Frank Kern says Charles Bukowski's novels helped him become a good e-mail copywriter because they showed him how to convey empathy and craft “sucker punch” sentences. He also says he's only read one copywriting book; instead he has read the novels of Harold Robbins to learn about storytelling.

That makes sense, seeing as how copywriting is ultimately about people. I'm drawn to novels and books about psychology for that reason.

Flannery O'Connor is the Bukowski equivalent for me. I also like reading poetry because there are some similarities between poetry and e-mail copy. Music lyrics are good in this regard too (I'm partial to U2's). Also, there's something refreshing about reading books that are collections of letters that aren't sales letters but were written by authors/historical figures/etc.

What are the books that are NOT about copywriting that help you with your copywriting?

--Anita