ANDY HOLT
WRITER / EDITOR / CREATOR
LOS ANGELES
Copywriting
Guitar Center. Be Heard. Print, Holiday 2019. I wrote all the copy that appears in the selected pages. All quotes come from interviews I conducted personally.
Extended versions of the artist profiles also appear on the Guitar Center website:
Guitar Center. Music Unites Us. Print, Winter 2021. I wrote all the copy that appears in the selected pages. All quotes come from interviews I conducted personally.
Emails
Guitar Center. Welcome email series. I wrote this series of emails that customers receive over the course of several weeks after joining the Guitar Center mailing list.
Landing pages
Guitar Center. Dream Big. Landing page. I wrote countless landing pages for sales and events at Guitar Center. This page is one example.
Product pages
I wrote the copy for these product pages, among many others. I also wrote the copy that appears on their respective Amazon pages.
Blogs
I wrote these blog articles. Some have been updated since publication, adding newer products and updating the dates.
How to Choose the Best Audio Interface (Guitar Center)
The Best MIDI Controllers of 2024 (Guitar Center)
The Best Snare Drums of 2024 (Guitar Center)
How to Choose the Best Electronic Drum Kit (Guitar Center)
9 Reasons You Should Use a Podcast Mixer (Mackie)
Which Mackie Mic Is The Best Podcast Microphone For You? (Mackie)
Press releases
I wrote these press releases for a slate of new Mackie products released in early 2024, including a combined press release for all five.
Satire
The Hard Times
I’m a longtime contributor to the popular satire publication The Hard Times, writing articles that have drawn millions of combined page views. All my articles appear on my author page here.
Hard Drive
After years as a contributor to The Hard Times, I became an editor at the sister publication Hard Drive, which focuses on video games and nerd culture.
I worked with a core group of four editors to grow Hard Drive to rival the size of The Hard Times, building an audience and voice for the site while editing countless articles.
I also wrote many articles myself. My author page is here.
Ace Watkins
As part of the Hard Drive editorial team, I co-created the satirical gamer presidential candidate Ace Watkins. The campaign began as a Twitter account, but grew to include a podcast and even some live events.
Here’s some press coverage of the Ace Watkins campaign:
Creative Writing
Fiction
I earned an MFA in fiction writing from University of California, Riverside. My short stories have appeared in various publications, both print and online. I’ve linked a scan of “Where the Bees Are Going” as a sample, along with an interview with me, published on their website.
“Book Drop Mysteries” — Three to Four Ounces, 2011.
“Hope Mine” — Hair Trigger, 2013.
“A Big Red Jumble of Lines” — Chicago Quarterly Review, 2013.
“Thrill House” — Chicago Literati, 2014.
“Where the Bees Are Going” — One Story, 2016. See interview.
Screenwriting
“Dry America” — Television pilot script. Attracted professional representation and meetings at Marvel, Amazon, Smokehouse Pictures, and 26 Keys. Also placed in the second round of the Austin Film Festival.
Video
I shot and edited this ongoing series of videos for AEA Ribbon Microphones, showing off their factory and manufacturing processes.