Ninja… In the Wild

It’s been a fantastic first month for “How to be a Productivity Ninja” – having been released with Icon earlier this month, it’s been popping up in bookshops all over the UK and I’ve had some great photos tweeted and emailed to me, with people I know spotting the book “in the wild”.  It’s also been top of the business chart for WH Smiths travel (cue cheesy author selfie!) and has sold pretty well in Waterstones and on Amazon too.   And I’ve had positive reviews from Waterstones.com, Closer Magazine and even Inside Soap Magazine!

What has also been great is the support and love from my friends, business contacts, people who read the self-published version, people who are friends of Think Productive UK and really everyone connected with it.  It’s hard enough writing a book on your own, but releasing one on your own is virtually impossible, so I’m really most grateful for all the support.  It often feels a little douchey to say you feel humbled or grateful, but it is true.

It’s only the beginning, of course, so I’m not going to get carried away, but it struck me that it might be nice to put some positivity back into the world, as a way of saying thank you!  So today I’m armed with 10 books.  Attached to each book is the note below.  And I’m releasing these 10 books ‘into the wild’ around London (I chose London only because that’s where I am today, but who knows where they’ll end up!).

I’m releasing these books ‘into the wild’ really with no idea what will happen to them.  It just feels like a cool, interesting, positive and fun thing to do.  I’m interested in the kind of connections it might create – building on my obsession with the productivity of happy accidents – and I hope unexpected things happen.  And if they don’t and I hear nothing more of this ever again, then I will still remain with the memory of having done a fun and interesting thing at a fun and interesting time, so even then I feel blessed to be able to do this at all.  So look out for Ninjas ‘in the wild’ today – and if you find one, well, let us know what you do with it!

Here’s what the note says…

“Dear lucky Ninja-in-training,

 

You are holding a copy of my book, which was released earlier this month.  Before that, the book was a self-published title which I sold on Amazon, but I couldn’t get it into the stores for love nor money.  Now, with a great publisher behind it (Icon Books), it’s currently number 1 in the business book chart at WH Smiths travel (the ones in airports and stations) and is on sale in Waterstones stores (and still on Amazon too, of course).

So to celebrate its release ‘into the wild’, I’ve decided to release 10 copies of the book into the wild!  (5 are the new Icon edition which is currently on sale in bookshops.  The other 5 are the self-published edition, which is now officially a collector’s item if the prices for second hand ones on Amazon are anything to go by!).

It’s yours to do whatever you like with.  Here are a few ideas:

1. Read it and keep it. Become more productive and less stressed in your life in general.

2. Read it and pass it on.  Leave your own little note attached to this note, somewhere in the wild.  Encourage the person who finds it to do the same.

3. Take a photo of the book in an interesting place, tweet it and pass it on.  (I just invented the hashtag #ninjainthewild, and I’m @grahamallcott if you’re interested)

4. Think of someone you know who really needs this book.  Give it to them as a gift.  Tell them if they tweet me with a pic, I’ll send them a ninja badge too, to celebrate their new ninjaness!

5. Leave it on a tube seat underneath a copy of the Metro and just have fun watching someone be surprised.

6. Whatever else you fancy.

And if you’re more of an ebook person these days, it’s available on the Kindle.  If you’re a non-Kindle person, you can get a good discount on the ebook if you go to hive.co.uk/ninja and use the code ‘ninja6offer’.  And if you’re one of the first 10 people who get in touch, I’ll give you a free code for the ebook, too.

 Have fun.”