Copywriting

Why do they call me the Copy Czar?

Some say it’s because of my commanding grasp of language, my sharp eye in copy editing, and my rapier-like wit. Others say it’s because I made a sign that said “Copy Czar” and affixed it to the door of my office. But whatever the reason, the moniker stuck.

As a full-time staff copywriter, I’ve produced engaging copy for a variety of marketing communications vehicles including customer magazines, client websites, newsletters, brochures, conferences, blogs, catalogues and direct mail projects. I’ve created promotional copy, case studies, display copy, features of various kinds, emails, social media content, video scripts, voice-blast scripts, customer letters and more.

You can view a much cooler-looking and up-to-date version of my copywriting portfolio by clicking on this button.

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Click the image above to see my copywriting portfolio.

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Brochures/Pamphlets/Flyers

• The redesign of the Columbia House DVD Club Welcome Guide. I produced and supervised copy for this brochure, working with another copywriter. The goal was to make it more readable, user-friendly and informative. If you saw the old welcome guide, I think you’d agree that we accomplished those goals.

• The 16-page Thrift Gift Guide flyer. We often included this kind of flyer as an insert in Columbia House mailings to highlight bargain-priced DVDs (hence, “Thrift-mas”). I felt it needed something a little extra-special for Christmas, so I came up with a variation on “Twas the Night Before Christmas” placed as a series of running headers that tie in with the genre of DVDs featured on each spread.

• The Early Bird Gift Ideas flyer [Cover & Back Page] [Inside Pages]. An insert in the Columbia House mailings to promote bargains at the company’s sister website, CHCanada.com.

• The “Take Another Spin” creative (PDF). A direct mail piece designed to get lapsed customers to re-engage with the new and improved Music Club. This features the outer envelope, a letter introducing the new offer, an order card, and a back page outlining benefits.

E-newsletters
I produced copy for monthly e-newsletters for CHCanada.com, Doubleday Canada Book Clubs and bookscene.ca (Doubleday’s online discount website). These usually consisted of an introductory letter and copy for various sections promoting specific products or product categories.

• CHCanada.com Newsletter, October 2010
• CHCanada.com Newsletter, September 2010
• Bookscene.ca Newsletter, September, 2010
• TheGoodCook.ca (Doubleday Book Club) Newsletter, December, 2010

Web Copy
Some years ago, I created some promotional pieces for what was then Chapters.ca (now known as Chapters.Indigo.ca). Long gone from their website, these consisted of a couple of features—one on the history of the blues, designed to highlight various blues titles in their music section, and one about bands with wacky names—and a series of “page-turners,” designed to traffic website visitors to other book sections.

• Page-Turners
• A History of the Blues
• The Name Game: Wacky Band Names

Magazine Display Copy
I created entertaining, engaging and informative headers, subheads, footers, call-outs and other kinds of display copy.

• The Columbia House Movie Awards. We invented our own fictitious awards in order to promote DVDs that the Oscar and Golden Globe people overlooked. I came up with some fun categories for the “winners” in various genres.

• Horror – “Best Scream-Play”
• Comedy – “Best Dysfunction in a Duo or Group”

Headers and Display Copy

• “What the Shrek”
• “TV on DVD: Christmas – Seasons”
• “Red-Hot Blu-rays”
• “Blu-ray Christmas Spread”
• “Have a Blu-Christmas”
• “Kid-Tested”
• “Spoofs”
• “Spring Clearance”

Actor Features

• “Vin Diesel”
• “Mel Gibson”
• “Sandra Bullock”
• “Jim Carrey”

Social Media

 Bookscene.ca Facebook Status for the Word On The Street Festival:

Bookscene.ca Tweet for the Word On The Street Festival:

Voice Scripts
I wrote copy for pre-recorded telephone voice scripts (aka “voice blasts”), mostly for Doubleday Book Clubs, using formatting and structure optimized for voice talent—double-spaced, 14-point font, short sentences (to allow breathing), and phonetic spelling where needed.

• December Voice Script
• May Voice Script
• November Voice Script

Print Ad Concepts
Some concepts for print ads that I had developed before my career took another direction.