The Four Hour Work Week

I get more books than I can read each year and so I rarely find one that catches my attention enough that I actually request an advance review copy. Recently that happened when I saw an interview on the Today Show about the "Four Hour Work Week." I work around 60 (conservatively) hours and although I love the many things I do, I often feel I do too much. I would love to find helpful strategies that would help me get down to a 40 hour work week. That would be progress.

With that, I sent an email about the book to the author (Timothy Ferriss) telling him I would be interested in at least writing an article and would likely enjoy having him as a guest. I sent it August 26th and went on with my life expecting to hear back from him within a few days, which is normally the case when I contact an author. Well, a few days turned into a week, a week turned into several weeks, and then I finally got an email back on September 30th. This became an instant indicator of how well his system is working. I can't stay in business and take over a month to communicate with business associates. What was more disturbing was the email itself. This is what I received:

Hi Kevin,

I'm Tim's Executive Assistant, Amy. Christine passed your email along to me. Thank you so much for your e-mail! Tim really appreciates your support and enthusiasm for The 4-Hour Workweek!

We really appreciate your offer. However, Tim is currently booked solid with interviews, TV appearances, and radio shows. Due to his extremely busy schedule, Tim is not making any more commitments at this time until the Book Promotion is completed.

Thank you so much for reaching out to us. We wish you all the best in your future endeavors. Have a great weekend!

-- Amy
this email is: [ ] blogable [x] ask first [ ] private

Did they not notice that I would also write a review that goes out to thousands through our media channels? I liked the little boxes at the end that gave the email that personal touch. My email didn't express an opinion either way about the book. I hadn't read it yet and wasn't a "supporter." I could tell my email was read, but not very well. The response email had form letter written all over it. Because Tim only works 4 hours a week, I guess he is having to turn down interview opportunities every chance he gets.

Form letters, taking weeks to respond, turning down opportunities to expand business, these approaches don't work for me and they typically don't work for most people in business. Yet, I was still intrigued by the concept. Lately, two of my boys have had football practice at a school near Barnes and Noble and I live far enough away that it is often worth hanging out there and getting caught up on my reading. I have been thumbing through Tim's book and have started reading and will likely have it completed before the author's publicist realizes I still want a review copy.

I have only just started and I will say he has an excellent writing style, an incredible amount of personal experience for a young man in his 20s (and I believe he is about to turn 30), and he has a very efficient approach to his writing (excellent word economy and he gets to the point). I'm going to read the whole book before I write a review, but I think it may be worth further consideration. I'm making it available at my bookstore. I would love for people who have read the book to email me and give me their thoughts. Who knows, there still may be something here.

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