Launch Day Giveaway Results for Stop Putting Out Fires

You likely know by now that my second book, Stop Putting Out Fires (Amazon), launched on Thursday, May 2. Thanks to the support of my regular readers, my friends in LawyerSmack, and others out there who have come across it, the book has had a pretty successful first few days in the wild. While I don’t know the exact sales numbers yet, I don’t mind telling you that between orders and pre-orders, Stop Putting Out Fires has already sold more copies than my first book, Building a Better Law Practice, did in its first two months of existence.

Reviews of Stop Putting Out Fires

If you’re interested in reading some reviews about Stop Putting Out Fires, I can point you to a couple.

Bill M. Hours on Six Minutes to Kill: “Stop Putting Out Fires: Part Practice Manual, Part Chicken Soup for the Lawyer’s Soul“
Boozy Barrister on Lawyers & Liquor:

I’ve pulled this from a series of threaded tweets left by Neil Brown of Decoded Legal after he read Stop Putting Out Fires(link):

I had an hour’s journey today, so I read this. Well, I read all the bits which looked relevant to me. I skipped everything to do with litigation, and everything to do with being an associate in a law firm, as neither applies to my situation.
First, bravo to @richterjw for writing it. At his PQE, I certainly wouldn’t have felt confident enough to have written something like this. Even now, at 11 PQE (or, as I see it, “only” 11 PQE), I wouldn’t have done it, so genuine kudos for doing so.
Second, it’s not unduly specific to American lawyers (other that the predilection for litigation). I reckon it will apply pretty broadly, since a good chunk of the book is about business, and not the legal profession.
Third, I felt my £8 was well spent. This was mainly as it was pleasing to hear someone else affirming the kind of principles which I’ve relied on in building @decodedlegal — frankly, the real cost was my time spent reading it, not the cost of the book, and it was still worth it!
I don’t say this meanly, at all. I don’t expect every book I read to be crammed full of “new ideas”. (And, of course, to you, some of the contents may well be new.) For me, as I say, it was mostly reinforcement of common sense and a fair few “I do that too!” moments.

It’s not going to teach you everything you need to know about running a law firm — how could it? — but it’s clearly built on the author’s own experiences and successes in doing just that. It’s practical, sensible, and doesn’t waste words.
If you’re even slightly tempted, buy it. It’s an evening or so’s reading, or a few minutes a day for a couple of weeks. If you learn something new, or it makes you think differently, it’s a bargain. If it reinforces what you do — as it did for me — that’s money well spent.
It’s incredibly well written, and just so easy to read. That, in itself, is deserving of praise in a legal / business book. It’s just so wonderfully free of pretension, and full of pragmatism and good sense.

I’m as proud of that last sentence as anything else Neil wrote about the book: “It’s just so wonderfully free of pretension, and full of pragmatism and good sense.“

Results of the Launch Day Giveaway

I made an offer for the launch of Stop Putting Out Fires that anyone who purchased the book and shared their order confirmation on social media could be eligible to receive a free copy of Building a Better Law Practice. Here are the people who took me up on that offer and will be getting a free book:

Scott Palmer
Joe Powell
Carter Hale
Neil Brown
@DontCallMeFool
Alex Beeman
Joseph Billiot

Where to Buy Stop Putting Out Fires

Now that you’ve read all these great things about the book, you may be wondering where all you can buy it. The short answer is – anywhere that books are sold. But I’ll make it a little easier for you than that even.