Best Copywriting Book?

[AlanCarr]

Prove to the Warrior Forum You Really Know Your Stuff:

For cash-strapped DIY types like myself, which is the best downloadable book on web-based copywriting?

The book that opened your eyes, boosted your confidence and gave you a glow AFTER you'd already read a few such books?

What really rocked your brain?

I have some general copy knowledge, AIDA, benefits not features, that kinnda thing; am looking for the hardcore or advanced stuff.

Am looking for a single product, not a course and certainly not video?

This is your chance to shine! Tell us not only what's great but what's great about it?

*Boost your own sales because people will know you're an expert!

*Impress your friends!

*Save me money!

OK, that last one shouldn't be there...



B.

[ZelimirGraf]

When it comes to web copywriting, I loved Michael Fortin`s "The Death of a sales letter". This is a must read if you haven`t gotten your hands on it yet.
And it`s free! :-)

[OnlineMasterMind]

Originally Posted by Bigsofty

Prove to the Warrior Forum You Really Know Your Stuff:

For cash-strapped DIY types like myself, which is the best downloadable book on web-based copywriting?

The book that opened your eyes, boosted your confidence and gave you a glow AFTER you'd already read a few such books?

What really rocked your brain?

I have some general copy knowledge, AIDA, benefits not features, that kinnda thing; am looking for the hardcore or advanced stuff.

Am looking for a single product, not a course and certainly not video?

This is your chance to shine! Tell us not only what's great but what's great about it?

*Boost your own sales because people will know you're an expert!

*Impress your friends!

*Save me money!

OK, that last one shouldn't be there...



B.

Maximum Money in Minimum Time by Gary Halbert and here's why:

For one, he gives a personal story how he was flat broke and couldn't even pay his electric bill - but by mastering the techniques of salesmanship in print he was able to create untold wealth in a very short period of time.

At that time that was something I could relate to and it raised my level of confidence tremendously.

Gary talked about having the realization that he needed to write to someone as if the response was a life or death situation.

That also had a profound impact on me.

However, the biggest lesson I learned is that most copywriters spend all their time worrying about offending a couple of cowards and losers instead of writing, without any resistance, to their ideal customer.

And here's the kicker: the book is simply a compilation of his past newsletters, many of which you can find free:

You can start here:

The Gary Halbert Letter

and here:

The Gary Halbert Letter

Of course, most people ignorantly will write the site off or read only a couple of editions simply b/c it's FREE and we know the value people place on something is directly related to how much it costs. Then they'll go and spend much more on an expensive copywriting course (without even fully reading the sales page or taking the time to consider how they are being influenced)

However, if you truly are a DIY kinda guy then I think you'll find the book and the site "useful."

And of course, the MOST important thing to read if you want to write successful sales letters would be... proven and successful sales - but I guess that's only common sense right?

[Loren Woirhaye]

Lenny Eng's book on Clickbank is very good for a beginner,
every bit as good as Maria Veloso's book on Web
Copywriting - available in paperback only. I would
start there. Bob Serling's ebook is supposed to be
good but I doubt he covers all the layout and eye-tracking
stuff Eng covers.

The Make Your Site Sell ebook is free I think but it's bloated,
dated, designed to sell site-sell.com and targeted at
rank beginners.

Paul Myers stuff, Michel Fortin, Clayton Makepeace, et al.
all have powerful advice for free. Ultimately you just
have to write everyday and get copywriting methods
into your bones. No short cuts - but if you do it often
enough and with enough commitment your thinking shifts
and it gets much easier to write persuasively.

[TimCastleman]

There are a ton of great books both offline and online. I saw someone recommend Bob Serling's ebook and I think it is a great book (PM me if you want to know where to get a copy of it). The thing I like about his book is that he goes step by step in the writing process.

Also get Adweek Guide To Copywriter by Joe Sugarman. Great book that would teach you a lot. Good luck.

[maximus242]

For online its the book "Power Copywriting For The Internet" By Bob Sterling, by a FAR margin the best Ebook you can buy.

That said, I strongly recommend you go physical course instead. If I could only buy one book it would probably be The Adweek Copywriting Handbook due to its comprehensiveness or Breakthrough Advertising.

For just starting out the Adweek Copywriting Handbook or Bob Sterlings book is your best bet. Breakthrough Advertising is written assuming you have read practically everything else first.

If I were starting out and just needed one book I would probably get Sterlings book, because its so step by step. If I wanted to become a killer copywriter I would get Sugarmans book because it goes into more abstract concepts that you need to be aware of but its not as easy to implement.

[TimCastleman]

For online its the book "Power Copywriting For The Internet" By Bob Sterling, by a FAR margin the best Ebook you can buy.

That said, I strongly recommend you go physical course instead. If I could only buy one book it would probably be The Adweek Copywriting Handbook due to its comprehensiveness or Breakthrough Advertising.

For just starting out the Adweek Copywriting Handbook or Bob Sterlings book is your best bet. Breakthrough Advertising is written assuming you have read practically everything else first.

If I were starting out and just needed one book I would probably get Sterlings book, because its so step by step. If I wanted to become a killer copywriter I would get Sugarmans book because it goes into more abstract concepts that you need to be aware of but its not as easy to implement.

Is there an echo in here or did you just say the same two books I did ;-)

I love both of these books and for less than $50 you can get a world class copywriting education.

[maximus242]

Lol I didnt see your post until after I made my post. We must of made them at the same time. I guess great minds think alike. ;D

[AlanCarr]

Hi, thanks for the suggestions, keep em coming

Have now read death of the salesletter and am nibbling my way through Gary Halbert's stuff. Tried to find the other 2 books mentioned but didn't like the $97 price tag on one, wasn't too sure about the site for the other. Will come back to them after a bit more Halbert nibbling.


B.

PS Just did a search for Lenny Eng. I dunno, maybe I'm fussy but I spot one serious slip-up and I grow wary and hit the back button.

"So what did he do? Well he went out and did what most people did. He went out and bought everything he could on website copywriting.

He spent thousands of $ dollars on research... from low priced ebooks to high priced seminar tapes and manuals. I studied the works of some of the biggest names in advertising!"

The copywriting for his own book and he screws up 3rd person perspective with a typo..

Mmm.

The book may be good but I wouldn't hire someone who makes such a basic error and worse, never gets round to spotting it.


B.

[Loren Woirhaye]

You are truly bewildered my friend. You've found a reseller's
site, not Lenny's site - and read the copy of somebody who
bought the resale rights to the book and for some reason
wrote his own salesletter for it.

[AlanCarr]

Loren, is this the proper page?

Confessions of a Website Copywriter

"I've studied thousands of winning controls in both online and offline environments, and in both lead generation and direct sales. I've scientifically analyzed how these controls worked and why.
I've used this powerful knowledge to create high conversion websites for some of the biggest clients in the world. This includes one of the world's the largest affiliate networking companies, America's biggest book publicist and even a famous movie director.
Today, clients routines pay me up to $6,000 for a basic sales letter. And they consider this fee a bargain because they know their investment is always returned with interest."

Should be "routinely"...

But you get kudos for pointing it out


B.

[bambi211]

That book of Michael Fortin (I forgot the title) is a good read and a must have for budding internet writer.

[SweetPea]

Originally Posted by maximus242

For online its the book "Power Copywriting For The Internet" By Bob Sterling, by a FAR margin the best Ebook you can buy.

I like Bob Sterling's book, too! my sister told me about this ebook and this is the best copywriting book I've read so far.

[Tekstar]

I've been searching for this book and obviously there are affiliate sellers for it as I've seen anything from $147 to $9.95 here Power Copywriting For The Internet

Is there an official site for this? Has this book been updated at all?

Seems like a good read but it's always nice to get the latest copy.

-Bob

[AlanCarr]

Cheers for that find Tekstar, am currently reading it..




B.

[TimCastleman]

Cheers for that find Tekstar, am currently reading it..

Lol Bigsofty. Always about the price.

As far as I know there was only one edition of it. I offered a copy of this plus the another book that has a lot of control pieces to BigSofty, but I guess half price with half the info was good enough

The book is great and worth printing out. I admire Bob's ability to break stuff down into simple and actionable steps.

Once you're done reading it I would spend the money and get the Adweek guide to copywriting.

Great and easy read.

Best to all.

[AlanCarr]

Well it came with 4 audio interviews too

Actually it was mainly down to my slow internet speed. I tried 3 times earlier to get this forum to load so I could get your email address, as I'd deleted the notification email. Paypal loaded OK, Yahoo was OK but this forum was just hanging. Not the forum's fault, my miserable Borneo internet connection. Sometimes certain sites just don't work for me, including my own.

I clicked the order button to see if Clickbank would load OK and it sprang up near instantly.

If it helps I do feel guilty

Regarding the 2nd book, at this stage a single step by step book is probably what I need most. I did actually study this stuff before, many years ago, and got information overload and need a solid refresher, not the overload thing again.

Am about 1/3 through it at present, though the actual steps will take a lot longer. Am also reading, in paperback, "Rich Dad Poor Dad", an old classic I read years ago but having spotted it in Borneo of all places am reading again.

Well I'm a happy bunny, thanks for all the replies and to those who didn't get a thank you thingy I tried but there seems to be some limit to how often that button works?

Hope the thread keeps going though...



B.

[Tekstar]

Bigsofty,

Who were the 4 audio interviews with?

Looks like I'll have to get this book as well.

Does Bob serling have a site of his own? Probbaly should just google his name.

-Bob

[AlanCarr]

There's Corey Rudle, Joe Vitale, Audri Lanford, Marlon Sanders and someone else.

I've listened for a few seconds of each to ensure downloaded OK. Sound quality isn't great but you can hear it.

The book does tend to follow the "tell em what you're gonna tell em, tell em, tell em what you told em" format, which is a bit wasteful, plus a third of the page is helpfully blank for writing notes, so perhaps more like 50 pages of meat rather than the 150 or so described.

Seems useful stuff though and the kind of slap round the head I needed


B.

[TimCastleman]

Bob has this great book and another series of interviews called 10 minute interviews. I think that might be what Big was talking about.

I've got those interviews and they give some great ideas for sure.

[TimCastleman]

Oh and Big, it really is no big deal, if you like that book he has two others Small Business - Big Profits, and InfoMillions.

Both which I have printed off and had bound. They are great books and I really like how he goes into deep detail with things, not just skimming over the top.

[gtrusler]

I found "Confessions of a Website Copywriter" to be very helpful.

[RickGueli]

Bob Serling and Gary Halbert have already been mentioned, but SPECIAL mention needs to be made of Dr. Harlan Kilstein's copywriting. Now there is a guy I for one am watching very, very closely

Regards!
Riccardo

[Raydal]

By far the best copywriting book is Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz. And I've read more than a few.

This book is NOT a beginner's book though and some people may think
it too academic, but this should be REQUIRED reading for anyone in
copywriting.

Here are my other favorites: (Not all directly on copywriting.)

The Ultimate Sales Letter by Dan s. Kennedy

Advertising Secrets of The Written Word by Joe Sugarman

The Copywriter's Handbook by Robert Bly

Ogilvy On Advertising by David Ogilvy

Confession of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy

Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples

Web Copy That Sells by Maria Veloso

Persuasive Online Copywriting by Bryan & Jeffrey Eisenberg

Words That Sell by Richard Bayan

Phrases That Sell by Edwards Werz & Sally Germain

Net Words - Creating High Impact Online Copy by Nick Usborne

Influence - The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini

On Writing Well by William Zinsser

The Elements of Style by Strunk & White

The Well-Fed Writer by Peter Bowerman

How I Raised Myself From Failure To success In Selling by Frank Bettger

Ziglar On Selling by Zig Ziglar

Masters Of Advertising by J. George Frederic

Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins


-Ray Edwards

[Nido]

I will give you the two the took me from an immigrant who couldn't speak english over a decade ago to writing copy for a Dan Kennedy Platinum Member.

1. The Gary Halbert Letter (Think someone had the link above)
2. Ultimate Sales Letter by Dan Kennedy.

My Buddy Ryan who I met at last years Glazer-Kennedy info. summit had an amazing story. He was a UPS truck driver who made something like 10k in the first 6 month's then read the ultimate sales letter book and went on to make $150k the last 6 month's of the year. Now he writes for Agora and he's last commision check he showed was for over 61k in one month. Not BAD.

Anyways, start with those two and remember to just write write write and write some more. hope this helped

[Mr. Thiago]

Ray,

What an excellent selection of books you have recommended,

These books will totally give anyone money making skills for life.

I do have to add one book to your list though.

Joe Vitale's HYPNOTIC WRITING. < This is a must buy.

[Johnny12345]

The best single book ever written about copywriting? Vic Schwab's "How to Write a Good Advertisement." It's about $15 at Amazon.

Johnny

[gaptel]

Thanks for recomending these books

[mccflo99]

Get The Wizard Of Ads Trilogy by Roy H. Williams as well as Accidental Magic.

These books will expand your mind more than anything you could possibly read when it comes to creating creative copy that sells.

These books are little known to almost all online copywriters and are extremely slept on. Check them out.

Chris

[MichelleCobbs]

Wow great suggestions thanks to all who have posted. I am very interested in starting with Bob's ebook I have done a search on google for it for his site no luck there. Does anyone have a valid link that will have the full ebook and not a sample chapter. I am looking for something for beginners Bob's ebook sounds like the one I should start with.

Michelle

[David Maschke]

Originally Posted by Raydal

By far the best copywriting book is Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz. And I've read more than a few.

This book is NOT a beginner's book though and some people may think
it too academic, but this should be REQUIRED reading for anyone in
copywriting.

That was a heavy book to read, and it blew me away. It went way beyond the same ole' same ole'. Isn't the book over fifty years old now too?

Just like you said, there's a lot I have to learn first before I can truly appreciate what that book has to offer, but it's good to keep that material on the back burner

Dave