

How Tucker Max Got Rejected by Publishing and Still Hit #1 New York Times - jedwhite
http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2010/09/28/tucker-max/

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nhashem
Oh, Tucker Max. Of all the bullet points the author listed, I failed to see
"produce quality content" as one of them, which is pretty much why Tucker Max
began a slow slide into irrelevancy years ago.

At this point he's a relic of an earlier time where fictional stories posed as
truth was taken at (mostly) face value. In today's era of camera phones and
youtube, if there's no proof then it didn't happen. Most of his stories have
been debunked by various sources, and all you need to do is Google "Tucker Max
sucks."

And of course, the $2.5 million question is if Tucker Max was such an
effective marketer, why did the movie version of his book perform so poorly?
(the "$2.5 million" figure obviously referring to the cinema and DVD sales
_combined_ [1]).

[1] <http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2009/IHTSB.php>

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TimMontague
_Of all the bullet points the author listed, I failed to see "produce quality
content" as one of them_

How about:

 _"The most important point, the thing that trumps all the rest, is this:_

 _CREATE AMAZING AND COMPELLING CONTENT THAT PEOPLE LOVE AND VALUE.
Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, flows from that central principle."_

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nochiel
"To be a best-writing author, you don’t need to win a Pulitzer. You need to
have experiences that make good stories, and you need to be yourself on
paper."

This definition bothers me. He's creating a false dichotomy between literary
technical excellence (as loosely symbolised by a "Pulizter") and a marketable
--and sellable--story presented in what he believes to be an authentic voice
(his definition of "authentic voice" also bothers me, if only because he
conflates it with a voice couched in bonhomie).

The idea of "Tucker Max" also erodes the value of his point especially because
some of Tucker's stories are not at all genuine, factual or even remotely
real.

"To be a best-selling author, you need to take being a “best-writing” author
(as I’ve defined it) seriously."

It's difficult to consider the latter point when the former already sounds
dubious. Having worthwile experiences is useful but much of the best creative
work arises from the imagination, far outside the reaches of experience. Our
experiences are but the the base from which we create. In that sense, all
experiences are equally valuable. What he appears to mean, is that we need to
have sensational experiences. That, to me, sounds completely wrong, or at
least wrong-headed.

But if he is equating best-sellerdom to sensationalism, then that would have
to a mostly correct description of the state of the world right now.

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BrandonM
Say what you will about Tucker Max and his work, this was a quality blog post
with a lot of great references and a valuable message. And it's the same
message that we seem to keep coming back to: make something people want.

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itblarg
Egads! Tucker Max and Tim Ferris at the same time!? My Huckster Detector 5000
readings are off the charts!

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vaksel
not as exciting as you think, since the "rejection" happened as a nobody
before he made his website.

