My book that is most popular as a Christmas gift

’Tis the season. I write how-to books for a living. Never figured when I started that I was in the Christmas gift business.

My readers told me that I was. We see an uptick in sales during Christmas especially for my Succeeding book. Some people buy multiple copies and mention they are gifts when asking about delivery speed.

We ship by Priority Mail or First Class if it’s too light for Priority. Pretty quick.

Go where your strengths are valued and avoid where your weaknesses are fatal

Succeeding is a real-world explanation of how to succeed in life in general, mainly by figuring out who you are—in great detail—then making an optimal MATCH between you and your career, and between you and your spouse. If you get those two decisions right, the rest of it kind of takes care of itself.

On the one hand, the younger you are when you read it the better because the more time you have to benefit from it. The most common comment I get from readers is, “I wish I had read this when I was young.” Me, too.

But on the other hand, the younger you are, the more difficult it will be for a reader to comprehend or even believe much of it. The young are naive. To quote “Professor Kingsfield” of “Paper Chase” fame, their “minds are full of mush.” I also often get a comment from older readers that they would not have appreciated it as much when they were younger.

Best for mature young people

So what age is it best for? My best guess is a sort of mature 14 to 28. It’s also like the joke about how many psychiatrists it takes to change a light bulb. One, but the light bulb has to want to change.

I don’t think it is the kind of book that would work with some full-of-himself, succeeded-too-early kid. He or she will need to get slapped around by life a little to open their mind.

If you don’t yet have it all figured out

It’s also good for ANY age person who is not convinced they have optimized their career or spouse choices. I have a lot of testimonials from older readers who love the book. One guy said it was the best non-fiction book he ever read. Of course, it was also the second non-fiction book he ever read. Just kidding about it being the second book. 

If you are at all considering buying it for yourself or a gift, please read the reader comments about the book. They will eliminate any uncertainty.