Introducing: Club Copycana 🌴
welcome to a new writers club for copywriters, copy lovers – and anyone who wants to celebrate all things words and brands
Club Copycana, drinks are free
Words and inspo, there's enough for everyone
All that's missing is the sea
But don't worry, we’ll still hang out
I’ve recently become a bit more active on LinkedIn. And that is a sentence I never thought I’d type. I don’t know what it is about that platform that makes me stop breathing in the 15 seconds before I ‘post’ on anything, but it’s a place that I just can’t quite get comfortable with. Maybe that’s a good thing.
Nevertheless, I have persisted through my squirms and over the last few months, I’ve been sharing a few more thoughts, reposting a few more things I’ve found interesting and of course, sharing these Substacks to try and reach an audience that might get something out of them. And alongside this increase in activity, I also recently bagged myself a very glam-sounding job title for a very wonderful chocolate company (don’t know if I’ve mentioned that on here already, soz).
It seems that the combination of these things have meant that I am now a person that other people want to reach out to. It is wildly flattering. But over the last few months, I’ve been inundated with questions in my DMs and emails – asking for my advice on copywriting, creative careers, startups, advertising and mentoring, too.
I’ve had so many lovely offers to go for a coffee, to go for a drink or to jump on a hangout to pick my brain. I’ve had questions from students who are just discovering what a copywriter is and now want to work out how to be one. I’ve had questions from marketing directors on how to work better with copywriters. I’ve had questions from journalists who are trying to balance the world of writing for magazines with the world of writing for brands. I’ve had questions from in-house copywriters thinking about going into an agency. I’ve had questions from agency copywriters thinking about going in-house. I’ve had questions from boomer copywriters asking how to manage Gen Z copywriters. I’ve had questions on how to network within the copywriting community. I’ve had questions from marketing managers on what the hell does a copywriter actually need to see in a brief, anyway? I have had a lot of questions.
And honestly, I would love to reply to them all. If I had all the time in the world or Hermione Granger’s time turner, I would sit and carefully reply to every message, meet every person for coffee and jump on every Google Hangout. But I do not have that time turner and I also do not have that energy. I am just one relatively disorganised woman who frequently loses control of her own days – and I simply cannot reply to everything.
What I do have, though, is this Substack. Readers of the ‘stack will know how much I love this platform and all that it gives to both writers and readers. And I think this platform is the thing that’ll help me to give the creative community what I’d love to give to it – and hopefully help people get what they want from me, too.
What I can’t do is answer every single question one-on-one, jump or give you a job at Tony’s Chocolonely (yes, people ask me this too). But what I can do is create a place for conversation, community and connection – all centred around a love of words.
And that place is Club Copycana.
Club Copycana had it’s first life back when I was writing at Skin + Me. As the only writer at a very early stage (pre-launch, even) startup, I was constantly pulled in every direction across the business. I was also even more of a people pleaser back then than I am now, and I was unable to say no when someone asked me for something. I was drowning in my own to-do list and completely overwhelmed.
So, I started Club Copycana as a way to get the small things (but not less important things) done more effectively. Every day after lunch, I set aside an hour in my diary for people to drop into a Google Hangout with their requests for quick fixes and amends. The rule was that it was not a substitute for a brief you didn’t bother to write but now suddenly somehow was the most urgent thing on the planet, but instead was a place for you to get a few extra options of some subject lines, a short caption for a reactive social post, some quick amends to an email or some alternative CTAs for a landing page. It meant that all the copy was still written by a copywriter, the tone of voice sparkled in every corner and most importantly, that I did not become a blocker on projects by adding loads of tiny tasks to a long list that eventually became unmanageable. It made us work faster and more effectively. And because there was a palm tree in the calendar invite title, it just felt… kinda fun.
And now, I’ve decided to make Club Copycana a real (ok, online) place to celebrate all things words and brands. It’ll be its own section of the Hurdling newsletter – a little corner of tropical paradise for copywriters and copylovers everywhere.
So this is place for you if you’re a copywriter. This is a place for you if you’d like to be a copywriter. This is a place for you if you’re a creative. This is a place for you if you’re a journalist who’s thinking of writing copy for brands. This is a place for you if you’re dating a copywriter and you feel it’s important for your relationship to understand what they do.
There’ll be articles. There’ll be interviews. There’ll be threads for you to ask specific questions on specific topics. There’ll be AMAs. There’ll even be talks (over Zoom, so you don’t need to leave your house) with special guests from across the creative world. And a few times a year, there may even be a few writers rooms for us to get together online and work on a side project or something outside the day job.
As with all good clubs, you do have to pay to get in. Club Copycana will be a members-only club for paid subscribers of this newsletter. This allows me to put the time and effort into this that we all deserve, and also makes sure I can land brilliant guests who’ll share their brilliant insights and experiences. So let me take you to the place where membership's a smiling face £5 a month or £50 a year. Some things will be occasionally be free to read, but most things will need a paid subscription. If you’re currently a student or you’re out of work, drop me a line and I’ll sort you out with a paid subscription on me. Or ask your boss if you can expense it. If you know someone who you think would benefit from this, you can give them a gift subscription.
To celebrate the launch, I’ve knocked 10% off the subscription cost until the end of this week. So don't take your time, gotta move your feet – or so Wham! tell us.
And to properly kick things off, our first online event will be In Conversation at Club Copycana: Vikki Ross 🌴 on Monday 20th November at 6pm (GMT). In case you don’t know her (which would be wild of you, btw), Vikki Ross is a star copywriter who tells brands how to talk and shows ad agencies how to write. She's worked with the likes of Sky, NOW TV, Sony Music, Twitter, Spotify, Adidas, ITV – to name but a few. Vikki is also a D&AD Masterclass Trainer and mentor. She is the founder of #CopywritersUnite, the online community turned IRL global event that supports, motivates and celebrates the world of copy and words – all over the world.
We’ll be diving into how we got our start in the world of copy, what it is to be a person who spends their days obsessing over the right words and what hurdles we’ve faced in our creative careers. Bring your drinks. We'll have wine.
You'll need to be a paid subscriber to join the event. So sign up, scroll down to unlock the event info and we’ll see you there. It’s going to be fun. 🌴
Em