Now my secret is out: I lead a double life as an author. As Richard Bayan, I’ve brought you the popular advertising thesaurus Words That Sell and its recent spawn, More Words That Sell. As Rick Bayan, I’ve created that dark-humored Biercean lexicon for our times, The Cynic’s Dictionary — along with my equally dark-humored website, The Cynic’s Sanctuary (www.i-cynic.com).
How can one man write cynical humor and serious advertising reference books? Am I schizophrenic? Not entirely. I just love words. I love the way they sound, the way they look on the page, the way they create visions in our heads, the way they can influence our attitudes and actions.
My interest in advertising stems from my career, of course. I’ve been an advertising copywriter and copy chief for over two decades. I’ve been devoted to my craft. I’ve won my share of awards. But I was never really a “company man.” When I was about to turn 50, I quit my job and decided to succeed or fail on my own. I’m still as fascinated as ever by the power of certain words to provoke certain responses, and by the power of advertising to generate interest in a product or service. We copywriters wield a weapon of immense capabilities.
As for my cynical humor… Well, that’s what happens when an idealistic history major discovers that the working world has no use for his hard-earned knowledge. Yes, cynicism is the flip side of idealism. Most of us cynics are sentimentalists under our scarred hides. Contrary to what everyone says about us, we value honesty, integrity and virtue. We just have a nasty habit of grumbling about the world’s shortcomings, and that doesn’t make us especially popular.
If you’ve read my advertising books, you’ll notice that my cynic’s sense of outrage creeps into the proceedings now and then. I’m fiercely adamant about integrity in advertising, because sleazy tactics undermine the image of advertising in the public eye. Our audience deserves better. The best advertising doesn’t try to hook an audience with deceptive come-ons. We need to use hooks, of course, but we also need to do it honestly. For me, the goal of advertising is to build a long-lasting bond with the audience. And that bond translates into long-term sales.
I hope you’ll come here often to share your views on advertising, words, cynicism and other topics of interest to my readers. Feel free to tell me how I can improve my books or write better ones in the future. And of course, if you like my stuff, I’d like to hear that, too. Let’s get to know each other.
BAYANology 
