Colin Theriot, Author at The Cult of Copy

Admission of Luck Makes Success Seem Attainable to Those Who Would Buy Advice From You

By Colin Theriot / March 31, 2024

“No writer should minimize the factor that affects everyone, but is beyond control: luck.” – John Jakes, Born Mar. 31, 1932. A positioning secret which probably seems counterintuitive to many, is to admit that your success is due in large part to luck. And I don’t mean like a gambler’s cocky bragging about how you’re […]

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Counterintuitively, The Ultimate Positioning is Being Unobtainable

By Colin Theriot / March 30, 2024

“I have now established myself in a most enviable manner. Those who require something of me must seek me out – I remain apart. I work for no one unless he is a high-ranking personality or a friend.” – Francisco Goya, Born Mar. 30, 1746. Once you are already well known for what you do,

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Worried About Your Work? Here’s Whose Opinions Really Matter…

By Colin Theriot / March 29, 2024

“When people approach me about my films it is usually to tell me how much they hate them.” – Michael Winterbottom, Born Mar. 29, 1961. Any time you create anything, there are some people who seem to just want to tear it down because it exists. Because you bothered to try. I’m talking about haters.

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Guessing Right Makes You a “Guru” (And So Does Guessing Wrong…)

By Colin Theriot / March 28, 2024

“A leading authority is anyone who has guessed right more than once.” – Frank A. Clark, Born Mar. 28, 1860. Frank here probably meant it as an admonishment for trusting self-described authorities. But you know me, I never let appropriate context get in the way of making the point I want to make… If you

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The Copy “Fandom” is Fun for Some, But Never Necessary for Success

By Colin Theriot / March 27, 2024

“If you just love movies enough, you can make a good one.” – Quentin Tarantino, Born Mar. 27, 1963. Some people love copy. They fetishize it as an object, and treat the “copywriting industry” like a religion. For people like that, the goal is to have written “good” copy, so deemed by their peers –

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Pumping Up Reader Brains With Metaphorical Muscle

By Colin Theriot / February 29, 2024

“Give me a laundry-list and I’ll set it to music.” – Gioachino Rossini, Born Feb. 29, 1792. I hate hearing people say they have nothing to write about or nothing to say. Take a thing. Any thing you find. Scroll way down your news feed. Click “random” on Wikipedia. Then, connect it to your core

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