Monthly Copywriting Genius

A monthly analysis of oustanding direct response sales letters and direct mail packages

Review by: Nick Usborne

Learn from top-performing examples of persuasive direct mail sales letters, once a month.

This is a monthly, subscription-based service provided by the American Artists & Writers Institute.

Here's what you get...

Each month AWAI feature a direct mail sales letter that has done extraordinarily well. The idea, and it's a good one, is that writers can look at the best-of-the-best each month and learn a great deal from how the letter was written.

The issue I am reviewing features a letter for the National Parks and Conservation Association. The copywriter who wrote the letter is Donna Baier Stein.

And here's the good part. Her letter has been the control for the last 15 years. That is to say, no other letter has been able to beat the results from this one for a decade and a half.

That's what I mean about this being a good idea. If you analyze the letter carefully, there is a huge amount you can learn.

UPDATE: Since writing this review I have received each monthly installment and have been consistently delighted by the variety of work reviewed, and the incredible results achieved.

Recognizing this, here is what the 'Monthly Copywriting Genius' service includes (Online or as a PDF. Your choice):

- The first page is devoted to looking at the copywriter...his or her background and what he or she considers to be the most important elements of good copy.

- Next, you get to see the letter itself, plus the envelope. In addition to the full text, AWAI has also added some comments in various places, providing insights at points where the letter works particularly well.

In other words, you get to hear from the writer, you get to read the letter and you also get some top-end analysis of where the letter is at its strongest, and what makes it so persuasive.

All that said, I found myself digging much deeper into this letter on my own, beyond the analysis provided.

When I get to study a letter that is this successful, I find myself going through it word by word and line by line.

I look at the order in which information is delivered. I listen for changes in tone and pace in the writing. I look at how each paragraph is opened and closed. I watch for the build-up towards the end of the letter and see how it has been achieved. And much more.

A truly persuasive sales letter is a hard thing to write. So when I get to study one, I really pay attention and learn something about why the letter did so well.

Should you subscribe? That depends. If your interest is simply in writing editorial, it may be a little off your path. But if you are a copywriter, whatever medium you work in, this is probably the very best way to learn how to write copy that gets attention, engages readers and drive actions.

Find out more about Monthly Copywriting Genius