Could "pleasure reading" help your copywriting?

David,

I couldn't agree more. Most copywriters I study from reads 4 or more books a week. Every book I've read I learned something new.

Besides that David, it sounds like you have a passion for readins/writing about Nabokov, or Shakespeare, or Whitman, so why not use that passion to make you some money.

You can land copywriting jobs for all types of markets, not just the "marketing and make money" brigade. You could easily write ad copy for plays, musicals and so on.

Anyway, back to the point here. I read all kinds of books. I just finished a book called "The Power of Your Subconscious Mind" by Dr. Joseph Murphy. Now I'm reading "Your Best Life Now" by Joel Osteen.

Each book I've read has influenced me in some way. So read on my friend.

Peace,

Shane

I one of those people that read every day and I have read most of the Booker prize winners and nominations my favourite book
Rushdie "Midnight's Children.

However I have read something every day since I was fourteen so had years of reading vefore becoming a writer.

La dominatrix

Some people can learn something from any experience. Others couldn't get a clue if you sent it to them via certified mail.

They still can't write copy -- even with a swipe file.

What you're talking about has the best bet for success in application to story based copywriting. Best look, not to Carlton or Joyner, but someone like J. Peterman. In the hands of someone like Peterman, a frock becomes a lead character in a romance novel.

Story based copy can be tricky to use. You have to make the purchase fit in as a natural part, or "moral" of the story.

Most warriors go wrong with this technique by telling there own story. The reader takeaway from the personal story is the author has exactly one data point -- their own success -- they've never produced a success for a customer.

You can learn from almost anything -- I've seen direct response comic books. As you depart from the norm it takes a little more innovative application to succeed.

Pleasure reading definitely helps keep the mind fluid. Any reading, for that matter does. In his excellent book on the craft titled On Writing, Stephen King gets to the point regarding what it takes to be a good writer. Essentially, he says you've got to, (slight paraphrase here) "read a lot and write a lot." Simple.

There's something about reading that helps the mind get the cadence and flow of your written words down. I read all the time, usually non-fiction but in the last few years I've found that reading novels really helps to recharge my writing batteries. After finishing a book my thoughts are more organized and I often just have the urge to write just for the sake of writing. I produce some of my best work after finishing a book, it's almost as if some unknown force just compells me to write.

Technically speaking, I'm more of a content writer than a copywriter. But about 10 years ago I wrote an ebook on self-publishing and just naturally felt I had to write the sales copy. That sucker converted at around four percent. As it was my first online writing foray I was too green back then to realize that was an excellent conversion rate. My best conversion rate was for a self-hypnosis stop smoking ebook, which converted at just under eight percent. By then I knew that was exceptional.

My style is to use stories to sell. The format is familiar to lots of copywriters. The subject has a problem or issue to deal with. He stumbles around searching for the solution, and often, when he's just about to throw in the towel, he finds the solution, which is the product or service I'm promoting.

Last year I had a client who is a consultant to offline businesses. He's a heavy hitter but no one in the 'Info Product' venue would recognize him. He told me he's a member of a mastermind group of about 15 people meeting twice a month and that he pays $10,000 a month to participate. He shows his own clients (mainly offline businesses) how to market products and services online. One of the ways he does this is with article marketing. I usually ask for $.10 per word but since this guy was ordering 20 articles at a time, I discounted my rate to $.07 per word.

I wrote hundreds of articles for him last year with the resouce box links pointing to the client's Website. He said the click-through rate was better than 50 percent. He was very pleased as his clients were getting lots of new business and making him look good. All of this was accomplished as a result of the story format I mentioned above. And I keep the juices flowing by reading, and reading and reading. Hell, I don't even own a TV.

Yeah book reading always contribute to good copywriting. These books give inspiration and vocabulary.

Although every reading helps copywriter to expand his views,
I agree with Malcolm Bradbury saying:
"A conventional good read is usually a bad read,
a relaxing bath in what we know already.
A true good read is surely an act of innovative creation in which we,
the readers, become conspirators."

How do you like the headline above? But can it possibly be true? Can what I'm about to reveal really enable you to write copy like Gary Halbert?
Actually, I can't say for sure. However, I do know it can certainly help you write copy more like Gary Halbert.
How do I know that?
Because it's one of the things he did to help make his writing truly great. You could say, it was his "ace-in-the-hole" or "secret weapon" when it came to writing some of the best advertising copy the world has ever seen. And it's this...
You know, when you ask most experts what books you should read to learn how to write copy, the typical reply is something like: Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins. Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples. The Robert Collier Letter Book. Ogilivy on Advertising. Et cetera. And they're right. In fact, in my course (Shortcut Copywriting Secrets™) I list all the classic books everyone who wants to be an effective copywriter should read (and re-read).
However, once a person has a deep and thorough understanding of these books... and... has taken advantage of a few of the better, current courses available, where should he (or she) go from there?
Once again, to good novels. Let me explain-with a quick, real-life story-how reading novels helps you become a better copywriter.
When Gary invited me to come down to Miami Beach in 1998, I already had a solid grounding in the basics. I had read and re-read all the classics. Read as much of Gary's stuff as I could get my hands on... including his book: How To Make Maximum Money In Minimum Time! In fact, I even went so far as to copy out that entire book in my own handwriting.
So, I was beyond the absolute beginner level. However, I wasn't exactly a pro, either. Now, you'd think, since I still had plenty to learn, Gary would push his materials on me and tell me to study them intently. But he didn't. No, one of the most important things he did was buy me a novel.
Here's what happened:
Shortly after I arrived in Florida, we took a trip down to the Florida Keys. Marathon to be exact. And while in Marathon, we stopped at a bookstore. I picked up a health book to help me with a current project and Gary picked up a few paperbacks. After we got back in the car, Gary handed me one of the paperbacks and said...
And, as a matter of fact-quite obviously-I still do. In fact, on a recent vacation to the Keys (April '08), I passed by that bookstore and the memory of him giving me that book was as vivid as the day he did it.
Anyway, at that time, Gary didn't say, "Read this, it'll make you a better copywriter." No, he just told me that once I start reading Travis McGee, I'll become addicted. And I did. Not a rabid addiction, but I've slowly worked my way through the entire series (21 books in all) over the last 10 years.
And now that I've finished all the books in the Travis McGee series, I consider that gift one of the most important things I ever received from Gary. Why? It's simple...
And good storytelling ("in print" or "in person") is paramount to persuasion and selling.
Want proof?
You don't have to look any farther than Gary himself. His newsletters-widely regarded as the best marketing newsletters ever published-are almost impossible not to read. He was a master storyteller. And he honed his storytelling skills, at least in my estimation, by reading fiction.
He was an inveterate fiction reader. And what most people don't realize is, he hardly ever read a book on marketing, advertising or selling. At least in his latter years. Sure, he'd thumb through something someone sent him. Or, he might buy a few things here and there that really caught his eye. But for the most part, during our scores of trips to bookstores all over the country, he bought, and then read, novels. Mostly of the mystery genre.
In fact, one of our last trips to a bookstore-a Barnes & Noble on Biscayne Boulevard in Miami-was a quest for a semi-obscure Ian Fleming (James Bond series author) piece of writing titled...

Gary insisted we find it, and insisted I read it... because... in his opinion, it was one of the best pieces of writing he had ever read. And it was/is. (If you're interested, you can find "Quantum of Solace" tucked inside Fleming's novel, For Your Eyes Only.)
So, if you want to become a better copywriter-and you've covered the basics-start reading books written by good storytellers. Try the Travis McGee series written by John D. MacDonald. You know, Gary used lines in his copy that had a remarkable resemblance to lines in the McGee books. He used them in person. He used them as part of his philosophy.
So there's much you can learn from fiction.
And while I'm on the subject, in addition to reading good novels, you should also...
Gary was a master observer of life and people... and I... pretty much by osmosis, learned this from him. You see, many people go about their day half-asleep, paying little attention to the things that happen around them and to them. Big mistake. Your life can (and should be) source material for your copy. Let me give you a concrete example. It's an excerpt from a letter I wrote recently for a famous online marketer:

"How To Write Better Copy, Faster!"

reading books, magazines and anything else I can get my hands on allows me to measure my own emotional reaction to certain words, themes or ideas.

I can apply these emotional responses to my own copy.

It's really just a good way to keep your ideas fresh!

Hi,
My mother has always said that from the minute I learned to read I always had a book in my hand. I read lots of "good" books like biographies, travel (and even reference books on the odd occasion - old dictionaries are fabulous!) but trashy fiction novels are a great way to learn how to write to an audience. You cannot help but be influenced by what you have read in the past and I believe my chatty, social style of writing is enhanced by what I have read in the past.

I don't know that I could say that there was a "single" book or author that has influenced me in particular but I do say don't be a literary snob. Sometimes taking little snippets from the strangest sources can be enlightening, and most importantly, inspirational when it comes to writing copy for your own products, sales letters or even for your own pleasure.

Anyway, that's my two cents worth. Hope it helps.
Anna

A copyWRITER should read. That's his brain food. You can't
give without first getting.

But you must know what you are reading for. If you want
to write great copy then you must read great copy. If
you want to be a novelist then read great novels.

Not everything can be translated from other genres of
writing into copywriting, but some things like clarity,
simplicity, engagement, and story-telling techniques
surely can.

Some of the books studied for literature have subtle
meanings that you have to study to uncover--you
don't want your copy to be like this. You want the reader
to get the message on the first reading.

-Ray Edwards

Reading and Writing are like peanut butter and jelly. They just kind of go together. One thing I notice in my own writing (thankfully I'm aware of this enough to stamp it down when I'm writing for clients) is that my words tend to take on the same feelings and phraseology of whatever it is that I've been reading lately. If I pick up something that I read in college (I studied Theater and English. If I never read an ancient Greek again I won't be sad) my writing becomes far wordier and flowerier than it is when I've been feeding my brain some blog candy.

I think one of the best ways to keep your copy from sounding stale is to read anything but copy. Keep informed about current trends in the industry sure, but when all you read is copy you're going to pick up the stale catch phrases and the cliches, whether or not you want to. If you allow other forms of written expression into your head, you'll have more to draw from when you sit down to craft something for a client.

Everything John D McDonald wrote is worth reading. Personally I prefer some of his
earlier and tougher novels to the Travis McGee series, especially the later, bloated ones
where he became such -- such -- a social commentator.

And if you can find his science fiction novel THE GIRL, THE GOLD WATCH
AND EVERYTHING. grab it.

There are similarities between fiction and sales copy. Both want to arouse emotion,
so I believe copywriters can learn from fiction, but then have to map it over into
product benefits to sell readers on buying the product. Fiction writers arouse emotion
for its own sake -- to sell the reader on buying their next book, really, though few to
none think like that.

And copywriters can benefit from studying books on fiction writing. What is the much
praised "conversational, bar stool style" of copy except extended dialog in the voice
of the letter writer?

And David Garfinkel for one teaches applying basic plot structures to copy.

Frank Kern does the same when he talks about the "hometown boy makes good" or
"reluctant hero" (think Frodo of the Lord of the Rings).

best, Rick