Book Description

This updated edition provides clear, concise instruction on every form of business writing, from traditional business letters to e-mail and other electronic communications. Pointing out that effective business English begins with mastering grammar and sentence structure, the author presents a brush-up course on the basics of correct usage. Second to grammatical correctness, the biggest challenge in preparing business documents is achieving an appropriate business style that conveys the writer's message succinctly without resorting to stilted, overly formal language. The author advises on how to achieve a natural tone, and to avoid meaningless jargon. She follows up with good examples of model business letters, résumés, employment letters, interoffice memos, news releases, and business reports. Additional features include exercises with answers and a glossary of business terms. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

The Author's spelling is correct
Just wanted to mention that the author's spelling of "Restaurateur" is CORRECT, instead of the all too common but incorrect Restauranteur as suggested by the previous reviewer of this book.

Proof reading is key!
I have gotten a lot out of this book. It has solid suggestions and the advice given is useful. However, perhaps the author might want to proof his own work, especially the cover. The sub title on the book, and it is viewable on the 'see larger photo' of jacket on this page, is 'How smart Restaurateurs' are using newsletters to build business' I would rather be a restauRANTeur than a restauRATeur! ... Read more

Amazon.com

Peter Elbow calls it "freewriting." Julia Cameron refers to it as "morning pages." Mark Levy prefers the term "private writing." What they are all referring to is a timed, continuous-writing exercise, with no editing allowed. The messier the better. While Elbow and Cameron use the method as a way of improving one's personal writing and learning what one has to say, Levy applies its use to the business world. Businesspeople, too, he says, "should have fun with their subject. Give it fresh attention. View it from different angles." He makes a compelling argument for using private writing at work to get oneself to think outside the box. Too often, he says, we do things a certain way solely because that's the way they've always been done. Processes become so institutionalized that it takes "bursts of exceptional insight, or ...genius moments" to move beyond them. Levy's techniques for using private writing at work include "reality tweaking" (what if the budget were 100 times bigger or smaller?), having imaginary conversations with real people, and using "thought starters" to get the ball rolling. He also advocates the use of private writing to assess one's career and consider alternatives. Perhaps his most salient advice is, "Buy yourself a timer that doesn't make a clicking noise as it counts down." --Jane Steinberg ... Read more

Reviews (16)

It Worked For Me
If you think it's been a long time since your last spark of creativity, gift yourself a copy of Mark Levy's Accidental Genius. This book was specially crafted for all of us who may have the makings of a great insight or business idea glimmering but, for some reason, have been woefully unable to give these worthy (and often bankable!) gems a chance to shine. Why? Because of all the undue pressure we place on ourselves to make them come out whole and flawless the first time around. Accidental will give any frustrated, would-be 'genius' a refreshing change of perspective. First, this book tells you how to dissolve the barriers that can hold your creativity back, how to tap your own original notions, and write what you think. Mark Levy's easy--and at times very humorous--writing style will speak to you like the insightful coach you wish you always had, rooting for you at the sidelines--or, if you like, the margins of your page. Then, when you are all loosened up, Levy gives you the best of his successful writing techniques, developed from years of experience in publishing, marketing, and sales. These techniques enable you to do one better than simply 'work' with your concepts. Mark Levy incites you to play with them, turn them upside-down, grow from them (and sometimes away from them!),and delve deep into ideas that you may have previously accepted too easily at face-value. The chapter on 'Extracting Gold from a Business Book' was especially cool, and its usefulness extends to books and articles of any topic. And,without forgetting his purpose, Levy provides you with real-life exercises so that you can produce those rare and elusive creatures known as Solutions. Click yourself a copy. Accidental is a gem of a writing book.

Get Those Ideas Out of Your Head!
In the ACCIDENTAL GENIUS, Mark Levy does not want to become your judgmental English professor, intimidating you into writing that perfect essay. Those experiences likely lead you to view writing as an unpleasant undertaking, not soon to be repeated. Yet how many of us still hanker to be writers? If you've taken the time to search this book out this probably applies to you. Instead of the critical teacher, Mr. Levy wants to become your personal psychologist guiding you towards getting past the damage that may have been done and allowing you to once again tap into that inner creativity that I'm told is part of our birthright.
There are many techniques presented in this book to get past the "internal censor" that keep many of us from taking the steps necessary to getting things out of our heads unto paper. Eventually we may actually convert these ideas into something that may actually benefit others and ourselves.
The point is to write often and quickly, literally against a timer set for about ½ hour. This, with repeated practice, will short-circuit the internal censor that tends to want to judge creative ideas as unworthy of being born in this world. Will everything that comes out of our heads be worthy of Einstein? Of course not...not everything that came out of his head was worthy of him. Like sifting for gold, one has to go through a lot of dirt(and BS) and eventually there will be a nugget. The big point is to go for quantity over quality; the refinement process is the next step before public consumption. Still a little sensitive to how good or bad your writing may be? Simply keep it private! The author shares these and other techniques and approaches. He covers everything from writing a book to solving a business problem.
After several weeks of practicing with his suggestions, I found that writing became more automatic and easier. I also noticed that the internal sensor was playing less of a role in the production of my output. I was asked to help write a major proposal for my company, a task that I normally would have agonized and plotted through. Instead, much to my surprise, it was.... dare I use the words.... somewhat effortless and even pleasurable.
This is a great book for getting started on harvesting ideas. For the next step, which is the refinement of raw ideas, I suggest the Gregg Guide. It deals with the rules of grammar, punctuation and other formalities.
P.S. Please be kind when reviewing this entry. I did it to give interested parties a glimpse of what I thought this book was about and also to practice writing. I sincerely hope that I have achieved this. I did not write it as a class assignment or to please the grammar police.

Good bones
How many times have you looked at a new idea or invention and said "I thought of doing that once..." How many times have you forgotten things because you didn't write them down? Answers: lots of times, lots of times.

Now ask yourself "How many good ideas have come to me pure, shining forth with no clutter around them, precisely when I needed them?" The answer is likely to be "Never."

Accidental Genius tries to capitalize on these truisms by suggesting that the mechanism of writing can liberate the mind and allow the good ideas to pour forth - amid lots of debris, even nonsense. "Write fast, as close to the speed of your thinking as you can," says Levy, and with a timer (one that doesn't tick). And be relaxed while you do it.

The private writing log, which is Levy's main tool, can contain a journal, jottings on a problem or a wish, conversations with self or imaginary interlocutors, fantastic scenarios ranging from phenomenal strokes of good luck to horrifying catastrophe.

During the time you assign yourself you pour it all into your log, which only you will see and use. Later, perhaps much later, you will look over what you've written and try to extract the gold nuggets. For the price of a pencil and a pad of paper, you have built yourself a personal brainstormer.

Thought-logging has a long tradition among writing; many writers cannot survive without a notebook. Too many character sketches, images, details, dialogue and states of mind would be lost forever. However, the stated purpose of Levy's method is not to become a great or even a publishable writer but to keep a record of your thoughts for revisiting and future profit. The book is aimed at businesspeople but, at least in theory, anyone could benefit from the Levy method.

First, the method, which seems inspired by meditation techniques -- paradoxically, it replaces mind-quieting with page-filling --, requires a relaxed state of mind before starting a thought-logging session. Thus, the practice will be much easier for experienced meditators than for people who constantly carry unacknowledged tensions, fears, or other obstacles.

Someone capable of quieting his mind and relaxing may find it disconcerting to subject himself to a fast-paced exercise in free writing. Indeed, such a person may not want to get good ideas in this seemingly crass and haphazard way. Yet, in principle, the Levy exercises are no more absurd than practicing archery or repeating mantras.

True, the tone of the book is boosterish, the author being almost too eager to tell you his secret recipe -- but as in food recipes, literary polish matters little and the results are everything. Wonderful things can be done with cabbage, raw fish and snails (ants and cockroaches, too).

Despite its rough surface, this brief book has the bones of a fine meditation manual for businesspeople and a possibly useful tool for removing mental obstructions and even promoting a degree of self-knowledge in the age of commodity and show -- Levy's tacitly assumed and accepted scenario (whether the acceptance is reluctant or not, we don't know).

Talking to yourself in writing cannot be a substitute for the lost art of civilized conversation, but it will likely be a useful exercise. At worst, the technique can work as a placebo or not work at all, in which case you have lost nothing (think homeopathy).

At best, it can inspire you to pay attention to your thoughts and to develop an eye for good ideas, as well as good work habits. And if it teaches how to be comfortable in your own company, this book will have been not just a good buy but a steal. Good bones.

Does Writing Have To Be like Sweating Blood? No...
Many people have preconceptions about how the writing process goes. Grueling, frustrating and aggravating are just a few. This book shows you how to let go of your inner editor using private writing to let those unpolished gems come to the surface. Writing is work, but there are ways to make it easier and this book gives numerous useful strategies for moving past writing blocks and barriers when you have to write. It is very clearly, creatively and humorously written. Leavy illustrates many of his concepts with examples from his own writing. The most useful thing about this book is that it demystifies the process of writing and shows you multiple ways to create new ideas, strategies and perspectives. These are real, useful strategies, not "learn our new system and you will be successful" systems that are so complicated that you never use them after you read the book. I started using them when I was a quarter of the way through the book and produced 20 pages of single space material in one day. Not all that was great, but I was surprised at how good some of it was. It turned out there were a lot of good ideas in my head just waiting to get out. We are moving toward a knowledge society and most companies get their best value from ideas. This small, potent book will pay you back many times over by helping you get your ideas onto paper and into the world.

Easy and fun to read. It will change my learning habits
This is a great book. It's short, easy to read, and entertaining. But it's also a very powerful book that will change the way you approach creativity and learning.

It's not just about "private writing", it's about how to generate creative ideas and increase your learning and retention of what you read. It's also about how to clarify your thinking. The book has more than enough ideas to improve your life than what you would expect in his 141 page book.

I give it an A+ in my rating scale. This is a MUST READ for those who want to increase their learning, creativity and retention.

John Dunbar
Sugar Land, TX ... Read more

Book Description

A Vintage Original

The first installment of an exciting new annual anthology–a year's worth of the most interesting, noteworthy, and best-written articles on all aspects of the business world.

Series editor Andrew Leckey and guest editor Marshall Loeb have scoured the print media, consulted with the editors of major business and general interest publications, and surveyed journalism school deans in order to find the thirty best business stories from the past twelve months. Among those selected: Ken Auletta on Herb Allen's CEO retreat, from The New Yorker; Diane Brady on Martha Stewart, from Business Week; Steve Silberman on creating a borderless global cyber-marketplace, from Wired; and many others from the pages of Harper's, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Nation, and Rolling Stone.

Comprehensive in the range and consistent in the quality of the writing, this volume marks the beginning of a fascinating new anthology series. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Few of the selections are revelatory,
Other pieces are entirely ordinary, such as stories on the global ambitions on Starbucks and Wal-Mart Stores and one on Time Warner. Some are downright bad, such as a piece from Fortune about hedge funds, which attempts to mystify rather than explain the hedge fund gods, only to admit at the end that there really is no mystery, just money.

Not one concerns the building of a business or the story of an entrepreneur

Few sections are revelatory
Other pieces are entirely ordinary, such as stories on the global ambitions on Starbucks and Wal-Mart Stores and one on Time Warner. Some are downright bad, such as a piece from Fortune about hedge funds, which attempts to mystify rather than explain the hedge fund gods, only to admit at the end that there really is no mystery, just money.

Not one story concerns the building of a business or the story of an entrepreneur

Great stories
I've read all of the editions of this series, and they seem to get better every year. Andrew does a great job of picking out stories that are entertaining reads to anyone as well as great business journalism stories. I found myself going through the book first and picking out the stories that I thought interested me the most, but then we I went back to read the others that I'd skipped, I discovered that all of them captured my attention.

If you're in to reading great business stories that have been painstakingly reported, written and edited, this is what you need to buy.

Great; please continue series
This is a terrific book. Every article in it is well-written and interesting, unusual for an anthology as they almost always contain at least one or two flawed pieces. Not here. And what a range...from the usual suspects of Fortune, Wall Street Journal, etc. to the Detroit Free Press and even Mother Jones. The next volume for 2002 is also great. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Which came first, abominable writing or the computers on which that writing is wrought? Either way, say Patricia T. O'Conner and Stewart Kellerman in You Send Me, "much of what passes for writing in cyberspace is dreadful." Sending e-mail, joining chat rooms, and putting up Web sites is so easy that you might think the writing doesn't matter. Guess again. "When you write well, you connect," say the authors. "When you write badly, you don't." Some of You Send Me--lessons on grammar, punctuation, spelling, and confusing words--applies to all writing; the rest is tailored to online writing, particularly e-mailing. There's advice on writing subject lines, getting to the point, and getting the facts right. The authors recommend politeness and discretion, the use of the Shift key, and the inclusion of greetings and closings. Ask permission before sending attachments, they advise, "don't put anything in an office e-mail that you wouldn't want the whole office to see," "go easy on the Forward button," and "never hit Send in anger." And remember: "The less time you spend thinking about your message," they say, "the more time someone else has to spend reading it." --Jane Steinberg ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Useful Edition and Addition on Language
If you want your grammar and writing lessons sane, sober, serious, skip this book because the jokes, plays on words and plain old fun will drive you crazy.

But if you need light, useful advice about writing in cyberspace, or quick reminders about using numbers correctly, office etiquette, or brush-ups on grammar and writing, and have a laugh in the process, this book is for you. I highly recommend it.

O'Conner's books (Woe Is I, Words Fail Me, and now, You Send Me) remind me of an editor I work with who is a pun a minute. She can't stop herself and every conversation with her takes such twists and turns that the less articulate are left several sentences behind. If I didn't know that editor, I'd think that O'Conner and Kellerman had to have spent hours creating her more painful plays on words for some of their chapter and section titles:
Grammar a la Modem
Lurk Before You Leap
Go Configure
Clone Rangers
Myth Information
A Click and a Promise
Help for the Whomless

And on and on and on. I suspect it just spills out of them, fed by their obvious exuberance for their work.

But all of these little plays are wrapped around very helpful bits of logical suggestions and advice delivered in a conversational style. While ostensibly meant to deal with the horrific onslaught of wretched writing that shows up in
our e-mail, much of the book's advice can be applied to other writing. The team also reminds us of the need for accuracy in numbers and other facts, pointing out the difficulties so many people have with noticing what should be obvious exaggerations or faulty understanding of numbers.

O'Conner and her husband-coauthor divide this book into three sections:

The Virtual Mensch, which examines protocol issues--when to use e-mail, the need for subject lines, choice of e-mail names, keeping the reader in mind and more.

Alpha Mail, which focuses more closely on better writing (with such advice as divide long sentences into shorter ones, break the message into paragraphs); eliminating cliches, which includes a list of cliches followed by an authors' comment, e.g., acid test (Give it an F), diamond in the rough (cubic zirconium),
draw a blank (so fill it in), easier said than done (Then say it); the need for the writer to re-read an e-mail before sending it, and other topics.
Words of Passage, which takes the authors right back to their real issue,
language. Among other topics, they take us through easy lessons on it/its/it's/
and who/whom, subject-verb agreement and punctuation.

This book is a handy addition to the bookshelf of any editor or writer interested in how the language is or should be used. ... Read more

Book Description

"Ed Werz is one of the few people in this country who knows how to write results-oriented sales letters." -- Gerhard Gschwandtner, Publisher Personal Selling Power"I found it to be an extremely instructive, well-documented, and helpful book. It [is] an important new reference tool for professional copywriters and the busy business executive alike." -- Ray Roel, Editor Direct Marketing MagazineWith these 90 easy-to-use letters, you need never agonize over sales-letter writing again. Arranged by category, these model letters cover every business situation from direct-sell to customer service and novelty letters, each accompanied by invaluable marginal notes that will enable you to tailor them to your specific goals.Edward Werz, direct-mail expert, provides a bold new approach to sales-letter writing and a format so simple to use that you'll wonder how you ever managed without Letters That Sell.Whether you are selling a product, a service, or an idea, Letters That Sell will provide fresh insights to veteran letter writers and make the novice feel like a pro. This handy reference also includes:

• The four crucial elements every sales letter must have
• Attention-grabbing words
• Notes on writing style
• Closings that are sure to get results
• Transitions that work
• Maintaining credibility

Reviews (3)

Refute Book Bias
Book Bias wisely said.... "I must say that I think it was a waste of there money."(their.. one must use words correctly in good sales letters)

"Basically the book is just to vague and non-specific." (_too_ vague, again, correct use of words is important). OK, it isn't fully fair to pick on poor grammar usually, but sometimes the invitation is blatant.

The format of letter plus wide column for explanation or comments on each paragraph is pretty informative.

At one point in "How to Write Sales Letters That Sell" 2003 edition, Dayton Bird suggests that you should be able to write some kind of summarising or crystalizing comment about each paragraph of a letter.

Sometimes this comment is a simple summary, sometimes is is a part of the psychological basis of your sales script.

This is a very good way to evaluate letters by others, and to self analyse your own letters.

Useful sales letter cookbook.
It's best to read the description of the book before you buy it. I have written hundreds of successful sales letters over the years and find this book to be quite useful. The author includes many different sales letters for different purposes. There is no book on the planet that will write your letter for you. Sorry! But, this book provides some excellent examples you can use for a start. Many of the letters are two pages in length, but, of course, the length of the letter depends on the purpose of the letter. This is a good addition to anybody's library of how-to business books. It's certainly not a bible, but then, it doesn't claim to be.

You Pay for What You Get
I ordered this book for my company (a sales company). I must say that I think it was a waste of there money. This book gives one letter per occasion. Now this may sound like a pretty good deal, but not when the letter is only 10 lines long.

Basically the book is just to vague and non-specific. It's a start, but if you want to finish your letter, I hope you have backup.

Book Bias, IL ... Read more

Book Description

Writing at Work is for people who do or will write while on the job whether the writing be an interoffice memo, e-mail, a status report, a lab report, marketing materials, or a letter to a customer. The philosophy behind Writing at Work is that such writing needn't be stale and unoriginal but can instead be a sophisticated piece of work that positively reflects the competence of its composer to all who read it.Rather than dwell on picky, little "rules" that you must adhere to when writing, Writing at Work focuses on the real rules of grammar and aspects of style that you really need to know in order to write with confidence.Using examples realistically drawn from work settings, Writing at Work presents each topic in a manner that is at once accessible and inviting. Spread throughout the text are exercises that provide you with ample opportunity to write, revise, and correct the kinds of written tasks typically encountered at work. You can immediately gauge your progress by checking your work against the answers listed at the end of each chapter. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Writing at Work works!
In the course of twenty-five chapters, Smith and Bernhardt write in a lively manner about the elementary rules (and "non-rules") of grammar, punctuation, sentence structure up through discussions on jargon, technical language, and then on to the "tones" of writing, parallel structure, and playful and elegant prose. I really enjoyed reading this book because I was able to review those elementary rules (without too much pain) as well as get some validation for stylistic choices I've made in my own writing. So much of how a person writes -- whether it's "good" writing or not -- is rather semi-conscious. "Writing at Work" makes the reader conscious about what they're doing in their writing as well as makes a strong case for putting elegant, persuasive writing back into technical and business communications.

And I only had to re-write the last paragraph a few times.... ... Read more

Book Description

Since I became a reporter 27 years ago, I've learned from hundreds of reporters, editors, writers, coaches and teachers, yet I continue to seek ways to improve every day.Reporting and Writing: Basics for the 21st Century is a record of my education and a practical guide to the skills, knowledge and attitudes of the professional journalist of today and tomorrow. I hope readers, whether starting or continuing their own quest, will find it a useful and inspiring companion on the lifelong journey of discovery that every good journalist takes. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Sticking with the Basics
Scanlan's book really helps students with little or no journalism experience build a foundation for news writing. It is the kind of text that students can keep and refer to throughout their collegiate and professional careers. It has sound exercises for students and good tips for teachers and writing coaches. It is an excellent book for introductory news writing classes.

Alert-Things Aren't What They Appear To Be
NOTE: This is not the actual textbook. It is the workbook that accompanies the textbook.If I had known that before, I wouldn't have bought it.This book is pretty useless on its own. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

What does a "Technical Writer" do?
As the author of one of the twenty-three narratives that appear in this book, I would like to explain what I think its purpose, its role, might be. Not many people outside the industry know what a technical writer is or what he or she does for a living. This book explains that and more. It illustrates, using cleverly disguised real-world examples, what work -- and life -- is like for a technical writer. The stories are excellent depictions of life in the field, and I can honestly recommend this book to anyone who might want to know about or might want to become a technical writer. This text is an excellent source for students.

Experience Being a Technical Communicator
The book " Writing a Professional Life," by Gerald L. Savage and Dale L. Sullivan, attempts to define technical communication with a narrative structure to students and people with an interest in becoming technical communicators. With a collection of narrative stories, the book is very helpful representing and teaching the field of technical communication through experience. The authors of the narrative stories carry similar characteristics to that of the audience, as well as reflect the ideas and mindset of the audience. In addition, the writing reflects the authors' personalities. The book's organization of different sections parallels and correlates to the field of technical communication. By addressing the following concepts:

· Technical problems (e.g., software)
· Workplace concerns
· Off the job interferences/life issues
· Interpersonal skills
· Communication between different fields/professions
(e.g., communication with people who have different
knowledge base)
· Defining technical communication

Review
This is a collection of 23 essays divided into three sections: "Initiation Stories," "The Process," and "Life On and Off the Job." Each section contains six to nine essays written by technical communicators at various stages in their careers. These vignettes touch on ethics, organizational dynamics, content, tools, business communications, and communication issues among others. This text will prove most useful to the prospective technical communicator who may not have any previous experience or concept of what the job entails. This text might also prove useful to novice technical communicators as the stories offer advice through humor, moralistic tales, 'horror' stories with happy endings, and explicit and implicit advice. Each selection is preceded by a brief biography to give a more human focus to the stories. While the text might prove useful and comforting for new or prospective technical communicators, readers who have more experience with technical communication might not find the text as useful. This text is part of the Allyn & Bacon Series in Technical Communication, and as such is probably most appealing to students and educators involved in academic programs focused on technical writing rather than the practicing technical writers in industry.

Everything you've ever wanted to know about the TC Field
This book defines what technical communicators do on the job.
This book will appeal to teachers, possible future technical writers, and generally anyone interested in technical communication. The realistic narratives offer valuable insight into defining technical communication employment from a technical communicator's point-of-view. As beginners in the field of TC, the text offers various definitions of TC and provides examples of common problems encountered in the field. The three sections of the book are divided into portions depending on work experience. This is helpful because comparisons are available regarding TC beginners and seasoned veterans along with those in between. Problems covered in the text include: Power struggles between co-workers, technology inadequacies, struggles for TC job definitions and authority within the organization, adapting to the organizational culture, coping with the perils of consulting vs. salaried positions, positive and negative collaboration, finding a voice and respectability within a corporation, and gaining recognition in said corporation.
Overall an excellent read answering many questions posed by beginning technical communicators.

TTU Class in Foundations of Technical Communications Review
The rating for this book agreed upon by our collaborative review team from the Texas Tech University class of Foundations in Technical Communication was 4 stars.

The Savage and Sullivan book served a basic purpose of introducing Technical Communicators to the field of TC and to some of the opportunities and problems encountered by average technical communication positions. It was a personal look into the life of TC people, providing an awareness of some of the issues that a TCer may encounter and some approaches to solving the problems if they arise.

The intended audience appeared to be TC students who have never had on-the-job experience or who are trying to decide whether or not to do TC, as well as those already in TC who might gain from having insight into how other TCers operate. The book can be appreciated most by those already working in the field. They will be able to relate to the story real time...It's kind of a "this is what you can expect" book...not a typical text book.

The book isn't designed to teach TC, but give a flavor of the TC life. There were no obvious typos and the language from the individual writers did not prove to be a stumbling block. It kept moving well. The book is nontechnical, even popular in style, with articles well written (understandable) and well organized (related to the section theme). ... Read more

Book Description

In an increasingly diverse workplace, in an increasingly competitive global environment, and in more technically complex work spaces, writing has become an essential tool for creating personal and organizational communication strategies.It is the most generative, creative part of doing business, and the key to attaining business success in all fields. ... Read more

Book Description

This book is about recognizing that words are living beings.Because we are human we know that we should care about living beings.Most of the time we do not.We let them starve through neglect.We step over them when we see them on the street trying to attract our attention.We pull the curtains so we don't have to look at them.We even lock the doors on them if we feel they threaten us. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Helpful and readable
Business Writing Makeovers should be useful to business people, teachers of writing, and anyone who wants to write better. It is also fun to read: I enjoyed the letters in which a company official complains to a supplier that the huge ice sculpture ordered for a sales conference had been set up so it melted onto an electrical unit, causing a short circuit that ruined the conference's most important presentation. Roddick's sample letters and emails show ways to make your writing more precise, concise, correct, and graceful. They will help you choose the right tone to adopt in a letter, the right details to include, and the right structure to convey information and ideas. I found good suggestions here for writing with greater tact, better grammar, and stronger impact. Roddick's own writing is elegant and clear--an excellent example for her readers.

Writing Right
Business Writing Makeovers by Hawley Roddick is a tremendously useful book. It is full of excellent information and advice that would benefit both business and non-business writers. Roddick's use of before and after letters, memos, reports, etc. is a practical and effective way to make important points. The concise checklists that follow are valuable aids. And joy of joys, the examples of writing deal with varied subjects and issues that are interesting, informative, and entertaining to read about! I highly recommend Business Writing Makeovers to anyone who wants to be the best communicator he or she can be.

Everybody's business
The book covers so many occasions for communication, in and out of what is strictly business, that it is a useful guide to writing in general. It warns of pitfalls and recommends ways around them, but what I found most engaging were the transformations from Original to Makeover, the details and stories coming into focus: the "demotion" story, for instance, or the "retirement" details. Besides its practical purposes, the book discovers the inner workings of many business activities, and it is indeed enlivened by the novelist's invention. ... Read more

Book Description

Nationally syndicated cartoonist John Caldwell solves the problem of how to make your fax stand out in a sea of unfurlingpaper with over 100 reusable, attention-getting cover sheets for every kind of business correspondence. Each page is certifiably photocopiable and faxable; perforations on the left margin make for clean removal. John Caldwell's daily and Sunday panels are distributed by King Features Syndicate. He is also the author of Faxable Greeting Cards, The Book of Ultimates and Caldwell. 180,000 copies in print. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Re publish please....
I have worn out my copy of this text.I sure wish it would be published again.Anyone know of the prospects of it coming into print again?Please email me with the facts.I cannot FAX without this book!

WOW
Everyone in the office wants to borrow it for their faxes! ... Read more

Book Description

The indispensable resource that has helped the writers and editors of The Wall Street Journal earn a reputation for the most authoritative business writing anywhere -- now fully expanded and revised for the twenty-first century

In the field of business, the words you use -- and how you use them -- can either bolster your credibility or undermine your intelligence. For anyone who is faced with the task of writing a memo, report, proposal, press release or even an e-mail, The Wall Street Journal Essential Guide to Business Style and Usage is an invaluable one-stop resource.

Originally intended exclusively for use by the paper's staff, the book is organized in a user-friendly A to Z format, with appropriate cross-referencing, that helps you solve almost any question of spelling, grammar, punctuation or word definition. For those seeking a competitive edge for succeeding in the world of business, The Wall Street Journal Essential Guide to Business Style and Usage is the definitive reference to keep close to your desk -- the last word for everyone who works with words. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

More a basic dictionary than a guide to style and usage
I was somewhat surprised that any publisher would consider this text a guide. Basically, it is formatted like a dictionary with various business-related vocabulary listings and their definitions. Usage applies to the spelling and capitalization of the listings. My expectations were that this book was similar to a Chicago Manual of Style within a business writing context that includes recently created words germane to the business world. Unfortunately, it isn't useful in this regard. For example, if you want to find out how to use colloquial business language such as "leverageable", you probably won't have much luck with this text as such words appear to be absent.

...

Lastly, the organization leaves something to be desired as the usage topics such as Abbreviations are mixed in with the vocabulary entries, which essentially is the entire book. I really see very little value in acquiring this book...

Perfectly fine for what it is.
As its title says, this book is The Wall Street Journal's *style* guide and, to a lesser extent, a usage guide. A style guide is something specific to the book-magazine-newspaper publishing world: a volume that tells the writers and editors for a given publisher how they should handle certain recurring situations. ("Style" in this context refers to the mechanics of prose composition, not to a writer's individuality of expression.) Any style guide's main purposes are to promote consistency and to save the time that would otherwise be wasted in continually rethinking issues that the house has already decided. Whether the guide also promotes "good usage" in the sense of Strunk & White or Fowler is almost irrelevant. A style guide is thus a series of more or less arbitrary decrees from the boss -- don't use a serial comma, don't put a comma before "Inc.," capitalize "The" in "The Wall Street Journal," etc. It's not the job of the typical style guide to explain why one usage is preferred over another or to give its user choices; rather, its job is to set forth the rules followed by a given publisher.

The Wall Street Journal Guide to Business Style and Usage is exactly what its title suggests and a bit more. It tells you how The Wall Street Journal has answered the questions that, experience has shown, arise when writing about business. It doesn't debate the wisdom of hyphenating fractions, for example, but simply tells you, "This is how we do it at WSJ."

In addition, it contains helpful definitions of business terms and (much less frequently) of grammatical terms. But, if you want a business dictionary or grammar book, then this should not be your first choice. You should buy this book if you write, or edit writing, about business, and you want to know how the world's foremost business publication handles the same problems you face.

Useful, But Not a First Choice
If you want to know the meaning of derivative claims, leveraged buyout, offshore buying units or Brady bonds, this is the book for you.

If you need to know the definition or usage of the words Amish, tort, girl or the location of Exxon, then, by all means buy this book.

But I don't know why anyone would want to spend $30 (the standard price) for this book, put together by the Wall Street Journal's Paul R. Martin, because it is uneven, moving from the obvious (the word girl, for example), offering up tidbits of definitions of rather well-known words (the Amish) and the obscure (offshore buying units.) It is a book of multiple purposes or no clear purpose at all to the public.

Internal stylebooks sometimes suffer from a fuzziness growing out of dual purposes, meant to fix the same errors that crop up regularly, to define the words most troublesome for that publication, to provide consistency in usage and presentation. Sometimes they are little more than a compilation of the memos issued by a copy desk or news editor, reminding people about the correct names of companies or the policies on datelines, or to remind editors on acceptable headline practices.

Other times, stylebooks grow out of a sense of mission to guard the language from silliness and doublespeak while allowing the language to grow, as English does.

What I didn't find in this book was the Journal's obvious ability to teach, as demonstrated in some other WSJ guides. While a stylebook doesn't have to take education as a mission, once it goes public, the educational component would seem to be essential.

Why else would anyone not worried about whether to capitalize executive director buy this book? As an internal publication, the stylebook is useful. It sets standards and clearly tackles problem words, I'm sure fed by repeated misuses of certain words or facts by its own staff. I'd be willing to bet that the items on defuse/diffuse, or bizarre/bazaar, for example, are included because someone(s) on the staff has demonstrated confusion on their proper usage.

This is no knock on the obvious effort that went into putting this book together. Virtually every editor I know flees in terror at the prospect of having to produce a stylebook for the company. But once it went public, it needed some more thought. I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes to collect style and language manuals, or people who need more sources of information on certain business terms. But I wouldn't rush out to buy this as a first choice on either language or business. ... Read more

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