Ever hear that freaky quote about reading?
I don’t know how true it is, exactly.
But apparently, something like 42% of college graduates never read another book after college. In other words, many of the people society holds up as the “educated” ones never crack open another book after leaving school.
There are many reasons for this.
Laziness is one.
Illiteracy is another (some people go clean through college without ever learning to read).
But a BIG reason is probably neurological.
Ken McCarthy (who studied neuroscience at Princeton) told me while interviewing him for The Copywriting Grab Bag it’s very hard for most people to read. (And that neurologists still don’t even fully know we can even do it!)
Freaky.
But kind of a pity, too.
Especially with all the great books out there.
Take, for example, the 8 books below.
These are sort of “underrated” books you probably won’t see in the usual marketing “echo chambers” and forums.
Two of them are almost impossible to find.
Many aren’t even “business” books.
And one is actually a comic book.
But all are extremely valuable to us marketers — as they contain everything from business and marketing lessons… to storytelling examples… to ways to reel in lagging attention spans… and even instructions on how to sell to multiple different age groups and professions.
And who knows?
You might even have some fun reading them…
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1. “The System Club Letters” -by Ken McCarthy
2. “26 Instant Marketing Ideas To Build Your Network Marketing Business” -by Tom “Big Al” Schreiter (written to MLM’ers, but the info can be applied to ANY business)
3. “Ten Greatest Sales Persons” -by Robert Shook
4. “The Dark Knight Returns” -by Frank Miller (even got a whole chapter dedicated to it in The Copywriting Grab Bag)
5. “How To Argue And Win Every Time” -by Gerry Spence
6. “The Game” -by Neil Strauss (perfectly illustrates the dangers of copy-catting goo-roos)
7. “Psychological Nudity” -by Michael Savage
8. “Gary Halbert’s Guide To The Core Secrets And Desires Of Different Groups Of People And How To Exploit Those Secrets And Desires To Make Yourself A Lot Of Money” -by Gary Halbert
Diverse list of books, isn’t it?
And I simply can’t recommend them enough.
Go ye forth and profit from ’em.
Ben Settle
