Reading list for Thanksgiving and Holidays 🎄🦃✈️ Very Good Copy by 🇺🇦 Eddie Shleyner (his writing style and principles are going to be even more important in an AI age)

You know how there’s a quick 5-second window to capture someone’s attention on your website or they’re gone? That’s what I’m like with business books. I hate them. Pretty sure it’s because I was spoiled with so many great novels in my youth. I’d devour most of them in one afternoon. Now, as a mother of two little ones, I don’t have the time (or the willpower) to spend hating my life trying to learn something new. But to get better, you have to. That’s why Very Good Copy is at the very top of my must-read copywriting books. There’s stories (sometimes with pictures). There’s lessons. They’re short. It’s easy to read and easy to digest. I smashed it out in a few nights after putting the little tackers to bed. Thanks 🇺🇦 Eddie Shleyner it’s a 10/10 from me ♥️ #copywriting #marketing #verygoodcopy

My Top 3 "saw-it-on-Linkedin" book recommendations for anyone starting their copywriting career. All of them are easy to digest and make you go "Aaah, so I'm not the only one." Dan Nelken's Self-help guide for copywriters: Start with this one and learn basic techniques to come up with the good stuff quickly. Thomas Kemeny's Junior: A great one to learn more about agency-client dynamics, with good tips and moments where you turn the page laughing. 🇺🇦 Eddie Shleyner's VeryGoodCopy: An awesome collection of his micro-lessons that inspire and share great knowledge. Remember, you are what you read. So read this and become better. #funtomentals

It’s cold, wet, and rainy. Work feels slow. The creative juices aren’t flowing. So I jump into 🇺🇦 Eddie Shleyner’s Very Good Copy. “Finally!” I thought. “I’ve been meaning to read this for ages.” Hours flew by, but not a moment felt wasted. If anything, I was *more* productive reading the book than if I’d been manically writing thousands of words of copy. For so long, I tried to put myself into the shoes of our ideal customer — trying to connect the dots between our solution and their pain. Hell, I thought I’d nailed the recent website copy rewrite. I was sure the headlines would pop, and prospects would love reading all the new content. But then I realised just how wrong I was. The copy isn’t bad… it’s just not great. One lesson in the book was about windows. The late, great Eugene Schwartz would despair when people told him how great his headlines were. Because they were seeing the words, not through them. Good copy makes people see through the words to the product itself. That’s when it hit me: the copy I’d been happily sitting on reads great in almost every other situation *except* the one it was written for. Normally, I’d hit this realisation and curse myself for wasting my time. But this time, it’s clear that this was exactly the revelation I needed. I’ve spent the last hour rethinking all the copy I’ve drafted — zooming in on specific moments to connect with our audience in a more meaningful way. It’s energising to see your work in a completely fresh light… which brings me to the whole point of this post: Don’t force creativity. Take a step back. Let your ideas breathe. Channel your customer’s demand. Great marketing doesn’t come from forcing yourself to be creative on the spot. It comes from everywhere — even a cold, rainy Wednesday afternoon spent reading a book. #copywriting #marketing #writing #creativity

Very Good Copy by 🇺🇦 Eddie Shleyner is a goldmine of ideas for marketers. One insight, in particular, stood out: a conversation with Kim Krause Schwalm, where she shared this principle: 🗣️ “40% of your advertising success depends on the strength of the offer.” This makes perfect sense. You could have the ideal audience and a brilliant marketing campaign, but if your offer isn’t thoroughly researched or tested, it’s like taking a "leap into the dark". The risk of this is wasting time, effort, and resources on a product or service that your audience may not even want. Preparation is key. Before launching anything: 🔍 Assess the viability of your offer. 📊 Analyze trends in your industry. 🤝 Check what your competitors are doing. Content is the conduit of your offer, not the offer itself. You need to believe that there is a strong chance that it will succeed. #contentmarketing #verygoodcopy #competitoranalysis #research

32 pages into “Very Good Copy” and blown away. Thank you, 🇺🇦 Eddie Shleyner 🙏

Shout out to 🇺🇦 Eddie Shleyner whose recent book is my only Black Friday purchase. #writingcommunity If your writing is a business and not a hobby you need to think like a copywriter to market your work. This book will help. a.co/dAzP9Sk I’m not affiliated with Eddie in any way, just a shameless admirer of his copy.

I can't express how happy I was to finally get my hands on this masterpiece. My expectations weren’t just met — they were exceeded. 📈 I had to hold myself back from reading it all in one sitting. I managed to stretch it out to three days. That was the best I could do. 🤷🏼‍♀️ It’s clear, easy to digest, and personal. A book every copywriter should refer to daily. Kudos to 🇺🇦 Eddie Shleyner

3 books on marketing I've actually read cover to cover... ... and implemented lessons from: 📕 Everybody Writes by Ann Handley - this is a staple. I have screenshots of certain sections (have the hard copy *and* the kindle copy, I love it so much) that I go back to every week. 📗 Obviously Awesome by April Dunford - short with no fluff. The templates April gives you are worth 10x the price of the book itself. If you're a marketer, you *need* to know more about positioning and this will help you. 📘 Very Good Copy by 🇺🇦 Eddie Shleyner - I keep this on my desk all the time. I love the "micro lessons" and they're perfect for a bit of inspiration. No matter how many times I crack it open, I learn something new. What's on your must read list? Looking for a few new ones to snuggle up with as we get into the holiday season!

Story Sunday, episode #1. I usually run out of things to write about. But as I was reading this book, I had an epiphany The book is Very Good Copy by Eddie Shleyner. In each of his 207 micro-lessons He uses short stories to get the point across Tidbits from his personal life Moments most of us would discard as inconsequential We're led to believe we need crazy stories to be "interesting" We're led to believe our boring lives aren't "good enough" But most of us are not Kardashians Most of us lead ordinary lives In "246 words on free ideas" He recounts a dialogue between him, his wife and 2 of their friends Brandon never talks to Uber drivers. Eddie loves talking to Uber drivers. Something most of us would never consider writing about. But Eddie always finds a way to make a "boring" story... Interesting. Those everyday moments make him relatable. Eddie also uses references from popular media The show "Mad Men" in particular He finds snippets he could relate back to the point he tries to make And he makes them interesting (I even started watching the show as a result) Now you already know what I'm getting at Next time you hit the brick wall - Go on a walk - Watch a movie - Talk to that Uber driver Ideas are everywhere. You just need to catch them. catch ya next Sunday for episode #2. (yes you guessed it, another boring story).

Please, if you're a copywriter or just want to get better at copywriting, read this book! In Very Good Copy, 🇺🇦 Eddie Shleyner doesn't just talk about copywriting tactics like most books do, but he also covers how to think like a good copywriter. Not to mention there's several references to movies and other great storytelling books I've read like On Writing and Save the Cat. As a screenwriter myself, I really appreciated that. When copywriting, it's easy to get complacent and not try to peel back the layers on what you really want to say. But reading this every day before work really made me think differently in my writing approach. Highly suggest.

Been a while. Taking time away from this platform has felt cathartic. Imagine waking up and not reading some spew from somebody somewhere doing something at 2.45am. (Because if you don't do the same thing, you're failing at life etc...) Bliss. Every now and then, it's worth posting something here. Especially, when it's something as good as 🇺🇦 Eddie Shleyner's new book. 110 lessons on thinking about your copy. 97 on writing it. Eddie, if you're reading, this is a triumph. Thank you for writing it. For anyone else in marketing, advertising, copywriting - Buy it.

I didn’t expect to read this book for anything other than lessons about marketing. I’m in real estate and publishing. To do it well, really well, requires the ability to express myself in a way that resonates. I expected snippets about persuasion. How to address a potential client’s “pain points”. This book offers so much more. It’s about life and how to live it. Well. I’m only 20% of the way through. I’m going to enjoy the hell out of the other 80%. Thank you, 🇺🇦 Eddie Shleyner.

Running a creative business means I get to do work I love (with the absolute best clients ❤️) But, you wanna know what’s really hard about running a creative business… learning new things. It’s not even that the learning part is hard, it’s prioritizing it and actually fitting it into my cal. Meetings, deliverables, lunch. Lots of stuff gets in the way. The key is staying organized and giving myself space to learn with intention. ✨ I’m partnering with Skillshare to help me with this!! It’s the largest online learning community for creatives with thousands of classes. I just picked a handful of classes on copywriting, creative strategy, and good old admin stuff (I’m an Asana girlie and Notion is killing me) “Making the time” is something I’m extremely grateful for, and I control my own schedule now!  It only makes my work better and my clients happier. Let’s take some classes together! The first 500 people to use my link will get a one-month free trial of Skillshare 👉 lnkd.in/gejhyv-k #SkillsharePartner

A Journey to Longevity Longevity isn’t just about how long you live. It’s about living healthier and better. While you may not know how many years you'll live. Choose to make the most out of them. This is part of my journey to longevity. •Loving myself more. •Learning every day. •Smiling more. •Working out. •Eating well. •Hydrating. •Praying. There are many other habits I try to practice, But these are the ones that have brought me the most positivity. To me, learning every day means constantly expanding my knowledge. This year, I committed to reading more books. Recently i'm reading Very Good Copy by 🇺🇦 Eddie Shleyner. What’s the best book you’ve read that made a lasting impact on your life?

Anyone else have an ever-present stack of books they're working through? Any time there's a major shift in my role, responsibilities, company, personal life, etc., I refresh my pile. But it's almost always got at least one book from each of these groups: ✨ Books related to my current industry or interests Currently: Social by Matthew Lieberman and The Business of Friendship by Shasta Nelson ✨ Books I refer back to as needed Currently: Sales Pitch by April Dunford and Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman ✨ New (or new-to-me) releases that I've added to my library Currently: Very Good Copy by 🇺🇦 Eddie Shleyner For the first group, I often start out with a copy from the library so I can sample lots of different books on the topic. After a couple of chapters, if it seems like something I want to dig into, I'll go grab my own copy. Then I highlight and mark up alllll the pages (ask me about my sticky note stash!), which I'll eventually reference when the book makes an appearance in the second category. Any recommendations for my next rotation? #startups #readinglist #productmarketing

When I picked up Very Good Copy by 🇺🇦 Eddie Shleyner I didn’t have high expectations. Most business books, sales books, marketing books, leadership books… are fluff. High level frameworks, regurgitated truisms. Yes, I get that culture matters. Yes, I get you need to be customer centric. Yes, I get I need to actively listen. I closed the book after the first few chapters. They felt disjointed, almost random. A story about staring at art and his grandma and I don’t remember what else. I wanted specific B2B tips I could go execute tomorrow! But for some reason, maybe idle curiosity, I picked it up again while my newborn sat plunked on my chest. Some interesting chapters had me take a few notes. And suddenly I found myself getting pulled back into it, odd for a book with no central characters or plot (save for Eddie himself). But there was something about the simplicity and the storytelling. I read a page and I would pause and think “that flowed” or “that made me smile”, that drew me back. What was it about that chapter that “worked”? I’ve now been through the book fully twice and have earmarked a handful of pages, things around dialogue and headlines and “copy working” to return to. I am realizing that great writing has to have a soul to it. It can’t just be dry, bland facts pouring out. Even more so in an age of AI. Although I have close to 7,000,000 views on LinkedIn this year, I realize that my writing itself is a major thing that holds me back. Too dense. Too many words. Flat hooks. Hell this post is a stream of conscious and likely could be half the length. If I improved that, maybe I could hit 10m. Maybe 20m. This book by Eddie is a compelling guide, in that it “shows” rather than tells. It shows great dialogue. It shows great hooks. It shows emotional pieces. I always like to recommend things that are helpful to marketers or B2B growth folks. This book is brilliant. Buy it. Read it. Then read it again and action it.

To everybody who loves to write: Get this book! If you don't already follow 🇺🇦 Eddie Shleyner then this is the perfect opportunity to get to know him. The book is about copywriting (obviously) but it takes on a both practical and philosophical approach to writing in general. The tone is pleasant and conversational. Eddie feels like a knowledgeable but very patient teacher, each chapter feeling less like a lesson and more like hanging out with your friend Eddie over coffee. Now I'll just have to put in the work and hope that my writing improves 😄

I finally picked this up after about 3 months. . . . August 1st was my birthday. My brother, Collin L. sent this book to me as a gift. VERY GOOD COPY - written by a legendary copywriter, 🇺🇦 Eddie Shleyner .. Who I believe to be the best storytelling copywriter I've seen. He just released the book at the time and I bet I was the first copywriter to have a copy of it delivered right to my doorstep... here in Nigeria. Well... You know that feeling when you love a book so much you don't want to open it? Hehehe 😄. I just kept gazing at the book for months... And I'm wondering how a young copywriter like me in a third-world country has his hands on one of the best copywriting books ever. If anyone ever told me I would have books ordered and delivered to me... right from Amazon... I probably wouldn't have believed it... seeing I came from a very humble background... where we once ate pawpaw for days... And slept in our home-church's kiosk for months because we were evicted out of a rented apartment. But here I am... Learning from some of the best guys in the game and gradually becoming one of them myself. It only gets better 🤲. And I'm happy I choose this path. Happy New Week, Fam ❤. P.S. What was that dream you never thought possible but now you're seeing it happening again and again?

Fall has finally set in here in Washington and when the family and I aren't filling bags with leaves, I’m curling up with a good read. Here’s what’s on my list: 📚 Smart Brevity by Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen & Roy Schwartz Trim, trim, and trim again. My team hears me say this all too often. This book is all about simplifying your communication without losing impact. I'm hoping to walk away with tips on how to say more with less. 📚 Very Good Copy by 🇺🇦 Eddie Shleyner This one has been on my shelf for a while now and I'm excited to dive in. I love a book with short, snackable chapters. Sometimes I only have a few minutes to read and this one is packed with real-world examples that I hope will help me make more engaging and effective content. 📚 Blue Ocean Shift by W. Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgne I can't wait to start turning the pages of this one. I heard about it on an HBR podcast a few days ago, and the concept is super intriguing to me. It's all about thinking outside the box to find untapped opportunities — breaking away from the competition and creating new markets. Who knows what ideas it will spark? What’s on your fall reading list? 🍁 If I get through these by Thanksgiving break, I'll be ready for recommendations for my winter bookshelf. #Marketing #BusinessGrowth #Communication #Strategy #SmartBrevity #BlueOceanShift #VeryGoodCopy #FallReading

Copy length is by far the most common question I get asked when I take on a project. As 🇺🇦 Eddie Shleyner says “If your copy is fascinating, the length is irrelevant.” *I got goosebumps the first time I read this* Here's my take and what I tell my clients when they ask: Don’t worry so much about the number of words or characters. Worry over how fascinating your copy is - Worry about the impact of your words - Worry that your copy resonates with your audience - The rest will fall into place. #writing #linkedin #copy #copywriting

From a young age, I have been fascinated with storytelling. I’d spend hours writing, compiling short stories into notebooks as a child; this never really stopped! Aiming to strengthen my skills in copywriting, I picked up this book as inspiration to write more ✍️ Only 26 pages in, and I instantly feel inspired - with my highlighter at the ready to detail those stand-out quotes! A quote that has particularly resonated with me so far, is “to be a good copywriter - and creative person, in general - you must take your time. You must allow yourself to decelerate to the speed your work demands” ✨ In creative roles, we can appreciate how 'slowing down' isn't always an option, and how this can often be over-looked due to the fast-paced, ever changing nature of the industry, so seeing this quote was refreshing! So, what inspires you, and helps fuels your creativity? 🇺🇦 Eddie Shleyner #copywriting #creativewriting #storytelling #inspiration

A book on copywriting made me cry I was reading 🇺🇦 Eddie Shleyner's 'Very Good Copy' Luna came and curled up next to me on the sofa Turning the page I hit the chapter on 'Emotional Writing' A chapter where Paul Harvey's '10 Commandments for a Responsible Pet Owner' are cited as a great example I reproduce them here: 1. My life is likely to last 10-15 years. Any separation from you is likely to be painful. 2. Give me time to understand what you want of me. 3. Place your trust in me. It is crucial for my well-being. 4. Don’t be angry with me for long and don’t lock me up as punishment. You have your work, your friends, your entertainments. But I have only you. 5. Talk to me. Even if I don’t understand your words, I do understand your voice when speaking to me. 6. Be aware that however you treat me, I will never forget it. 7. Before you hit me, before you strike me, remember that I have teeth that could easily crush the bones in your hand, and yet I choose not to bite you. 8. Before you scold me for being lazy or uncooperative, ask yourself if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I’m not getting the right food, I have been in the sun too long or my heart might be getting old or weak. 9. Please take care of me when I grow old. You too will grow old. 10. On the difficult journey, on the ultimate difficult journey, go with me please. Never say you can’t bear to watch. Don’t make me face this alone. Everything is easier for me if you are there. Because I love you so. If you have a cat or dog it should be clear why it got me Luna (and Oscar) had extra treats that night

🇺🇦 Eddie Shleyner’s book VeryGoodCopy is a delight to read and has helped me on how to think + write in a refreshing way. he distills the world of copywriting into 207 of his “micro-lessons”, where he splits his book into two halves: (1) mindset: how to think like a copywriter, and (2) execute: how to write. i placed an order for his book when he announced it and finished it in no time — and now i’ve added it on my list to re-read every year. one immediate learning? the book has given me the confidence and license to write in a more “relaxed” fashion by using contractions, abbreviations, and colloquialisms (page 346). if you’re looking for a book to read before end of the year where you will be entertained but also learn tips on copywriting, order a copy. 🇺🇦 Eddie is a legend and he has kindly offered to give away two copies of his book to Generate - The B2B Marketing Community in ANZ members so more aussie and kiwi marketers can be better writers. Generate members: check out #general channel to get a chance to get a copy.

EL LIBRO DE COPYWRITING QUE FALTA EN TU BIBLIOTECA (aunque aún no lo sepas) Para escribir como un #copywriter hay que pensar como un copywriter. Píllatelo ya. #copywriting 🇺🇦 Eddie Shleyner