The best way to improve your copywriting skills, which you need to produce great content, is to read. Whether you’re a small business owner or striving to become the next best copywriter, there are hundreds of books available on copywriting and the craft of writing in general. Here are 20 of the best copywriting books.
- The Copywriter’s Handbook: A Step-By-Step Guide to Writing Copy that Sells by Robert Bly: This book includes practical, actionable items such as 11 ways to make your copy more readable and eight headlines that work – and how to use them.
- The Adweek Copywriting Handbook: The Ultimate Guide to Writing Powerful Advertising and Marketing Copy from One of America’s Top Copywriters Joseph Sugarman: Sugarman packed his book with dense information not meant to be skimmed or read quickly. The legendary copywriter lays out what you need to know to write copy that will compel users to buy.
- Breakthrough Copywriting: How to Generate Quick Cash with the Written Word by David Garfinkel: Learn to craft a powerful sales message, discover the secrets of headlines, find easy shortcuts for bullet points, and get insider tips about copywriting and how to make money. This book is chock full of secrets, shortcuts, and stories to help you boost sales, and strengthen relationships with your readers.
4. Persuasive Online Copywriting: How to Take Your Words to the Bank by Bryan Eisenberg, Jeffery Eisenberg, and Lisa Davis: Copywriting has been around for what feels like forever. Many older copywriting books focus on traditional print copywriting, whereas this book laser focuses on how to write copy for the web. Learn persuasive writing, an integral part of prompting your visitors or readers to respond to your call to action.
5. Copywriting Made Simple: How to Write Powerful and Persuasive Copy That Sells by Tom Albrighton: Within the pages of this guide, you’ll learn how to get to know your reader, engage the reader in your message, craft compelling copy, use 20 proven strategies for creative copy, and make persuasion and psychology work for you.
6. Copywriting Secrets: How Everyone Can Use the Power of Words to Get More Clicks, Sales, and Profits… No Matter What You Sell or Who You Sell It To! By Jim Edwards: Copywriting is how you combine words designed to make people call, click, or buy. Learn street-smart copywriting via ads, emails, and sales letters for your business.
7. Copywriting: Successful Writing for Design, Advertising, and Marketing by Mark Shaw: Learn the art of writing copy for the digital era with simple techniques, including advertising, branding, catalogs, company, direct marketing, internal communications, and magazines.
8. The Copywriting Bible: 100+ Viral Outlines to Build Your Brand by Josh Fechter: See how anyone, including you, can push through the noise of online marketing with these deep, vulnerable stories about how we are. This book focuses on storytelling copy.
9. The Creative Copywriter’s Companion by Tom Attea: This award-winning book covers the creative process and writing for traditional and digital media. Discover how to optimize your copywriting for each phase of the customer journey, from prospect, to lead, to customer, to advocate and brand loyalist.
10. Instant Inspiration for Copywriters by R. Scott Frothingham and Robert W. Bly: Get real-world tips and advice, expand your mind, and learn about the everyday aspects of copywriting. This book gives you an instant dose of inspiration with more than 500 pearls of wisdom that deliver what the title of the book promises.
11. How to Write Copy That Sells: The Step-by-Step System for More Sales, to More Customers, More Often by Ray Edwards: Whether you’re an entrepreneur or a freelance copywriter, this book will help you learn to write fast, easy-to-read, effective copy with techniques for email marketing, websites, social media, ads, landing pages, and direct mail.
12. Copy Logic! The New Science of Producing Breakthrough Copy (Without Criticism) by Mike Palmer and Michael Masterson: This book is designed to cut the copywriter’s learning curve in half with a step-by-step process to help you produce significantly stronger copy to boost revenue.
13. The Art of the Click: How to Harness the Power of Direct-Response Copywriting and Make More Sales by Glenn Fisher, Ian Pringle, et al.: Learn how to engage customers and how to write copy that persuades customers to buy with the power of direct-response copywriting.
14. The 10 Commandments of A-List Copywriters: Control-Beating Breakthroughs From Gary Bencivenga, Gene Schwartz, Jim Rutz, and More by John Bejakovic: This book comprises the best practices of successful copywriters, outlined in a top-ten list, that can help you produce powerful content that leads to higher gains.
15. Everybody Writes Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content by Ann Handley: Ann addresses not the people pursuing copywriting careers, but the individual business owner as a copywriter, a publisher, and a marketer if you’ve had experience with providing content for your website, publishing it on your blog, and promoting it on social media.
Classic Books Every Copywriter Should Read
While the greats in copywriting history may not have had insight into the world of online marketing, they certainly knew the tricks of the trade that turned words into profits.
16. Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins: This is a classic book initially published in 1923, but its insights are as valid and valuable today as they were back then. There are certain books that all copywriters should read, and this one is among them.
17. Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy: David Ogilvy, one of the most respected copywriters in history, shares valuable insights on all aspects of advertising, including chapters such as How to Write Successful Copy – and get people to read it. Like Scientific Advertising, it’s a classic read for copywriters.
18. Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy: Another great piece of work by Ogilvy, who is considered to be “the father of advertising”, is Confessions of an Advertising Man, published first in 1963, but its copywriting fundamentals still support modern copywriting techniques.
19. How to Write a Good Advertisement: A Short Course in Copywriting by Victor O. Schwab, Scott R. Pollak, et al.: Victor Schwab established himself as a copywriting master during his 44-year career. Learn to write words with impact that grab the attention of potential customers or clients and compel them to take action.
20. The Robert Collier Copywriting Course: Learn to Write Sales Letters that Pay (Masters of Marketing Secrets) by Robert Collier: Find out what your readers want so that you can deliver a letter, email, landing page, or blog that stirs emotions, which prompts a purchase.
Conclusion:
You don’t have to go to college to learn how to be an effective copywriter. If you have a website, blog, or market your business with print marketing, radio ads, or television commercials, then you need a copywriter.
If you don’t want to hire a copywriter, you can pick up and develop your copywriting skills by delving into some of the most well-known, highly respected books written by world-renowned copywriters, marketers, and authors. Today’s businesses, particularly online, depend on copywriting to gain search engine rankings, generate leads, nurture relationships, close sales, and create repeat customers with brand loyalty.
