These looong letters don't ask for the sale until the end...

None of the grade level formulas at the page you referenced use paragraph size in their calculations.

Alex

What do you mean asking for the sale at the end doesn't work? You want a very long sales letter? Here you go...

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Wake Up Productive Salesletter from Eben Pagan » Swipe File Archive » Marketing & Copywriting Examples

Both letters work because they grab the reader from the off and don't let go. The writing is tight and on-point. Not really. If something is interesting, you'll read it. It's got nothing to do with the length... or asking for the order at the end. For instance... here's some copy I bet you read every word of - even if its 20,000 words long - "SplitTest Sucks and Here's Why". Or "The Secret Love Life of a Cat Called SplitTest (warning: this is a very long yarn)".

As for They aren't so long. And they're often broken up with ellipses. They work because the writing is tight... but most importantly - they're broken up by good Subheads. When you skim the letter the subheads give you the gist of the yarn. And that is very important. Especially when you want the copy to, as you say "get to the point".

If the letter or page is actually telling me something relevant - showing me benefits and dealing with objections to my satisfaction, then I will read a long sales letter all the way through, because it's held my interests and I'm a potential buyer. In this case I'll be more likely to press the buy button after I've read through what you have to say - provided it convinces.

The more expensive the product, the more information you will probably need to provide. You need longer copy for that.

If the copy doesnt say anything of real relevance, or if it resorts to templated stuff like "wait there's more" and ludicrous claims, then I will stop and I wont get to the buy button stage.

Long copy still has to be broken up into short chunks with relevant sub-headings.

And of course I wont bother to read on if I'm not the target group for the product in the first place, so it means long copy is talking to interested buyers. You either keep them interested and convince them or they go away unconvinced.

There's a saying that you need to ask for the order more than once. I agree with that, but I ask for the sale more than once - towards the end.

When I started it was thought of that the sales letter was like an introduction to your future partner via correspondence. Would you marry someone without knowing every detail?

You would surely want to know everything about your prospective partner if the written word was the only thing you had to go on.

I love long sales letters but maybe the world of interruptions has become the norm so perhaps if your product is trying to attract a younger audience something brief may be more effective. Hence split testing.

Sure if you've got a good hook and a warm prospect then yes the copy will get read.

I suspect today, however that even people with an interest in a product may get distracted by so many things that even if you go long copy you've got to get the key seeds sown in the first few moments.

In many ways the pre-sell is far more important.

I'd almost say having all forms of persuasion fully employed is the way to go.