As a thank-you to all of you today, I am today releasing the audiobook of The 4-Hour Chef…for free.
This includes almost 10 hours of recording: all of the chapters on accelerated learning, all of the ridiculous experiments and related stories, and much more.
I’m partnering with BitTorrent again to bring you a bundle of goodies. The full unlocked bundle for this release is 5.4 GB of free content (!), whereas my first BitTorrent release for the print edition was 187 MB. HD instructional videos? Bonus PDFs? You got it.
The audiobook also features guest narration from one of my heroes–bestselling author Neil Gaiman!
I’ve written about Neil before (read my gushing here), and if you’re not a fan yet, you will be. Special thanks to Neil, his amazing assistant Cat, and also to Max Adams, who acted as Twitter matchmaker:
@CelluloidBlonde tell @tferriss that I’m in.
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) January 27, 2013
I hope you enjoy the audiobook as much as I enjoyed producing it. Here’s the announcement and download links from BitTorrent…
The 4-Hour Chef: Accelerating Learning for Free
What’s the value of a free read?
Last November, we partnered with best-selling author Tim Ferriss to find out. We handed out sections and drafts from his new book, The 4-Hour Chef, to BitTorrent fans. In turn, 880 thousand of them checked out the hardcover on Amazon. And 2012’s boycotted book about meta-learning hit 2013’s bestseller lists, from the New York Times to the Wall Street Journal.
A free read, it turns out, is a powerful thing.
So, what’s a listen worth?
We’re letting the people decide. Today, Tim Ferriss is giving away the full audiobook of The 4-Hour Chef, complete with six hours of HD creativeLIVE tutorials that bring the 4-Hour lessons to life. Call it an experiment in anti-cannibalization. Our goal is to see how different formats can feed off of, and feed, one another.
Here’s the deal:
Check out Tim Ferriss’s page on BitTorrent. You can instantly download several chapters of The 4-Hour Chef audio, Part 1 of the full-color ebook (62 pages), and three workshop videos from creativeLIVE.
Subscribe to the book’s email list, and unlock the full audiobook narrated by Ferriss, Neil Gaiman, and Adam Verner, plus ten additional workshop videos. It’s everything you need to master everything, basically: from the kitchen to the basketball court. Except the hardcover. (You’ll need to go here for that.)
Download The 4-Hour Chef Bundle
Instant Download:
The 4-Hour Chef: eBook Part 1 [PDF]
The 4-Hour Chef: AudioBook Introduction [Audio]
The 4-Hour Chef: creativeLIVE Workshop, Day 1 [3 Videos]
Unlocked Bundle
The 4-Hour Chef: Full AudioBook [Audio]
The 4-Hour Chef: Creative Live Workshop, Day 2 [9 Videos]
###
Also Tonight (9/10) from 6-7pm PT (9-10pm ET)…
I’ll be doing a live Q&A on Twitter for 60 minutes. Ask me anything. Really. To make my day, download the audiobook first and let me know what you think! Here’s how it works:
1) Follow @merrelloutside. I’m partnering with them for this, so you’ll need to follow them to see my responses to questions.
2) Ask questions in the following format:
“@tferriss @merrelloutside [insert question]? #asktim”
3) I’ll answer ’em as fast as I can! Hope to see you tonight.
The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with over 500 million downloads. It has been selected for "Best of Apple Podcasts" three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it's been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page.
You’re fucking awesome Tim love your work, its completely changed the way i think!
You are an awesome human being.
Thanks Tim 😀
For people who already have the hardcover 4HC book and all CreativeLive courses, is it possible to simply buy the full 4HC audiobook?
BTW great news that’s the first audiobook with partly your own voice (if I understood correctly) It must be fun to hear digressions… 🙂
But it’s free…
Downloaded- and now I better figure out how to use bittorrent, since I’ve never used it before….
Awesome, kudos to you Tim for making this widely available for all. I already own the Kindle edition, but not the hardcover–don’t want the heft and weight of a physical edition when living a nomadic existing… But this will serve as an amazing compliment to the Kindle edition. I still use my Aeropress nearly every day, thanks to this book.
Your humbleness and generosity never cease to amaze and inspire me. i can not wait to get home and download this. Thanks Tim.
So you augment your best product and give it away for free. If you were not the Tim Ferris, an idol to so many young lads like me, I would have said you have gone mental mate.
Is there any rule that you wont break? Should I even read economics books anymore?
Damn you, Tim!
Will you save some awesome for the rest of us?! Seriously. Also, a release like this usually means something big is coming, which makes this a win-win situation. I won’t speculate as to the announcement, but something is coming. I can feel it.
🙂
Your smile confirms my suspicion. 😉
Also, did you get my shitty email? A special someone promised to help me break through the beautiful noise.
If yes, please reply and/or follow the call to action. If no, please reply to this comment explaining why you hate me.
Too dramatic a comment, man. I’m simply on deadline so not taking on new commitments. That’s all.
Keep up the good fight, though!
Tim
My speculation is the hint towards audio formatting 🙂 I’m so excited!
Tim, Please tell me this is a test on viral downloads. I just downloaded and shared on FB your recent post about it.
Thanks so much for not just helping me to change my body(5% body fat loss and 10lb gain in muscle last year) but for empowering others to understand some deeper mechanics on their body, diet and how these are interrelated.
Amazing! Gaiman is great. Are you going to use him as a basis for doing some Ferriss Fiction? Would love to see you interview him!
I’d love to interview Neil sometime. He’s the real deal.
Perfect timing. Just this morning I promissed my girlfriend I will spend more time in the kitchen to reward her for successes at work. (And because I love her)
If you’re very quiet and listen carefully, you can hear the sound of Barnes and Noble collectively shitting its pants.
I don’t know how to use that bit trent stuff too.Where can I find “how to use this stuff?”
Good question. For windows I’ve used: http://www.finaltorrent.com/, http://www.freetorrentviewer.com/ and http://www.easytorrent.org/. But just Google “torrent downloader” for your operating system.
Thank you Kevin!
Bold move, Mr Ferriss.
I would have to say I’m impressed, however.
Awsome stuff!! Thank you Tim. I bought the book a couple of weeks back so have been chewing away at since. But this is a nice complementary work for when on the road.
You truly inspire me.
This is a great strategy Tim. Few people realize that as much as you would like to hang on to your stuff and have people only purchase your products, that is not possible in the world of Internet today.
You are showing good will by doing this and people really appreciate nice persons. You are a mentor for me and for many others and I’ve made big changes to my life thanks to your experiments.
I appreciate you man!
Thank you so much, huge fan of your books. Already own all 3 but I always prefer audiobooks so I was pumped to see this post today!
How do we received unlocked version?I entered my e-mail address.Is it come by e-mail??
It is an immediate download. The email address is just adding you to Tim’s and Creative Lives mailing lists.
So, we download the sample part, and THEN we will get a link to sign up and get the full part? That is not so clear, but I’m in!
I’ve been anticipating this release. I was going to buy it. I also recently purchased The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. You’re the man.
This is awesome, I’m downloading the bitorrent bundle right now …
… but I don’t know where I can get the full audiobook
wow thanks tim, very generous of you. I can’t wait to listen to it all over again and again.
WOW THANK YOU! =)
Tim’s past work has really changed my life, but I’ll be honest – for the last few months this blog hasn’t really gripped me with its content. Nothing wrong with it, just nothing too relevant for me.
However, my eyes almost burst out of my head when I read that he’s giving this stuff away! Clearly a sign of good will to his readers, and has reminded me why I am a fan!
Thanks for the comment, Neil! What would you like to see more of? What are your previous favorite posts?
Best,
Tim
Thank you Tim for all you do. You inspire!
Oh YES!!! Brain and body hacking here I come!
I can’t believe you’re doing this. Thank you.
Fabulous Tim! This is an obligation with an offer like this!
That’s incredible that you would give soooo much away! That’s why you will always be blessed! I get it finally! The more you give the more you get! The law of Sowing and Reaping or Karma! Incredible.
I am elated! One of my favorite authors partnering up with one of my favorite sites, using my favorite philosophy… Oh, this is beautiful!
Thanks!
BAH! Won’t keep me from purchasing this book for the SECOND TIME!
Nice try TIM, and thank you for the audio.
-Dereck
Thanks Tim for sharing it with us.
This is huge! Thank you. When I read the first paragraph I couldn’t help but say “What?!” and read again.
Tim…what’d you use to record? A studio, or just your home computer?
I downloaded it onto my I pad but can not get it to open…is there an application I need to open it, or does it not work on I pads? Sorry for being so stupid othis one.
You are truly an awesome human being.
Hi Tim,
First the obvious and banal ( please read later bit for genuine question : Thanks a Million, I like many other are surprised as well amazed at this gesture of yours. Even though your previous books are easily available on torrent sites, and having originally downloaded and read them via torrents itself, i still bought the hardcover for both. . ( #pirateconfessions) . This itself speaks volumes about the impact your books have been having, that a freeloader is obligated spend money . ( note obligated , not forced compelled . 😉 )
Anyway ,now the real question …whats the f*** in deal with giving away so much for free. We are all aware of challenging the ”status quo” and your ” question everything?” But we are also aware of how calculative and astute you are when it comes to doing business . Also Jeff bezos has got a wife and kids to feed ….
Obviously this whole question is rendered moot , if commerce is not on your mind at all.
But if any form of transaction or commerce is expected , whats the method to this madness?
Which one among these is the most appropriate rationale behind this :
1) You will loan so much good-will and karma , that listeners are bound to payback. ( if not the users , then the universe , maybe you are into yoga now :p )
2) This is based on some projected calculation ( display –> click –> conversion ) basis of your last semi give away at the torrent sites. If so , please explain the math .
3) 1/3 Calculation +1/3 Karma , Giveaway +1/3 making a statement
4) Lets give stuff for free and see what happens ?? . – Worst Case Scenario. Naughty America Videos and 4 HC are both highest trending dloads on torrent sites . 😛 . , actually that may be the best case scenario .
Please reply,
Me
not sure ….if I said anything which was inappropriate or violates the hygiene……if so please let me know and I will do the correction.
Was just talking about 4HC yesterday. Explained someone that I was saving the ‘getting into that’ for a more suitable moment. (Reading Man 2.0 now, so enough to stay happy and active on for now.) For sure I downloaded it and started reading (the pdf). ..Thank you Tim! Now is apparently my moment to dive in.
I can’t carry my MASSIVE copy of the four hour chef in my briefcase so the audiobook will be great!
As a novice runner training for his first marathon, I definitely appreciate the free audio book. 10 hours should last a good 3-4 training runs 🙂
Since I missed the Twitter Q&A, I’ll ask this here. In 4HB, you recommend calcium, potassium, and magnesium supplements. Do you have a preferred brand name for these supplements? Or will any brand do as long as they provide the correct dose?
Many thanks,
Brian
Wow this is amazing. I cannot say thank you enough.
Hi Tim,
just imported the audio book in iTunes, just great, thanks a lot!!
Is there an artwork (cover) available for the audio book?
Dankeschön!
SERIOUSLY????
This is a stupidly cool move! I love the book and I was debating whether or not to buy the audio book when it came out but this is just amazing!
Well done Tim, I hope this works out well for you.
Cheers, Rob
I would happily buy this guy a pint (or few)
thanks Tim
I own the kindle version and started to learn how to cook for the gf 🙂
Thanks Tim, you are an awesome person!!!
Epic! This is just awesome Tim.
I’ve read the hardcover a couple of times (got a signed copy off you when you presented at Google Campus, London back in Feb)…
But this is new meat…
AND IM HUNGRY!
I’ve also shared it on Scott Dinsmore’s ‘Connect With Anyone’ forum for all to download, as the other superstars over there will love this!
No doubt you’ll get some new sales through them chaps too!
Luca
Thanks Tim! I literally bought the hard copy 2 days ago so this is a great companion!
Awesome, Tim!
You made my day, once again.
???????????
The question marks were a failed copy&paste of Japanese syllabary…
In any case,
Arigatou gozaimashita!
Thanks Tim thats awesome and cool, now i can hear the 4 hour Chef too. I love your work and i hope the next 4 hour book is coming soon.
WOW, amazingly valuable content for free? Are you crazy?!?! Well I guess great minds think differently :). I agree with benny, you are an awesome human being.
Uhmm, I’m not sure if I’m doing this correctly, but I put in my e-mail for the unlocked bundle, checked my e-mail and clicked to be subscribed to the mailing list to get the unlocked bundle, and haven’t heard back or received anything. So… is it just the 1st chapter and stuff that’s free or am I doing something wrong?
I agree with the comment that the hardcover is practical exercise to tote around with you. Combine it with the 4Hour Body and you have a set of weights for your hands.
The unlocked bundle is unlocked by signing up to mailing list for the book right?? The only link in the message to BitTorrent that gives a sign up option is for creativeLive. Your Torrent page has a nice note to the right side and a box, 99% covered by BitTorrents menu(due most likely to my netbook screen), below with a link to amazon but no sign up boxes.
Reading the message says: “Download the first chapter of the audiobook and creativeLIVE workshop for free.(the 197MB file yeah?) Then, enter your email (missing here button or email box)to unlock the entire audiobook.”
The other thing I forgot to mention, I signed up on fourhourchef.com to follow. Thinking it would send a link to the audiobook download but alas.
Tim,
Thanks for two things:
1. Making Bittorrent more “Legitimate”, giving it potential to become an “app store” of sorts, with the whole “bundle” thing.
2. Breaking the trend of “self help” authors who after, making more money than they know what to do with, still charge for thier advice.
Unlike others, you are not trying to get rich off your audience (you’ve found other ways to do that), you are actually trying to improve the world by spreading your knowledge and ideas.
Thanks Again,
Artem
Wow! Thanks Tim! This is awesome! I’m still planning to get the hardcover version. 🙂
I look forward to seenig what this will do for sales in general of our audiobooks. On a more interesting note I think of the fantastic use this can be for people, like myself, that are visual learners. If there is material to read and you can read and listen at the same time that will increase the information planted in the mind. What a great way for someone learning a new language wanting to get into a book. This will give this to them with increased learning of both material and language. I guess I’m saying I like it. Lynn
Thanks Tim! All of your books have been of great help to me! I own the books and the audio books of 4 hour work week and 4 hour body! I own the book Four Hour Chef, but love to listen to the audio book!
Hi Tim,
Thank you very much for this! You are really awesome. Please continue being one of my inspiration.
I am so freaking grateful you’re doing this, man!
I really appreciate everything you do. I share your message to anyone that will listen. Thank you releasing the Audio Book and sharing your journey with us.
Thank you for making such generous gift for us.
Hi Tim,
Will the Dave Camarillo workshop ever become available? Have all your books and love them but can’t afford the $300 to unlock the rest of the content. Thanks for this release, have learnt loads.
P.S. You should get Greg Jackson on your new podcast. Listen to the podcast he did on Ari Shaffir’s skeptic tank podcast. Incredibly bright and perceptive guy who along with being the best mma coach in the world interviews people who achieved excellence in their fields and tries to see the commonalities they share. So up your alley dude, you will get a kick from interviewing him.
Awesome. The Creative Live stuff is well, WELL, worth the time, for all sorts of reasons
Believe it or not I bought the book when it was released and just couldn’t read it (due to lack of time) . And I’ve been waiting ever since for the audiobook to get released, what a wonderful surprise! I’m sure there must be a lot of people like me that actually prefer audio over text (at least to gain familiarity with the written book when you decide to actually start experimenting with various techniques etc….).
In short: Thanks! you’re awesome Tim!
Smart marketing move Tim, did you get this idea of giving away your audio book free from Seth Godin?
Apparently his book “Unleashing the Ideavirus” became one of his most lucrative and popular books and initially was and still is available for free.
Any low-res version available to make it a bit more potable?
Great stuff, Tim. I read 4HC a few months back but the audiobook’s been a nice refresher. Looking forward to what’s next!
Wow love it! Thanks for this Tim.
Just noticed that “FHC_4_SCI_02” is missing however?
Thanks for making the audiobook available for free Tim. However, I must confess that I’m having difficulty with Bit Torrent’s user interface. Perhaps I’m a Luddite, but I don’t understand what it means by “seeding,” “active,” “inactive,” etc. Also, when I attempt to play any of the downloaded materials from my Itunes account, it’s disjointed and skips around from one chapter to another without any rhyme or reason. Unless there’s a simple way to understand Bit Torrent, can you just offer the book for download on iTunes? I’d prefer to pay, than spend the time figuring out how Bit Torrent works. If others are having (or have had) the same issues with BitTorrent, please chime in with any advice.
Tga is for sharing this for free Tim. Awesome gift to the world.
I just wanted to listen to the audiobook, this Bit torrent thing made my computer really slow and auto-install extensions in my browser thant make it crash, I had to unistall it. No book or Bit Torrent for me. Next time you recommend something, I will think twice.
Hey Tim,
Is there any way you can post about doing Vegan/Vegetarian version for your book 4 hour chef?
I have been constant follower of your work and my story was published in Men’s Health magazine about how I lost 26 kg in 5 months using slow carb diet. I have the hard cover of the book but don’t know how to relate to it in Vegan/Vegetarian way.
Or at least some guidelines about how it can be achieved?
Wow, it seems like alot of value being giving away for nothing – that is very generous of you thanks 🙂
Thanks so much for the audiobook! I have owned the hardcover since it came out, but I’m a mom of two little ones and now I will actually be able to get through this thing. I’m LOVING it! I wish every book came with a free audio version. This is also a brilliant marketing strategy for such a visual book. Anyone who likes the audio book will simply have to buy the hardcover. Bravo!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you. That was awsome! I love Neil Gaiman!! You need to narrate your own audiobooks. I have the audiobook of the 4-Hour Workweek and your voice is a much better fit with your style of writing than Ray Porter, even though he did do a good job.
Hi. I downloaded the BitTorrent files, but I wasn’t able to open it. It was within the 10hr time frame. It kept asking me what program to open it with. Now it tries to open w itunes. Can you help? Thank you:)
(sorry if this posts twice). I love your work Tim. It has inspired a me to create SKILLY. A portal that, through extensive research and experimentation, will provide the community with a clear methodology of how to acquire specific new skills as efficiently as possible to a world class standard. It will build on the basics of your blog and utilise many of the concepts you teach.
The site is in development, but I would love yours and the communities feedback @RapidSkilly. To stay up to date on developments sign up by following my name link above.
Wow that’s great to know, thanks for sharing
Thanks for the audiobook! You kick ass!
Thanks for the audiobook! I couldn’t open it at first, it kept crashing uTorrent but after updating the program, it did it OK, I think people need up to date torrent software for this to work.
17:50 of part 1 of the audio book is just brilliance and made me genuinely laugh out loudly. I’ve never read Neil Gaiman before, but my next book will be one of his after that comment.
Pleased to see one of my favourite CreativeLive presentations there too.
Hey Tim,
About half way through the audio book… you did a great job not only with the content but the delivery toooooooooo!
Keep up the awesome work.
Thanks!
Within the Unlocked bundle > 03_Workshop > The-4-Hour-Life_Day-1
All the videos are the beginning Banter video…
Other than that, everything seems to be exactly what you listed.
Terrific bundle otherwise!
Just wanted to say Tim, you are AWESOME! FREE audiobook and Neil Gaiman! I’m going to go through entire audiobook, while I wait for the order from Amazon to arrive 🙂
I’m a little late to the party on this post, but still wanted to say thanks Tim!
Genius.
Wow, I’m finally commenting after a year of following this blog, but hey – this just made my day.
Thanks Tim!
Apologies if this is in the wrong space but I didn’t know where to put it.
I came accross your TED talk that spoke about swimming, and I went out and tried the reach down method that you spoke about, and the difference in what I was doing previously is amazing. What I don’t fully understand is how you recommend to marry that with the breathing. Everyone says you have to stay tall and sort of take a rest on the side when you are breathing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvadRu5dgKc
2.48 in this video.
Please can you expalin other than rolling to the side, which I understand, how do you stay tall / breath in your methodolgy. Thanks.
Hey Guys! I saw this and thought it was cool and wanted to share with you all.
http://www.businessinsider.com/moby-torrent-2014-1
If the link doesn’t work, just copy the above URL into the address field 😛
I’ve been trying for the past hour to get the audiobook version of the Four-hour Chef – where can I get that at?! HELP!
This is just for people who are too stupid to download all his stuff for free already, might as well ride the “good karma wave” exactly what i would do..
people love real books they can hold.
when i make the money from my business or body i’ll pay it forward or give him $..
stay awesome
I just found this… ITS 2016!!! I’m so excited to listen and upset I didn’t know about the audio book sooner!!!