Why I Wrote This Book

I’ve been a Copywriter and Creative Director for 30+ years and have taught Copywriting for almost seven. I’m grateful to those who have written books that capture what it’s like to be a copywriter in an agency, how to develop and apply advertising principles, and how to critique copywriting. But unfortunately, I have yet to find one book that includes everything I need to develop young copywriters in my classroom. Even if it existed, imagine how long the book would be. 300 pages? 500? More?

But length isn’t the only problem – or even the biggest. The biggest problem is that as soon as you commit words and pictures to print, they’re out of date. The world moves at an unrelentingly quick pace. For example, last year no one was talking about AI. This year, it’s THE hot trend affecting every aspect of our industry and our lives. Likewise, this year’s award winning campaigns/content will become passé within six months. New advertising stars will be born overnight. And new methods and tools could become available by the time you finish reading this sentence.

Another reason why I wrote this is that traditional textbooks cost money – which is in short supply for many CUNY students. An Open Educational Resource (OER) is free and accessible. But money is not the only barrier when it comes to learning. For those who are visually impaired, a physical book is useless. The same goes for those who are hearing impaired, physically unable to be in my classroom, or who are neurodiverse. Practically speaking, the best way to make knowledge accessible to the largest number of people is an Open Educational Resource.

Finally, I really do believe Copywriting is a super power. It can be used to help amazing brands find their consumers. It can be used to help you find your people. It has the power to change the political narrative and all of our lives.

So when I was invited to take part in a CUNY program designed by Rebus that supports faculty as they develop OER projects, I was thrilled to take part. After all, in my Advertising Copywriting class at The City College of New York, I already mix professional best practices with academic resources, plus the methods and tools of ad pros who are still in the industry. I draw on classic examples, plus the latest content, campaigns and trends.

Now I don’t have to wait to write a book, then write a new edition and print it every semester. Instead, I can update this OER each semester – or whenever new technologies, strategies, practices, and thinking become imminent and imperative.

Why Use This Book?

First of all, please don’t just READ this book. USE it. Read, watch, and listen to the content you find here. Then APPLY it to help solve whatever problem you need to solve. Why should you bother? If you’re in my class, it’s required. But the most important reasons for using this OER are below.

Use this book because Copywriting has the power to help you:

• Get the date
• Get the grade
• Get the apartment
• Get the promotion
• Get the vote
• Get the sale

Copywriting is a secret storytelling weapon you can use to get what you want in the classroom, in your career, and in your life. That’s why I say it’s a super power. A super power everyone can tap into.

You can use this super power to convince anyone of almost anything. Whether you need to write an email to your boss asking for time off; convince your spouse to buy that sporty new car; get your parents to let you go to a party; change the political narrative; or convince a client to entrust you with millions of dollars to help them market their product or service – copywriting will help you accomplish your goal.

If you’re a student of advertising, marketing, public relations and/or communications, learning how to connect a stated strategy with its creative, well articulated expression through copywriting will serve you not only in class – but throughout your life and career.