Just got this link: a great excerpt from You Call the Shots was posted on Entrepreneur.com and Aol.com two weeks ago. The book also earned a spotlight on the Simon & Schuster home page right here, sandwiched between two major best-sellers, the latest Robert G. Allen book and The Real Pepsi Challenge. (Note: these items are both now on the Magical Mystery Media Tour page, which is active.) Meanwhile, Cameron has now received more than 100 emails from readers excited and inspired by the book!

“So, would you say You Call the Shots is more for the 10-to-21 set?” Great question. The book is really aimed at anyone and everyone interested in being an entrepreneur–as Cameron puts it in the introduction, “You can start a successful business at any age; it doesn’t matter if you’re nine, nineteen or ninety.”

But I think the book also has a special message for teens and tweens, who so often don’t have enough powerful role models their own age (aside from troubled movie stars): “Grab hold of your dreams and passions and go, because you can accomplish great things.”

We’re getting all sorts of moving and amazing letters from readers of all ages; the ones that especially touch me are those from readers under the age of twenty who’ve been inspired by Cameron’s story. I hope to see a lot more of them!

(And thanks again, Mary L., for the great question.)

Cool! This week I dropped in on two Barnes & Nobleses (Wilkes-Barre PA and Charlottesville VA) and there was not a single copy of You Call the Shots to be found on the “Business Profile” shelf (which is where it was shelved upon its release). Why not? Because they both had stacks of the book on their “New Releases” table! In Charlottesville, I asked the clerk why they weren’t on the shelf, but on the table, and she said, “Oh, that book’s especially popular right now–so we’re keeping it on the ‘New Releases’ table.”

Right on.

And BTW: do you know anyone who has any children between the ages of ten and twenty-one? If so, they need a copy of this book!

Overseas? You can still call the shots! I promised I’d send an update when I knew about how those of you who are living in other lands can get ahold of copies of You Call the Shots. Answer: it’s going to be a good while before any foreign-language versions are out, but you can order the current English hardcover now (as well as the CD audiobook) through Amazon’s various foreign online outlets: for example, Amazon UK (www.amazon.co.uk) and Amazon Japan (www.amazon.co.jp).

Also, if you haven’t seen it, there’s now a live link at Cameron’s Magical Mystery Media Tour. It’s badly in need of an update — coming within a few days.

Check out this six-minute video clip of Cameron on live talk TV–it’s delightful. There’s more media coming in the days and weeks ahead, and it’ll all be here on the site, soon on its own “Cameron’s Magical Mystery Media Tour” page.

The book is out — and the media blitz is on. From USA Today to coast-to-coast TV, here’s a quick rundown of some of the bigger bits of media notice happening around Cameron Johnson and You Call the Shots:

1-10 — USA Today featured a picture of the book and devoted several paragraphs to Cameron in the cover-page article, “GenNext defines itself.”

11-10 — Guest appearance on CNBC’s “The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch.”

1-10 — Guest appearance (for the second time in a week) on Bob Parsons’ radio show “Life Online,” www.lifeline.com. (Parsons is the owner of GoDaddy.com. His show is broadcast on XM and Sirius, and has a huge podcast following.)

1-10 — Live appearance on “The View from the Bay.” (The #1 show on the West Coast, the show airs just before Oprah.)

1-14 — Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” via satellite from San Diego.

1-22 — Story in New York magazine.

. . . and that’s a partial list. Stay tuned: as soon as we’ve got a full listing, we’ll put up a link for it.

Tomorrow’s the big day — the official launch of You Call the Shots. The hardcover edition starts hitting the book stores; Amazon and other online merchants are already shipping. Exciting! I’ll be on planes Wednesday and will be trolling the airport bookshops . . .

Note: There’s a bit of “Where’s Waldo?” involved here: you won’t find my name on the cover. (David Bach, who wrote the Foreword, got that spot — for understandable marketing reasons.) If you want to be able to point and say, “See there? I know that dude!” turn to the title page. (Or the very last page, “About the Authors.”)

Several of you have asked when copies will start showing up in overseas markets — haven’t got an answer yet, but I’m working on it, and I’ll post it here when I know.

And if for any reason you can’t find it anywhere, you can order copies from the official You Call the Shots web site at: http://www.youcalltheshotsbook.com/buy/

A few people have asked, “Hey, what happened to The Last Word?!” (The Last Word was a section of this site that featured a few dozen of my essays on network marketing.)
Never fear: it’s gone, but not for long. We’ve pulled these articles from the site — while we turn them (along with dozens of others) into a full-length book, a collection of essays and editorials form the last sixteen years. Coming soon — watch this space!
Meanwhile . . . in another week or so, I’ll be posting a sneak preview.

New Year’s resolutions:
• I will lose no weight whatsoever in 2007;
• I have no plans to join a fitness club in 2007;
• But I am completely overhauling my web site–starting right now.
To celebrate the launch of our new Simon & Schuster release You Call the Shots (which hits Amazon and the stores next Tuesday, January 9), we’re beginning a series of updates and modifications. Come to the site and pop a metaphoric champagne cork with us!