Copywriting Author of Gabaywords

As a copywriter I wanted an all-embracing book covering the answers to the kind of copywriting questions I asked on a day-to-day basis.

For example, questions about grammar, word confusions, spelling, vocabulary and so on. Like you, I already owned a dictionary and thesaurus, but needed something much more specific to copywriting. The book I had in mind wouldn’t gather dust on a shelf. Instead it had to be designed for everyday use, even to the point of having its corners frayed through constant thumbing by the reader. Of equal importance, the book shouldn’t come across as being too ‘stuffy’ and long –winded but fun, with lots of insights and tips throughout for everyone from the first-time writer, to seasoned professional.

Believe it or not, the project started in earnest a decade ago. I began to scribble down tips that I picked up in my career working at major international advertising and marketing agencies. I spoke to creative directors, PR professionals, brand managers, direct marketing experts, authors, journalists, designers and many more. I collected articles related to writing brochures, websites, leaflets, direct mail, advertising, press releases, presentations, speech writing, newsletters, reports… in fact anything useful that would help demystify the commercial writing process.

Then I joined the Faculty of the world’s biggest marketing training institute. This meant I could pass my knowledge on to an even wider circle of would-be and career minded copywriters who worked at agencies or small companies or even in-house for multi-national leaders. Over the years, they shared their experiences of writing about and for IT, finance, broadcast, B2B, FMCG, viral marketing, services industries and so on.

As I taught and continued to practice my craft, I learnt. By this time I had written several books on marketing, communications – including of course copywriting. To my surprise, each was well received and most went into second, third or more editions. Yet none fulfilled my original plan to produce the definitive reference book that could be ‘dipped-in’ anytime to deal with real-life writing issues such as " I have to write a poster headline in the next five minutes – how can I get inspired?" "My boss wants me to write a press release on a ‘touchy’ subject – are there any euphemisms that I can use – or should avoid?" "The response rates to our direct marketing are low – what can I do?" " I am writing copy for a US based website which is accessed worldwide, are there any tips on US to UK English?" "How do I brief my agency?"

Having collected a vast library of reference material, speaking to literally thousands of copywriters and listening to their needs, I am proud to have worked with the talented team at Elsevier to publish Gabay’s Copywriters’ Compendium.