Customer Reviews

On the Art of Writing Copy, Third Edition

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is an excellent resource for any writer, professional or not. It gives insight into audience, word selection, and proper (his interpretation) style of writing. Learn the conventions so that when it comes down to breaking them, you will do so KNOWING it, instead of accidentally doing so.

That said, the placement of the graphics was odd, almost never fitting on the page in which they are used to illustrate the point and causing more work for the casual reader. Much of his point goes beyond making it and into flogging it.

That said, the book is darn useful, and will continue to be so for a while. It's timely and fashionable.

Of all the books I've read on the art of writing copy that sells, this is one of my top 5 (along w/E. Schwartz' Breakthrough Advertising, Caples, Ogilvy, etc).

The author reveals absolutely brilliant insights into crafting useful copy, it's very readable and uncovers advanced, specific tips on writing and crafting superb copy.

Most of the copywriting books are decent, few ascend into the realm of "ok I'm going to start using this today to make better salesletters" ... this is one of those that belongs on every admans' desk.

Great job on it, I recommend it.

Ken

In his Second Great Law, Herschell Gordon Lewis comments that cleverness for its own sake might become a liability. Unfortunately, he attempts to write with cleverness and sarcasm. His style often gets in the way of the excellent points he makes. The points need no "I'm-as-hip-as-thou" embellishment. Chapters 26-28 are worth the price of the book alone. But he runs out of steam in the appendix. It truly is vestigial. In spite of his writing style the book is a must read.

Although focused largely on advertising, this book presents useful guidelines that a copywriter can apply to many project types. You will likely learn the most from looking at the numerous examples presented in the book, rather than from the author's often long-winded, overly clever text. Demerits also to the publisher for a book design that combines a long line length with a small type size, making the text difficult to read.

There are a ton of books available about how to write copy, and you will learn something from just about any of them. But in that vast array of titles, few do what THE ART OF WRITING COPY by Herschell Gordon Lewis does. This book, if studied and closely followed, will keep the copywriter from writing BAD copy.

Lewis meticulously guides the student through the process of things to avoid doing. Whatever grand idea you've come up with, chances are very good, Mr. Lewis has something to say about it in this book.

If you're like me, many times throughout this book, you'll feel as if Lewis is pointing his rather sarcastic finger directly at you as he uncovers mistakes I know I've made in the past, and probably you have too. But that's okay. The whole purpose of reading such books is to study the craft and hone our skills, right? Sometimes it takes someone like Herschell Lewis to point out our mistakes so we don't keep making them.

Usually in a book like this, I can single out one or two chapters as "favorites." Here, not so much. I loved the whole thing from cover to cover. The format is great, leaving ample margin space for note-taking. There are countless examples of good and mostly bad ad examples to illustrate the points covered. Along the way, the pages are laden with tips, rules and in-your-face quips.

I hesitate to even mention chapters 26 & 27, which are composites of the major lessons covered in the preceding 25 chapters. Please, do yourself a favor. Read the book in its entirety and don't get lazy and skip to the back. You'll lose much of the flavor of the lessons.

This is not a book for someone looking for their first volume on copywriting. Read some of the other fine volumes available first. You are invited to check out my profile where you will find my listmania list "freelance commercial writing 101" that details other volumes to start your study. Read the basics first, then treat this one as "second-tier" study. But by all means, definitely do not delve too deeply into the profession without first studying this volume in detail. This is one of the very best copywriting volumes available.

I recently spent $500 on an online copy writing course. I should have spent the $20 on this book first, and saved myself $480.

PROS
- Showing you what good copy can do (with many pictures to prove the point)
- Copywriting A to Z (they cover everything)

CONS
- This book is a bit dated. The lessons are timeless, but the examples are pretty old.

Buy the book, you won't be let down.

What can I say? This man is a genius! Herschell Gordon Lewis is the MASTER of copywriting and his presentation is second to none. I learned so much from this book, as I have from so many of his other books. You can't go wrong with anything Mr. Lewis writes on the subject. He is the absolute BEST!