Twain on Character and Leadership
“Few things are harder to place
up with than the annoyance of
a excellent example.”
–Mark Twain (1835–1910)
American writer
Sales history…
Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) understood and appreciated sales. He sold thousands of copies of Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer, and his other books through "subscription agents" — salespeople who would presell books door-to-door by try out pages of the books they were promoting (called a "canvassing book" or "sales dummy").
Twain’s plot was to have 40,000 copies sold before a book was published (really produced). The upsell for the agent… better bindings.
Read the scripts used by the salespeople, delight in the agent’s kit, or get some historical sales advice (much of which still holds solid).
(entire archive here — fun weekend reading)