Product Description
Originally created to help writers and editors at the Globe and Mail present clear, accurate, and concise stories, this comprehensive and entertaining style guide – now in a thoroughly revised new edition – has become a valued reference for anyone who works with words. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a pedogogical syntax for writers. It explains the most frequetly used structures in English, beginning with simple ones and moving on to extremely complex ones. For many years it has been used by students from junior high school to graduate school. It provides numerous examples and extensive exercises. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

It's all clear now!
Dr. Heaberlin couples easy to understand examples with complex rules of Modern English usage. I would recommend using this book as the perfect guide to understand the English language.

Heaberlin Writes Right
Heaberlin's book is the best grammar tool I've used. His examples and exercises are comprehensive and help every student learn from the basics up. It is also one of the best values out there; I was able to complete an entire grammar course using just the workbook. I highly recommend this for beginners, or anyone who would like a refresher course.

Superior grammarian!
Heaberlin's book makes writing a breeze.His text is as easy to understand as it is to implement. Undergraduate and graduate students will find this text an excellent tool for any style of writing their course work might require.Right on, Dr. Heaberlin!Keep the books coming!
Ofy ... Read more

Product Description
Argentini explains how to design and format manuscripts to impress any film school professor, story editor, agent, producer or studio executive.Amazon.com Review
For many first-time screenwriters, the most daunting aspect of getting underway is learning the proper format. Paul Argentini lends a helping hand with Elements of Style for Screenwriters. It's a good nuts-and-bolts introduction to the terminology of filmmaking and a step-by-step guide to making sure your opus is properly formatted. Argentini starts with a short sample screenplay as a concrete example, peppered with annotations as simple as "use plain Arabic numbers" and as complex as "(continuing) not needed here--LUDVINNIA (O.S.) and LUDVINNIA are separate elements." Don't worry, when it's all laid out on the script it makes a lot of sense. Most of the book is set up as a glossary of film terms, though Argentini does not stop at mere definitions, also filling the book with practical advice. He explains that a "talking heads" scene refers to one that is all dialogue and no action and points out that it will doom your script. The second portion of the book--considerably smaller--lays out the elements of style for playwriting in a similar sample and glossary fashion. Argentini also helpfully explains the broader differences between writing for the stage and writing for the screen (in a nutshell, the playwright can get away with those talking-head scenes.) A good, practical manual that should take a lot of the fear out of diving into that first script. --Ali Davis ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

great textbook
this is a required textbook for film school and it came in great condition.it's also a very handy reference when writing screenplays (formatting).

Really old information
I bought this book last week. It is very short and an easy read. Mainly a reference book.

It would be ok in hard copy but it SUCKS on the kindle because it does not have hyper linked table of contents. The table of contents is picture of a table of contents and difficult to see. Impossible to use as a reference book.

I have read a lot of screenplays, I work with a group of writers, and I have some of the basics. The basics listed in this book are a very old form and not in use anymore.

Useful, but flawed
Consider this book well-researched, but written by an outsider. As such, if you follow it religiously you'll find your scripts always smell a little bit like heartland spec.

You're better off with a book written by someone who's worked in Hollywood with scripts, in the trenches, reading till his eyes bleed. There are other guides written by such industry insiders -- decorum prohibits me listing them here, but they're easy enough to find.

Put it this way: do you really want a screenwriting guide written by a guy who lives in Massachusetts? :-)

The author can't write, and I am pretty sure he has never had a screenplay produced
This book is so incoherently and terribly written that I only got through the 3rd page of the intorduction out of morbid fascination.Consider a sentence from the author's biography that illustrates, simultaneously, his lack of grammatical ability and credits:

"Awarded a Playwriting Fellowship by the Massachusetts Artists Foundation, he is a former Boston and Washington D.C. editor, reporter and photographer."

That is, by the way, the most specific sentence of his four-sentence bio, besides "He graduated from Boston University".

A few sentences from the introduction:

"There will be some repetitious information on these pages.But, there are no wrong examples to remember.The Elements of Style for Screenwriters was not written to teach screenwriting, or to give you an insight into the dramatic art, although it might come close and I beg your forgiveness."

I accidentally bent the cover, but I am sure Barnes and Noble will take it back out of shame.

As Essential to Screenwriters as Strunk & White is to All Writers
Yes, you'll use this book fewer times as you keep writing screenplays simply because you'll commit more of it to memory.Yes, you'll want one for your shelves, one for your briefcase, and one for your office.Yes, they'll all be well used.And yes, this will be as invaluable a tool to you as your best loved dictionary and thesaurus.I require it of all my screenwriting students who are discouraged from ever selling it back to the bookstore, especially if they plan to take an advanced class with me.I also recommend this to all my workshop participants.

Get this book, read it through cover to cover once, and then flip through the alphabetized screenwriting terms when you need to refresh yourself as you write your script.Good luck with your project! ... Read more

Product Description
WRITING WITH STYLE: APA STYLE FOR SOCIAL WORK, Fourth Edition, applies a proven "learning through modeling" approach to help readers master the elements of writing research papers and other professional documents in APA style. In addition to reviewing APA style basics, the book includes numerous integrated writing exercises to help readers apply what they learn and hone their skills by practicing writing professional literature. Further support is provided through resources such as sample outlines, title pages, abstracts, and numerous templates included throughout the book as references. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Never received book
I never received the book. Tracking information said it was sent, so it may not be the seller's fault, but I did not get it. Since it was cheap, I didn't go through the hassle of arguing for a refund.

Redundant
I have experience writing in APA style formatting, and already have the APA Style manual yet all the professors in my Social Work program said this book was specific to social work and necessary. I don't know if they are getting kick-backs - but it's not specific and it's not necessary. I will add that if you don't have the full APA style manual and you are in Social Work, this is less cumbersome than the APA manual. So, it wasn't necessary for me - but it might be for you!

Excellent Service!
The Book came much sooner than I expected and was in excellent shape. I am very pleased with this purchase!

A Must Have
This book is a must have for all who are entering the field of social work.The book uses clear examples of how a future social work is to write.

Good guide but not worth the $27 I paid.
This information written in the Preface would have been helpfeul before I purchased this book.(Social workers should not expect this book to replace the Publication Manual.They should be aware that this is one of several reference books that belong on their desk when they write. Somtimes the transition from first-year English composition classes to social work classess leaves students confused because these first-year classes tend to be taught with emphasis on the Modern Language Association (MLA) style.In these courses students learn how to organize a coherent paragraph, how to develop a thesis statement, and how to write an essay or a library research paper in generic (MLA-based)style.This is a useful start, but it does not enhance students' technical writing skills when it comes to using APA gudelines.They must now learn to write using APA Style, which includes not only rules made excilict in the Publication Manual but also other conventions that constitute the unwritten rules of the APS style.For example, rather than write about what other authors "said" or "believed", they should concentrate on what the author "found or "reported".Also, the title of an article should not be mentioned in a literature review, and passive voice may sometimes be used.) ... Read more

Product Description
Get the reference that defines standards and best practices for technical writers, editors, and content managers who work with Microsoft technologies. Developed by the Microsoft Editorial Standards Group, the newest edition of the computer industry’s leading manual of style has been fully updated, expanded, and optimized for usability. You get coverage on the latest developments—from accessibility and globalization issues to mobile computing, XML, and other emerging standards—as well as Microsoft-specific products, technologies, and initiatives. You’ll find expertly articulated and organized information about general usage, grammar, punctuation, formatting and layout, front matter, and indexing and attributing, as well as focused guidelines for topics such as creating specific document types, including Readme files and case studies; writing for software developers; documenting the user interface; and developing bias-free communications. Comprehensive, easy-to-use, and thoroughly up-to-date, the MICROSOFT MANUAL OF STYLE FOR TECHNICAL PUBLICATIONS, Third Edition, can help you maximize the impact and precision of your technical communications.Amazon.com Review
With so many software products to its credit, Microsoft can'thelp but have an opinion on computer terms and usage. Many topnotchtechnical companies, writers, and editors consider the MicrosoftManual of Style for Technical Publications to be a standard in theindustry. Technical writers and editors often refer to it when theycan't find an answer in The Chicago Manual ofStyle or when researching appropriate style issues to includein their company's in-house style manual.

While this manual ofstyle can't possibly list everything that is created by Microsoft, itdoes advise how to use and spell both general and computer-relatedterms and takes a stand on sticky style, technical writing, and designand interface issues. This second edition has been updated to includesignificant changes in Internet terminology and usage. Alphabeticallytabbed pages make it easy to locate topics of interest. A usefulappendix defines acronyms and abbreviations and shares any specialstyle rules associated with them. Another appendix lists keyboardcharacters and the correct names that should be used to describe eachone. The enclosed CD-ROM contains an electronic version of the bookalong with a copy of the Microsoft Press ComputerDictionary. --Cristina Vaamonde ... Read more

Customer Reviews (41)

Wait for the next edition
This is a very good book, but please take note, it is currently out of print. Bear in mind, when you buy the 3rd Edition, you are getting a book that is slightly dated.

The book originally had a suggested price of US $29.99, CN $43.99. The same book now sells upwards of US $100, on this and other web sites.

The 3rd Edition was published in 2004, and I'm guessing from the publishing history of the previous editions that Microsoft will bring out the 4th Edition before the end of 2011. If you can get by with an alternate resource until then, save yourself some money and wait.

If you absolutely have to have this book, then by all means order your copy from one of the fine merchants here.

On the other hand, if you know with absolute certainty that Microsoft will never publish another edition, you might consider buying several copies as investments :)

Excellent Tool With Room For Improvement
JULY 2009
National writing skills are deteriorating more rapidly than ever. Worsening the problem for technical communications, new technologies are sprouting up every day and fledgling devices and techniques are referred to by countless new and existing words. Any given technical term may have a handful of accepted and completely different meanings, each dependent on often invisible layers of context. I recently sat through a conversation in which one word was repeatedly used to refer to three completely different and totally unrelated concepts (tier = a class of customer, tier = a level of technical support, tier = a layer of system architecture).

In times like this, it's important to have reference tools that can help you determine the industry standard preferences for expressing technical computing concepts, and the Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications (MMSTP) is one of those tools.

BEST PRACTICES - As a technical writer who creates much of his work in support of Information Technology (IT) professionals, I consider this book a must in my reference library. Augmenting broader resources like a top notch dictionary and thesaurus, the MMSTP provides alphabetized quick reference to hundreds of "best practices" (we used to call them "do's and don'ts") for expressing IT related concepts clearly, consistently and professionally.

ALPHA LIST OF TOPICS - The core of the book is the alpha listing of topics ranging from common language usage (standard English grammar, capitalization and punctuation rules, etc.) to computing topics which advise writers on the best way to express specific technical concepts (is it best to use "hard disk" or "hard drive"). Technical topics are fairly limited to Microsoft and closely related products, but since their use is extremely widespread, many technical writers, editors and publishers will find this volume very useful.

2ND OR 3RD EDITION - MMSTP 3rd edition tends to be a bit pricy, so I picked up a 2nd edition in "used/like new" condition for less than $5. I turn to online resources for terms not included in this volume and find that the combination of the two works very well for me. The 2nd edition includes a CD-ROM copy of the MMSTP and the Microsoft Press Computer Dictionary, which makes possible electronic use (searches, clickable links, etc.) of these very handy volumes. I've heard that the CD that comes with the 3rd edition is considerably less user friendly, but I can't confirm that from personal experience.

ROOM TO IMPROVE

As with all reference materials, there's room for improvement here.

MISLEADING TITLE - Beginning with the title, "Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications" is at best misleading, as the book really only pertains to computing technology (I also write technical publications for several non-computing industries), and only a fairly narrow segment of that surrounding Microsoft products. If you're working primarily with non-computing or non-Microsoft products, the contents of this book are likely to be largely off the mark.

GRAPHICS - Graphics in general are an under-treated topic in this book, and today's IT documentation makes heavy use of diagrams, photographs, illustrations and charts, and rightly so, given the sophistication of the concepts being communicated. Learning to create effective graphics is every bit as important to today's documentation as is the effective use of language. More "graphics do's and don'ts", with examples, would be very helpful, as the use of poorly designed graphics is every bit as prolific today as the use of poorly composed text.

PRICE - Lastly, I don't think it's a service to clearer, more effective communication, the assumed goal of this book, to have allowed the price of the 3rd edition to have risen so high. This is the sort of reference that should be extremely inexpensive and easy for anyone to acquire, perhaps even free. If someone wants to buy the book, they can, but in the spirit of creating universally more effective technical communication, something that can only help the entire industry, I think Microsoft should offer this volume free online, as they do to their employees and partners.

MY RECOMMENDATION - If you're considering whether or not to purchase this book, perhaps you'll benefit from doing as I did. First, check out a copy of the 1998 and 2004 editions (or newer if they become available) from your local library and look through them for yourself to see how well they fit your needs. For me, the 2nd edition works just fine and is a lot cheaper at this point. Second, if you feel the contents would be helpful to you, pick up a used "like new" copy at a very reasonable price and enjoy. Your writing will certainly benefit from the use of this well designed tool (referring to 2nd edition).

Microsoft Manual of Style Worth the Money
I've used this for 15 years at all kinds of IT companies. It is worth getting is you want a reliable style guide for IT related issues.

Ivan

Excellent Manual...
...but not a proper textbook for undergraduate "Technical Writing" course. Definitely an excellent reference book for such course, though.

Dr. Sunil Samanta

MS Manual of styleJFO Review
Book is excellent, delivery was ok, even if a little bit longer than expected. ... Read more

Product Description
In easy-to-use outline form, this little book is a handy distillation of the best-selling MLA Handbook, with all the information a student needs to format a typescript, list sources at the end of the paper, cite sources in the paper's text, and avoid unintentional plagiarism. It also includes a sample outline and research paper and, for writers in the social sciences, a brief discussion of the style preferred by the American Psychological Association. Up to date-with rules for citing such new media as CD-ROMS, videotapes, and online databases. Includes a complete sample outline and research paper, with an appendix on APA style. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

fast delivery
I ordered this book for my 12-year-old son. First, I must say that I use the regular delivery speed, and I received this book in four days, which was faster than I expected. My son's teacher asked his students to buy this book, and they would use this book in classroom to help them in writing. I read through this book also, I like it. I asked my son if he liked this book, he told me he loved it.

Out of date!
The book is very useful & accurate for citing books and other print articles, but has no information on citing web pages, emails, or other electronic texts. It is based on the 1995 4th edition of MLA, while MLA is up to the 6th edition (2003)

An Excellent, Although Incomplete, Source On MLA
This Review refers to the paperback edition of The Essentials of MLA Style: A Guide to the System of Documentation Recommended by the MLA for Writers of Research Papers, by Joseph F. Trimmer.

Trimmer's book is one pertaining to the proper way of citing sources via the MLA standards.There are thorough examples and explanatory details allowing the user to easily format their work according to the accepted standards.The Essentials of MLA Style demonstrates each citation and works cited statement empirically, and even contains a correctly formatted essay on recycling on which the proper ways of in text citing are pointed out.An APA style section is also contained in the back of the book.

The work provides plenty of examples and displays a good number of MLA procedures.However, it does not properly go into internet or photographic source work.Otherwise, it displays a good amount of the proper form of MLA style documentation.

The literary style presents the topic in a clear and concise manner, creating a smooth sentence structure and professional air about it.The author does not stray from the topic, but overuses certain words at times.

The Essentials of MLA Style is a highly recommended source for anyone interested in composing a paper through that particular style, or anyone merely interested in how the style is used.Overall, Trimmer provides an excellent reference for those wishing to write research papers using the MLA form of documentation.

CONCISE and easy to use MLA how-to book
Bought for my Kidlet, she's found it a wonderful guidebook to writing MLA style papers. We looked at the full-version (over 200 pages) and it was, quite frankly, overwhelming.

This one though, we have found to have all the information she requires to write decent papers for her college professors.Thus far, all A's too!I have recommended it to my nieces because of the easy to use format. The index is thorough and the examples (profuse) make following the format SIMPLE.

AWESOME!
This book really helped me write an excellent paper. Everyone should get this book because it is useful until your learning days are over. This book really helped me a lot. ... Read more

Product Description
This book arises out of twenty-five years of both writing fiction and teaching creative writing at university level. Its purpose is to provide a helpful and easy to follow reference guide to Story Press grammar and mechanics that is specifically addressed to writers of fiction and creative non-fiction. The Creative Writer's Style Guide provides the rules of grammar, punctuation and style as well as great advice on effective writing. Beginners and more experienced writers - as well as editors and agents who have struggled to adapt the standard style manual rules to the particular demands of fiction and memoir writing will find the answers they need here. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Best fiction style guide
Hands-down the best grammar reference for fiction writers. The needs of a fiction writer require the occasional bending and stretching of rules, a fact of the writing life you won't find acknowledged in CMOS or other guides, most of which focus on business and academic writing. This, Strunk & White, and Self-editing for Fiction Writers need to be in every writer's toolbox.

Nuts & Bolts for Fiction Writers
This volume is full of practical advice for fiction writers presented in a funny, accessible manner. Leland ranges from mechanics (setting and punctuating dialogue/internal dialogue) to issues of style (how to handle slang and colloquialisms). In short, a whole wealth of information that your MLA or Chicago Manual of Style, with their focus on business and academic writing, won't touch on.

Useful, useful, useful.
It's just another style guide, right?

You won't think so after reading it, and refering to it, and wearing out its jacket and not giving a darn.

This is not your English teacher's grammar guide.It's for YOU, the writer.

Part I is dedicated to grammar issues as they apply to the creative writer.Part II dedicated to issues of style.

Both parts are valuable.It's a great refresher course in usage, and it's the first one I've ever read that hasn't made me feel as though I were doing homework.If only I could have had it in my hands that time on the dentist's operating chair when he yanked my back left molar.It's so much easier a read than pulling teeth, and it can make you forget the pains of the real world.And it absolutely beats that grueling pain of suddenly feeling lost, while writing, as you come to a who/whom sentence construction . . . or, for this matter, to a question of properly typing ellipses.

I improved the technical aspects of my prose after reading this book.I knew better how to discover my mistakes, and I knew better how to break the rules.I broke those rules with confidence, consciously.Just the same, I learned when breaking the rules was not effective.

I've used The Creative Writer's Style Guide time and time again.It won't collect dust on your bookshelf.

Do you need another style guide?
Every writer has (or SHOULD have!) Strunk and White's "The Elements of Style" on their shelf, so why do you need another style guide?Well, for one thing Strunk doesn't have references to Limp Bizkit or the September 11 attacks.This is a new book with reference to pop culture and more modern writing methods and styles.The rest of it is the same as any other good style guide, but the parts devoted to nuances of creative fiction and topics of interest to writers of today are worth the price of the book.You don't find many style guides that discuss the pros and cons of peppering your dialogue with realistic use of obscenities and profanity - something worth thinking about.

Keep Strunk and White within arm's reach by your dictionary and thesaurus, but make a spot for this book somewhere on your writing shelf. ... Read more

Product Description
Through the explanations, examples, and exercises in this guide, Dr. Heaberlin, Professor of English at Texas State University, emphasizes using syntax and logic to connect sentences and teaches users to connect the information of their prose and thus please readers by the clarity of their writing. He introduces principles of organization and directs users to construct sentences according to specific instructions and examples. Gradually the sentences become more complex as users move from writing with one structure to writing with that structure in compounds and series.

For more than thirty years, earlier versions of this guidebook have been used in teaching college students to write. This is the second part of a four part series. Knowledge of the material in Writing Style 1, English Syntax, will aid users of this guidebook, but many have benefited from it without that information. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Connecting for Coherence
I used this book for a class and it was really great! It had a lot of new information in it and was easy to understand. I give it two thumbs up. : )

You can use this book to learn how to write well
This book is a later, more sophisticated version of a workbook that I used when I taught Basic Reading and Writing to incoming Freshmen at Texas State over twenty years ago.To the basic workbook about how sentences worked that he was using then, he has added his encyclopedic knowledge of English syntax.Dr. Heaberlin has been teaching students to write since the early 1960s.Connecting for Coherence packs all that knowledge into less than 140 pages.If you understand basic grammatical terms, you can use this book to learn how to write well.(And if you'd like to learn more about grammar, Dr. Heaberlin has put the workbook from his excellent Syntax class on Amazon also.Reading it first could only make this book easier to use. English Syntax: A Guide To The Grammar Of Successful Writers:Writing Style 1)I had taken Dr. Heaberlin's Syntax class before using the early version of what has become Connecting for Coherence, and the two together helped my writing immensely.The knowledge contained in these two books contributed to my being able to write and edit professionally.

Connecting for Coherence is Excellent
An instructive, informative, and accessible guide, Heaberlin's text smoothly and logically teaches readers proper syntax. It is a welcomed and refreshing tool for linguistic amateurs and veterans alike.Using effective teaching methods, the text's exercises begin relatively simply and progress through more complex levels.And complete with twelve in depth lessons with questions and the accompanying answers, readers find themselves with ample learning material.Here exists the route to a new found, coherent comprehension of the English language.An indispensable syntactical guide, this text warrants the attention of anyone wishing to improve his or her linguistic command.I strongly recommend this guidebook.

Excellent
I used this book for a class I took and it had a lot to teach me. It has interesting, informative lessons which are followed by exercises. I recommend this to anyone interested in developing their writing.

Great tool for writing
This workbook is a great tool to improve your understanding of language mechanics and writing skills. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (5)

Buy the Book
Is a required book for a class in grad school.Really, really, really wish I would've bought the book instead.Yes, the book is big...but e-version is so difficult and frustrating to use, (and I'm fairly technical,) that I end up going to their website instead.A disappointing waste of money.

Nice to have the resource portable/offline, but interface needs improvement
I own the book, but as a freelance editor, I wanted something I could take on the road with me when I travel. I did the trial of the online membership, and it is nice, but not when you're sitting somewhere without internet access. The CD-ROM seemed like the perfect solution.

Unfortunately the implementation leaves much to be desired. When I first installed the software, it worked fine, but the next time I loaded it, the pane with the table of contents and search results had disappeared and I couldn't get it back. I tried reinstalling and it still didn't work, rendering the program essentially useless. I e-mailed CMS customer support and they never wrote back. Eventually about a month later I happened to check their site again and found that they had posted a CD-ROM update file (which wasn't originally up there when I first had the problem). Installing this update did fix the problem, but it would have been nice if they had responded to my e-mail.

Now the CD-ROM does basically fit my needs--I do like having that heavy reference volume in a portable format on my computer. However, the one thing that is really annoying is the searching capability. In the software, if you search for multiple words, it searches for that exact phrase in that order--it does not do an "and" search on the separate words. It gives you an option to do an advanced search on a word, which lets you do an "and," "or," or "not" search, but limits you to just two keywords--the one keyword and the modifier keyword. If you try to search by more than one word in either the search term or modifier box, it pops up an error message that says "Advanced Search does not accept phrases"! How annoying is that, to only be able to search by two single words.

When I'm online, I actually use CMS's web search interface--I like seeing the Q&A results, and I still find the online search easier to use and more comprehensive because it does a normal "and" web search by as many words as you want to enter. This makes it much easier to find what I am looking for. Then, to read an article, I go look it up by article number in the software!

Despite the annoyances, I would still recommend it to anyone who needs portable, offline access to this reference. Just be aware of the shortcomings.

Tastes great--less filling
Like the other 2 reviewers, I agree it would be better to see whole pages of the book at a time (I suppose I'd really rate it 4 1/2 stars). But does that flaw make the product a flop? Heck no! Not only can you do searches, but when you click on an item in the index and read the page you're sent to, you can get right back to the same entry in the index. That sure beats flipping around in the (heavy) printed volume. And if you take your laptop to the coffee shop to do your work, like I do, you'll appreciate having your CMS along without the added weight.

I found the interface very intuitive. Three features that will be quite useful are bookmarking, notes, and highlighting. It's nice to be able to "mark up" my CMS without actually writing in a book.

At Least I Can Search
The previous reviewer's complaint about only being able to view one numbered topic at a time is a legitimate inconvenience. It's easy enough to click once to move to the next numbered topic, but it would be nicer to be able to view a screenful at a time. I also find the on-screen print to be much too small. You can change that in the View options, but the setting isn't sticky. It has to be reset every time you load the program. Dang!

But at least I can search-- and that's the main reason that I bought the CD. The printed CMS is a fantastic reference. Its table of contents and index are both well done. Still, there are times when I can't think of the correct index topic to find the answer to a question. With the CD version, I can search on a keyword or phrase and find the answer anyway. If, for example, you wanted to know if NBC should have periods after each letter, you wouldn't need to know to look under "broadcasting companies" or "call letters" in the index. Just type "NBC" and the answer is easy to find.

I have both a bound edition and CD-ROM and find plenty of use for both. I'd give the CD five stars for content, but only three for implementation. That averages to 4 stars.

A Sad Disappointment
As a heavy user of the Chicago Manual of Style (I own multiple copies of the 15th edition in cloth), I've been eagerly awaiting this long-delayed CD-ROM version ever since it was first announced two or more years ago.When I saw that it was finally available, I quickly ordered a copy and loaded it onto my hard drive.Alas, the University of Chicago Press has botched a wonderful opportunity.The software implementation permits users to read only a single numbered paragraph of the book at a time: those who know the print edition will readily understand that having to click one's mouse repeatedly to move from paragraph 17:148 to 17:149 to 17:150, each occupying just a few lines on separate screens, is an unbelievably cumbersome way to use this essential reference tool (to say nothing of being an invitation to carpal tunnel syndrome!).The Press has essentially made it impossible to browse the book, or to read it continuously, probably because the designers were concerned not to undermine sales of the print version.By working so hard not to compete with their own book sales, though, they've virtually guaranteed that almost no one will want to purchase this extremely hobbled digital version, at least not once users have tried it for themselves or heard from colleagues how awful the implementation is.If you've been awaiting this CD-ROM version as long as I have, I'm afraid you'll be as unhappy as I am that we'll have to wait still longer for a usable digital version of one of the most important reference works in all of American publishing.I would strongly advise AGAINST purchasing this product until the Press does a better job of implementing the software so that users can read chapters continuously. ... Read more

Product Description
An essential reference for writers, this brief text offers readers an analysis of style, grammar, diction, and composition, including elements excluded by other books, such as tropes and the benefits of imitation. A reprint of the popular Chapter IV of Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student, it features lively exercises that emphasize the practical applications of classic styles. ... Read more

Product Description
The Concise Rules of APA Style, Sixth Edition offers essential writing and formatting standards for students, teachers, researchers, and clinicians in the social and behavioral sciences.This easy-to-use pocket guide, compiled from the sixth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, provides complete guidance on the rules of style that are critical for clear communication.Readers will learn how to avoid the grammatical errors most commonly reported by journal editors; how to choose the appropriate format for statistics, figures, and tables; how to credit sources and avoid charges of plagiarism; and how to construct a reference list through a wide variety of examples and sources.

In addition to guidance on grammar points that have challenged writers in the social sciences, the Concise Rules provides suggestions for reducing bias in language; reviews the mechanics of style for punctuation, spelling, capitalization, abbreviation, italicization, headings, and quotations; examines the preferred use of numbers as well as standards for metrication and statistics; provides guidance on the construction and formatting of tables, figures, and appendixes; and offers clear examples and models for citing sources and constructing error-free reference lists.

How does the Concise Rules differ from the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association?The Publication Manual remains the best source for broad background information about scientific publishing.It provides detailed guidance on publication ethics, journal article reporting standards, and the process of journal publication.The Concise Rules, by comparison, targets only those rules writers need for choosing the best words and format for their articles.It offers a comprehensive list of essential writing standards in a convenient, easily retrievable format.

Available in a light-weight, spiral-bound format, the Concise Rules will travel easily from home to school to office.It will be an invaluable reference tool for all social science scholars who are serious about communicating clearly and effectively.

Key to this edition is an updated and expanded APA Style website, with many additional resources to help readers learn APA style, including free tutorials, on-line courses, frequently asked questions, sample papers, and the APA Style blog.

The sixth edition of Concise Rules has been revised and updated to include

-simplified APA heading style to make it more conducive to electronic publication;
-updated guidelines for reducing bias in language to reflect current practices and preferences, including a new section on presenting historical language that is inappropriate by present standards;
-new guidelines for reporting inferential statistics and a significantly revised table of statistical abbreviations;
-a new discussion on the use of online supplemental materials, including lengthy data sets and other media, to enrich the published article;
-significantly expanded content on the electronic presentation of data to help readers understand the purpose of each kind of display and choose the best match for communicating the results of the investigation, with new examples for a variety of data displays, including electrophysiological and biological data;
-an expanded discussion of electronic sources, emphasizing the role of the digital object identifier (DOI) as a reliable way to locate information; and
-a wealth of new reference examples, with a focus on new electronic formats.

New and experienced readers alike will find the sixth edition a complete resource for writing with clarity and precision. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (34)

Beware. 1st printing 'minor' typos
According to the APA website, the 1st printing of the Concise Rules has 'minor' typos. I have just gone through a tedious process, over about 3 hours, noting corrections for 'minor' typos in the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition, first printing. I ordered the Concise Rules but will return in to the sender, if it is a 1st printing. The APA web site states that the main errors are in the sample papers, in the Manual, and that the other errors are minor. There are multiple minor errors that are very tedious to deal with.

Concise Rules of APA Style
This book has been a great help to me.It is a good reference source.

APA Style Guide
I bought this book for nursing school and it will be a helpful resource as I write papers. I have not had the opportunity to use it much yet, but I will soon.

Better to buy the APA Publication Manual
I found this completely useless for writing papers and had to buy the APA Publication Manual.This is coming from a new graduate student who was trying to learn to write APA style.If that is your purpose for buying this manual, stick with the blue APA Publication Manual.I could find no use for this condensed version and it never had information that was relevant to writing my papers correctly.

I did think the size and spiral binding was kind of handy, if only the information inside was useful.

Great shipper!
Item was as adveritised. Shipping was faster than expected. Would definitely by from this person again! Thanks! ... Read more

Product Description
A completely rewritten edition of Hart's Rules for Compositors and Readers, which is currently in its revised thirty-ninth edition, The Oxford Guide to Style has been expanded to encompass modern issues in preparing copy for publication. Hart's Rules is a classic text in printing and publishing houses, and this successor to it is sure to become a classic also. It consists of 16 topic-based chapters giving advice on how to present the written word. It incorporates the most recent changes in citing electronic media, and details on submission of material for publication electronically. The text is full of explanations, examples, and lists on, for example, mathematical symbols, abbreviations and capitalization, and there is exhaustive information for editors on foreign languages and how to present them on the page. There is also advice on how to treat quotations, notes and references, specialist subjects, and indexing.As well as giving advice on the traditional skills needed in the preparation of copy and proofs, there is further information for editors on issues such as copyright laws and legal references. This really is the ultimate guide for all printers, book, magazine, and Internet publishers on the preparation and presentation of the written word. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Poor typography, good content
The contents of this book is good. It really is a good companion to my Chicago Manual of Style, outlining the British way of doing things in text composition. The book has a reasonable structure which, however, in parts is confusing.

Chapter 11 (Languages) is organized in a rather confusing manner. The subsections list languages or language groups alphabetically, without a clear system. For example, each of the Germanic languages (English, Dutch, German) and of the Romance languages (French, Italian, Spanish) is listed separately, in the alphabetical sequence (Dutch under D, German under G, French under F etc.) The Scandinavian languages (Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Icelandic) are grouped together, though, and listed undr S. Baltic and Slavonic languages are also grouped together. Catalan is listed under Spanish and Iberian languages (S), but has also its own section under C. Russian has a separate entry while all other Slavonic languages are grouped together. Also, a language such as Romanian (20 million speakers) is discussed on two pages while all Slavonic languages (Belorussian, Bulgarian, Czech, Macedonian, Polish, Serbian and Croatian, Slovak, Slovene, Sorbian and Ukrainian -- with a total community of some 120 million speakers) are given only four pages altogether. Altogether, the section on languages provides basic information regarding alphabets used, but for many languages, information on typographic conventions (hyphenation, quotation marks, dashes etc.) is badly missing, so the information gathered cannot be considered sufficient as a guideline for typesetting in a foreign language.

The typography of the book is a critical element that must be mentioned. My personal view is that a book about writing and composition should be particularly well-designed itself. The format is handy (better than Chicago Manual of Style) and the page layout is practical and elegant. However, the impression is ruined by the most awkward choice of typefaces: the excellent book and newspaper typeface Swift (designed by Gerard Unger) is paired with... Arial!

The title page, the headings, the captions and the examples are all typeset using on of the the dullest, ugliest sanserif typefaces ever designed. Arial lacks character and individuality, as it was conceived by its makers (the Monotype company) as a substitute for Helvetica (made by Monotype's competitor, Linotype). Arial was drawn to match Helvetica's character width but to have slightly altered letter appearance. The result is a set of letterforms that, indeed, look like imitation of something else. Since nowadays, Arial is included on practically all personal computers, one cannot imagine a choice for a typeface that would be less original. But it's not necessarily the lack of originality that disqualitfies Arial as a typeface suitable for this sort of book. Arial simply has poorly drawn letterforms, and the Black variant (used on the title page, section titles and in the running headers of each page) is simply ugly. Practically any other grotesque (sanserif) typeface would have been a better choice for this book.

The lack of imagination in the typesetting of the book is best evident on the title page. The starting "T" in the first line has been shifted left to optically align with the line below, the text below has not. The word "Guide" drifts too far to the right, the three lines below drift progressively to the left. Aligning the text neatly would have taken less than a minute of someone's time.

Overall, the book is a credible effort but not up to the standards that you might expect from a "standard work" from Oxford University Press.

Indispensable for All Who Write
Though some may believe that this guide is only for editors, publishers and writers, I insist that anyone who takes pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) buy this book.Clear and helpful, "The Oxford Guide to Style" (I know that this should be italicized, but Amazon.com doesn't seem to process HTML) logically breaks down stylistic and grammatical information.The lengthy index adds to the book's ease-of-use.Every section is clearly titled and arranged in neat paragraphs.

The only problem that I found was in the foreign language section: the guide neglects to insert a space before colons, semicolons, question marks and exclamation marks in the French section.

This is interesting to read or skim, and I continue to use it as a reference. ... Read more

Product Description
Edited by Stella Bingham and republished in 2010, Waterhouse on Newspaper Style is still the standard, and most entertaining, manual of tabloid journalism, as important and relevant today as when it was first published in 1989. ... Read more

Product Description
Write with Style differs from all other books on style, because it promotes sound writing principles and incorporates contemporary technology. It makes style objective, so writers spot opportunities for improvement in their work. For the first time, a book shows writers, from beginner to pro, how to use almost any word-processing program to improve their writing. It shows writers how to drive home a point and avoid pedestrian prose. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Write in Style - a must read for aspiring authors
This is a wonderful book for anyone thinking of writing a book or anyone wanting to write a book with greater impact or anyone who has written a book and trying to get it published.

Bobbie Christmas has been involved in writing, editing & publishing for over 30 years. Her book gives you a down to earth analysis of how to be a better writer. This is not theoretical or a pie in the sky, she simply explains what works and what doesn't work and how to better present your thoughts.
I found this book extremely informative and it is also a fun book to read.

Great book, and a good resource.
This book is a very good resource for any writer, student, other. Great for learning good writing, interesting writing, and proper writing. After I have written something, I usually go back through what I've finished with Write in Style in my opposite hand. Is clear, pointed, and easy to read.

Practical writing help
This is a practical book that will improve your writing instantly. There are better books on the theory of writing, but this will upgrade your manuscript with the first application. An important tool for writers. It cannot substitute for all writing manuals, but should be a staple.

Get Style
Let's say you're a good writer, have lots of good ideas, interesting characters, whiz-bang plots, all of it, but--you're not getting published. Maybe your writing needs a style upgrade. Maybe you're using passive constructions, dangling participles, weak modifiers, and variant English. Maybe the editors are tossing your manuscripts after the first page. You need to read this book to write with genuine, publishable style.

Author Bobbie Christmas teaches writers like us how to use the Find function on our word processors to track down and eliminate unstylish usages and write tighter, stronger sentences. Not only that, she is witty, clever and easy to read. She doesn't hesitate to poke fun at herself, which makes her teachings easy to swallow. Guess what? This reviewer makes a lot of the mistakes she talks about in her book. Not any more. Armed with Write In Style I will do better, and you will, too.

Writers, run out and get Write In Style today. You will be glad you did. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.

If you intend to write and succeed, this is a must read

At several points reading Christmas's 'Write in Style', I was tempted to write a glowing review. Now, I selfishly don't want to. Everyone has at least one book inside them. I don't want you all to know how Bobbie's Christmas's guidance will guide you to tell your story. I want 'Write in Style' all to myself.

I could give a thorough review, of content and chapters, proving myself an excellent writer. But why? With Bobbie's guidance I stand a better chance of writing best sellers. Why write a review when you can write a book. Read 'Write in Style', study it for yourself. It's written by a master.

Not only does 'Write in Style' teach to write clearly, and give you a secret tool to reduce the work, Bobbie's guidance helps to get the story out from your imagination onto paper in the way readers want to read. 'Write in Style' encourages confidence and thereby enthuses you to write with the belief you have a guardian angel on your shoulder.

Thanks Bobbie.

Sorry Bobbie. I want to keep you all to myself.

just Jack ... Read more

Product Description
Writers Style Manual Grammar Check Guide ... Read more

Product Description
Throughout the twentieth century, The Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors and Hart's Rules grew to be indispensable sources for all those who deal with the written word.Now, for the first time, The Oxford Style Manual combines in one volume these two classic reference books in their latest forms: the second edition of The Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors, and The Oxford Guide to Style - the new Hart's Rules. Together they offer unrivalled guidance on words and how to treat them. The first part of The Oxford Style Manual contains 16 topic-based chapters of help on every aspect of words in print. The text is full of explanations, examples, and lists of, for example, abbreviations, capitalization, punctuation, and scientific and mathematical symbols.It gives clear advice on how to treat quotations, illustrations, tables, notes and references, specialist subjects, and indexes, as well as exhaustive information on foreign languages.There is also information on recent issues such as citing electronic media, submitting material for online publication, and current copyright law. The second part of the Manual consists of short alphabetical entries that provide easy-to-follow guidance on specific writing conundrums, including common spelling difficulties (hairdryer or hairdrier?); queries on hyphenation and punctuation (brothers-in-law or brother-in-laws?); confusables (impassible or impassable?); differences between British and American English (pyjamas/pajamas); and difficult or unusual terms. The Oxford Style Manual really is the ultimate guide for all book, magazine, and Internet publishers on preparing and presenting the written word. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

New authors and book lovers should get this
I am writing my first book and want to be able to talk to the publishers with confidence and reduce their work. I may even decide to publish my book myself. The Oxford Style Manual is the only authentic book that I could find that can teach me the basics like the pats of a book, how to create them, in what order they should appear, etc. It also teaches details like punctuatio and formatting.

Even if you are not an aspiring author but just a lover of books, this book is recommendable. It gives you the ability of assessing the quality of a book.

Highly recommended.

Great help for distinguishing British from American English
What is not clear from the listing for this book in most of OUP's promotional materials is that THE OXFORD STYLE MANUAL is really TWO books in one: THE OXFORD GUIDE TO STYLE and THE OXFORD DICTIONARY FOR WRITERS AND EDITORS. Even at the combined length of just over 1,000 pages, THE MANUAL is a manageable reference work, no more cumbersome than a standard collegiate dictionary.

Although, as an American, I will continue to use the CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE as my arbiter for editorial decisions, I find Oxford's manual an excellent way of distinguishing between British and American styles of English; Part II (the dictionary) is especially thorough in pointing out key differences. Also, beginning on page 244 in Part I is a list of about 500 everyday American words with their British equivalents (tick-tack-toe = noughts and crosses). Although it would be nice to have the same list in reverse (an American's undershirt is a "vest" in UK, and his vest is a "waistcoat", something that is not immediately clear from the way the list is put together), the list is short enough for anyone to read through and become familiar with. (The CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE has no equivalent list.)

In short, a good and thorough resource. ... Read more

Product Description

Plain Style is an amusing and instructive guide to written English by the late Christopher Lasch, author of The Culture of Narcissism, The True and Only Heaven, and many other memorable works of American history and social criticism. Written for the benefit of the students at the University of Rochester, where Lasch taught from 1970 until his death in 1994, it quickly established itself in typescript as a local classic—a lively, witty, and historically minded alternative to the famous volume by William Strunk and E. B. White, The Elements of Style.

Now available for the first time in published form, Plain Style is fundamentally a clear, readable, practical guide to the timeless principles of effective composition. At the same time, however, in ways that Stewart Weaver explains in his critical introduction, it is a distinctive and revealing addition to the published work of an eminent American thinker. No mere primer, Plain Style is an essay in cultural criticism, a political treatise even, by one for whom directness, clarity, and honesty of expression were essential to the living spirit of democracy.

As the teachers and students who have for years benefited from its succinct wisdom will testify, Plain Style is an indispensable guide to writing and, indeed, Christopher Lasch's least-expected but perhaps most serviceable work.

Customer Reviews (3)

Great Update of, and Supplement to, Strunk & White
Similar in style and tone (and usefulness) to Strunk & White's classic "Elements of Style". Short, pithy, intelligent. Lots of examples, followed by Professor Lasch's thoughtful, penetrating, often witty comments. Recommended for all undergrads.

Hard-Hitting, Witty and Astute
The introductory essay alone makes this book worthwhile -- the editor traces Lasch's evolution as a historian, and shows how his interest in plain writing evolved along with his political thinking.The examples in the text are both entertaining and informative, and the writing advice is excellent. A good resource people who care about how writing and thinking impact our society.

I appreciate what he attempted, but...
I appreciate what the author was attempting to do, but do not feel the book succeeds.It is too dry to read on its own (as a sort of William Safire-style curmudgeon rant on language), and not comprehensive enough to be a useful desk reference.

In addition, the first 30 or so pages are actually a biography of the author (who died a few years ago) by one of his colleagues. Perhaps to someone researching Lasch himself (who was, admittedly, a renown academic) this material would be interesting, but it isn't in the context of language reference. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
A guide to the documentation system of the Modern Language Association.It includes numerous examples, a sample research paper, an updated appendix on American Psychological Association (APA) style, and hints on such topics as taking notes and avoiding plagiarism. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Well organized and straight to the point
I have used one of these books before and they have been of great help.Most of the bigger MLA books don't seem to cover much on formatting for web sources.This book is thin and easy to carry for any student.It provides an ample amount of small detailed examples for formatting as well as a few essays.The price for this guide is a little on the pricey side for such a small book.In my opinion, it's well worth it for any high school or college student who has many papers to write ahead of him/her.Again, this book is thin and light, well organized, and straight to the point.There would be no need to skim countless pages just to get the formatting you need, the next time you write a term paper.

MLA Documentation Help At Last.
This book is very helpful for research papers. My son's school requires this style of documentation, but they don't provide much help in regards to how to do it. So I browsed the internet looking for help, but there aren't many websites that will tell you everything you need to know. So I ... found this book. I bought it for a price that is cheaper than those large books. I believe that you won't need the large books becaquse most research papers only require the basics, but if you are doing a very large research paper, one of those books might be needed. This book has the basics on how to document many types of sources and it's ...price makes it easy because we have no worries about loosing it. If you are looking for some help with MLA Documentation, and just want the basics and nothing complicated, moreadvanced, look into the bulkier, more expensive books.

Handy but not complete
The Modern Language Association (MLA) is the recommended style guide for most documentation in research papers. However, some require The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. This guide, though very short, gives the basics of both. It is too brief to give a complete analysis of the larger, more expensive guides, but it is a handy reference for the basics. If you can afford the complete versions, your bookshelf should contain them if you intend to write academic or research papers. The price on this shortened guide makes it a handy reference for those who can't afford the larger books or who want a handy version to carry with them. ... Read more