152: Tucker Max - Book In A Box

# Episode 152 **Summary:** In Episode #152 Ari defies surgical packing, general anesthesia, and conventional medical wisdom to conduct an interview with Tucker Max, creator of [Book in a Box](http://bookinabox.com/) and author of the New York Times Best Seller, _[I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell](http://amzn.to/1PqCW9L)_. As the conversation unfolds, Ari and Tucker about everything from writing and entrepreneurship to fatherhood and married life. This episode not only features Tucker’s _Top 3 Tips to be More Effective _but a special _Top 3 Tips _from Ari as well! **Special Announcements:** # [Less Doing Does Europe!](https://www.gazelles.com/summits/EGS-2015/Barcelona/index.html) Watch Ari bring the lessons of Less Doing to some of Europe’s most famous cities including Barcelona, Munich, Amsterdam and Budapest for the 2015 European Growth Summit. Ari will be joined by fellow masters of entrepreneurship Steve Martin, Director of _Influence at Work_ in the UK, and Verne Harnish, founder and CEO of Gazelles. ## EO Vancouver On June 18th, join Ari at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel in b-e-a-utiful Vancouver, B.C. as he takes the microphone for _EO Vancouver_. Enjoy this unique opportunity to watch Ari candidly discuss life as an Author, Speaker, Teacher and – most importantly – Achievement Architect. **Time Stamped Show Notes:** - 19:41 – Introduction of Tucker Max, CEO of _Book in a Box_ and a 3X - NY Times Best-Selling Author - 20:17 – What [Book in a Box](http://bookinabox.com/) IS and how it came to be - 23:21 – The service is NOT ghostwriting; ghostwriters tend to be very expensive - 23:55 – There are a number of brilliant people in the world with plenty to share but there are social or structural barriers that keep them from sharing - 24:17 – Writing is a very distinct cognitive process and a very distinct skill that is totally separate from creating a book - 24:50 – The New Yorker is a great example of wonderful writers with nothing to say - 25:17 – The writing industry is incredibly elitist and it doesn’t have to be - 26:28 – Tucker starts the Book In a Box development process by clearly defining the author’s goal - 27:37 – Most people start a book without a goal in mind, that’s the wrong way to go about it. Identify your ultimate goal first THEN start writing - 28:22 – The second step in the development process is to define the target audience - 28:30 – The third and final step is to identify what the book is about - 29:43 – Books occupy a strange place in our cultural hierarchy - 30:34 – Most people want books for ego, status, etc. - 32:43 – Tucker’s real (original) goal with becoming an author - 35:03 – [TuckerMax.com](http://www.tuckermax.com/) - 35:52 – Tucker always wanted to sell books, not win the Nobel for Literature - 37:15 – For Tucker, there were some deep familial psychological issues that drove him to success: “If I become successful, my parents have to pay attention” - 37:58 – If you don’t identify what your _main motivation _is, you’re going to make a lot of weird decisions that won’t create the results you want - 39:29 – The two definitions of good writing: Obtuse v Compelling - 40:57 – In the literary community, good writing means fancy, difficult to understand and intentionally obtuse (AKA no commercial success) - 41:20 – The best definition of “good writing” is work that engages people and helps them to achieve what they set out to accomplish - 43:42 – The best marketing you can do (for your or your business) is writing a great book - 44:20 – Right now, discovery is a fundamentally broken process for books - 46:04 – People tell other people things – offer suggestions, give advice, make recommendations – because it will reflect positively upon them - 47:19 – Transitioning from “fratire” to married life - 48:44 – As a man you have way more time to “figure it out” biologically speaking - 52:47 – Tucker defines what makes him a “good” father