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Write to Sell
Book

Write to Sell

The Ultimate Guide to Great Copywriting

Andy Maslen
Marshall Cavendish, 2009
First Edition: 2007
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Editorial Rating

8

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  • Applicable

Recommendation

Andy Maslen has produced a beautiful book on how to write well. His compact, easy- to-read guide offers plenty of useful information. Though designed for advertising copywriters, it will help anyone in business who must communicate with others in writing, that is, nearly everyone. Maslen outlines the basics of effective written communication: Employ the active voice, be brief, use short words and sentences and so on. Throughout the book, Maslen provides numerous examples to show what he means. This is a high-quality book, though not a perfect one. Maslen presents a great number of acronyms – perhaps one too many. And, the formatting of his guide may seem slightly messy to those who prefer a simple, clean page to one peppered with bold print, italics and emphatic capitalization. Other than a few similar minor gaffes, however, this is an outstanding book. getAbstract recommends it to anyone who wants to become a better writer.

Summary

Sell the Reader

Today, everyone in business is a writer, if only a writer of e-mail memos. As a businessperson, however, you likely also need to know how to prepare professional reports, proposals and general correspondence. How proficient are you at these universal writing tasks? If you get paid to write – for example, as a copywriter – you’d better be good. Copywriters who excel at their profession follow a few simple rules to write strong marketing copy:

  • “Copywriting is about selling” – Being a great copywriter requires more than simply a knowledge of, and a facility for, composition and grammar. You must also know how to motivate people and understand what makes them tick. See your writing as an integral part of the sales process. Its sole purpose: to get your readers to act in some desired way. This is no small feat. People are inordinately busy. However, great advertising copy has the power to focus readers’ minds like a laser beam on one thing only – your advertising message. Your copy makes readers want to buy what you have to sell. How does it accomplish this goal? It transmits on the only frequency readers care about: “Radio WIIFM – What’s In...

About the Author

Andy Maslen is the founder of Sunfish, a copywriting company. He has written two other books on copywriting, 100 Great Copywriting Ideas and The Copywriting Sourcebook.

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