It’s time to talk books. We get asked about them all the time, and 43:26 is not quite enough time to do the subject justice, but we did our best.
We copywriters are lucky: we have an excuse to acquire and read as many books as we like. And there are a lot of great books about copywriting. This episode covers a few of the ‘core texts’ from masters like Gene Schwartz, Claude Hopkins and David Ogilvy.
But both Martin and I agree that to be a successful, well-rounded copywriter, you ought to look beyond the classics. Heck, look beyond copywriting!
Breakthrough Advertising - Gene Schwartz
Scientific Advertising - Claude Hopkins
Tested Advertising Methods - John Caples
The Copy Book - D&AD
Hey Whipple, Squeeze This! - Luke Sullivan
How To Write A Good Advertisement - Blake Schwab
We, Me, Them & It - John Simmons
Made to Stick - Dan & Chip Heath
100 Greatest Advertisements 1852 - 1958 - Julian L. Watkins
Can I Change Your Mind? - Lindsay Camp
Ogilvy on Advertising - David Ogilvy
Several Short Sentences About Writing - Verlyn Klinkenborg
The Good Psychopath’s Guide to Success - Andy McNab and Kevin Dutton
Never Split the Difference - Chris Voss
Grief is a Thing With Feathers, Lanny, Shy - Max Porter
Honourable mentions go to Dan Nelken’s Self-Help Guide for Copywriters (mentioned in a previous episode) and Andrew Boulton’s Copywriting Is… (unfairly banished to my garage and thus left out of my list).
But that’s not all we talk about. No, because someone asks us about snacks, and both Charlie and Gemima spit out weirdly similar answers yet again. We’re beginning to get a picture of the sort of people they’d be if they were, you know, people.
That’s all for now. Except for a quick mention that this was EPISODE 10! I did not think we’d make it this far in. Thank you so much for the support - please keep sending us your questions and comments, and remember to spread the word about Brave New Word.
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