King Kirby & the swipe file of power

Came a question: “Ben isn’t it hypocritical to be ranting against swipers while selling swipe file products?” I will answer with a story: In the last few years I’ve read one particularly intriguing book 4 times so far. And I will probably read it again next year, too. And then probably once per year after that. A book that is not “about” swipe files or copywriting. But, that contains a short power lesson on the subject. The book: “Marvel Comics: The Untold Story” It’s by Sean Howe. And I suspect Marvel’s PR people ain’t exactly fond of it. Anyway, the early part of the book talks a lot about the man who was arguably the single most influential comicbook artist who ever lived — Mr. Jack “King” Kirby. I cannot think of a single comicbook artist whose interviews I’ve read or listened to who did not give Jack reverence and credit for making not only Marvel Comics what it became, but the industry as a whole. He was a “brand” unto himself in many ways. And his following in the industry was extremely rabid. For better or worse, his art was so popular and in-demand by the fanboys back in the 60’s especially that Marvel Comics would force their new artists to literally trace over Kirby’s ads to get the feel for how to draw the Kirby way. Yes, my little fledgling, Marvel told its artists to SWIPE King Kirby. But, not so their art looked like a cheap knock-off of Jack’s artwork. And not in a way that violated ethics, copyright laws, or the integrity of Kirby’s work. No, they had their artists trace over Kirby’s art to imbibe and get the ebb & flow of Kirby’s way of laying out pages, creating dynamic poses, and tell stories via the panel-by-panel layout (certain modern day Hollywood cinematographers/storyboard artists still reference Kirby’s layouts, I hear tell) & artwork. In other words, it was the artistic equivalent of a copywriter copying out world class sales copy by hand to get the feel of what it’s like to “write” world class copy, imbibe the structure and flow of a world class ad, and more quickly be able to knock out world class profits as a result. i.e., what the late Gary Halbert called “neurological imprinting.” Which brings me back to the point: Yes, I think copy & paste swiping is remarkably stupid & shortsighted. Especially when people “Frankenstein” ads together, taking a headline from one ad here, a story from another ad there, a close over there from yet another sales letter, etc and then try to assemble it, all out of voice, flow, and context. But studying great ads? Having a great swipe file of world class copywriting? Even hand writing out sales copy that has raked in multiple millions of dollars in sales to ice-cold leads selling products the reader didn’t even know existed five minutes prior? I am all for that. And I spent many hundreds of hours doing just that — including copying out an entire Gary Halbert book (The Boron Letters) by hand — during my first few years in the game. Very tedious. But I wouldn’t trade that invaluable experience for anything. So that’s the scoop on my so-called hypocrisy. Now, on to the business: The $20 Gene Schwartz seminar sale with the bonus 527 ad swipe file & elBenbo’s 1-click upsell page swipe file comes to a squealing end at midnight tonight (Friday 9/9) EDT. If you want it, best tap my affiliate link below fast, Pokey: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com/labor]( Ben Settle P.S. If you have any customer service questions, direct them to Michael Senoff, not me. You can find his contact info (email and text support) via his site. This email was sent by Ben Settle as owner of Settle, LLC. Copyright © 2022 Settle, LLC. All Rights Reserved. No part of this email may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from Settle, LLC. Click here to [unsubscribe]( Settle, LLC PO Box 1056 Gold Beach Oregon 97444 USA