It’s been quite a week. Our publisher tells us that with our appearance on the Wall Street Journal “Business Bestseller” list, The Go-Giver is now officially a “national bestseller.”

To all of you who joined us in the Big One-Day Amazon promo, a stratospheric thank you! Here’s where we ended up on our bestseller rankings for the week:

#6 on Wall Street Journal’s “Business Bestsellers”
#1 on 800-CEORead’s “Top Five Bestsellers” (on Jan. 7)
#7 on Amazon’s “Bestsellers” (all books)
#1 on Amazon’s “Hot New Releases”
#1 on Amazon’s “Success”
#1 on Amazon’s “Motivational”
#1 on Amazon’s “Business & Investing”
#1 on Amazon’s “Business Life”
#1 on Amazon’s “Management & Leadership”
#1 on Amazon’s “Business Management”
#1 on Amazon’s “Popular Economics”
#1 on Amazon’s “Kindle: Self-Help”
#1 on Amazon’s “Kindle: Health, Mind & Body”

On Wednesday Bob Burg and I met in New York City at a recording studio and recorded the audio tracks for the audiobook version.

We’d wondered for months whether whoever bought the audio rights would hire an actor to read the text (the usual course of action), or have one of us do it. And, if one of us, which one? As it turned out, our brilliant and magnificent producer, Gilles Dana of Gildan Media, had a very Go-Giverly approach: he insisted on having the authors read—both authors. So Bob and I take turns, alternating chapters and Laws:

It’s now in the editing room and will be on iTunes in a matter of a week or two (Gilles is fast!) — I’ll post a note here when it’s up and in the iTunes store (and on CD).

Of all the reviews, endorsements, responses and reader comments we’ve gotten on The Go-Giver to date, I think this one may be my favorite. Why? Because preaching to the choir is easy, but impressing someone who has a clear and unapologetic bias against this type of book . . . well, that’s mighty satisfying!

Justin McHenry, one of several regular columnists on the financial blog “Zen Personal Finances,” gave such an intelligent, incisive and complimentary (albeit in the left-handed sense) review yesterday, I think I’m going to go ahead and reproduce the whole darn thing right here:

# # #

Book Review, Jan. 8, 2008
Justin McHenry

I’m generally not a fan of the business parable book—dumbed-down, poorly-written stories that equate cheese with change (for one obvious example), and are meant to spur us into new attitudes and actions. Mostly they inspire for a few minutes and then are forgotten. If I remember any for an extended period, it’s usually due to the awfulness of the writing. I read one recently that was so bad I didn’t know if I should feel worse for the book’s writer or the publisher that had decided to waste paper on it.

Which leads me to my review of The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea, by Bob Burg and John David Mann. While it may be faint praise, this book is decidedly better than most in its genre.

The story’s plot centers around ambitious young Joe, who is spinning his wheels professionally despite his hard-charging attitude and generally likable personality. In keeping with his bold spirit, he decides he’s going to meet a powerful local businessman, Pindar, and convince The Chairman (as he’s known) to help Joe land a big account. To Joe’s surprise, Pindar is easy to get a meeting with. However, Pindar’s goals for Joe are not necessarily the same as Joe’s goals for Joe, and thus this unlikely parable unfolds with Pindar taking Joe under his wing and teaching him a series of success lessons. Each lesson involves Joe meeting a new, successful person and learning what led to their successes.

(Spoiler: The root of success is giving, not getting—thus the title The Go-Giver instead of The Go-Getter.)

Each meeting teaches Joe one of the Five Laws of Stratospheric Success. There’s The Law of Value, The Law of Compensation, The Law of Influence, The Law of Authenticity and The Law of Receptivity. After learning each Law, Joe agrees to try to put it into practice before the next meeting with Pindar, where another Law will be unveiled. Despite my somewhat cynical nature, the book continually kept me curious as to the next law, the next person to meet, and how Joe would put it into practice. While the whole premise of the book is a bit corny, and the writing isn’t exactly Tolstoy, I read it quickly and eagerly.

I think my favorite of the laws, in terms of offering something new or fresh (and in terms of sticking with this blog’s money theme), is the Law of Compensation, which states: “Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them.” The example used is a schoolteacher who invents a line of educational software, thus trading her schoolteacher salary for a much larger income due to the fact that her company’s software reaches so many more people than she ever could have as a teacher in a single school.

There’s nothing genius about this concept, but I don’t know that I’ve ever heard it stated that way, and it made me think. If you want to make more money, how can you get yourself on a bigger stage where you serve more people? I think any of us could come up with ideas on how to serve more people, whether it’s taking on more work responsibilities, adding new volunteer tasks, raising our entrepreneurial sites, or whatever. The benefits may not be immediate, but the more people you touch in a way that makes their lives better, the more you’re known for being that type of person, the more chance there is that money is eventually going to flow to you.

Anyway, despite my initial skepticism, I like this one. If you’re a go-getter, or would like to be, the concepts in The Go-Giver will help you ensure that your time is spent doing the right things with the right spirit.

# # #

Amen! Besides . . . how could I not love a blog called “Zen Personal Finances”?

P.S. This summer, I’m going to have to re-read Tolstoy.

It’s a boy, 8 pounds 3 ounces!

Okay, I confess, that’s not true: it’s not a boy, it’s a book, 132 pages, hardcover. But seeing this little book published feels a lot like seeing a child born — I don’t think I’ve ever experienced quite as much pure joy and thrill writing a book as with this one.

If you visit your local Barnes & Noble or Borders, you’ll find copies of The Go-Giver on the “Notable New Releases” table somewhere near the front of the store. (I flew through the Minneapolis airport today, and there it was in the airport bookstore, on its own wire stand in top of the “New Releases” table.) Here’s how it looks:

The Go-Giver has its own web site (and its own Squidoo lens), and it’s starting to generate all sorts of buzz. Here is just a tiny sampling of the endorsements printed in the book:

“Not since Who Moved My Cheese? have I enjoyed a parable as much as this. It is a beautiful book that will touch your soul and inspire your heart.” — David Bach (author of The Automatic Millionaire)

“Every now and then a book comes along that says exactly what the world needs to hear at that precise moment. The Go-Giver is one of these rare books.” — Kendra Todd (winner, The Apprentice 3 and host, HGTV’s My House Is Worth What?)

“The Go-Giver does everything I would wish a good book to do. The lessons touched home again and again. Read it to the very end.” — Michael E. Gerber (author of The E-Myth)

“The best business parable since The Greatest Salesman in the World and The One Minute Manager.” — Pat Williams (author of Souls of Steel and senior vice president of the Orlando Magic)

“Deeply heartfelt and meditative, The Go-Giver is filled with insights.” — Ori Brafman (coauthor of The Starfish and the Spider)

Special One-Day Promotion. In about two weeks, we’re offering a special one-day promotion, January 17, that will give you about 12 hours of a special video program with Bob Proctor, Bob Burg, Cameron Johnson, Bo Short, Stephanie Frank and a host of other luminaries free when you purchase a copy of The Go-Giver through Amazon. We’re doing this to enroll you in helping us hit our goal of hitting the #1 bestseller spot on Amazon on that day. I’ll post details as soon as they’re all finalized.

Discount Schedule. If you’re interested in buying the book in bulk (for gifts or resale), we’ve also worked out a generous discount schedule with the good people at CEO-READ. I’ll post those details, too, in another day or so.

More soon — I’ve gotta run. Diapers to change, booties to knit.

On December 31, New Years Eve, I was sitting at my computer in the early afternoon, when I received a message from the future.

Since my dear friend and stalwart webmeister Luke Melia has a new gig, and thus has had to reluctantly relinquish his JDM web site duties, I’ve hired a new team of programmers to take over. They are at work even as I write and you read, invisibly and seamlessly revamping the machinery and paving the way for some new features in 1008.

So I’m sitting there, and my Skype instant-messaging window pops up and says, “Hi John . . .” It’s Ritu, the leader of the programming team. Ritu and his team live in India. He says, “We have just entered the new year.” Where I sit, it is bright midday, New Years Eve, 2007. Where Ritu sits, it is one minute after midnight, January 1, 2008. He’s messaging me from a different year.

A message from the future.

Later, Ana and I went out for the evening and gave each other messages from the future all through dinner. For me, there are pieces of the year still hidden behind a haze of unknowing, yet there are also pieces of it that are as clear as that Skype instant message from Ritu. I continue sending myself those message every day. In fact, that’s how I start every day now: with an instant-message transmission from the future me to the present me, featuring tantalizing previews of coming attractions.

What messages are you giving yourself from the future?