sincere thanks to everyone who’s left Amazon reviews!
If you have read the book (or are reading), pretty please take 30 seconds to leave a short review — it would really mean the world to me. Just click here. I have read every review and commented on many of them. At the very least, if you take a look here, there are some great conspiracy theories in the 1-star reviews. Many folks don’t seem to grasp the idea of ADVANCED copies of books, which all authors send out, often in the hundreds. Doing the same doesn’t make me a Scooby-Doo villain or clever mastermind, alas.
Now, to an incomplete list of media from the past 168 hours or so, excluding national advertising…
Offline/traditional names
USA Today – ‘4-Hour’ author Timothy Ferriss returns as a chef
The New York Times – Fête Accompli | 4-Hour Feasting
The Wall Street Journal – ‘4-Hour’ Man Masters Food, The Good Life
Bon Appetit – A Bird in the Pan: Testing “The 4-Hour Chef”
Outside Magazine – From Modern to Mallman (one of three online, also a print piece)
Wired Magazine – “Better, Faster, Smarter” (Tim Ferriss tests smart drugs) — not yet online but in Dec print.
CBS This Morning (Charlie Rose, Gayle King) – Timothy Ferriss talks food, life lessons
WNYC – The 4-Hour Chef: Lengthy Book Offers Short Cut to Kitchen Excellence
Fox & Friends – ‘Recipe’ for Success
The New York Post – Required Reading
Dr. Oz (almost an hour total on TV, plus online) – Health-boosting Secrets From The 4-Hour Chef Tim Ferriss
Dr. Oz – Tim Ferriss’ Plan to Master Cooking in 4 Hours, Pt 1
Dr. Oz – Tim Ferriss’ Plan to Master Cooking in 4 Hours, Pt 2
Dr. Oz – Tim Ferriss’ Vitamin-Rich Recipes
Partnerships
BitTorrent (160 million+ users — more coming on this)
Panera Bread (1,500+ locations)
TaskRabbit (1,000s of hours saved)
Rally (1,000+ books sold)
Samovar Tea Lounges (SF) (1000s of people relaxed!) – Signed copies at every location!
Blogs/online press
PaidContent – Ferriss: Even if I sell a million Kindle books, some people will call it a failure
PaleoHacks – If you could become world-class in anything in 2013, what would it be?
BoingBoing – Tim Ferriss’s new book about learning
The Huffington Post – New Timothy Ferriss Book, ‘4-Hour Chef’, Has A Great Trailer (VIDEO)
Small Business Trends – Retailers Fight Amazon with Ferriss Boycott
Seeking Alpha – Amazon Is Crushing It
Digital Journal – Review: ‘The 4-Hour Chef’ is more than just a cookbook
TechCrunch – With Amazon Publishing Stonewalled By Retailers, Tim Ferriss Taps BitTorrent To Market His New Book (and more press here)
The Huffington Post – “4-Hour Chef” Tim Ferriss Reveals Secrets of Meta-Learning and Living the Good Life
Ramit Sethi – Live webcast w/ Tim Ferriss this Wednesday, 9PM EST
Danny Roddy – My Interview With Bad Ass Mother Fucker Tim Ferriss
Livestrong – Make Better Meals In Less Time
TubeFilter – With Help Of YouTube, Tim Ferriss Makes Book Trailers Go Viral
Metro – The art of learning
Goins Writer – How to Become World-class at Anything: An Interview with Tim Ferriss
Entrepreneurs-Journey – Tim Ferriss Talks About His Latest Book “The 4-Hour Chef”, How To Learn Anything In Half The Time And Why He Went To Sniper School
99U – Tim Ferriss: On The Creative Process And Getting Your Work Noticed
The Art of Manliness – How to Make the Best Beef Jerky in the World
Cooking for Engineers – Crunchy Bloody Mary
InsideHook – Culinary Design
Man Vs. Debt – Rapidly Learn Any Skill (Including Cooking): An Interview with Tim Ferriss about “The 4-Hour Chef”
Greatist – The 4-Hour Chef: Tim Ferriss’ Crazy, Brilliant Cookbook
Personal Branding Blog – Personal Branding Interview: Tim Ferriss on The 4-Hour Chef
5 Minutes for Mom – An Interview with Tim Ferriss- Author of The 4-Hour Chef
Slashfilm – Author Tim Ferriss Lists His Favorite Cooking TV Shows and Movies
AskMen – Tim Ferriss On The 4-Hour Chef
AppSumo – The 4-Hour Chef launches and we got exclusives for you
Forbes – What Cooking Can Teach You About Learning
Chronicles of Strength – How to Learn Anything: Pat Flynn Interviews Tim Ferriss on The 4-Hour Chef
Runkeeper – We’re giving away 20 copies of Tim Ferriss’s new book!
Lifehacker – I’m Tim Ferriss, and This Is How I Work
Shira Lazar: What’s Trending – How to Complete All Your Facebook Tasks in Just 4 Hours: A Tim Ferriss Presentation
Gothamist – After Thanksgiving, Go On A Manhattan Food Marathon
Refinery29 – How To Get Into Every Resto In Town, A Primer By Tim Ferriss
The Grindstone – Tim Ferriss Will Teach You How To Cook In 4 Hours And Conquer The World
Food Babe – The 4-Hour Chef – The Coolest Cookbook I’ve Ever Read
KrisKris – The 4-Hour Chef – Interview With Bestselling Author Tim Ferriss
Wellness Mama – How to Cook Like A Pro and Learn Anything
BoingBoing – Timothy Ferriss: Cheat Sheets for Everything
Cracked – 8 Cheap Ways to Fake Being a Pro Chef
The Huffington Post – The Anti-Hunter’s First Hunt (Exclusive Excerpt)
Gear Patrol – Interview: Tim Ferriss on Steak, Kitchen Tools and the Return of the Polymath
AskMen – The 4-Hour Chef: Exclusive Look: Tim Ferriss’ New Book
Wall Street Cheat Sheet – Tim Ferriss: The 4-Hour Chef Controversy Displays the Future of Publishing
SmartPassiveIncome – Tim Ferriss on Promotion from Scratch, Accelerated Learning, Experiments Gone Wrong, Publishing and More
Social Triggers – The simple path to becoming a highly-paid expert (new podcast with Tim Ferriss)
AllFacebook – Humor: How To Complete All Of Your Daily Facebook Tasks In Just Four Hours
Business Insider – The 4-Step Process For Mastering Any Skill
Lifehacker – Use Tim Ferriss’ Four-Step Process to Master New Skills
Cook Taste Eat – Pork Loin with Walnut Purée, Poached Carrots and Bacon Frisée Salad
Evernote Blog – How Tim Ferriss Used Evernote to Write His New Book, The 4-Hour Chef
Yelp! Blog – Tim Ferriss, author of “The 4-Hour Chef,” talks Yelp, favorite San Francisco restaurants and eating brains
Podcasts/video/YouTube
Andrew Zimmern: Go Fork Yourself Podcast – Go Fork Yourself: Tim Ferriss & The Four-Hour Chef
creativeLIVE – The 4-Hour™ Life: Healthy, Wealthy and Wise
The Joe Rogan Experience – JRE #285 – Tim Ferriss, Brian Redban
The Robb Wolf Podcast – Episode 159
Mirasee – 4-Hour Book Launch Advice from Tim Ferriss
Shira Lazar: What’s Trending – “4-Hour Chef” Tim Ferriss Reveals Secrets Of Meta-Learning And Living The Good Life
Samovar Tea – Samovar Tea Talks with Tim Ferriss
Mixergy – Tim’s Rapid Learning Method And The Four-Hour Chef – with Tim Ferriss
The Art of Charm: Pickup Podcast – Episode #178: Tim Ferriss, FourHourChef.com (FourHourWorkWeek.com)
The New Man Podcast – TNM 125: Tim Ferriss – How to Be Kickass Fast
SiteVisibility – Tim Ferriss – Podcast Episode #189
SourceFed – Greatest Day Ever: a Guide
SimplePickup – How To Make a Sexy Steak with Tim Ferriss
Sources of Insight – Tim Ferriss Interview on The 4-Hour Chef
The Rise to the Top – Tim Ferriss on How to Become World Class in Anything in 6 Months or Less
Radio-TV Interview Report – Steve Harrison Interviews Bestselling Author Tim Ferriss About Book Writing, Promotion and Ways to Learn Any Skill Faster
Alex Day – Unrealistic Goals and Tim Ferriss
New Media Rockstars – Author & Internet Entrepreneur Tim Ferriss Talks to NMR About His New Book The 4-Hour Chef and More! [Interview]
Zen Habits – How to Learn Anything
Big Think – Tim Ferriss: Cooking to Learn Like a Pro (in 4 Hours)
Wall Street Cheat Sheet – Tim Ferris: The 4-Hour Chef Controversy Displays the Future of Publishing
Six Pixels of Separation – SPOS #333 – Learn To Do Anything With Tim Ferriss
BONUS
Here are some goodies from weeks 2-3:
PARTNERSHIPS
MEDIA
Zagat – Tim Ferriss Wants You To Spend Less Time Cooking, More Time Eating
NPR — Brian Lehrer Show – Four Hours to Learn Anything
PaidContent – Amazon Publishing takes on Europe; Kirshbaum to head U.S. unit in reorg
Dean Dwyer – Deconstructing Tim Ferriss
Fluent in 3 Months – Tim Ferriss, interview on language learning
USA Today – Book Buzz: Give the gift of books this holiday season
Food Republic – Timothy Ferriss Thinks You Can Channel Your Inner-Batali, Without Even Trying
Smart Passive Income – Tim Ferriss on Promotion from Scratch, Accelerated Learning, Experiments Gone Wrong, Publishing and More
Riverfront Times – Panera Bread Debuts Hidden Menu Crafted by 4-Hour Chef Tim Ferriss — But Not in St. Louis
ReadWriteWeb – Is BitTorrent The Future Of Book Publishing? Tim Ferriss Is Banking On It
AppNewser – Tim Ferriss BitTorrent Bundle Downloaded 211,000 Times
The Next Web – Thanks to BitTorrent, The 4-Hour Chef goes from being boycotted by Barnes and Noble to a bestseller
The New York Times – BitTorrent’s Plan for 2013? Go Legit
Business Insider – 85,000 BitTorrent Users Visited Tim Ferriss’ Amazon Page in 7 Days
BitTorrent Blog – The 4-Hour Bestseller (Thank You)
Financial Times – Amazon expands print publishing to Europe
Business Insider – 14 Tips For Learning Any Skill Incredibly Fast
BoingBoing – Gweek 077: Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Chef
Wall Street Journal – An Author Cooks Up a Tiff with Bookstores
San Francisco Chronicle – Tim Ferriss: Sustenance in balanced life
The New York Times – What We’re Reading
BlogcastFM – How to Become World Class in 6 Months with Tim Ferriss
Business Insider – Here’s What’s Wrong With The ‘10,000 Hour Rule’
The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than one billion downloads. It has been selected for "Best of Apple Podcasts" three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it's been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page.
Comment Rules: Remember what Fonzie was like? Cool. That’s how we’re gonna be — cool. Critical is fine, but if you’re rude, we’ll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation! (Thanks to Brian Oberkirch for the inspiration.)
Dear Tim,
Congratulation!!
Big Day!!
And so honored to be your fan~
🙂
Hey Tim,
You forgot about Chapters in Canada. Although chapters.ca was not selling your books, the retail stores actually had some copies about a week before the November 20th deadline. After browsing through it in store, I ordered a copy. Very well written and love the color photos!
I hope the 4-Hour Chef is gonna be translated in German soon. Until then all the best for entering the english market!
Ich auch! 🙂
Hey Tim, talking about German, I got a bunch of mails from Amazon.com and Amazon.de promoting your products. Great work there. *HOWEVER*, what stinks is that Amazon.de lists the English original version with a shipping estimate of “3 to 6 weeks”. If I order books from Amazon.com with the slowest shipping option I’ll have them sooner (and they’re cheaper, in spite of the shipping), which is ridiculous. If I go for faster shipping I’ll have them in a week.
I wouldn’t have expected it to be any different with another book, but 4 Hour Chef is published by AMAZON PUBLISHING and you’re also a best selling author. So that’s a little disappointing.
Hey Martin,
I preordered it (10-14days) and got it exactly on the release date. Don’t know if it was because of the preorder, but maybe only the 3-6 weeks delivery time is wrong.
I would try and order it. Or just buy it from amazon.com and boost Tim’s US-sales 😉
It’s the same with Amazon Japan too. I’ve got a 2 week wait 🙁
Hi, i cant find nothing on the internet about the german The 4 Hour Chef release. Do you have a date already ? I bought the english one, but its kinda hard to read a book like this with my english skills.
Hi there,
i wonder if there might be a glimpse of a german translation on the horizon. I asked amazon.de and they didn’t knew nothing about a forthcoming release.
But someone on this planet has to know whether there is somebody translating this want-have-book to german, any?
Thanks and regards
Nielz
@Tim: great work, very inspiring, thank you!
Push
What the hell Tim. You are a beast.
Great to see this wrap up and all the opportunities to take advantage of when launching a product.
Wow! Great list. I’ll have to parse through all of these. I can tell by seeing the link-color that I’ve already read some of them.
Thanks for feeding us updates. Hungry for Hack.
Holy cow! This is incredible Tim, I thought I’d seen most of the PR you’d been pumping out, but apparently I hadn’t even scratched the surface.
It’s a great snippet into how you produce such powerful launches, thanks heaps for the insight!
P.S. I can’t wait for my copy of 4 Hour Chef to arrive here in Australia
You missed Appsumo’s promotion with some bonus content!
Sweet-ass book by the way. I’m transcribing your QnA from yesterday as we speak – will send it to Amy when it’s done
Hope you hit the bestsellers list dude
xx
Wow, seriously. You are a promotion beast. I’ve paid a little attention to our exposure and work. It’s tireless. Definitely not 4 hour weeks, or days, or hours lately 🙂
Tim can you please shed some light on what the deal is with us in the UK getting a hardcover version of ‘The 4-Hour Chef’ because currently it’s a only a paperback that’s available. So many people have asked about it and no-one knows yet.
Tim, loved ur announcement on joe rogan’s podcast. Kind of had a idea that you could use to promote your book and other books that come out of amazon and also smaller publishers could do this.
The idea is ‘ One Shelf One Book’
So here’s what my thoughts about this are
Any small business owner can put up a book shelf and essentially put up copies of just the one book on that shelf in a prominent place and then aggressively sell it
Now why, would they do that. Well several things ..
Getting a idea of what book-selling is all about and experience the process without putting much in
Selling titles that would not be found at major retailers and hence a unique item for sale
Combining offers from the business with the book sale to entice customers to buy the book but also to give them a reason to come back
Be part of a trend to beat big business and taste different new business without actually investing a lot.
Lemme know what you think and please use it if you can.
Peace and all good things..
Wow – that’s certainly a lot of promotion! I’ve got the book on my Christmas list, and I’m looking forward to reading it. Looks really great, hope I find enough time to read and digest all of the content. I wonder if it will spawn any 4 hour chef local meet-ups of workshops.
Hope we get the chance to meet in London in January, let us know the dates as soon as possible.
By the way, I’m a freelance events organiser here in London, and I’d be more than happy to help you pull something together, if you would like. Email Richard (at) InspiringAdventures.co.uk
All the best,
Richard
I like how the list of sites seems to cover this release from different angles, thus keeping it unique/interesting/fresh.
I want to be world class at marketing products 😉
You are a huge inspiration Tim. Keep up the good work!
That’s One Helluva’ First Week! Congrats!
You have crushed it! Your PR has been amazing; I thought that you were going hard when I saw the NYT and WSJ cover you. That was just the tip of the iceberg. My hat is off to you. I think you have permanently disrupted publishing forever.
Well done Tim, you’ve nailed it again. Your hustle, lateral thinking and disregard for authority have really rubbed off on me since 2009 when I started following this blog and reading your books.
In closing:
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Let’s change the fucking world people.
Powerful Tim Ferriss! Can’t wait for my copy to arrive!
Buying lots of these for Christmas Gifts this year too!
Tim –
you’re such a media whore. 🙂 and you’re damn good at it. congrats!
do you have a process for reaching out to the media? if so, can you elaborate or send a link to an article you have written? which ever is easier!
also, it would be great to connect with you on linkedin http://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinrowemarcomm
if a linkedin connection outside of your network is against your networking principles, no worries.
Congrats, Tim!
Thanks again for all the hard work, and for showing again and again how a PR machine should work. It is truly inspiring.
Best wishes and continued success!
Wow Tim,
I have just started reading your book on kindle. Thanks so much for keeping kindle edition at $4.99. Hope it will sell in loads.
Great to see your campaign. Inspired.
Warmest regards
isura
Tim, I have left a review of the 4 Hr Chef on Amazon’s UK site – here is a preview of the text – listen my thanks to you for your work. Malbec on me in LA after the Vanity Fair Oscar party.
“Tim Ferris is the one author I am going to name check when I win my first Oscar”
Whoa!!! Hang on what do you mean “when you win your first Oscar???” – well I am a City of London “Headhunter” at the moment who parked his dream of being a motion film director and forgot where he had parked it. Recently going through a mid-life meltdown I picked up the first two of Tim’s books – 4 Hour Work Week and Body and started to think.. hum…maybe …maybe there is a way out.
Then this weekend I took delivery of the 4 Hour Chef and I just thought “that is it I am going for it again!!!”. I went into the multi-story dreampark, dusted off my old dreams and drove that baby straight off the ramp.
The 4 Hour Chef will not only teach you how to create some amazing dishes it will also force you to take a hard look in the mirror and ask the question “Can I be more!”
Whatever you want to do but think you don’t have the time, energy (fill in excuse) just spend the £14 on this book and have a read. You never know you might yourself be inspired to head off to the multi-story dream park.
Thanks Tim, the Malbec is on me after the Vanity Fair Oscar Party
best
The Quiet King of the Blockbuster Film
Bharat S
You forgot about this: http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2012/11/20/tim-ferriss-what-cooking-can-teach-you-about-learning/
🙂
Wow that is some serious press. I am curious, How many people are invovled to manage all of these impressions?
Honestly, the two first recipes in the Dom section (the only ones I did so far) are the most delicious stuff I’ve cooked in my life.
These scrambled eggs are the best scrambled eggs I’ve ever eaten, f***ing delicious.
Looks like Tim knows what he’s doing.
Happy client +1
(and thanks for the meta-learning section)
Weren’t you on The Paleo Solution with Robb too?
Strong work with the book!
I was! Just added. Thank you for the catch. Late-night post 🙂
So much content released in the last two weeks on this blog, any chance some of this will be covered on a soon to be done ‘random show’?
Tim- So great to see you expand the boundaries. I reached out and would like you to be one of the 13 chefs in this seasons tv series, Catch and Cook-USA. Airing around the world including MAV TV in states- could be another option in similar to the above..Please get in touch if you have a day we can film between Jan-March. Cheers mate.
Aaron
Hey Tim,
Congrats on the book and the impressive amount of press you were able to get. I actually stopped by Panera Bread and was glad to see you actually taking the time to talk to each person that stopped by and not just signing a book and sending them on their way.
I have a question in relation to this post: would you be willing to show us some of the scripts you used to contact all these people? Does your strategy differ much when pitching a blog vs. a podcast vs. a traditional news outlet?
Thanks and congrats again.
I think you forgot a french blog 😉
http://remi-raher.com/2012/11/20/tim-ferriss-the-4-hour-chef-barnes-noble-declare-la-guerre-a-amazon-publishing-edition-traditionnelle-versus-edition-numerique/
Do you have an agreement with Amazon that they will not allow 3rd party sellers to undercut the Amazon pricing?
Awesome. Waiting now for “The 4 hour marketeer” 😉
Hi Tim,
Even in France we’re watching you and waited for your book !
For now here there is the only one French review I’ve found : http://www.actualitte.com/acteurs-numeriques/tim-ferriss-dejoue-le-boycott-contre-son-editeur-avec-bittorrent-38290.htm
As you certainly speak French you’ll be able to read it.
Thanks for sharing your experiments (I’m a 28 french entrepreneur and author, trust me I’m reading as much Ferris as I can!)
May the Force be with you !
Nicolas
Dude, just got your book.. it’s ridiculous. I have all 3 and this is by far the best. Since I’m a cheap jew, I prefer to cook for girls, and now I have no problem wowing them with some Ossobuco. I knew how to cook before, but now I can add some pizazz to my cooking repertoire. Being a 24 year old living in the DC area, there is a lot of competition with fellow male suitors…I can blow them away by just saying…” Come over for drinks…How about a homemade Mojito or a Bacon infused Bourbon?” Bitches love Bacon and Bourbon.
this is just an amazing post right here….seriously lol’d
Hey Tim,
For my copy of the 4-hour chef in through the post a few days ago (very excited). I read the 4HWW and knew that I had to pick up a copy of your latest book. I love your unique writing style and how simple you make it to take action. I haven’t started reading 4HC yet but having flicked through it looks amazingly detailed and I can’t wait to get started.
I will certainly leave you a review on Amazon when I’ve read it.
Your determiniation never ceases to amaze me and you are for ever an inspiration to me.
Cheers,
Josh, on my own mission to achieve financial freedom
TF rocks and walks his talk! WTG TF! Beat the drum bang the gong ChefON!
Caught a glimpse of your Dr. Oz episode and must say….life changing. I’ve been in a bit of a rut lately both jobwise and bodywise and I know what I have to do but have been wallowing. I wallow no more. Borrowed both 4HWW and 4HBody and am pumped to make changes. Just the energy boost from popping out of the rut has helped. All I can say is thank you.
One thing…the milk jug kettlebell, BAD idea, all wrong. Bells aren’t that expensive, don’t take much room to store and can be repurposed as boat anchors or paperweights. Everyone should try a real bell and will learn to love it. Best workout there is and wicked calorie burner/stress release.
Many thanks and kudos, will be reading 4HChef when I finish dissecting the other two. Love food…will be nice to look forward to.
Hugs,
T
Tim,
Thank you for posting this. I have been very interested in your marketing strategy since watching your build up & roll out.
Fantastic info!
After the dust settles it would be very interesting to see an after action report/blog post.
Thanks again for posting this!
Holy shit. Beast mode!
You forgot to mention that you can buy the hard copy at Samovar Tea Lounge (http://samovarlife.com) in SF, CA!
On it! Thank you for the catch!
Thanks for the mention Tim… I enjoyed interviewing you! Best of luck!
You are one hard working dude, Tim! Of course, that means you deserve every bit of success you get!
Cheers!
David
Seeing this in real time has been interesting and convinced me of the “blast” format over slow and steady. From Lifehacker, Zen Habits, Cracked, Joe Rogan, CreativeLive and Samovar Tea you came up in the feed, which at the surface are not immediately connected but all have a common mindset, you definitely know your base. Some try to downplay your work as a guru of various flavors, but I think they are ignoring the greatest showcase of validity, which to me is not within the books but by how you approach your own projects and the marketing of them.
Thank you very much, Josh. I needed that today 🙂
Pura vida,
Tim
Hey Tim,
Has been a great read. I hit the gym again for the first time in months and eager to try out some of the things in here.
Wanted to make a suggestion. Look into youtube overlay ads for your videos to help convert more sales on these books. 500k views could have gotten you some traffic to the product page. Also look into youtube promoted videos if you haven’t. Any questions, feel free to reach out
Sean
Hey Tim,
Really impressive. To echo Josh, you’ve identified your target persona in such an amazing way. Most agencies/companies use them to sell, but you’ve literally built a mindset and a following out of your persona that’s second to none.
Wondering if you’d share some benchmarks for how you outlined your strategy. Social Media ROI is obviously a heated subject, but I think that it sometimes misses the point. Would love to hear what you measured/followed, and what you decided to do with that data.
Obviously much has changed since your first book as far as metrics to follow, tools to help extract metrics, etc. There’s now more tools to empower your strategy than ever. Excited to “follow” the future.
You’re a juggernaut! Congratulations. Here’s another blog post to add to the digital avalanche:
http://www.virtualdavis.com/publishing/4-hour-chef/
Complete with a gentle nudge for your next book: The 4-Hour Bestseller!
Just got my order of 25 books, and I was surprised to see that they came with a Barns and Noble return address. Found it humorous.
Regardless, love the stuff you’ve shared so far… and I can’t wait to tear into the book this evening.
I know you get tons of mail and probably won’t read this, but I want you to know that I have bought all your books for my very shy 17 year old son. The books have really helped with his self confidence. The only thing that he told me that he really wants for Christmas was your newest book, which I bought him. He will be so excited. Thank you for all you do, and for what you have done for my son, his outlook on life is so much brighter now.
Thank you!
Thank you so much for the kind comment, Barbara. It made my night. On X-mas day, please tell your son that I directly wished him a Merry Christmas 🙂
All the best to you and yours,
Tim
Hey Tim,
I have not read your new book, but do you explain how the best way to learn a new language? I’ve checked out Rosetta Stone, Pimsleur and Rocket Chinese Premium. I want to learn Mandarin Chinese, not only speak it, but also read and write it. I’m a visual learner and learn best by seeing the words, in this case characters, to understand what the pronunciation of them are.
I listened to your interview with Yaro Starak and I need something else clarified. Could you give examples of, “Force Multipliers” so I can apply that concept to my life.
Thank you for an enlightening conversation with Yaro.
Cheers,
Rick
hay Tim
true story,
im here in manhattan and im in union sq and i go to the bookstore after seeing one of ur ads about ur book go by on the public bus. So,
im at barns and noble and i ask aoout ur book and the guy goes “oh thats strange i dont know why we are not stocking it”, and then the guy next to him goes “ohh that book, they are partnered with amazon and that publishing house, we dont sell his book because the money goes to support terrorism” and chuckled
thought it might gring u a smirk or a good “so get this” story,
l8er, im ordering ur book tonight, all the best man
I’ve been in touch with Amazon Publishing and they have told me that only the paperback version of The 4-Hour Chef will ever be available in the UK, this is really disappointing, that means we can only buy an inferior version of the book compared to US buyers who get the hardcover. I’ve been waiting ages for this book and now us fans in the UK are being treated like second class citizens by Amazon Publishing.
Hi Ashley,
I pre ordered the book to be shipped to Australia from The Book Depository UK (owned by amazon) & received the hardback version on the day of the release.
However what I discovered is if your IP address is UK based you cannot currently buy the book from the Book Depository. It just says ‘Currently Unavailable’.
Perhaps get in touch with the Book Depository and ask to buy a copy or try a VPN….
If you like Tim’s stuff the hardback is worth it!
Cheers,
Dan
Tim, will you take some time OFF for christ’s sakes!! Jeez man, its so hilariously ironic that the author of 4HWW is the hardest working author ON THE PLANET! You make me tired just watching your efforts.
You do amazing work!! Now PLEASE go use some of your royalties to sit on your ass in a wilderness cabin for a month – you deserve it.
Haha… agreed, Nate, agreed. I’ll be unplugging soon 🙂
Tim,
You forgot to mention Danny Iny from Fire-pole Marketing. I thought that was one of the most interesting interviews.
Also, I got your book. I am impressed. You remind me of my Russian mother who taught me to wash my hands after handling chicken, as well as your tip about looking for dirt in specific parts of bok choy. I love that.
Fist time my husband cooked a meal for me, I though that kale tasted ‘a bit earthy’ . From that moment, I took over the vegetable cleaning process:)
I think it was just last Monday that I ever even heard of Tim Ferris. I saw a photos of a guy leaping buildings in WIRED, and then instructional tid-bits, one of which was “how to read like a cheetah, and retain like an elephant.” I immediately bought all three of Ferris’ books, and read 4-hour-body in one night, and started the slow-carb, and the geek-to-freak the next day. Since then I have almost finished with the 4-hour-work-week, and have started on the 4-hour chef. I think I’m in love! Jk. So ya, today I test-drove my dream-car, and last night I got my own virtual assistant, and just downed some Strausse cream and Cod-liver-oil, even though I have my reservations about the promise of success. But I trust Tim, mostly because he’s living out what he says was a result of the patterns/lifestyle that he presents in the books. Now to build up the courage to get in contact with a famous person…
FYI, I’ve been trying to leave a review on Amazon and keep getting error messages. Maybe tomorrow…
Just got the book, cant wait to read it. Your ideas always spark my interest.
Dying to ask you this question. If the “4 hour” theme something your always going to keep? Like your whole writing career is going to be based on this ‘self help – hacking’ angle? … i.e …. The 4 hour traveler? lol
thanks
Congrats Tim. Great to see how you are using the power of sync and leveraging your resources for laser-like focus and amplified impact. I hope your your efforts help to blaze a new trail in publishing. I’m buying a few books right now just to show support (one from Amazon, one from BAM and one from Tattered Cover – to show some indie love).
Tim,
Absolutely love the info. I’ve read all of your books Tim and applied to one of your opening the kimono contests. I’m going into my final year at chiropractic school and I still have the 4 hour series as my favorite and possibly the most impactful reads of my life. I wanted to say thank you and you know your true 1000 fans are there for you even in the down times/periods of self doubt just read a few of these comments and get your strength.
If you ever want a Chiro that combines MAT, ART, muscle testing, nutrition, adjusting, acupuncture, homeopathy, Neuroemotional technique, functional movement screens, functional & post surgical rehab I’m your guy and I’ll treat you for free any day (well, maybe over a few laughs over a bottle of wine and a slow carb meal might be nice 🙂 (charlie’s emailed me before you can hit me up whenever)
Again, love the hard work you’ve put in and my life will be infinitely better because I got to read your work.
Keep livin the dream,
Christian
I can’t even comprehend how you were able to pull all those appearances off. That, in itself, is a remarkable task.
What’s the process you use to get and manage this much media attention?
Hey Tim!
That is one unbelievably impressive list. 🙂
In the hopes of any one of us being able to tackle the same, about how many people helped you plan and coordinate all these articles/appearances, etc.
How long did you spend planning this launch/media blitz?
And I’m sure it’s anything but… but you really do make it look easy! 🙂
Cheers,
Nathan
Tim, you are paving the marketing path. Thanks for sharing the list with us. I wish you well.
when will your book be available in dutch? any idea?
Tim Ferriss — if you ever read this, I really want you to know that I owe you so much for the transformation in my life, my health and my confidence level. I read your books & blogs as often as I can and through that I keep motivating whoever I meet to be an entrepreneur & not being a job slave, also passing your marketing tips. No wonder I’m impressed by your marketing strategies for your new book. I was like this guy’s gonna bang the market. Your SCD works for me without skipping a day.
So one of my friend who’s also your fan started his business in NYC & wants some advice regarding a new personal training and development company. Since this business lacks marketing, he wants to hone his skills. I think he should allot this work to a professional. He can’t work for everything. What do you think of taking his business to new level? Thanks and Good Luck for your New Book. 🙂
Ordered my book from Barnes and Noble website. They stated a shipping date of the 20th and by Sunday it still hadn’t shipped. I wrote a email stating that I had heard they weren’t going to carry the book so to have the decency to let me know if I should cancel my order and go threw Amazon. It shipped two hours later. Hope to receive it today.
I’m a little late to the game, but I just picked up my copy from our major retailer Chapters Indigo. 🙂 Congrats on another successful book launch. I’m a vegetarian and I don’t like cooking, so we will see where this book propels me. 🙂
Hey Tim,
Thanks for an awesome book, I just tried the bourbon with bacon, i’d never thought of doing it that way!! I have for years cured bacon with bourbon (which is also pretty awesome!) Let me know if you want the recipe posted??
Anyway, thanks again, your efforts are greatly appreciated
Cheers T
Awesome Tim, thanks! What are your templates email like to developing new relationships/partnerships? I know that it hinges a lot on testing what works in terms of response rate, but do you have something specific to help expedite trial and error?
Tim,
I just bought your book The 4-hour Body and plan on buying your other books as well. I bought this book first because I have a short time to prepare my body for the toughest obstacle course in the world, “Ninja Warrior”. I have seen how your book worked for others and I plan on using your book to be the first american to conquer the course. Thank you and I look forward to what your book has instore.
Christopher
Hey Tim,
Congrats! Great marketing and PR. You really pushed the sales.
However, I’m really sad about the “language learning” section. It’s too short.
The sections about cooking are really cool, …but “learning anything”?
Are you already planning to write a new book?
Best
D
will this book ever be available on itunes?
This list of partnerships, long-lead media, TV and blogging/social media gets a gold medal: it’s the top of what entrepreneurially-minded authors can do to promote their work.
It also shows what it takes to achieve a #2 status out of the gate–which is an overwhelming amount of planning, work, diligence. Not a 4 Hour venture.
One of your gifts is making media phenomena transparent: e.g., the detailed description of the making of 4 Hour Body video (still the gold standard, IMO, for book trailers).
There’s a market for a step-wise, algorithmic checklist for how to find hooks in your material, speak with media, build and leverage a platform. Especially if the author is not well-connected or media-savvy: many people write to express themselves, and the world does not get to hear their voice.
I also got an email from Neil Strauss about your book. Great job!
Hey Tim, I’m a huge fan of your work and have already purchased both the hardcover and kindle editions of 4HC. Is it also going to be available in the iBooks store? I prefer to read via iBooks when out and about with my iPhone/iPad.
Thanks and the pine pollen has already paid dividends????
The end of the 4 hour ???? and the beginning of the ????
I just got my copy of the 4 hour Chef and started it as enthusiastically as I finished the 4 hour week.
Some of the first pages eluded to what was to about to come; covering a little on food, weightlifting, swimming and what I really wanted to learn in 4 hours – French (languages).
It was then on pages 56 and 57 it happened for me. The paradigm shift. Minimal effective dose (MED). I could help a few close friends with their weight loss – easily and fast? Maybe for the first time in my life I could put on some weight (6′ 2″ and never got above 11 1/2 Stone!). More on languages – brilliant, starting to see how now. And Marketing – “a 1,000 true fans” – as I am just about to launch two muse’s!
Reading it and thinking more on my French again, I am thinking Tim is just at the tip of the iceberg with his series of 4 hour books, French will be out soon! From someone who was a teacher for 7 years I can now see how these ideas and principles are about to change learning across the world!
Then I thought, no this is the end of the 4 hour series. Because the 4 hour chef covers all the theory; the following books in your series just need to cover the little content needed in that topic. These books could be so small they might be the beginning of the “4 minute series”????
Looking forward to seeing what you have planned next Tim. In the meantime I am enjoying the almost 700 page 4 hour Chef.
Cheers,
Ewan
Bought the kindle version and really enjoying it. One issue is that a lot of the diagrams and figures don’t seem to come up? I’m reading it on the kindle app on an iPad 3. Anyone else have this problem?
Dear Tim,
I have great pleasure reading your two previous books 4HWW and 4HB and I have followed a lot of your ideas and suggestions.
Unfortunately, I have not lost one single kilo despite the fact that I followed the diet for about half a year. I have now removed Dieters-going-wild day and ALL carbohydrates that do not come from vegetables! It has helped and stimulated weight loss, however I have only lost 8 kg, despite the fact that I easily could lose 8-16 kg more, to be slim.
Well, in regard of your new cookbook, I want to congratulate you on the great results. That is cool. However, I must say that most of the writing about what has happend with the publishing, sale and the boycott from the bookstore is very difficult to understand for us non-Americans.
The language you use is much for insiders (americans) and you also use a lot of “slang” that makes it difficult to understand (or access) for a European person as me, even though I do both read, speak and write English on a daily basis.
Love from Lise, DK
I love Tim’s marketing efforts. On the one hand, as evidenced by this list, Tim has put extensive time and energy into covering all the bases and getting the word out there, and evidenced by sales, it’s working! On the other hand, he definitely used Barnes and Noble banning his book to his advantage. Obviously, people are going to be intrigued by a book that has been banned by 1,000 plus stores, and as a result they are going to look to find out more; I know I did.
Lastly, Milton Herschey (founder of Hershey chocolate) said “Give them quality. That’s the best kind of advertising.” Tim did that both with his pre-release information (samples from chapters, previews, etc) and with the book itself (tons of solid, quality information). Nice job Tim.
Tim, did you see what Danielle LaPorte wrote? I thought it was pretty spot on. (Also, she’s amazing.) http://www.daniellelaporte.com/creativity-art-design-articles/do-it-like-a-maverick-backing-up-tim-ferris-and-the-4-hour-chef/
Christ, Tim.. where were your books 30 years ago when I was in my 20s? Now I’m playing catch-up big time in my late 50s – trying to make the most of the last 30 or so years I assume I still have. This new book has melted my brain so far with all the things I want to try. I’m going to apply the four-hour method to learning to sail in the BVI this March. Thank you for opening my eyes to what’s possible in life.
Are there any brick & mortar stores in NYC that are carrying The 4-Hour Chef?
Thanks!
Got the kindle version and will be getting a few copies for Xmas presents, so far loving it.
Ever thought of creating a learning resource that takes Khan academy or similar next generation teaching and combines it with DiSSS
A sort of Web 2.0 Education to Anything social network
This post is great Tim, thanks.
I caught your CreativeLive Webinar and also watched your live event with Ramit Sethi last week, but this list will keep me busy for a long time. There are always a few tidbits you throw into each event/interview that are new and/or inspiring.
Thanks for doing an interview with me. I always learn a lot from you!
Hey Tim,
Need your help! Got rejected for one of my startup inventions when trying to submit a project to kickstarter. Any ideas! BTW LOVE your new book. It is boss
Jake
Awesome as always to have you on The Rise To The Top my man.
I’d say it is your. Best. Interview. Ever. I’m slightly bias…
Tim,
I am a financial advisor in Napa, CA. After reading your 4 Hour WW, it is right on the mark with how I have envisioned the new retirement paradigm. I would be interested to know if you have worked with another financial advisor to actually build a planning strategy around this concept. I for one am working to create this lifestyle for myself and would like to incorporate it into my practice. Thanks for your insight and I would love to know if you are open to this kind of a project.
Kent
Randy Pausch began “The Last Lecture” telling his audience there would be two headfakes. At the end of his lecture, Randy let the audience in on the two secrets: 1) the lecture wasn’t about making dreams come true as much as it was a depiction of how to life one’s life, and 2) the lecturer wasn’t for the viewers, it was for his kids.
Years back, Tim Ferriss quoted Randy on his blog, writing, “We don’t beat the Reaper by living longer. We beat the Reaper by living well.” The 4-Hour Chef upholds Randy’s creed to live well. Instead of praising The 4-Hour Chef for its a) beautiful presentation, b) superbly simple and delicious recipes, and c) actionable approach to learning, this review will speak to the meta-intentions of this book.
The recent presidential election focused predominantly on the economy/job creation and healthcare. Behind each of these political issues are real people, voting everyday with their work, purchases, and food choices. Like Randy, Tim has presented his readers with two headfakes. The first headfake: the book isn’t about cooking well, it is about eating well. By enabling readers to eat healthy AND tasty food, Ferriss provides a platform to begin health reform at the individual level. Furthermore, on its opening pages, the 4HC presents a goal of changing America’s food landscape from one of manufactured, corporatized food production to sustainable agriculture practices. The second headfake: the book isn’t about learning anything, it is about learning something. Ferriss systematically deconstructs the learning process and provides readers the tools to efficiently acquire the skills they desire. Ferriss, an open supporter of a Liberal Arts education, understands that when a concrete understanding of skill acquisition meets individual passions, individuals will combine their talents with their interests to gain, create, and improve their employment situation.
While Ferriss jokes that he has entered the Fourteenth Minute of his Fifteen Minutes of Fame (FMOF), the 4HC showcases why Ferriss will be relevant for years to come. Quite simply, the 4HC is the definitive (and incredibly enjoyable!) manifesto on how to enjoy individual success while enacting change on the world whole.
P.S. – I live two blocks from Central Kitchen in SF, and there is no doubt Ferriss knows food!!! Thank you Tim
Apparently Barnes & Noble will promote you… occasionally…:-)
So a Google “follow me” shows up on my screen this morning with 3 books in it… and #3 was… The 4-Hour Chef!!!
Great chuckle to start the morning. Thought you’d get a kick out of it, so I grabbed a screen shot that I’m happy to send along for your scrap book if you’d like.
Almost as funny as the conspiracy theories in those 1 star reviews on Amazon, but not quiet…:-)
Some people just don’t get it. Glad that I do.
Great stuff. Can’t wait to see what you do next.
Best,
Harry
The book is not available online anywhere in india. Not sure yet if any stores are carrying it or not. will check. Amazon needs to open it’s own store in india, online and a physical store.
Hi Tim, I just watched your videos in which you were on the Dr Oz show. Afterwards, I watched some of your other videos with you on the Dr Oz show. I have to say, I found your advice about adding cream to one’s coffee instead of milk to be misleading. You said cream is better than milk because it has less impact on insulin levels and therefore can help a person lose a few pounds quickly. Surely, black coffee would cause greater fat loss if consumed instead of coffee with milk or cream. That is, calories are king, not insulin levels. Cream is much higher in calories than milk and is easy to overconsume. Therefore, advising to use cream to spare insulin levels could have counterproductive results.
Jumpstart Your Morning, with Tim Ferris:
A teriffic launch campaign you have there and thanks for sharing all the details.
One(actually 2) question: When will you begin posting about 4HWWish content again and what’s your plan with the third book?
Hi Kid,
I saw you last night at the Commonwealth Club — great job. I’ve written a short review on your presentation at http://www.ingridhart.com. Thankyoueversomuchmoreso…
–Ingrid
Looks like things have been busy! Congrats!
Hey Tim, Just got your book today. Wow, having just flipping through and reading random parts– this book looks and reads great. I can’t wait to sit down on the weekends and give it some more thorough time.
One request that perhaps you are willing to entertain: how about the skill required to learn an instrument? Many professionals in the musical performance fields will tell you there is no shortcut around hard work and long hours. Maybe that’s just the old school of thought. We’ve seen you tackle languages, physical activities (marathon running, swimming, horseback archery, etc), daily life activities, and even cooking now. I’d love to see you take on something like violin, piano, guitar, or some other instrument and bring the old school of thought out of the stone-age re: practice time. Can the performing arts really be optimized to a minimal amount, especially given the incredibly small % of students in music school who go on to become world-class professionals?
Concrete example: could someone totally new to piano play the Chopin Etude op. 10 no. 4, musically, in say 1 month on 1 hour of practice per day?
Wow, so much work and all for naught…….
So sad that the book will never get on the NY best sellers list.
It’s now #20 on Amazon and keeps falling down, down,down…..
Can we now conclude that the Amazon Publishing experiment is a huge flop?
Unless a miracle happens, Amazon will never recover their 7 figure advance (if it’s true)…..will they? They can’t even provide enough support to keep the book in the top 10 for more than a week….
Tim, haven’t finished the book but so far have enjoyed it as much as your previous books. FYI, when Amazon had the black friday deal on your kindle version for $4.99, i had approximately a 25% conversion rate on my affiliate link from my blog. I’m about to put a new link up with the $9.99 kindle price and I’m curious if the result will be the same… While it’s just pocket change for a guy like me, hopefully that’s a sign your launch went well.
Wow, that is an impressive promotion list! Makes me tired just reading it! When I saw the email (found this via Smart Passive Income, BTW), I couldn’t believe you published yet another 4-hr book. I’ve only read 4HWW and saw you on Dr. Oz promoting 4HBody, but as a big proponent of lifelong learning, I’m a true fan. Just saw the Epipheo video where you explained the DSSS process. Love it! That’s kind of the approach I’m using to build my blog…I want to focus on the most important steps in the right order and let the rest fall into place. I stay at home with three little ones under the age of 5, so my free time is precious these days (hence, why I saw you on Dr. Oz but don’t have time to read all your books LOL). Anyway, keep up the good work! 🙂
I am worried that I won’t be able to fully understand the book since it is not my native language. I find a lot of idiomatic expressions and unfamiliar words. I’m too worried, I can’t sleep. I feel dumb.
just left my review. I hope it helps!
There’s a Lebanese Garlic dip called Toum…. Just garlic and oil (but I use EVOO), and lemon juice with a little salt. Seems like it’d be a very positive food by your criteria. Recipes are easy to find on the Interwebs.
Tim-
I was just thinking that since you like to do books researching specific subjects, you should do one on male baldness or baldness in general. I never really thought about it until I started losing my own hair. It seems like I just research as much as I can, but it would be a good read from someone like yourself because you go in depth about everything.
Well, just my suggestion.
Thanks.
Peter