Penguin Books in the UK have a “Great Ideas” series of books that they describe as…
“…the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.”
It occurred to me that it would be useful to have a similar list of the books that have shaped copywriting and direct response marketing as we know it today.
So, I’ll be contacting a range of top copywriters and marketers to get their suggestions as to which books should be included.
To kick off the series, here are the books recommended by Clayton Makepeace over at his site “The Total Package”. I’ve edited the list slightly to concentrate on older books that represented a significant step forward in the practice of copywriting and direct response marketing…
“Reason Why Advertising” – John E. Kennedy
“My Life In Advertising / Scientific Advertising” – Claude Hopkins
“Tested Advertising Methods” – John Caples
“The Robert Collier Letter Book” – Robert Collier
“Reality In Advertising” – Rosser Reeves
“How To Write A Good Advertisement” – Victor O. Schwab
“Ogilvy On Advertising” – David Ogilvy
“Breakthrough Advertising” – Eugene Schwartz
“Positioning” – Al Ries And Jack Trout
This last book may raise a few eyebrows but I certainly regard it as a marketing classic and one of the most important marketing books of the last 30 years.
As mentioned, I’ll be getting suggestions from a range of copywriters with the aim of compiling a “Master List” of books.
If you have suggestions about what should be included, please post a comment!