Who are you suppose to read these days?

OR, WHY YOU SHOULD READ “LIFE’S A PITCH”

Recommending books is not easy. People say, “Hey what’s a good book to read?” and don’t realise it can be a loaded question

Mostly it depends on context, but really it depends on what you want to read. Why you want to read. What sort of reader you are as well as what you already know and what you’d like to know more about.

When I started in digital marketing the first five books I read were Robert Bly’s “The Copywriter’s Handbook,” “Cashvertising” by Drew Whitman, “Life’s a Pitch” by Roger Mavity and Stephen Bayley and Gary Vaynerchuk’s “The Thank You Economy.”

At the time, they were all great reads because I knew nothing about digital marketing, or writing for the web. I am an English Literature major. I knew how to write essays and fiction and dabble in poetry.

Now 3 years later there’s only one book out of those five I recommend without hesitation: “Life’s a Pitch”. I’ve talked this book up so much I’m rereading it at the moment to make sure three years later it’s as good as I remember it (so far so good, it’s still a brilliant read).

Life’s a Pitch: you should check it out

This book is the only book I consistently recommend because unlike the other 4 books it doesn’t really matter what your background is. If you’re in any kind of business and thinking of selling anything — you should read this book.

As for the others. I don’t recommend “Cashvertising” because a reader would get more value out of “Life’s a Pitch” followed up by “E-myth Revisted”. If you’re a writer read “Confessions of an Advertising Man” by David Ogilvy followed up by “Writing that Works” by Roman and Raphaelson.

It’s all about context: where are you now?

I am a big Gary Vaynerchuk fan, I have all his books, a few t-shirts and I watch the #askgaryvee show on youtube religiously. Which is partly why I’m reluctant to recommend his books. When I read “The Thank You Economy” the whole world of marketing and business was alien to me. And reading this easy-to-read, interesting page-turner that explained social media marketing was refreshing.

It was a massive change from reading essays by French philosophers and fat Victorian novels. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy some essays by french philosophers (as long as their name isn’t Jacques Lacan) and the occasional fat Victorian novel isn’t so bad, but what Vaynerchuk’s book and keynote speeches on YouTube did was make this alien world of online marketing accessible.

Robert Bly’s “Copywriter’s Handbook” was good, but too much like a textbook. Vaynerchuk’s “The Thank You Economy” was “here’s how it works, here’s how I know it works and here’s how it can work for you.” There was no messing around, no waxing lyrical about the efficacy of strategies to improve ROI and meeting KPIs. None of that. Just entertaining prose which explained his point quite well.

Recommending books

People who don’t read a lot seem to think those of us who do read are good at making recommendations. But generally those sorts of people want an easy answer, and we want a conversation — what do you like to read? oh you don’t read? great…um…read this. And invariably I’m holding out a copy of “Life’s a Pitch” or “E-myth Revisted” or “Trust me I’m Lying” by Ryan Holiday.

Fiction is far, far harder.

After all, do you like fantasy, crime, thriller, horror, sci-fi, literature, classics, YA, or romance? Do you want page-turning easy? Thought provoking? fun? laugh-out-loud? I can’t read this in public?

And then there are those weird hang-ups were people hear an author’s name and don’t want to admit to liking them. Or, don’t want to read them because everyone says the books are terrible.

If I’m trying to say anything in this blog it’s this:

The best way to find a book which might entertain you is really, really simple. I mean it’s ridiculously simple.

Pick up a book and read the blurb, if it sounds interesting to you, give it a read.

That’s all you have to do. Find a book that sounds entertaining and give it a go. You’ll be surprised how well this work.

Because those people who do read lots, read based around what they’ve read. They form opinions about a recent book based on their experiences with every other book they’ve come into contact with.

Thank you for reading.

Originally published at www.joshguilar.com.