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It's great that Eric Ries used his own lean startup methodology to figure out what influenced people to buy the book.

Eric built a website to take pre-orders so he could A/B test the book's cover, title, and marketing to figure out how to get as many preorders as possible, Since preorders count as orders when your book launches, he managed to become a best seller.

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Yup. Also, he had Lean Startup groups throughout the country that helped promote and sell the book (and Lean Startup vision).

Also, he gave up his speaking fees and asked event organizers to sell books instead.

Also, he found a way to bundle book sales with ticket sales.

Also, he had a proven idea.

Yes, very meta.

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