Everybody Writes

Ann Handley argues that anyone with a website is a publisher and anyone on social media is in marketing, so every business now depends on its words. Against a culture of click-bait headlines, tweets and gifs, she holds that writing matters more online, not less, because words can make a company seem smart, warm and trustworthy or dull and muddled. The book treats writing as the often overlooked foundation of content marketing and gives practical guidance on creating, producing and publishing content. Handley stresses economy, style and honest empathy for customers. She also covers how to tell a true story well, whether in a listicle or a slide deck.

David Meerman Scott, author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR, praised it as the only guide a content writer needs, and Copyblogger Media founder Brian Clark endorsed it.