I just sold a copy of Breakthrough Advertising for $60, was that too cheap?

1984 or 2004 version?

The newer one is still in print and sells for around $90 new.

The original version goes higher.

Alex

Rob,

The only mistake you made was selling it! (don't worry you can always buy another one).

Reading it a few times doesn't quite work. It's the most hellishly difficult book to digest.

I think Mr Schwartz did this intentionally because it really is the holy grail of copywriting and marketing.

I searched for 15 years and could not get hold of one for love nor money. Thankfully I got a copy when Boardroom reissued it years ago.

It takes about 5 -7 reads before it sinks in.

And then you keep referring to it for the rest of your natural copywriting/marketing life.

With a file full of notes to simplify the text.

If ever I was choosing a copywriter I would pick a page and ask them to quote the first 7 words (just to make sure they had a copy. Never, ever use a copywriter who hasn't read it. It would be like choosing a blind - folded heart surgeon with one arm behind his back with a chainsaw to operate on you).

Anyway to answer your question -

$60.00 is ok a new copy costs around $100 - $120.00.

But its true value is priceless.


Steve

Where did you sell it at? Ebay? I have not read that book, but it is one of the 7 or 8 that Gary Halbert recommends. I think I have seen that book go for more than $150. (maybe that was new?) I guess by devouring a book like that, your copy should have been reasonably good enough to bring $100. Hell, if I had known I would have certainly bid more than what u got. People serious about copy know the true value of a book like that. Don't feel bad, I once sold a gun for $250 and found out that I could have gotten over $600.

Todd

Too late to ask. The last thing I want to do after making
a purchasing decision is to go find the item cheaper at
another store so I don't look.

-Ray Edwards

...I did say it was a hellishly difficult read. And even more of a nightmare to apply.

The truth is if you do try and battle through it, it's like having a root canal without anaesthetic.

Ironically, as Mr Subtle correctly said - it can easily make you fall asleep. The wording does drone on. And many people thought "There are better ways to write great copy without wading through this"...and it may be true. It's 1000 times easier to bung it back on the bookshelf rather that than trying to make any sense out of it.

It's convoluted, unnecessarily complex and veers off into lots of different directions.

You think - so how do you apply that "formula" with the "other" ones?

It's like doing extreme calculus equations.

Sadly, nobody has been able to simplify it. Harlan did do a series of mind maps (14 of them) which helped but it still felt like a demented matrix.

But suddenly (after the 5th read) you "get" bits of the puzzle and use them. And whoosh the results are spectacular.

Then the next "bit" and on and on and on...

Thank f*** you don't need to apply it all. Schwartz rarely did that in his Ads.

But the bits he did use made them a phenomenal success.

If you can stand the pain and agony it'll do the same for you.


Steve

I think breakthrough advertising is the best book ever written on advertising, ever. Its better than bencivengas course or claytons stuff. Its pure psychology and strategy.

The only way to really get the value you need out of the book though is to take very detailed notes and then structure those notes to understand what hes saying. Just reading the book is not enough to really learn what he says because its very abstract.

I dont think anybody ever took advertising to the level that breakthrough advertising took it. Ive never read anything that came close.

I've seen it boiled down and simplified. Clayton Makepeace simplified and beats you over the head with the same exact concepts in his "out of print" course.

I've also seen several of the concepts simply explained in, of all things, an older product called "The Multiplier Black Book w/ Stealth Influence".

But...nothing beats the source material.

You should have kept the book, man.

I don't find it boring. It was tricky reading the first time
though... and it is dated in many ways for sure,
but so is Charles Dickens.

Robert Collier's book is tricky the first time through too,
but with re-reading became enjoyable to me as my
understanding of what he was teaching deepened.

I agree 110%.

I also don't think BA is as hard to understand as people make it out to be.

Sometimes the best methods and solutions are also the most simple. Keep that in mind when reading it and you may see it in a new light.

Mmm ... I would certainly buy it at $60. It's also sold new, I think by Boardroom at around $100. I don't know if it's a 1:1 copy but I don't really care. Books don't have sentimental value for me, only knowledge value. This is why after investing around $1500 in books, I've moved to a more cost effective and cheaper to carry version - the Kindle.

$60 is a good price though . Now if only I could get Breakthrough Advertising on Kindle.

Well there IS that whole copyright infringement thing....

Wow, $200 for this book! Glad, I kept mine. It is not, the easiest read but the ideas and philosophies in this book are amazing. I have read books by Sugarman, Bly,Hopkins and many more. I love Sugarman's story and how he writes, but Schwartz's stuff is deep and heavy on the psychology. Hard read, awesome mind-blowing information

If you're really serious you can most likely search online and
find a free pdf of the book (you shouldn't be able to but you
can).

I wouldn't sweat it.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh