Blue Demon Approved:
4 Copywriting Books for College Students
at DePaul University
I am not a communications student by major, but I love storytelling at heart. My love for great advertising and storytelling has pushed me to learning about the data behind the storytelling. Why is it impactful? Is it impactful? The data is the marketing behind great advertisement and to market something you first need great advertising and all advertising starts as great copy. Below are some of my favorite reads during my last quarter and these are all available at DePaul library locations.
1. Ogilvy On Advertising – David Ogilvy
If you decide to pursue a Communications, PR or Advertising major and eventual career, you will know who David Ogilvy is.
As the “The Father of Advertising”, his expertise and vision for what peak advertising is, is why he was extremely in-demand by companies around the world. This book is a crash course on all things advertising, from agency life, to “producing advertising that sells” and even “how to get jobs in advertising”. This book is from 1983 but much of the information is as relevant today as it was then. Good copy sells.
A FAVORITE QUOTE: “I do not regard advertising as entertainment or an art form, but as a medium of information. When I write an advertisement, I don’t want you to tell me that you find it ‘creative’. I want you to find it so interesting that you buy the product“
2. Persuasive Copywriting – Andy Maslen
The subtitle to this book is “Cut through the noise and communicate with impact”. Being able to write effectively not only helps in Communications but it helps you in your career skill-building. We all want to make impact and persuasion is one way to communicate your ideas and realize them. Persuasion in copywriting is no different. You want to entice people to consider whatever your selling or writing about. You want them invested in your story.
This book covers tips ranging from “Tone and Technique in copy”, “Harnessing the power of emotional copywriting” and also how to “balance pleasure (poetry) and profit (selling the thing).” It’s comprehensive.
A FAVORITE QUOTE: “People love hearing secrets. That makes them a powerful word in your lexicon of persuasion.”
3. Smart Brevity – Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and Roy Schwartz
“Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less” is a book our office was assigned in an exercise on: getting to the point. Written by creators of “Axios”, this book is about their “Smart Brevity” model used on all of the articles they publish. Replicated by many news outlets, the model is effective in communicating news in brief and digestible pieces.
Write about information that matters in a way that people will care about and your words will have power to be absorbed.
FAVORITE QUOTE: “We’re taught that length equals depth and importance. Brevity is confidence. Length is fear. “
Do 4. How to Write Great Copy – Dominic Gettins
Learning to write in a formal sense is much different than writing great copy. Philosophy is great writing with very layered understandings but would that make for great copy? Perhaps “to be or not be” can work, but if you’re writing advertisements you need to make a clear call to action and that would be more like “TO BE”.
This book covers 8 unwritten “rules” and breaks down how to achieve “great copy”. If you made it this far, I will share those here:
- Know Your Market
- Do Research
- Answer The Brief
- Be Relevant
- Be Objective
- Keep It Simple
- Know Your Medium
- Be Ambitious
A FAVORITE QUOTE: “Communication is a very special concept because it combines the idea of a message sent with a message received.”
Want to check these books out or other great options? I urge you to visit the DePaul library and ask them for “Advertising books!” because they will point you to the section and you can see what calls your attention. For me, these 4 books were great reads during my last quarter, so I’m excited to read even more this quarter.
Visit The Library
Marco Garcia | IG: AstroTheProtege | First-Generation Latino Digital Marketing Student