The Copy Book: How Some of the Best Advertising Writers in the World Write Their Advertising

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The head start that Kipling’s society had on our own, however, need not discourage us. His funny little poem offers us hope that all the vain prattling about critical theory and relative truth will eventually be exposed, and people will return to the truth “That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four.” This book offers practical, real-world advice that can help copywriters of all levels improve their craft and produce more effective copy. It gives you a step-by-step guide for writing ad copy. 4. Everybody Writes by Ann Handley

So that said, if you don’t really know anything about social media and you are looking for some initial advice from someone obscenely qualified to deliver it, grab this book from Gary V.

What would our Austrian economists, who believe that “the market solves all problems,” have to say about that? Or present-day philosophers who believe that the Ten Commandments can easily be replaced by the lodestar “self-realization”? David Ogilvy, often referred to as “the father of advertising,” is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of modern advertising and one of the most influential figures in the history of the industry. This book contains over 6,000 power words so you can keep your language fresh. 14. Wired for Story by Lisa Cron

D&AD is the Global Association for Creative Advertising and Design, formerly known as Design and Art Direction. Their publication, The Copy Book, is a collection of essays on the art of writing for advertising. On Writing Well is a guide to mastering the written word in various forms of nonfiction. It covers not just copywriting, but also creative nonfiction, essay writing, and more. Copy cannot create desire for a product. It can only take the hopes, dreams, fears and desires that already exist in the hearts of millions of people, and focus those already existing desires onto a particular product. This is the copywriter’s task: not to create this mass desire – but to channel and direct it.” These maxims are often considered quaint, old-fashioned, and “utterly out of touch.” Kipling implies their truths are unattractive to those enamored with society’s latest fads:

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Let me start by saying that I don’t think you are going to find a whole lot of practically useful information in this outlandishly popular non-fiction title by Stephen King. Jennifer Havice is a messaging strategist and customer researcher who’s consulted for countless organizations. If you’re a copywriter who struggles with writing sales-y copy, this book breaks it down with a methodical approach. Meanwhile, the Readability report uses top readability tools like the Flesch Reading Ease Score to highlight sentences that might be hard for readers to understand. Keeping your sentences readable and concise is crucial for persuasive copywriting.

ProWritingAid is a popular tool among successful copywriters because it helps you ensure your tone, vocabulary choices, and sentence structures suit the target audience you’re trying to reach. Kipling goes on to specify some of these popular trends which eclipse “copybook headings,” and which, to the discerning 21 st century reader, sound oddly familiar: Kipling’s poem does not include any exact examples of these copybook headings. In his day, that was unnecessary. In ours, it requires a bit of research; that done, the meaning and the relevance of the poem come into focus. The Boron Letters is a series of letters written by direct response copywriter Gary Halbert to his son explaining marketing tactics and sage life wisdom. It goes far beyond a simple sales book or fancy executive advertising advice – it’s full of specific, actionable training on how to convince people to buy from you.This is not so much a how-to-write-copy book, but each letter focuses on a specific piece of advice. There are a lot of really good copy and life wisdom scattered throughout a very readable book. 4. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini Sure, some people are born with that innate skill. But the art of hooking readers in and keeping them reading? It can absolutely be learned. That’s what former publisher and writing consultant Lisa Cron breaks down in this book. When you understand how people think, you can write good, compelling copy. And when you understand how people make decisions, it’s much easier to persuade them to make the decision you want them to make.