Best Book on Copy writing?

A client of mine has asked me to help them out with some writing, mainly internal stuff and annual reports etc.

I was hoping that someone might know a useful book on copy writing and how to really engage the reader.

Thanks,
Joe.

IMO the best one is The Adweek Copywriting Handbook.

Next I'd say Carlton's Kickass Copywriting Secrets of a Marketing Rebel.

A lot of people recommend Ogilvy... I've never read him personally but it's recommended by basically everyone so you should read that too.

Thanks

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splitTest

9 years ago

Originally Posted by JoeInTheMiddle

mainly internal stuff and annual reports etc.

Most "copywriting" (ie. sales writing) books aren't going to help you much with annual reports and "internal stuff" (presumably newsletters, business reports, case studies, etc.).

That kind of writing and sales writing have a few principles in common, but annual reports and "internal stuff" aren't what most copywriting books are about.

Thanks
1 reply

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JoeInTheMiddle

9 years ago

Yeah sorry I rushed off into a meeting yesterday so I didn't have time to go through the thread. I will go through the top threads now though.

Originally Posted by splitTest

Most "copywriting" (ie. sales writing) books aren't going to help you much with annual reports and "internal stuff" (presumably newsletters, business reports, case studies, etc.).

That kind of writing and sales writing have a few principles in common, but annual reports and "internal stuff" aren't what most copywriting books are about.

That's exactly what I'm looking for. What would you recommend for this sort of writing then? Or the sort of writing techniques I should be looking into? If sales writing and copywriting wont help me with this.

Thanks,
Joe.

Thanks
2 replies

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The Pines

9 years ago

Originally Posted by JoeInTheMiddle

That's exactly what I'm looking for. What would you recommend for this sort of writing then? Or the sort of writing techniques I should be looking into? If sales writing and copywriting wont help me with this.

Thanks,
Joe.

You don't need any copywriting books then. What you need is Corporate Communications, but don't get into too much mumbo-jumbo.

A good start would be:
Writing That Works
By: Ken Roman & Joel Raphaelson

Start with that one and go from there, although that book alone will put you leagues ahead of most other corp comms people.

[ 1 ] Thanks
2 replies

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ewenmack 9 years ago

For annual reports, look at the only Warren Buffet.

Great role model to emulate.

Best,
Doctor E. Vile
- [ 1 ] Thanks
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CopyMonster

9 years ago

I'm feeling generous, so...

Go read Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway annual reports (all of them if you're serious - but at least a few). There's a collection of them on Amazon kindle or you can find them on the Berkshire site (free).
Read Gary Halbert's newsletters (free). How many? As many as you can.

For both, notice what they said and how they said it. They are different in tone but there are similarities which if you pick up, will put you in a good place to do well.

Then check out Stephen Wilber's "Keys to Great Writing" - it's an incredibly cheap way to understand really good writing.

If you do this, you will smash it. Note: no refunds on this advice

Thanks
2 replies

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Scary good...

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dddougal

9 years ago

Originally Posted by CopyMonster

I'm feeling generous, so...

Go read Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway's annual reports (all of them if you're serious - but at least a few). There's a collection of them on Amazon kindle or you can find them on the Berkshire site (free).
Read Gary Halbert's newsletters (free). How many? As many as you can.

For both, notice what they said and how they said it. They are different in tone but there are similarities which if you pick up, will put you in a good place to do well.

Then check out Stephen Wilber's "Keys to Great Writing" - it's an incredibly cheap way to understand really good writing.

If you do this, you will smash it. Note: no refunds on this advice

I literally waste hours reading gary halbert letters, I just find them so damn entertaining.

Thanks

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* SEO Has Changed...You Won't Believe This! *

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JoeInTheMiddle

9 years ago

Originally Posted by CopyMonster

I'm feeling generous, so...

Go read Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway's annual reports (all of them if you're serious - but at least a few). There's a collection of them on Amazon kindle or you can find them on the Berkshire site (free).
Read Gary Halbert's newsletters (free). How many? As many as you can.

For both, notice what they said and how they said it. They are different in tone but there are similarities which if you pick up, will put you in a good place to do well.

Then check out Stephen Wilber's "Keys to Great Writing" - it's an incredibly cheap way to understand really good writing.

If you do this, you will smash it. Note: no refunds on this advice

Great advice from everyone. Warren Buffett seems to be everyone's go to guy.

Thanks CM. The link you put in doesn't seem to be working, would you mind sending it again please?

I'm not so sure, is there any after sales support with this advice?

Joe.

Thanks
1 reply

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CopyMonster

9 years ago

Originally Posted by JoeInTheMiddle

Great advice from everyone. Warren Buffett seems to be everyone's go to guy.

Thanks CM. The link you put in doesn't seem to be working, would you mind sending it again please?

I'm not so sure, is there any after sales support with this advice?

Joe.

Link updated. See: you even get support with free advice. What value! Note: Wilber's book reveals many lessons you get in the suggested readings.

Thanks
1 reply

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Scary good...

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JoeInTheMiddle 9 years ago

Originally Posted by CopyMonster

Link updated. See: you even get support with free advice. What value! Note: Wilber's book reveals many lessons you get in the suggested readings.

Thanks.

Woow, what a great service. And such great customer service skills. Your advice service will go very far my friend.
- Thanks
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splitTest

9 years ago

Originally Posted by JoeInTheMiddle

That's exactly what I'm looking for. What would you recommend for this sort of writing then? Or the sort of writing techniques I should be looking into? If sales writing and copywriting wont help me with this.

Thanks,
Joe.

Sorry for the late reply.

Books on those subjects can be dry as a bone, even when they’re reasonably well-written. For subjects like business plans, proposals, press releases etc., I wouldn't bother with books. For the price of one book you can get a month’s subscription at Lynda and take the following online video courses.

- Business Writing Fundamentals

- Writing Business Reports

- Writing Proposals

There are others too... You get all the courses (thousands) for a single fee... as little as $24 month-to-month.

Lynda is where I learned CSS, HTML, the basics of Javascript, Jquery, how to make child themes from free wordpress themes, etc., etc. Their courses are practical stuff, illustrated with practical follow-along projects... I also took in the copywriting (“marketing writing”) course... I'm currently doing the grantwriting course.

And the learning is not "pie in the sky" ("if you just buy my next product") bullshit. This is sober, practical instruction in practical courses.

I'm a member since about 2012. I keep an annual subscription and don’t let it lapse because it’s such a good tool to have in your back pocket. It’s a great resource if you enjoy learning -and- if you want to bone up quick on damn near any tech or small business subject or technique. And besides adding courses each week, they also update and replace courses, which helps you keep up as technology, software and methods change…

It's a good, honest product -- the future of learning. Hope the new owners (LinkedIn) don't muck it up.

Of course, if you want to learn real copywriting, I'd say begin with Bob Bly's "Copywriting Handbook", which is a good "nuts-and-bolts" starter. From there, check out Schwartz "Breakthrough Advertising", which is pretty good for basics of targeting market motives and such... From there, I'd go to Cashvertising, and then whatever other books on sales psychology, etc. that catch your eye.

I've also read (and recommend) our own Marcia Yudkin's "Bullets with Bite". I bought the kindle version for about $3. Offers good instruction one of the most important elements of copy... A good value.

Thanks

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ajwalton99

9 years ago

If you can afford it I would
invest in Clayton Makepeace's
Desktop copy.

Thanks

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jamielynch

9 years ago

Just on the fly, so I've not read everything (a thousand apologies...).

I can't recommend Cashvertising by Drew Eric Whitman enough. It's the bees knees. Maybe a lot more geared towards advertising copy. His latest book Brainscripts is more about how to use phycological triggers to make people do what you want (ethically, of course).

Hope that's of some use to someone out there reading this!

Thanks
1 reply

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JoeInTheMiddle

9 years ago

Originally Posted by jamielynch

Just on the fly, so I've not read everything (a thousand apologies...).

I can't recommend Cashvertising by Drew Eric Whitman enough. It's the bees knees. Maybe a lot more geared towards advertising copy. His latest book Brainscripts is more about how to use phycological triggers to make people do what you want (ethically, of course).

Hope that's of some use to someone out there reading this!

Thanks for the recommendations, but as others have already said, I salesy writing isn't really what I need for now.
HAHA, ethically. It would be great to be able to pursuance people to take action through writing, but one thing at a time.

Thanks

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The Copywriting Engineer

9 years ago

Joe Sugarman The Adweek Copywriting Handbook, Joe really knows his stuff.

Thanks

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Raydal

9 years ago

My favorites ...

My Copywriter And Marketing Library - YouTube

-Ray Edwards

Thanks

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The most powerful and concentrated copywriting training online today bar none! Autoresponder Writing Email SECRETS

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drbenhill

9 years ago

I really like Ash over at TMFproject.

Thanks
1 reply

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The Copy Nazi Banned 9 years ago

Originally Posted by drbenhill

I really like Ash over at TMFproject.

So why not make it easier for people and link to it?
the middle finger project | For business owners who need balls.
- Thanks
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Andrew Gould

9 years ago

If those are affiliate links in your sig, SplitTest, you might want to get rid of them before a mod does for you.

[ 1 ] Thanks
1 reply

Signature

Andrew Gould

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splitTest 9 years ago

Originally Posted by Andrew Gould

If those are affiliate links in your sig, SplitTest, you might want to get rid of them before a mod does for you.

Thanks andrew. ... But I checked the Terms of Use (actually searched the page for mentions of "affiliate" or "spam" or "links") & found nothing that forbids affiliate links in sigs.

In fact, I've seen affiliate sigs here before, which is why I was inspired to make a sig rather than just waste the real estate. Are there terms of service I missed?

I don't think the post is spam, since it's right on topic, and I genuinely believe the product will serve the OP's purposes well.

Let's see how the mods play it. Hopefully they won't ban me, because my intentions are good. No one gets rich from affiliate links... but why waste the sig?
- [ 1 ] Thanks
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Andrew Gould

9 years ago

http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...rum-rules.html

SIGNATURE FILE RULES

(5) No Affiliate Links Allowed - Promote Your Own Domain/s Only. It's either this or we have to cut out sig files altogether which we do not want to do.

Thanks
1 reply

Signature

Andrew Gould

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splitTest

9 years ago

Originally Posted by Andrew Gould

http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...rum-rules.html

SIGNATURE FILE RULES

(5) No Affiliate Links Allowed - Promote Your Own Domain/s Only. It's either this or we have to cut out sig files altogether which we do not want to do.

Oh okay... Well why hide that info in a thread no one's going to see, rather than put it directly in the TOS?

[ 1 ] Thanks
1 reply

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BradCarroll 9 years ago

Originally Posted by splitTest

Oh okay... Well why hide that info in a thread no one's going to see, rather than put it directly in the TOS?

It's only the top sticky post in the Main Internet Marketing Discussion Forum!
- Thanks
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