A tale of the tips booklet
Some 20 years ago I published a series of tips booklets, one of them written by me. Today I am in the process of producing a new series of tips booklets.
As I have explained before, the tips booklet is the brainchild of Paulette Ensign. She is the Wizard of www.tipsbooklets.com and lives in San Diego. I first heard her speak at an internet marketing conference at Wembley at the turn of the century.
She gave me the inspiration to write and publish “110 Insider Ideas to write winning business copy”. This had 14 sections, including a copywriter’s plan of action, writing letters, writing sales letters and ads, what to avoid, grammar and punctuation, and a glossary.
You will have noted that there was nothing on the internet, emails, social media or blogging. And who on earth writes a letter these days?
So, the tips have been repurposed to update some of the original content and fill the online gaps. The text is currently with the designers and, hopefully, the book will be published in late summer or early autumn.
The working title of the new book, the first of a series of Guru’s Guides, is
Winning copy for
business writing
Subtitle: 107 top tips to boost your blogs and pep up your posts
Other titles in the series will include a Guru’s Guide for existing and would-be novelists and creative writers; and also writing a CV or resume.
Style and purpose
The style of the tips booklet is authentic American: the language is forthright, direct, and focused on action. Each tip starts with a strong verb (or verbal phrase), such as align, avoid, create, offer, express, punch home, pay attention to. Tips booklets aim to avoid wishy washy British qualifiers, like ‘quite’ or ‘somewhat’; and pointless adverbs, such as really, actually, and perhaps.
The purpose of tips booklets is to inform, to make money and also to use as marketing tools for your other products and services. They are short books in their own right, not brochures or pamphlets.
In addition to being published, and made available on Amazon and Kindle, you can offer PDF downloads on your website; and use edited sections as free promotional prompts for your business, product or service on your website or in social media.
Soon I will share with you the publishing progress. But, in the meanwhile, please email me if you want FREE advice on your website content or on tips booklets or books.