In 1936, Dale Carnegie released his masterpiece How to Win Friends and Influence People. This self-help book quickly became a sensation and has sold more than 30 million copies, making it one of the best-selling books in history. . Not only has this book changed the lives of countless people, but there is also an amazing story behind its success.
Before the advent of How to Win Friends and Influence People, the self-help book genre had a rich heritage. Dale Carnegie began teaching business education courses at the YMCA in New York as early as 1912 and accumulated considerable experience. It was not until 1934 that Leon Shimkin of the Simon & Schuster publishing company walked into Carnegie's class and helped him compile the lectures into a book. The initial 5,000 books exceeded expectations by a large margin, and it has gone through as many as 17 version updates, which shows the strong market demand for this book.
An early reader pointed out that this book is like a bible on relationships, teaching us how to get along better with others.
The original book includes chapters like "Letters That Work Magically" and "Seven Rules for a Happier Family Life." The revised edition launched in 1981 streamlined the content, reducing the number of chapters from six to four. This version removes content related to business correspondence and improving marital satisfaction and puts more emphasis on interpersonal skills.
The success of this book can be attributed to a number of factors. First, Carnegie's writing style is approachable and easy to understand, allowing anyone to absorb the knowledge quickly. Secondly, the stories and cases used in the book are very vivid and can resonate with readers. In addition, the book's marketing strategy was also very successful. In order to promote the book, the publisher even sent 500 books to students who had participated in its courses, which aroused an enthusiastic response.
The success of the book has made it one of the most important documents in American history, and it has topped the New York Times bestseller list many times.
How to Win Friends and Influence People not only quickly became popular, but also influenced the writing style of a number of subsequent self-help books. Countless writers and speakers have been inspired by it, and consumers have a deeper understanding of human interaction. This book quickly made the category of "self-help books" an important branch of literature, and Carnegie's influence can be seen in almost every self-help book.
Warren Buffett took Dale Carnegie's course when he was 20 years old and still has his diploma in his office. An excellent example is actress Donna Reed, who read the book in high school and landed the lead role in a school play. Even in some adult lives, notorious figures like Charles Manson used the techniques in the book to manipulate others.
This book teaches us how to influence other people's thoughts and behaviors through effective communication and achieve success in life.
To this day, Carnegie's books still influence the lives of many people. They have given people a new understanding of interpersonal communication and opened the door to success for countless readers. In this rapidly changing society, are you willing to understand and try Carnegie's philosophy to change your and my lives?