Tim Ferris Communicates Back

Well, at least his assistant does. About a week ago I wrote about my experience in attempting to get a copy of Tim Ferris's popular book, The Four Hour Work Week to do a book review or an interview. I recently got another email from Amy, his assistant, who asked that I communicate their responses directly to you. So, here we go:

Thanks so much for your e-mail and for your experience with our communication. We apologize that you were left feeling that way. You are right, we do in fact read each and every e-mail, (as you suggested) and with yours in particular, we thought that your writing to us of your interest to have a copy to read for your blog, was showing enthusiasm and support for the book. That is why we responded as such.

We receive thousands of e-mails and although we do read each and every e-mail, we do have a selection process, as we cannot simply meet the requests of every inquiry. You can imagine the interest is extremely high given that Tim is #1 on the NYT Best Sellers List as well as #1 on WSJ, in countless magazines, TV shows, speaking events, etc.

Please do not mistake our delay in a response as lack of interest or sincerity, just a lack of time to respond personally to each e-mail. As that is important to Tim.

In speaking with Tim about this, he also wanted to me to extend our apologies because believe it or not, he was given less than two dozen books to provide for friends, family and other opportunities. As you know, blogging is more popular than ever, and we have received hundreds of requests for a 'review copy' of the book for blog authors. So, while we appreciate your sincerity in a request for the book, we hope you understand that it simply is not possible to send a copy to each blog author requesting one. We hope you understand and nonetheless enjoy the message of the book. We hope you follow up with your readers as to our response.

Thanks again for sharing your post with us, and we hope you continue to enjoy Tim's book.

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

Amy ********** Executive Assistant to Timothy Ferriss Author: The 4-Hour Workweek (http://www.fourhourworkweek.com ) (Random House/Crown Publishing)Bio and Fun:http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog

I wrote that I found it hard to believe that Tim only had a few copies available of his book for his friend. I liked the quotes around "review," implying this is an odd practice. I understand a certain amount of selectivity for bloggers. But again, I don't normally get resistance when there is a radio platform involved. It is all very odd.

I was told that the delay in writing was due to a lack of time -- nothing else. Maybe these poor people are going to have to work more than 4 hours a week! Just a thought.

This is the response I got back after I suggested he renegotiate a better deal for extra books:

Thanks for the ideas. Yes most of Tim's marketing for the book was done online with the support of business bloggers, and readers and reviewers like yourself, so we appreciate their input and greatly depend on the online viral marketing that it creates. As a first time author, I am sure Tim has learned a few things that he will demand next time around. So far, I think he has had great success, and is handling it pretty well.

Thanks again for your response. Wishing you continued success in the blogosphere and on the radio...

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

Again, I continue to read it -- a chapter here and there. I am convinced that the four hour objective is not only unrealistic, but irresponsible (if you want to stay in business, unless you have the type of business that doesn't need you to work, which would make it no longer a "work" week).

I do have to agree with Amy, for a guy around 30, Tim is doing very well for himself and I'm sure he will continue to improve his game in the years to come. I'll keep you posted of any future communications.

Note: Order Tim's book from the Houston Business Hour Book Store. Order Kevin Price's audio program The Accumulators, which explains the impact that the Internet is having on marketing and consumer behavior. It is available online here for only $10 plus p and h. Receive the Houston Business Review e-zine free each week by clicking here.

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.

Note: Order Kevin Price's audio program The Accumulators, which explains the impact that the Internet is having on marketing and consumer behavior. It is available online here for only $10 plus p and h. Receive the Houston Business Review e-zine free each week by clicking here.