This is probably one of
the worst things to say to a bunch of authors.
But I'll say it anyway…
I’m banning myself from buying any more books.
(erm, well, maybe just until the end of the year)
Not because I have too many (that’s not even possible).
But because I’ve realised that books are like
people.
Here me out before you write me off as a mad woman.
I listen to a marketer named Ben Settle, you might not have heard of him unless you’re in the copywriting/marketing world. He's a
brilliant email copywriter and strategist, having written and made millions for his clients (and now for himself).
He’s built an info publishing empire and always challenges me to think differently.
I’ve spoken with him a
few times. He often talks about how he has read and re-read the same book multiple times, some 25 times or more.
I used to think this was madness.
I mean, there's a lifetime's worth of books out there, on any topic, any
niche, any type of fiction and non-fiction you can imagine. You can guarantee someone somewhere has written about it.
So why read the same book over and over?
I was giving it some thought — in the shower, as you do — when it
occurred to me that if books are like people, then how well can you know that person if you only meet them once?
Ok, so some people, if you meet them once, that's more than enough.
But some people,
every time you meet, you get to know them a little bit more.
And the more you get to know them the more deeply you understand them.
How many times have you read a book or watched a movie for
the second time only to notice something new about it?
Every book, every author, every character has a unique voice, a layered depth that you can miss at first glance.
I'm currently re-reading the
Robert Collier better books. It was written nearly a hundred years ago and still offers a great deal of copywriting and marketing insights.
Like this one: “What the world wants, and has wanted since the beginning, is news—something to flag its jaded interest, something that stirs its emotions.”
So tell me, what book would you re-read?
And if it's new to me, I'll let you ask me a question about oyur marketing - and I'll give you my best answer it too!