I love books. I love the game of publishing. I love the art of outreach. And I love a maverick.

So I keep my eye on Tim Ferriss. If you want to see a fantastic example of impeccable product quality, resiliency, creativity, strategic lucidity and sheer stamina in business — you should pay very close attention to this guy’s roll-out for his new book, The 4 Hour Chef. Watch how it’s done.

I got my copy of The 4-Hour Chef last week. I know Tim’s been pouring his all into this one for two years. I opened my Amazon box and said, “Holy shit, he DID it.” I was blown away. The design is exquisite. The content is compelling, fun, useful. It’s THE hippest encyclopaedia of life hacking, cooking and adventuring. Ferris raised the bar on this.

This is a great holiday gift for dudes, cooks, cool mamas. I ordered five for myself.

Why am I telling you this? Tim didn’t ask me specifically for a blog favour. I’m just… very impressed. And because great gift recommendations that aren’t plastic and get delivered are really helpful.

And because… I want to see how this book makes some publishing waves.

The 4 Hour Chef has been boycotted by over 1000 book stores. Reason being: Ferriss is releasing this book with Amazon’s new publishing division. The Amazon juggernaut is now publishing their own books, not just selling books online. Understandably, this really pisses off bookstores because Amazon’s pricing has been threatening to contend with over the years. So they’re flipping Amazon the finger. I get that the guys on the ground are trying to fight the storm troopers. And… I think it detracts from the bigger issue: bookstores need to innovate. I want book stores to be around for a long time. They are my temples, and a big part of my career. And … they need to evolve.

Back to a good book…Head over to Amazon.com.

Revolutions require tenacity. This is what it looks like.
Great how-to content deserves fabulous design.
And your friends deserve a cool gift this holiday.