I read an interview yesterday with an author named Terry Harknett, aka George G. Gilman. If you don’t know him, Harknett is the author of almost 200 books, mostly pulp novels in the western and crime genres. Talk about prolific! In some cases he wrote and published a DOZEN books a year.

In the interview, Harknett talks about his popular Edge series of pulp western novels, which are being republished for the Kindle. There are a number of things he said which are worth reading if you are a professional writer / copywriter (or you want to become one!)

First, you must write…every day! “If you are determined to become a published writer, apply the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair and write,” said Harknett. This is the TOUGHEST part of being a writer. But really it’s the sole requirement.

That’s because…

Professional writer’s write… just as pro painters paint, pro chefs cook and pro baseball players play baseball.

Next, if you want to get paid to write, find a paying market for your work. “As a professional writer with a mortgage to pay…I continued to supply books my publishers knew my readers wanted,” says Harknett. Turns out Harknett — who made his mark writing western novels — disliked reading westerns! He also detested violence…yet his westerns were known for being ultra-violent.

But he also keenly understood the first rule of selling anything, from encyclopedias to screenplays…

Find out what the other person wants and give this to them.

If you can follow this simple rule when you write, you can sell your writing for money all day long.

Lastly, he suggests reading good writing of other people to improve your writing. “Read books by the writers you admire and do your best to emulate, rather than copy them,” he suggests. (This was the same advice given by Gary Halbert to anyone looking to become a direct response copywriter.)

You can find a few more nuggets of advice from Harknett by reading the interview here.

Speaking of reading good writing, may I give you a strange suggestion to improve yours? I highly suggest reading the following FICTION authors. And not just fiction authors, but guys who wrote pulpy genre fiction such as crime fiction, hardboiled noir, science fiction and fantasy.

Why these books? First off, the guys who wrote these were all pro-writers. They wrote literally hundreds of books in a series, cranking them out year-after-year, sometimes publishing multiple titles under pseudonyms and pen names. Many of them were also ex-newspaper reporters, which meant they wrote tight, action-packed copy…no fluff…the perfect style for direct response marketing. Finally, they all know how to tell a gripping yarn. Read them if you want to improve your storytelling.

Here is my list of pulp fiction books and authors to inspire your copywriting:

1. The Destroyer series by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir (Chinese Puzzle, Union Bust, Slave Safari, Mugger Blood, etc.)

2. Matt Helm series by Donald Hamilton (Death of a Citizen, The Wrecking Crew, The Removers, etc.)

3. Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald (The Deep Blue Good-by, Nightmare in Pink, A Purple Place for Dying, etc.)

4. Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett

5. The 87th Precinct series by Ed McBain (Cop Hater, The Mugger, The Pusher, The Con Man, etc.)

6. Edge series by George G. Gilman (Edge: The Loner, Edge: Ten Grand, etc.)

7. Parker series by Donald E. Westlake / Richard Stark (The Hunter,The Man With the Getaway Face, The Outfit, etc.)

8. The Gor series by John Norman (only read books 1-5; the series goes downhill fast after these.)

(WARNING: As I noted above these are pulp fiction. You will read tales involving sex and violence. If you are looking for mind-expanding liturature, I can suggest other titles. But if you are looking for pure entertainment value, every one of these authors will beat the pants out of today’s Hollywood blockbusters.)

Dear Friends:

What are your absolute FAVORITE sales letters of all time?

Please list them below. At minimum, give us the headline. Even better, give us the direct link and/or the name of the copywriter.

To start things off, here are some of my favs:

“Lies, Lies, Lies!” – Gary Bencivenga

“The Lazy Man’s Way to Riches” – Joe Karbo

“America’s Secret Investment Societies” – Porter Stansberry

“Outlawed for 41 Years, Now Legal Again” – Mike Palmer, Stansberry & Associates

“End of America” – Mike Palmer, Stansberry & Associates

“The Intentional Living Control” – Bill Bonner

“How You Can Profit From The Coming Stock Market Crash And Financial Blood-bath That Is Going To Be Caused By Cash-Rich Drug Dealers And Other Criminal Scum!” – Gary Halbert

“The Insider Code. WANTED: Novice Crew to ‘Rob’ Banks Legally…With an Inside Job!” – Jim Sheridan

“WARNING: Do Not Read This If You Have Moral, Ethical Or Religious Reasons Against Hurting (Or Even Killing) Someone Who Violently Attacks You, Your Wife Or Your Kids” – Ben Settle

“How Even Skinny, ‘Barney Fife’ Cops Single-Handedly Control And Dominate Violent Criminals, Gang-Bangers And Other Cold-Blooded Killers… Without Even Drawing Their Guns!” – Ben Settle

“Combat JKD: All Your Fancy Fighting Skills Won’t Earn You An Extra Second Against This Devastating New Natural Streetfighting System!” – John Carlton

HINT: You can find most of these by just putting the headline (in quotes) into Google. Happy hunting.

PS: Need more ads for your swipe file? Check out this link:
http://theryanmcgrath.com/2010/04/gary-halberts-favorite-ads/

For forty years it sat locked in a file cabinet, forgotten and unpublished in its author’s lifetime.  Now the “greatest little book on salesmanship” is finally being released in print, thanks to Internet Marketing pioneer Ken McCarthy and the System Press.

The Secret of Selling Anything, written by Harry Browne in the late 1960s, is now available in print for the first time ever. Browne, who passed away in 2006, was a well-respected writer, speaker, politician, and media personality, gaining the national spotlight as U.S. Presidential candidate in 1996 and 2006 for the Libertarian Party.

Harry Browne was a fantastic thinker and writer. His ideas impacted my life in myriad ways, from my politics to my finances. I was honored to meet Harry in person a few years before his passing. When I met him in person, all I could do was thank him for putting his ideas in print.

Harry lived his life as a salesman. From selling educational courses door-to-door, to selling his investment newsletters, to selling libertarian ideas to the wider public as a politician, Harry was always selling. And he was always selling using a special, low-key and completely ethical selling system. A selling system like nothing else you’ve encountered.

This brings me to why you need to read The Secret of Selling Anything. Because, every human interaction is “sales” — from negotiating a car loan at your credit union, to convincing your children to make good choices. Getting a job requires selling yourself. And certainly marketing and copywriting ought to always be about selling.

And THIS is the book you need to read about sales. I’m not exaggerating when I say this book is a future classic in sales and marketing, on par with works by Dale Carnegie, Frank Bettger and Claude Hopkins.

In fact, the print version has already been endorsed by Gary Bencivenga, Bob Bly, Richard Armstrong, Drayton Bird and Denny Hatch. These guys are all A-list direct response copywriters whose controls have created millions of dollars.

“I am convinced this is one of the greatest little books ever published on effective salesmanship,” said living legend copywriter Gary Bencivenga. “If you could read only one book in your life on how to sell anything to anybody, and do so without relying on high pressure, manipulation, exaggeration, or even an extroverted personality, this would be the book.”

The e-book version has been on the market for a couple years. But this book belongs in your physical bookshelf, an heirloom to pass down to your children and grandchildren. Get the print version, you won’t regret it.

To order your print copy of The Secret of Selling Anything by Harry Browne, visit: http://www.thesecretofsellinganything.com

(* Non-affiliate link…I just love the book and believe you will thank me after reading it!)

I was watching a Seinfeld rerun the other day. The entire episode was made up of clips from previous episodes.  I found myself laughing along, even though I’ve seen most of these scenes 10 times each. Appropriately enough, the title of this Seinfeld episode was “The Clip Show.”

These “clip shows” must be easy for the show’s writers! Just take the best scenes from all the past seasons and run those. These shows often get the highest ratings too.

Lately I’ve noticed serious TV dramas such as “Lost” and “Battlestar Galactica” are using the clip show idea. It’s a way to bring in new viewers who might have missed the previous seasons and need to catch up.

Some of the storylines in these TV dramas are so complicated, even dedicated regular viewers of these shows (like me) enjoy getting a refresher!

Now, nothing I’ve written to you is part of a complicated storyline. But I think I have sent you some interesting ideas.  And it’s possible you missed a couple episodes, especially if you are new here…

So I’m going to give a quick “clip show” of my blog posts over the last 12 months:

Gary Halbert’s Favorite Ads: The 19 “must-have” ads for your swipe file…

http://theryanmcgrath.com/2010/04/gary-halberts-favorite-ads/

My Exclusive Interview with Copywriter/Novelist Richard Armstrong…

http://theryanmcgrath.com/2010/10/interview-copywriternovelist-richard-armstrong/

How To Find an Endless River of Copywriting Ideas: Using a simple but unknown feature of Google…

http://theryanmcgrath.com/2010/06/find-endless-river-copywriting-ideas/

Two Killer Opening Lines for Your Next Sales Letter or Ad: And also for your emails, blog posts, etc…

http://theryanmcgrath.com/2010/09/killer-opening-lines-sales-letter-ad/

My Interview with the Legendary Denny Hatch, The Method Marketing Man…

http://theryanmcgrath.com/2010/10/interview-denny-hatch-method-marketing-man/

That’s all for now. You can find all my past posts on my blog, if you want to check them out.

Thanks for reading and stay in touch!

Ryan McGrath

PS: I’m currently booked up with copywriting projects. But if you can wait 2-3 months, I might be able to help you with a sales letter or email copywriting…if you qualify. Since I’ve got a full plate right now, I can be selective. For example, if you are selling an information product, like a book or a newsletter, I’ll put you near the top of the list.  If you are interested in my services, your best bet is to leave me a voicemail at 616-439-0320 with details about your project.

Been to the movies lately?

I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite things about the movies is the previews (or “trailers” as they are technically called).

And I’m not the only one who likes movie trailers either.  Did you know of some 10-billion videos watched online annually, movie trailers rank #3, after news and user-created video?

Part of what makes GOOD trailers so entertaining is they give you just enough to make you want more. In fact, a good trailer is even able to sell a bad movie…

But a BAD movie trailer, on the other hand, shows too much.

If a trailer reveals all the plot twists…all the best gags…all the crazy action scenes…why would you pay money when you already saw the best parts?

All of this got me thinking today about copywriting for emails and auto-responders.

Your emails and autoresponders should be written like great movie trailers.

Great movie trailers tantalize and tease…

They show just enough to leave the viewer with a burning desire for more…

They focus on one benefit of the film…action, romance, comedy…to reach out to specific prospects.

Most of all, they get people to the theater, ready to plunk down money to see the whole picture.

And you know what?

Once you get your prospect to the point of sale and ready to spend money, then you’ll know your email has done its job.

PS: Is your email doing the job? If you need help with your email or autoresponder copy, contact me today. As I’m writing this, I can make room for one more client to write specifically email/autoresponder copy.  Be advised that once I fill this spot, it might be a 3-month wait until I’m able to take another client. If you’ve got an information product (book, newsletter, course) I’ll put you higher up on the waiting list.