When Tim Sanders, chief solutions office at Yahoo, published his book, Love Is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends (Crown Business), he had only modest expectations. Writing the book, says Sanders, "was like a three-year confessional deposition devotional for me, a chance to look at what I'd done in business and say, why do I think this is working?" The book was an instant success, gracing the cover of the February (Valentine's Day) issue of Fast Company, and Sanders was an instant celebrity. The young man from Yahoo, however, looked the opportunity at superstardom in the eye-and turned it down. Declining offers for all sorts of spinoff, ancillary and promotional deals (one enterprising fellow wanted to produce a doll based on Tim's concept), Sanders, who answers every one of his numerous e-mails personally, decided to return to work: "I decided to return to my life, go back to work at Yahoo, stick to my knitting, and let the book have a life of its own."

NT: What does "Love is a Killer App" mean?

A "killer application" is an idea that supercedes the previous way of doing things, an idea that becomes so wildly popular that it's difficult to compete with. It's the "next big thing." Home Depot was a killer application to the local hardware store. E-mail was a killer application to the written letter.

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