All of DRT's Comments + Replies
Should have mentioned this in my earlier comment as well, but 80,000 Hours has advertised on the Tim Ferriss Show, which is immensely popular. Trying to get Will on as a guest there would be huge.
Failing in that (or in addition to it?), we might think about trying to get mentions in large online newsletters (e.g., Tim's Five Bullet Friday, James Clear's 3-2-1, Mark Manson's Motherf*ck Monthly, ensure Ryan Holiday gets a copy that he might be willing to mention on his monthly reading list, etc.)
Here are a few things I've seen done successfully in other book launches:
-I'd imagine there were things left on the cutting room floor in the writing process; giving pre-orderers a bonus chapter or additional notes could be a good incentive to order early.
-Offer signed copies of pages from the galleys or signed/personalized book copies to people who order a sufficiently large quantity or a lottery for all who preorder.
-Will's already offering a few people a Zoom session, but what about a live Zoom Q&A (or a series of 2-3) for everyone who p...
Ah, right, yes! I think there's potentially a place for both. If I think about a promotion strategy, there's something to be said for ensuring the book has a big initial print run/has a shot at the NYT bestseller list or similar.
On a parallel path, we should also aim for this to be a sustained seller, growing to sell hundreds of thousands or even millions of copies. Endorsements and podcast appearances can help, but nothing achieves that kind of momentum without also having word of mouth.
To maximize our potential surface area for those critical... (read more)