A Behind the Scenes Look at Why

The Full Plate Diet is Everywhere

You’re about to begin seeing The Full Plate Diet everywhere you look; bookstores, grocery stores, airports, wholesale clubs… everywhere.

This is an interesting story. I think you’ll enjoy it. Especially since you’re a big part of it. Read on.

Ray Bard served as the first chairman of Wizard Academy, a 501c3 nonprofit educational organization in Austin, Texas. He’s also the most successful publisher of business books in the world today. No brag, just fact. More than half the books published by Bard Press have been Wall Street Journal and New York Times bestsellers. No other publisher has had even 10 percent of its titles reach bestseller status. So yes, Ray is a very big deal in the world of publishing.

A little more than a year ago, I asked Ray to look at a manuscript written by 3 students of Wizard Academy. Ray agreed to do it because I’m one of the few people in his life who NEVER ask him to look at books written by my friends. Like all successful publishers, Ray Bard is relentlessly pestered by would-be authors who use Ray’s friends to get to him. But I was one of the few “safe” people in Ray’s life. I was spending valuable currency just to ask Ray for this favor.

He liked the book.

Naturally, Ray kept me involved in most of the discussions about the book’s title, graphics, photography and narrative style. Nearly 5,000 of you received a free copy of a test version of The Full Plate Diet several months ago. Much of the book has been altered since then. It's even better.

The final hardcover is glossy and lays flat when opened, like a cookbook. And it overflows with lavish, full-color photos that extend all the way to the edges of the page. About half the content has also been changed. It's more interesting, more useful, more fun.

Ray did 2 things on the test cover to get your attention:

1: The cover photo of the empty plate contradicts the title above it: The Full Plate Diet. This subtle dissonance works like magic because it’s resolved within the first few pages. You get to fill your plate with whatever you like.

2. The test-cover photo also had the spoon on the wrong side and the edge of the knife turned outward. This caused such anxiety among readers that we put the silverware into its proper place on the cover of the final edition. The backwards silverware wasn’t just attention getting; it was a distraction.

AIf you were one of the 5,000 Monday Morning Memo readers to receive a free test copy of The Full Plate Diet, I’m hoping you’ll do a couple of things for Ray and me:

1.   Go to the Full Plate Diet Page at Amazon.com and write a review of the book. Don’t wait until you have enough time to do a 1st-class job of it. Do whatever you can do in 60 seconds, but please do it right now. This is much more important than you might suspect.

2.   Buy a copy while you’re there. You’re going to be deeply impressed with the final product from Bard Press. Amazon’s release-week discount brings the $20 cover price down to just $13.22. You’re going to be glad you bought a copy. This diet works.

3.   Mention the book this week to your network of friends. More than one million dollars in printing and promotional costs are on the line. The authors and the publisher are people we really care about. They're part of Wizard Academy.

Besides, it’s fun to say, “This bestseller was written by some doctors who go to the same business school I attend. And here’s a copy of the test book they sent me half-a-year before the final book was released. Notice how the silverware is in the wrong place. They decided not to do this on the final cover because…”

If enough of us buy a book this week, your fellow alumni are going to become bestselling authors and Wizard Academy will have a new feather in its cap.

Thanks for being there. You're what makes the difference.

You'll find the MondayMorningMemo I had originally planned for this week – 2010: The Changing of the Guard – in the rabbit hole. Dive into it by clicking the photo at the top of this page but go to Amazon.com first, okay?

Roy H. Williams