Customer Reviews

The Associated Press Stylebook

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this book because I had a client that used the AP Style in their marketing communication and all outgoing documentation had to be reviewed using the AP Style. Being a technical writer, I had not used the AP Style before. Now I have a better understanding of why words are used the way they are in a newspaper. However, about 20% of the AP Style does not apply to technical writing.

This was quite helpful while taking a journalism course. It takes a few minutes to understand the layout of the book to lookup things, but once you get it, it's easy.

I think this book helped raise me a letter grade in my course. Anyone taking a journalism course with a strict professor or planning on entering journalism should get a copy. My textbook had a reference in it, but it was quite small. With the low cost of this book, you can't go wrong.

If you're taking the course without an intent to go into journalism, check to see if you can use copies from the department first.

While this book is not interesting, it is very helpful in learning the AP style for writing. It has helped me alot in my classes. I definitly recommend this book for any writer who plans on writing in the AP stlye. Although it isn't the newest edition, this book is great for the price because it has all the information you need to know.

My last copy of this was from 99 so I really needed an updated version and it's a very handy reference used in my writing on a daily basis.

Several professional writers for Demand Studios recommended this as a must for all writers. The second "must have" is Strunk. Excellent resource material.

A must have for all print designers. Great reference material for graphic and web designers.

If you aspire to have any sort of career in print or online journalism, you should not need a review to tell you that you need this book. Duh.

However, I am going to give this book only four stars because AP needs to stop being losers and end the silliness of capitalizing the word "Internet" or writing "website" as "Web site." It's dumb.

If you need a guide for how to write to journalistic standards, this is definitely one place to go. The version I read, while very informative, was published before the widespread acceptance of the thing we now call the Internet, and as such, it's computer technology section may seem a bit dated.

The only thing that bugged me was that they didn't use the spelling "lede" for the introductory statements of a news story, and as a former newspaper editor, this threw me for a loop when I saw it spelled "lead." Every time I saw it, my reading flow just slowed down, as if lead (that is plumbum) were handed to me, instead of a lede.

Other than my hangups with using jargon where appropriate, this book should be used as a standard with respect to editing wording. However, if you're a writer of fiction, this book should be used more as a guideline, and not as a hard-and-fast styleguide. I mean, you wouldn't necessarily be abbreviating state names in your writing, now, would you?

For any person taking a journalism class or on any staff, this is your best friend.

I got my copy in early November 2006 and discovered pages 181 - 228 are missing. No sign that they were cut out or torn out, so it must have been a binding error.

I am missing everything between "one-sided" and "Simoniz" :-)

I have used the AP Stylebook for 30 years and love it, but be careful if you order the 2004 edition.