The Best Copywriting Books - My Top 5 for 2018

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What if your writing could smack a reader across the face? Literally, have a hand extend out of their screen… and “WHACK.”

And then, have them send you money?

Well, that’s copywriting for you.

Copywriting is salesmanship in print.

You use words to get someone to take action. And with copy and advertising, that’s likely buying, signing up for an account or who knows, downloading your free “PDF.”

And if you’re to learn copywriting, you’ll need some copywriting books.

So, in no particular order, here’s my list of the best copywriting books. Should you get them all? No. You don’t want to overload yourself. This isn’t a walk home with 5+ grocery bags. You won’t do it all in 1 trip.

While I’ve read all of these, I find myself coming back to re-read each one. We don’t learn things from just “reading them once” and we don’t pick up on things the first time around.

So, pick one and stick with it. The rest can come later.

1) Breakthrough Advertising

By Gene Schwartz
Pages: 250+
For: Intermediate to Advanced Copywriters

“The power, the force, the overwhelming urge to own that makes advertising work, comes from the market itself, and not from the copy.

Copy cannot create desire for a product.

It can only take the hopes, dreams and fears that already exist in the hearts of millions of people, and focus those existing desires onto a particular product.”

…is how the book starts out. And it’s a bit of a bible for copywriting.

There’s a lot to say about Breakthrough Advertising and no article on “best copywriting books” will do it justice.

On how to write headlines.

How to write the first line.

How to write based on the sophistication of your audience.

Breakthrough Advertising covers copywriting in the most thorough way possible. From the headline down to the final P.S., and how to interweave all sorts of mechanisms in between.

And like the Robert Collier Letter Book – see below – you also get breakdowns of ads.

2) Robert Collier Letter Book

By Robert Collier
Pages: 450+
For: Intermediate to Advanced Copywriters

1937.

This book, or at least my edition, was published in 1937.

And despite that, everything inside rings true in regards to psychology and copy tactics that work. Robert Collier starts the book off with the basics of copywriting and then moves in on his own work. Yep, he breaks down his letters, tells you which worked and why. What kind of appeal each letter carried. And what kind of experiments he was doing.

So, imagine reading a book like that… where the copywriter is revealing what he did here and there. If you write copy yourself, you can’t help but start having ideas of.. “hmm, i should do this” and “I should do that.”

And for an experienced copywriter, that’s where the gold is.

Yes, the style of writing is 1930ish. Not snappy enough to appeal to modern day readers. You can even see that in his own copy. But, there are a ton of gold nuggets inside this baby.

3) Tested Advertising Methods

By John Caples
Pages: 260+
For: Beginner to Advanced Copywriters

This is another one of my favorites and covers the A to Zs of copywriting.

Headlines. First sentences. Finding the right appeal. Right and wrong ways of writing copy. How to get more inquiries.

Like Breakthrough Advertising, it’s fairly thorough and written more so for the beginner in mind.

However, there’s a ton of gold that experienced writers can pick up as well.

4. Ca$hvertising

By Drew Eric Whitman
Pages: 190+
For: Beginner to Advanced Copywriters

This was a very fun book to read which makes it perfect for beginners as well.

While you won’t get a whole roadmap of what to write in a sales-letter, you get a ton of tips and ideas that can boost your copy.

I think it’s from this book that I got the idea for a “Mystery Sale” and it’s from this very book that I could argue: “Hey, we can’t use reverse type. Why not? Because tests have been done: it makes words hard to read.

5. The Boron Letters

By Gary Halbert
Pages: 140+
For: Beginner to Advanced Copywriters

Gary had an irresistible writing style. So, it’s quite clear why he was the prince of print.

The Boron Letters is not your ordinary copywriting book. No. It’s letters that Gary wrote to his son while in prison. The goal of the letters was to teach his son marketing and copywriting.

So, this book is just that – a collection of personal letters.

Not textbook writing.

Like Breakthrough Advertising, it’s hard to sum this book up. Every time you re-read, you’ll discover something new. Or something that you’ve yet to do. And if you haven’t done it, you can sense Gary calling you a moron from the grave – for leaving money on the table.