The writer I learned how to create “action copy” from

Once upon a midday clearly, an “Email Players” subscriber asked where I first learned how to write “engaging” sales letter & email copywriting from. My answer: Believe it or not, the first resource I learned it from was before I even knew what copywriting was, much less from a copywriting or marketing book. There was a specific comicbook writer starting back in the late 80’s/early 90’s I spent hours and hours reading his stories and interviews, imbibing his way of constructing & pacing his storylines… and absorbing his style for keeping things moving by “osmosis.” I’m talking about a guy who has had a clear and lasting influence on how I go about trying to create writing that doesn’t let up, and keeps things moving as smoothly and quickly as possible in emails, ads, books, fiction, and other content. A guy whose content I mindlessly consume, re-read, and even (to this day) study. A guy who taught me - via studying his work, not personally - far more about this part of writing than probably any copywriting books or courses. Who is the writer I speak of? Mr. Chuck “The Legend” Dixon. And from observing & studying this great man of comicbook writing's work I learned the art & craft of… Action writing! In other words: Writing in a way where things are always moving. Where there’s always some kind of tension. And where, when done right, that tension hopefully grabs a reader by the scruff of the brain, and can drag him through 5, 10, 15, 20, even 30 or more pages of sales copy, or 1000+ word emails… without ever letting the reader pause, get distracted, or even use the bathroom. Your Pal & long-suffering Narrator honed this skill without even realizing it almost exclusively studying Chuck Dixon comicbook stories, reading articles about him, mindlessly examining his plots & dialogue, and obsessively pouring over every interview I could find with the man. And by the way: Even if you don’t know who Chuck Dixon is, chances are you have been entertained and/or influenced by his work. In fact, unless I misheard what he said on a video last year... someone was able to calculate that Chuck Dixon is officially the single most prolific comicbook writer who ever lived. Can't say I'm shocked either. For example: He was the co-creator of Bane from the Batman comics & movies. And he has also written stories for pretty much all the most well-known characters at both Marvel & DC & other major comicbook publishers — including The Punisher & Batman… GI Joe & Conan the Barbarian… Spawn, Green Arrow, The Lone Ranger, The Simpsons, SpongeBob Square Pants, and even Raggedy Ann & Andy. Not to mention dozens and dozens of other beloved and well-known characters over the past 30+ years of his career. He is also the only person who has ever been allowed to adapt "The Hobbit" into a graphic novel, which the Tolkien estate did not allow lightly. I cannot possibly exaggerate this man’s impact on my writing. Or on my content creation game as a whole. (Everything I’ve learned studying his work translates to other content for me) Any “action copywriting” skill I have came mostly from studying his work, in many ways. More: There is something else I recently heard him teach about how to force your brain to come up with exciting, dramatic, & cool ideas that can also be applied to just about any kind of content you want to create & monetize. For example: It’s probably one of the single most cunning ways I’ve ever used to build out profitable emails and sales letters, too. Not to mention books, courses, premiums, all of it. Some of my most powerful headlines and ad campaigns were also created this way. Incidentally, I also heard the great Perry Marshall mention the mechanism behind what makes it work in one of his courses a couple years ago, too. So it ain’t just Chuck Dixon doing it. Great minds and all… Anyway, I’m not really into “hacks.” But this is definitely one hack to goose up creativity that can work. And I write about it in detail in the May Email Players issue — which is all about how to create & monetize content. This issue is King-Sized (32 pages vs the usual 20 pages) and chock-full of some of the very best, most profitable, and most reliable content creation & monetization methods I’ve ever used, continue to use, and will keep using for the rest of my life. The deadline to subscribe in time to get this issue is in mere hours. When I send the list to the printer it’ll be too late. Here’s the link: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com]( Ben Settle P.S. Here’s a “sneak preview” of what’s waiting for you inside the May issue: * An “off the cuff” comment the great Matt Furey made on a Zoom call (while we showed him BerserkerMail) that is probably the single most valuable content monetization lesson I’ve heard (and used) in the past 10 years. (He talked about everything from publishing, email, & health… to Bigfoot, aliens, &, yes… flat earth… but this “throwaway” comment he made about jump ropes was something I wrote down, have been thinking about, and have since doubled down on using to move probably even more offers than I normally would have.) * How the world’s greatest living copywriter used ordinary steak knives to sell a small fortune in subscription offers. (He wasn’t selling “content” necessarily — but I have been using this ditty for nearly 20 years since hearing him teach it to sell all kinds of content-related offers. I suspect nearly anyone else in business can, too.) * The Marvel Cinematic Universe secret to selling people on wanting to buy your content literally months (possibly even years) in advance — including before you’ve even created or talked about it! (I noticed Marvel started doing this with its first Thor movie, and it’s been a free education in content offer launches since. Their movies may not be great, but their way of selling irrefutably is.) * A skeevy trick used by the crooked Chicago Democratic Machine for the past 60+ years that legit businesses can use to help make more profits that you can (legally & ethically — no corruption necessary) when monetizing your own content. * One of the “most published” writers on the planet’s bonafide creativity hack for tricking your brain into coming up with ridiculously profitable ideas for all kinds of content (books, courses, videos, audio, anything, really) you want to create. (I’m not usually a big fan of hacks — but even I admit this is one of the most cunning ways I’ve ever seen to create everything from subject lines and headlines to stories to lessons, newsletter issues, courses, and everything in between.) * The exact best time to create content to sell, use as premiums or teachings, for coaching, or probably anything else. (I learned this clever trick from my uncle — a very successful Amway distributor back in the day — and it’s made the content-creation & monetization side of my business both a whole lot more profitable and also a whole lot less stressful.) * A “hail Mary pass” way of using content you’ve created to potentially make more sales in a week than most businesses do in a year. (The downside is you can only break the glass and use this probably one time, so make sure you do it when it counts.) * A little known (inspired by something an old school Marvel Comics editor in chief’s once did) secret for creating bonuses & premiums that can help sell lots more of your other offers — and often without doing any hard pitching in your content or pissing anyone off. (Bonus: doing this can also help make it more likely your customers will be more successful with those offers, use those offers, refer others to those offers, give testimonials for those offers, want more of those offers, and the list goes on. A powerful tip indeed.) * A non-cringey way for using name-dropping in your content to help make it more likely to be consumed, taken seriously, and even back end sell your other offers. (This goes way beyond content creation and delves into what I teach about World & Marketing Universe-building as well… to help make it more likely customers want to enter your domain and not want to leave. I’ve been using this trick for years, and am finally now teaching it in Email Players.) * Clever ways to use “Lore” to help give your business top-of-mind Status amongst your market, customers, & clients. (This also delves into World & Marketing Universe-building as I teach it. And it can also help add depth to the info you teach, create a “mystique” about your content, and potentially make that content inherently more valuable as a result.) * How one of the most prolific writers in history shrewdly used “dangling plot lines” to keep people reading, engaging with, and, yes… buying his content for literally decades… and how to adapt what he did to your own content. * Why the value you create in your content is bull shyt and what is far more useful and beneficial to your customers & clients. (The “give value” shtick was always an illusion used and pushed mostly by people who can’t sell… and has done far more harm than good. Inside I show you what can work far better while helping make you look like a hero to your audience instead.) * The psychology behind how to combine content with promotion in such a way where customers & clients will probably have no idea they are even being pitched and might even thank you for selling to them after. (Combining content with promotion is like a lost art in 2024 — and hardly anyone does it much less can teach it. But the May issue shows you in great detail how this can work and what it can look like straight from one of the most prolific and profitable content creators who ever lived.) * 18 ways for creating content that can give you such a rush of ideas you might even have to quite your brain just for some peace! (These 18 ways are basically like a “sequel” to my best-selling Breakneck Content book —delivered in rapid-fire style inside, and that I use myself to pound out more content in a month than most content creators probably do in a year.) There’s more. It is, after all, a King-Sized issue (32 pages vs the usual 20). But that should give you an idea of what to expect. To subscribe by the looming deadline go here: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com]( This email was sent by Ben Settle as owner of Settle, LLC. Copyright © 2024 Settle, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 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