Ask HN: How can I learn copywriting?
What are some of the best books/courses/articles I can learn the fundamental principles of copywriting from?
6 comments
I can share a few observations on how I read other people's copy.
This mostly pertains websites and marketing materials, I began reading this way ever since I started writing slides and pitch decks for other people's concepts but my own.
- I dissect each sentence and paragraph looking at how much data the author wanted to convey. Data being a feature or property of what they are selling (in contrast to their opinion)
- I look at how much the author follows the current trends and relies on cliches to write 'nice' sentences
- I gauge if the intention of the author was to convince me to feel a particular way, or provide examples and reasons to believe their claims
- I look how mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive their messages are
These authors and sites might have an impact on how you read copy
1. https://medium.com/@aprildunford
2. https://andjelicaaa.substack.com/
3. https://marketingexamples.com/
---
edit for formatting
This mostly pertains websites and marketing materials, I began reading this way ever since I started writing slides and pitch decks for other people's concepts but my own.
- I dissect each sentence and paragraph looking at how much data the author wanted to convey. Data being a feature or property of what they are selling (in contrast to their opinion)
- I look at how much the author follows the current trends and relies on cliches to write 'nice' sentences
- I gauge if the intention of the author was to convince me to feel a particular way, or provide examples and reasons to believe their claims
- I look how mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive their messages are
These authors and sites might have an impact on how you read copy
1. https://medium.com/@aprildunford
2. https://andjelicaaa.substack.com/
3. https://marketingexamples.com/
---
edit for formatting
The gold standard I held myself to while in the copywriting business was:
-Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins (c. 1923)
It is more a book about A/B testing from the literal grandfather of the practice and while some of the examples may be outdated, it is not hard to see parallels with whatever you might be writing for. I have given my copy away to a younger copywriter, but you can find it cheap on Thriftbooks or elsewhere.
-Made To Stick by Chip & Dan Heath (c. 2007)
Really great book to train the eye on what can make copy “sticky”, with stories to show the concepts they are teaching with portions at the end of each chapter to apply the characteristics of stickiness to your own work. Truly it’s a great book if you write a lot of fluff in your copy and need to get more succinct.
- The Gary V Content Model ( Link: garyvaynerchuk.com/uploads/GV-Content-Model-1.pdf)
Not so much on copywriting, but on how to build content (writing in this context) around “pillars” that hold up spun off portions or your larger main idea. So more like being able to strategize your writing in such a way that if you do need to write stuff that can be portable and used many different places it is cohesive with your main idea. I see this slide deck as not a “do it this exact way” but a nice playbook to reference or expand upon for your own uses.
With any of these books, and whatever else you do come across to deepen your learning, I’d tell you to keep your own notebook or journal of copywriting and gather all the info you can into a way that makes sense for you. I still have mine that I reference often, and because I use the Cornell Method of note taking, I fill in the left side of my journals with my own thoughts or examples, or even expand on the teachings I copied into the notebook. Hopefully these recommendations and this paragraph are helpful!
-Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins (c. 1923)
It is more a book about A/B testing from the literal grandfather of the practice and while some of the examples may be outdated, it is not hard to see parallels with whatever you might be writing for. I have given my copy away to a younger copywriter, but you can find it cheap on Thriftbooks or elsewhere.
-Made To Stick by Chip & Dan Heath (c. 2007)
Really great book to train the eye on what can make copy “sticky”, with stories to show the concepts they are teaching with portions at the end of each chapter to apply the characteristics of stickiness to your own work. Truly it’s a great book if you write a lot of fluff in your copy and need to get more succinct.
- The Gary V Content Model ( Link: garyvaynerchuk.com/uploads/GV-Content-Model-1.pdf)
Not so much on copywriting, but on how to build content (writing in this context) around “pillars” that hold up spun off portions or your larger main idea. So more like being able to strategize your writing in such a way that if you do need to write stuff that can be portable and used many different places it is cohesive with your main idea. I see this slide deck as not a “do it this exact way” but a nice playbook to reference or expand upon for your own uses.
With any of these books, and whatever else you do come across to deepen your learning, I’d tell you to keep your own notebook or journal of copywriting and gather all the info you can into a way that makes sense for you. I still have mine that I reference often, and because I use the Cornell Method of note taking, I fill in the left side of my journals with my own thoughts or examples, or even expand on the teachings I copied into the notebook. Hopefully these recommendations and this paragraph are helpful!
I've heard good things about "Copy Hackers": https://copyhackers.com
This is my personal favorite https://www.psychotactics.com/category/pre-sell/
1. They give you a clear roadmap of where to start and where to continue your learning 2. They don't force feed you any paid materials. There's plenty of free materials to get you started 3. They also have a podcast that's super fun to listen to
Good luck!
1. They give you a clear roadmap of where to start and where to continue your learning 2. They don't force feed you any paid materials. There's plenty of free materials to get you started 3. They also have a podcast that's super fun to listen to
Good luck!
Look up sales letters and read the greatest hits.
But really your main education will be trial and error. It's a talent business, not a training one.
But really your main education will be trial and error. It's a talent business, not a training one.
This is the classic
https://www.thegaryhalbertletter.com/
https://www.thegaryhalbertletter.com/