Here's what I know!
Gary Halbert has recommended reading John D. MacDonald - who is the author of the
Travis McGee series of books...
According to his protege, the late Scott Haines, reading the Travis McGee books made him a better storyteller!
Another very successful marketer (who I won't name) has recommended reading Hunter S. Thompson! (He did this in a personal email he sent to me.)
The reason why? You can learn from his turn of phrase - to get the words you use to capture attention, and also to delight the reader...
So, I think the answer is...
"yes!" Reading fiction - and well-written nonfiction - can make you more persuasive.
The first rule in the well-known "formula" for persuasion is to get "attention"...
You can't persuade people if you don't first have their attention!
Getting attention is also the first rule in being a successful fiction writer... If you don't get the reader's attention, they'll put down the book, and may never come back!
Another marketer who I know is a fan of Dean Koontz... Here's one of Dean Koontz's opening paragraphs, from
"Watchers"...
"On his thirty-sixth birthday, May 18, Travis Cornell rose at five o'clock in the morning. He dressed in sturdy hiking boots, jeans, and a long-sleeved, blue-plaid cotton shirt. He drove his pickup south from his home in Santa Barbara all the way to rural Santiago Canyon on the eastern edge of Orange County, south of Los Angeles. He took only a package of Oreo cookies, and a large canteen full of orange-flavored Kool-Aid, and a fully loaded Smith & Wesson .38 Chief's Special."
Already it makes you wonder... Why is he bringing a gun? What is he planning to do?
Gets you invested in the story!
Best wishes,
Dien