Customer Reviews

The Adweek Copywriting Handbook: The Ultimate Guide to Writing Powerful Advertising and Marketing Copy from One of America's Top Copywriters

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

If you are interested in learning copywriting, I would only say do one thing before reading this book; read it only AFTER you have read something else to get you started. Either Bowerman's "Well-fed Writer", Bly's "Secrets of a Freelance Writer" Slaunwhite's "Start and Run a Copywriting Business" or Meanwell's "The Wealthy Writer." Any one of these books will give you a solid foundation to build upon.

THE ADWEEK COPYWRITING BOOK by Joe Sugarman is a "must read". I believe, however, you will gain more value from this incredible book if you use this as somewhat of a "second phase" of your copywriting education. That's not to say Sugarman's book is difficult to understand. It's not. There are just some other things you need to learn and understand first.

This book is brilliantly laid out in a step-by-step, easy to follow format with wide margins for lots of notes. Sugarman takes you through the process of actually writing copy from beginning to end. The emphasis here is on print advertising, but the relation and application to any other form of copywriting is easily discernable. The brief final section of the book even covers writing for other types of media.

Sugarman is a great teacher. This book pulls largely from the training seminar Sugarman taught for many years. Only you get the $2,000 seminar for the price of a book. What a deal!

This is word for word the same book as another of sugarmans books: Advertising secrets of the written word. That book is an excellent book on copywriting and marketing. Buy this book save a ton of money to aquire the same info.

There is something very important that you should know before you buy this book. If you are interested in writing copy for sales, especially website copy, you will not find this book helpful.

Author Joseph Sugarman was a marketing guru during the 70's and 80's, I think everyone familiar with the products he promoted can agree to that. The problem is that all of his case studies, personal anecdotes, and print ad examples in the book are literally three to four decades old. This book focuses almost entirely on writing copy for direct marketing, ads that are thousands of words in length that have generally been a thing of the past since the 80's. Sugarman dedicates less than 15 pages of a more than 300-page book to a general discussion of the impact that the internet has on sales, with no real techniques for writing web copy.

What I found extremely unusual was the egotistical nature of the author. Sugarman makes numerous boasts about his work, and often namedrops his seminar attendants when it's entirely unimportant to readers looking to improve their writing skills. The most bizarre inclusion in the book is a story of a hot blonde in a miniskirt who saunters into his office, supposedly to offer sex in exchange for his copywriting help after her direct-mail campaign failed. Even if one could actually bring themselves to believe such a far-fetched yarn, it had no reason being in this book.

I write this review with the advance understanding that his seminar attendants will vote that my review was not helpful. I had hoped to learn a great deal from this book, it's unfortunate that it fell far below my expectations.

This is one of the best books on copywriting I've read in a very long time. As someone with four decades of copywriting experience I can tell you with full confidence that if you're interested in copywriting on any level, you need this book.

I don't need to say more. Just buy this book. You won't be sorry. In fact, read it and look to it often. It is money in your pocket.

Seldom does a how-to book so thoroughly accomplish its goal. Read this text and you'll learn how to compose great copy. Information in: skill out. Copywriter extraordinaire Joseph Sugarman explains what it takes to write copy that sells as he covers the basic elements of a print ad. He then delves into the writing process by revealing his methods, such as letting your thoughts flow unhindered onto the paper and giving your ideas time to incubate. Then he switches his focus to explaining which emotions motivate people to make purchases and how to incorporate these "psychological triggers" into your advertising. Although Sugarman confesses up front that his lessons focus primarily on print mail-order advertising, he provides a chapter on copywriting for various media. However, it is obvious that his strength lies in mail order. The emphasis on print ads notwithstanding, getAbstract urges anyone who wants to communicate effectively to pick up this thorough, lively copywriting guide.

This book is Truly Amazing. I'm not a copywriter. Never intend to be one. I'm in the speaking/training business, and I needed some material that would teach me how to write successful copy. Since I have to do my own marketing, I needed something that would help me right away. Plus, I didn't want to lose any more money buying books to teach me about copy writing that simply DID NOT WORK. I have bought a couple that were a total loss of my money. I won't mention the names of the books because I don't want to offend anyone. But I will say this about this book (and by the way, this is my FIRST review for any book I've bought), if you're looking for a method that is VERY EASY TO UNDERSTAND, FOLLOWS A LOGICAL PROCESS THAT WORKS, and is GUARANTEED TO GET YOU RESULTS, then you owe it to yourself to BUY THIS BOOK.

I just wish I knew about this book BEFORE I wasted my money on the other books I bought. Joseph's methods are so POWERFUL, I even use them when I'm speaking. I keep my audiences SPELLBOUND. They hang to EVERY WORD I say. Now, just imagine... if people give me their attention to a 45-60 minute speech, can you see what it will do for your copy? People respond the way I want them to respond as a result of the methods I'm using from Joseph Sugarman.

I'm VERY GRATEFUL I bought this book. You'll be GRATEFUL too. Buy it!

Absolutely the best book I've read on copywriting to date. Joe Sugarman presents the information in a thorough, yet exciting way that will keep you reading from beginning to end. Every chapter contains another nugget of gold that will help you master the skill of copywriting and get bigger results from your advertising. This book is a must have for business owners and anyone wishing to improve their copywriting skills.

This book is phenomenal. If you read it and put Joe's techniques to work you'll be a step ahead of 99% of the Ad Agency's out there that charge an arm and a leg for what you can do on your own. It takes some practice and note taking but, if you listen to what Joe says you'll be handsomely rewarded. Even if you're not selling anything, you will still enjoy reading this book.

This is the single best book I have read on how to right effective advertising copy.

Every business has to advertise in some way, shape or form if it is to survive. Writing effective copy can be the difference between succesful advertising and a big waste of money.

If you have an agency who does your advertising, you really need to read this book. Once you read and understand the concepts that Sugarman discusses, you will be much better prepared to direct your agency on what you want in your ad that will really make it effective. You will definitely know more than most advertising 'specialists.'

If you create your own ads, buy this book, read it, and do what it says. The effectiveness of your advertising will increase dramatically and you will separate your company from all the 'look-alikes' who do advertising in the same old, ineffective way.

This book is a fantastic learning tool for any copywriter. Although it does focus on writing space ads specifically, the Principles can be used in all types of copy with minor adjustments.

Very easy to read as well, with a great summary of lessons and study guide in the appendix.

Great book