I Sent You a Letter... Did You Reply?

About the Book

    This is the true story of a young man from New York who found fame and fortune in America's Midwest, working at a job (creating junk mail) that nobody else wanted. For 60 years he has advised companies and nonprofit fundraisers on how to use the mail to sell their products and services to millions of people. His name is Henry C. Cowen, and he is the whiz who has probably already touched your life, even though you may never have heard of him.
    For about half of Cowen's working years, two of the nation's largest direct mail companies paid him to work exclusively for them - and gave him unlimited budgets to find and test new ideas, new ways to sell, new ways to make more money. He is responsible (like it or not) for much of the mail you have received in your lifetime.
    Since 1975 he has also advised numerous other American companies, as well as more in Canada and Europe. His clients have included American Express, Time Newsweek, AARP, American Automobile Association, TV Guide, Exxon, Conde Nast, Sports Illustrated, Sports Afield, Field & Stream, Outdoor Life, Biblical Archaeology Society, North Shore Animal League, Bantam Books, and so on and so forth.
    His book will tell you all about this, and you will enjoy his many anecdotes, Even more importantly, if you own a company that advertises by mail (or work for one) - or a company that would like to try advertising by mail for the first time - this book is a must, because it tells you sure-fire ways to be successful.
    However, this is not a textbook. It is easy to read. There are no formulas to learn, nothing to memorize. It is even entertaining, and will simply point you in the right directions and show you how to make mail more effective, more profitable. It will work for you even if you have a small company without much money to spend - or a large company that has not been as successful in the past as you may wish.
    Henry Cowen has made many people rich, and he may make you rich, too. See for yourself. Buy or borrow a copy of I Sent You a Letter...Did You reply? You may even win one of the prizes offered in the book. Best of all, remember, it may make you rich.

About the Author

Henry Cowen has been receiving recognition of his abilities for a long time, beginning in 1952, when the Des Moines Junior Chamber of Commerce named him "Young Man of the Year." That was the start. He says he has lost track of some later awards, but here are a few he remembers.
ÊÊÊÊIn 1975 the New York Direct Marketing Club gave him the "One Hundred Million Leadership Award" - only the fourth person in history ever to receive it.
ÊÊÊÊIn 1984 he was named "Marketer of the Year" by the New York Direct Marketing Club, and the following year he received the Silver Apple Award for "distinguished service to the direct marketing community."
ÊÊÊÊIn 1989 the Direct Marketing Association, a national organization, elected him to the Circulation Council Hall of Fame "in grateful appreciation of his immeasurable contributions to the periodical industry." Cowen was the first person ever named for this honor.
ÊÊÊÊIn 1991 he won the Irving Wunderman Award to "an individual who for a decade or more has combined the highest level of talent, imagination, curiosity and insight into a unique body of creative work."