Writing Copy for Dummies [Paperback]

Jonathan Kranz (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0764569694 | ISBN-13: 978-0764569692 | Publication Date: October 29, 2004 | Edition: 1

Tips on writing to consumers and business-to-business

Create captivating, results-oriented, sales-generating copy

Need to produce winning copy for your business? This fast, fun guide takes you through every step of a successful copywriting project, from direct mail, print ads, and radio spots to Web sites, articles, and press releases. You'll see how to gather crucial information before you write, build awareness, land sales, and keep customers coming back for more.

Discover How To:
* Write compelling headlines and body copy
* Turn your research into brilliant ideas
* Create motivational materials for worthy causes
* Fix projects when they go wrong
* Land a job as a copywriter

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Tips on writing to consumers and business-to-business

Create captivating, results-oriented, sales-generating copy

Need to produce winning copy for your business? This fast, fun guide takes you through every step of a successful copywriting project, from direct mail, print ads, and radio spots to Web sites, articles, and press releases. You'll see how to gather crucial information before you write, build awareness, land sales, and keep customers coming back for more.

Discover How To:

• Write compelling headlines and body copy
• Turn your research into brilliant ideas
• Create motivational materials for worthy causes
• Fix projects when they go wrong
• Land a job as a copywriter

About the Author

Jonathan Kranz is the principal of Kranz Communications, an award-winning writing firm that helps leading agencies tackle their most difficult marketing, advertising, and public relations assignments in numerous consumer and B2B industries.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (October 29, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764569694
• ISBN-13: 978-0764569692
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #331,770 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Today, I enjoy the confidence of numerous marketing and advertising agencies, but unlike most independent copywriters, my career didn't begin with them. Instead, I had stints as a follow-spot operator in a regional theater, a park ranger on an allegedly haunted island in Boston Harbor, and as a summarizer of documents in large-scale litigations (think: Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener).

After completing my MFA in Creative Writing in 1995 (and publishing a number of short stories in literary journals such as the Missouri Review and the Green Mountains Review), I leap-frogged agency life and jumped into freelancing with both feet. Since then, I've written a huge stack of advertising, direct marketing, and public relations materials for consumer and B2B clients in financial services, banking, insurance, high-tech, healthcare, education, and other industries. I don't enter award shows myself, but my clients have submitted material, with my copy, that has won a number of honors, including the 2004 New England Direct Marketing Association's Awards for Creative Excellence 'Best of Show' gold medal.

On the side, I've written columns for local newspapers and have been a guest essayist on National Public Radio's All Things Considered. I've taught writing courses at Harvard University Extension School, Emerson College and Northeastern University, and I'm currently president of the Southern New England Chapter of the Society for Industrial Archeology.

I live in Melrose, Massachusetts with my wife, Eileen; two daughters, Rebecca and Anastasia; and a vast collection of LP records.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Snappy Pointers and Wise Advice, March 22, 2005

By 

David M. Scott "David Meerman Scott" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Writing Copy for Dummies (Paperback)

As a marketing consultant, I frequently write and review copy. Until I started referring to Jonathan Kranz' excellent book while scribbling away, I had always been writing in a vacuum (although I didn't know it). Sure, I have a decent working sense of what to do and generally got good results, but I had never based my work on practical and proven best-practices. Now I find that I write with more confidence. I turn to chapters in the book as I work and it feels like I have a friend looking over my shoulder, giving me snappy pointers and wise advice.

If you're a writing pro, you will make use of this book. If you're an entrepreneur who wants to write your own copy, the book is essential.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Helpful Guide, July 20, 2006

By 

Brad Shorr "Brad Shorr" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Writing Copy for Dummies (Paperback)

This book is for a non-writer who needs to write advertising or marketing for his company.

The material is comprehensive and includes many good tips. A couple things to note--

1. The focus is on style and construction of materials (e.g., how to put together a direct mail piece), not on grammar, style, and construction of words.

2. Most of the book covers B2C marketing, not B2B.

All the advice is tried-and-true. If you follow it, you can't go wrong.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Complete, practical, engaging guide, September 19, 2006

By 

Neil Sagebiel "Copywriter" (Floyd, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Writing Copy for Dummies (Paperback)

I've been a copywriter for 14 years, most of the time as a freelancer. I've also been a senior copywriter for an advertising agency and worked in the creative department for a major newspaper.

This is the first book on copywriting I've bought in several years, and I'm now the newest fan of Jonathan Kranz's "Writing Copy for Dummies." Mr. Kranz has written an excellent book for the novice or pro, providing a complete, common-sense guide that covers the full range of marketing communications (including PR). Whether business-to-consumer or business-to-business, direct-response or branding, print or online, for-profit or non-profit, it's all there in an engaging writing style and easy-to-digest format.

After being in the freelance trenches for many years, I know how far-flung assignments can be. It's invaluable to have an all-encompassing reference to reach for when I need knowledge in non-specialty areas. In fact, just last Friday I reviewed parts of Chapter 17 in preparation for a fundraising project with a major university.

Some of the material might be a refresher for veteran marketers. As for me, I'm glad to benefit from a fellow pro's perspective on marketing and copywriting topics. As I told Jonathan via email, "I'm glad you took the time to write this book."