AKA why you should order a copy of the new* D&AD Copy Book RIGHT NOW.
It was only roughly a year ago that I came upon the first edition myself. I wanted it, oh how I wanted it, but the cheapest copy I could find cost $400!
Being a poor unpaid intern (living with my parents no less!) I convinced the VP of Strategy** at that agnecy to order a copy for himself and let me read it. He obliged and I tore through that book like a crazed person. It was heaven.
I walked around, book open, annoying the senior copywriters I worked with by showing them the ads I liked. At one point I photocopied a copuple of pages scwrawled indecipherable notes around the edge and hung them*** above people's desks. For a copywriter just starting out it was one of the most enlightening, eye-opening books I could possibly read.
Then something even more tremendous happened.
My parents found a newer, thus more affordable, edition of it under the name "The Copywriter's Bible" and gave it to me as a birthday present. It's one of those things I go back to whenever I'm having a bad day or trying to get really excited to write some new copy.
And now D&AD has done all of us a great service by releasing this newest edition. It is affordable: $36. It is beautifully designed. And they have added SIXTEEN new writers to the book including Dan Wieden and Dave Trott.
So go buy the book, learn a little bit of history, and learn a whole lot about the craft of copywriting.
*bells and whistles applied to text fully deserved.
**Thanks, Jeff.
**Probably EXTREMELY annoying in retrospect but I was young and excited -- so sue me. Actually if you're D&AD or Taschen please do not sure me for file sharing!