Copy (written)


Copy is written material, in contrast to photographs or other elements of layout, in contents such as magazines, advertising, and books.
In advertising, web marketing and similar fields, copy refers to the output of copywriters, who are employed to write material which encourages consumers to buy goods or services.
In publishing more generally, the term copy refers to the text in books, magazines, and newspapers. In books, it means the text as written by the author, which the copy editor then prepares for typesetting and printing. This is also referred to as "editorial copy", which is said to have two subdivisions, the body copy and the adjuncts to the body copy. The term's usage can be demonstrated in the way an editor decides to embed an advertising material directly into the editorial copy, which means that the ad would use the same font, layout presentation, feel of the editorial copy it is being integrated into. This concept underscores how the copy can also refer to the identity of the newspaper or the magazine since the method of composition and layout can define its brand and positioning.
In newspapers and magazines, "body copy" is the main article or text that writers are responsible for, is contrasted with "display copy", accompanying material such as headlines and captions, which are usually written by copy editors or sub-editors.