Love Very Good Copy? Readers share 100 books like Very Good Copy...

By Eddie Shleyner,

Here are 100 books that Very Good Copy fans have personally recommended if you like Very Good Copy. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content

K. M. Wade Author Of The Content Marketerā€™s Blog Post Playbook

From my list on marketing to help you truly engage your audience.

Why am I passionate about this?

Throughout my career, Iā€™ve come across so many everyday people with awesome ideas of life-changing potential for a select group of people. And most of them struggle to reach the people they can most help. This is such an incredible shame! Iā€™m passionate about connecting those entrepreneurs and business owners who have great ideas with the people who will most benefit from their solutions, so both parties win. A big part of that is ensuring their marketing engages their target audience, hence this book list.

K. M.'s book list on marketing to help you truly engage your audience

K. M. Wade Why did K. M. love this book?

This book was like a trusted mentor in book form, helping me craft content thatā€™s clear, engaging, and downright effective. Ann strips away the boring writing advice everyone seems to give and delivers practical advice (which aligns with my own copywriting philosophy) with warmth and wit. Itā€™s not just about grammar or structureā€”itā€™s about connecting with your audience in a way that feels authentic.

What I loved most is how versatile this book is. Whether Iā€™m writing blog posts, website copy, or emails, Iā€™m always using something Ann taught me. Her book is packed with actionable tips and relatable examples, and her conversational tone made it a joy to read. This is another book in my toolkit that I flick through whenever I need inspiration.

By Ann Handley,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked Everybody Writes as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Finally a go-to guide to creating and publishing the kind of content that will make your business thrive. Everybody Writes is a go-to guide to attracting and retaining customers through stellar online communication, because in our content-driven world, every one of us is, in fact, a writer. If you have a web site, you are a publisher. If you are on social media, you are in marketing. And that means that we are all relying on our words to carry our marketing messages. We are all writers. Yeah, but who cares about writing anymore? In a time-challenged world dominated byā€¦


Book cover of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

K. M. Wade Author Of The Content Marketerā€™s Blog Post Playbook

From my list on marketing to help you truly engage your audience.

Why am I passionate about this?

Throughout my career, Iā€™ve come across so many everyday people with awesome ideas of life-changing potential for a select group of people. And most of them struggle to reach the people they can most help. This is such an incredible shame! Iā€™m passionate about connecting those entrepreneurs and business owners who have great ideas with the people who will most benefit from their solutions, so both parties win. A big part of that is ensuring their marketing engages their target audience, hence this book list.

K. M.'s book list on marketing to help you truly engage your audience

K. M. Wade Why did K. M. love this book?

So much of copywriting and content writing involves ensuring oneā€™s words are influential and memorable. This delved into human psychology to teach me what makes ideas sticky so I could make my words stickier. Chip and Danā€™s principles transformed how I approach content, helping me create messages that resonate with my audience long after theyā€™re read.

What I love most is how relatable the examples areā€”the book makes even complex concepts feel accessible. Whether Iā€™m crafting blog posts, ads, or web copy, the lessons in this book remind me how to capture attention and keep it.

By Chip Heath, Dan Heath,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked Made to Stick as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Why does fake news stick while the truth goes missing?

Why do disproved urban legends persist? How do you keep letting newspapers and clickbait sites lure you in with their headlines? And why do you remember complicated stories but not complicated facts?

Over ten years of study, Chip and Dan Heath have discovered how we latch on to information hooks. Packed full of case histories and incredible anecdotes, it shows:

- how an Australian scientist convinced the world he'd discovered the cause of stomach ulcers by drinking a glass filled with bacteria

- how a gifted sports reporter got peopleā€¦


Book cover of Contagious: Why Things Catch On

K. M. Wade Author Of The Content Marketerā€™s Blog Post Playbook

From my list on marketing to help you truly engage your audience.

Why am I passionate about this?

Throughout my career, Iā€™ve come across so many everyday people with awesome ideas of life-changing potential for a select group of people. And most of them struggle to reach the people they can most help. This is such an incredible shame! Iā€™m passionate about connecting those entrepreneurs and business owners who have great ideas with the people who will most benefit from their solutions, so both parties win. A big part of that is ensuring their marketing engages their target audience, hence this book list.

K. M.'s book list on marketing to help you truly engage your audience

K. M. Wade Why did K. M. love this book?

No one can truly predict what will go viral, and honestly, I donā€™t aim for viralityā€”my focus is on reaching a specific audience, not the masses. That said, I did want to understand the factors that make content more shareable. I wanted to craft content that resonates deeply while encouraging organic sharing, and Contagious provided a wealth of insights to achieve exactly that.

Jonah provides many examples and explains the science of why people share things in a way that I found fascinating and practical. I walked away with clear strategies for adding more share-worthy elements to my content without sacrificing authenticity or integrity. 

By Jonan Berger,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Contagious as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Why are some products and ideas talked about more than others? Why do some articles make the most emailed list? Why do some YouTube videos go viral? Word-of-mouth. Whether through face-to-face conversations, emails from friends, or online product reviews, the information and opinions we get from others have a strong impact on our own behaviour. Indeed, word-of-mouth generates more than two times the sales of paid advertising and is the primary factor behind 20-50% of all purchasing decisions.It is between 8.5 and 30 times more effective than traditional media.But want to know the best thing about word-of-mouth? It's available toā€¦


Book cover of Building a Storybrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen

K. M. Wade Author Of The Content Marketerā€™s Blog Post Playbook

From my list on marketing to help you truly engage your audience.

Why am I passionate about this?

Throughout my career, Iā€™ve come across so many everyday people with awesome ideas of life-changing potential for a select group of people. And most of them struggle to reach the people they can most help. This is such an incredible shame! Iā€™m passionate about connecting those entrepreneurs and business owners who have great ideas with the people who will most benefit from their solutions, so both parties win. A big part of that is ensuring their marketing engages their target audience, hence this book list.

K. M.'s book list on marketing to help you truly engage your audience

K. M. Wade Why did K. M. love this book?

This book completely changed how I think about communicating with my audience. Donaldā€™s framework for clarifying your message is simple yet incredibly powerful. It taught me how to position the customer as the hero of the story and clarified my role as their guideā€”a mindset shift that has made my writing and marketing (and my strategic advice) so much more effective.

I love this book's interactivity, especially the inclusion of a StoryBrand template, which I completed as I read through it the second time. 

By Donald Miller,

Why should I read it?

12 authors picked Building a Storybrand as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

More than half-a-million business leaders have discovered the power of the StoryBrand Framework, created by New York Times bestselling author and marketing expert Donald Miller. And they are making millions.

If you use the wrong words to talk about your product, nobody will buy it. Marketers and business owners struggle to effectively connect with their customers, costing them and their companies millions in lost revenue.

In a world filled with constant, on-demand distractions, it has become near-impossible for business owners to effectively cut through the noise to reach their customers, something Donald Miller knows first-hand. In this book, he sharesā€¦


Book cover of The Idea Writers: Copywriting in a New Media and Marketing Era

George Felton Author Of Advertising: Concept and Copy

From my list on copywriters on the rise.

Why am I passionate about this?

I taught writing and copywriting at Columbus College of Art & Design in Ohio for thirty-seven years (retiring as an ancient-but-somehow-still-living fossil in 2014). I taught all our majors, but most of my copywriting students were advertising and design majors. During those decades I wrote nonfiction for newspapers and magazines and copy as a freelancer for ad agencies and design studios. My copywriting book emerged from my experiences in and out of the classroom. I hope Iā€™ve given good advice on advertising: how to think about it and how to write it. But youā€™ll be the judge.

George's book list on copywriters on the rise

George Felton Why did George love this book?

In recent decades, as advertising has moved from one-way communication about product benefits to conversations with consumers about brands, someone needed to sum things up. Iezzi and the creatives she interviews do exactly that. As she presents it, ā€œFirst of all, forget about making an adā€¦ Youā€™re making something to compete with every other piece of content, every other media experience that a person has during her waking hours.ā€ The Idea Writers is an excellent primer on this new landscape. How do we create a brandā€™s story, one that consumers identify with and help propagate, if not create? How do we manage it, move it forward, spread it across various media, and make it viral? How can it become its own never-ending story?

By Teressa Iezzi,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Idea Writers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Idea Writers guides both new and experienced copywriters through the process of creating compelling messages that sell. It shows readers what it's like to work in the fast-paced world of an agency while providing practical adviceplusdetails oncreatingaward-winning multimedia ad campaigns.


Book cover of The 60-Second Sales Hook: How to Stand Out and Sell More Using the Power of Your Story

Chris Orzechowski Author Of Make it Rain: The Secret to Generating Massive Paydays from Your Email List

From my list on copywriting.

Why am I passionate about this?

I started my adult life as a bouncer and a school teacher. A few years later, I was running one of the most well-known email marketing agencies in the industry. The reason this happened is because I dedicated my life to becoming a master copywriter. Learning how to write copy was the key that unlocked a level of freedom I didnā€™t know existed, both personal and financial. Itā€™s also allowed me to write two bestselling books on email marketing, work with 250+ brands, and coach 2,200+ students around the world. I hope this list helps you take your writing skills up a notch.

Chris' book list on copywriting

Chris Orzechowski Why did Chris love this book?

In a world of ever-shortening attention spans, youā€™ve got a minute (maybe even less) to grab your readerā€™s attention and hook them. How exactly do you do that? Kevin Rogers lays out a simple four-step framework you can use to sell any product in any market with ease. This book has come in handy time and time again. It always helps me get to the essence of the sales argument Iā€™m trying to construct. I use this framework for this book on my websites, in my sales letters, and even in some of my emails. Itā€™s a timeless formula youā€™ll lean on for years to come. 

By Kevin Rogers,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The 60-Second Sales Hook as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

How a nightclub comedian turned a simple joke formula into a million dollar sales hook... and how you can use the same easy 4-sentence formula to stand out from the crowd and connect more deeply with your best customers and prospects.


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

Henneke Duistermaat Author Of How to Write Seductive Web Copy: An Easy Guide to Picking Up More Customers

From my list on writing for the web.

Why am I passionate about this?

In 2012, I escaped my corporate job to found Enchanting Marketing. I had discovered I love writing and I love teaching people how to write even more. I help small business owners and solo flyers find their voice and share their ideas with gusto, so they can captivate, educate, and inspire their audience. I created this list with 5 book recommendations as a mini-course on writing for the web. Thereā€™s little overlap between the books; they all complement each other. Happy reading and happy writing! 

Henneke's book list on writing for the web

Henneke Duistermaat Why did Henneke love this book?

This book is a comprehensive guide on copywriting and selling by a legendary direct response writer. Itā€™s not specific to writing for the web but covers the basic principles of persuasion such as how to sell on emotion and help people justify a purchase with logic. It also includes many useful writing tips such as how to write the first sentence and how to sow seeds of curiosity to keep readers engaged. 

Iā€™ve probably highlighted more quotes in this book than in any other book on writing. Highly recommended! 

By Joseph Sugarman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Adweek Copywriting Handbook as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Great copy is the heart and soul of the advertising business. In this practical guide, legendary copywriter Joe Sugarman provides proven guidelines and expert advice on what it takes to write copy that will entice, motivate, and move customers to buy. For anyone who wants to break into the business, this is the ultimate companion resource for unlimited success.


Book cover of Breakthrough Advertising

Jennifer Havice Author Of Finding the Right Message: How to Turn Voice of Customer Research Into Irresistible Website Copy

From my list on to deliver more persuasive messages.

Why am I passionate about this?

Ever since I was a kid, Iā€™ve always been intrigued by how people make decisions and why the words we use can significantly impact those decisions. After years of conducting customer research and writing marketing messages for clients, my interest in finding and delivering compelling messages at just the right time to the right audience has only grown. Iā€™ve poured my experience in the online marketing trenches into my book, Finding the Right Message, where I reference more than one of the authors on my recommendation list. 

Jennifer's book list on to deliver more persuasive messages

Jennifer Havice Why did Jennifer love this book?

Decades old, this book continues to be one of the most important resources for creating and delivering effective messages in marketing. Eugene Schwartz is one of the godfathers of direct advertising whose insights about understanding your customerā€™s state of awareness have been invaluable to countless marketers and copywriters. The examples he shares may be dated, but the advice remains relevant.

By Eugene M. Schwartz,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Breakthrough Advertising as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

paperback version


Book cover of Tested Advertising Methods

Drew Eric Whitman Author Of Ca$hvertising: How to Use More Than 100 Secrets of Ad-Agency Psychology to Make Big Money Selling Anything to Anyone

From my list on creating powerful, money-making advertising copy.

Why am I passionate about this?

Drew Eric Whitman is known internationally as a dynamic consultant and trainer who smashes old advertising myths like a china-shop bull. Teaching the psychology behind the response for nearly four decades, he worked for the direct-marketing division of the largest ad agency in Philadelphia, was a senior copywriter for the country's leading direct-to-the-consumer insurance company, and was the associate copy chief for catalog giant Day-TimersHis work has been used by companies ranging from small retail shops to giant, multi-million dollar corporations. A popular keynote speaker at international affiliate marketing conferences, Drewā€™s intensive CA$HVERTISING Clinic teaches business people how to use consumer psychology to boost the effectiveness of their ads, brochures, sales letters, Websites, and more.

Drew's book list on creating powerful, money-making advertising copy

Drew Eric Whitman Why did Drew love this book?

If you want to run ads that work, you need to learn what makes them work. This book tells you. John Caples is widely regarded to be one of historyā€™s most iconic advertising copywriters. The man knew how to influence people to buy. This classic book gets down to the very foundation of advertising effectiveness and is loaded with examples and success "recipes" that you can immediately apply to your own ads--no matter what you sell. 100% practical, too. Look for the 4th edition or earlier for a book that's ā€œtotally Caplesā€ without dilution by editors to "modernize" (er, weaken!) it. Miss this, and youā€™re missing the Queen Mary

By John Caples,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Tested Advertising Methods as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The fifth edition of this work on how to create successful advertising features new coverage on small businesses with limited revenues, non-profit advertising, as well as techniques of headlines, illustrations and layouts. There is also new information useful to smaller businesses.


Book cover of Writing Is Designing

Rachel McConnell Author Of Why You Need a Content Team and How to Build One

From my list on copywriters looking to move into UX content design.

Why am I passionate about this?

I moved into content design from a career in brand and marketing, at a time when the discipline was emerging and not many people really knew what it was. Much of my time since has been spent educating people and organisations and sharing knowledge to help them make better content decisions. Throughout this time, Iā€™ve learnt most of what I know through the experience of working with the design teams, but so many books have also helped me along the way and made my work so much better. I love content design ā€“ having the power to improve people's experiences with brands through words is so rewarding, and these books will inspire others to do the same.

Rachel's book list on copywriters looking to move into UX content design

Rachel McConnell Why did Rachel love this book?

I first read this book as a technical reviewer and loved how the book almost felt like a double-act, with both Andy and Michael sharing their tips for great content design. The book takes you through the design process for good content, from creating the content itself to testing and measuring with your team. Itā€™s simply written and laid out, so it doesnā€™t feel like a technical read, and youā€™ll feel well-equipped to approach even the trickiest content design challenges.

By Michael J. Metts, Andy Welfle,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Writing Is Designing as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Without words, apps would be an unusable jumble of shapes and icons, while voice interfaces and chatbots wouldn't even exist. Words make software humanā€“centered, and require just as much thought as the branding and code. This book will show you how to give your users clarity, test your words, and collaborate with your team. You'll see that writing is designing.


Book cover of Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content
Book cover of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
Book cover of Contagious: Why Things Catch On

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