Product Description
Paperback available ($14.95) at www.createspace.com/3404635/
"The Craft of Corporate Journalism is one of the best books from the genre to be seen in some time, a compact but definitive text with advice for both neophytes and iron-bottomed public relations 'flaks.' Staying loose and mildly iconoclastic, Lionel Fisher guides his readers through the minefields of jargon and cliché, teaches them to avoid pedantry and stultifying prose, and stimulates the use of techniques applicable to creative writing. Good stuff, this, from the hip, but straight-shooting all the way through. - Paul Pintarich, PAGES columnist, The Oregonian
"The Craft of Corporate Journalism covers just the kind of subjects that effective business communicators need to master. Most importantly, it offers ways around the traps that so often turn corporate writing into the kind of plodding, predictable prose that marches straight into the trash. Listen to Fisher. He'll help you get your words into your readers' heads, not their round files. - Jack Hart, Managing Editor, The Oregonian
This dynamic guide for business journalists, corporate communicators, and organizational writers and editors is an indispensable reference manual that will be used again and again by both novice and seasoned writers and editors in their daily business of creating effective corporate and business communications. In fresh, authoritative style, Fisher provides down-to-earth instruction and advice based on insights gained from 45 years of hands-on experience as a corporate communications manager, newspaper correspondent, columnist, advertising/PR creative director-copy chief, and freelance writer specializing in business communications. He is also the author of three non-fiction books in the self-help genre.
The seminal message Fisher conveys is that business-related magazines, newsletters, ezines, and other organizational publications need not be dull, dry, or merely informational. Rather, corporate journalists must earn and sustain the interest of their readers, which can only be done with powerful writing. His crisp counsel is packed with riveting examples of journalistic and business prose to illustrate critical points as he teaches organizational communicators how to write.
"Service journalists, that's how an editor-in-chief described us to a roomful of communicators," notes Fisher. "We are purveyors of ideas, of information and inspiration through writing intended to produce a positive response. Call what we do, then, action journalism. A huge difference separates our kind of writing from the standard journalist's."
"They report and analyze. We report and advocate. They help sell newspapers and magazines. We achieve organizational goals by influencing action. We create and enhance employee, shareholder, and customer confidence. We build faith in corporate leadership and pride in its products, heighten employee morale, foster belief in the company's intrinsic worth and trust in its mission."
Lionel Fisher's energetic, engaging style instructs on the essentials of corporate writing, including how to craft powerful leads; compose and edit articles with the proper structure, pace, and flow; nurture creativity; dissolve writer's block and interview effectively. But organizational communicators must do more than just produce outstanding feature and news stories. They are also responsible for organizing their material into attractive, seductive packages. They must target and involve readers; present appetizing arrays of news and feature stories; define and tailor their publications; set stylistic guidelines; motivate correspondents; and much more.
"When in doubt," the author quotes Raymond Chandler, "have two guys come through the door with guns." Potent advice for authors of potboilers," notes Fisher, "but corporate and organizational communicators need a bit more firepower." The Craft of Corporate Journalism provides it.
"The Craft of Corporate Journalism is one of the best books from the genre to be seen in some time, a compact but definitive text with advice for both neophytes and iron-bottomed public relations 'flaks.' Staying loose and mildly iconoclastic, Lionel Fisher guides his readers through the minefields of jargon and cliché, teaches them to avoid pedantry and stultifying prose, and stimulates the use of techniques applicable to creative writing. Good stuff, this, from the hip, but straight-shooting all the way through. - Paul Pintarich, PAGES columnist, The Oregonian
"The Craft of Corporate Journalism covers just the kind of subjects that effective business communicators need to master. Most importantly, it offers ways around the traps that so often turn corporate writing into the kind of plodding, predictable prose that marches straight into the trash. Listen to Fisher. He'll help you get your words into your readers' heads, not their round files. - Jack Hart, Managing Editor, The Oregonian
This dynamic guide for business journalists, corporate communicators, and organizational writers and editors is an indispensable reference manual that will be used again and again by both novice and seasoned writers and editors in their daily business of creating effective corporate and business communications. In fresh, authoritative style, Fisher provides down-to-earth instruction and advice based on insights gained from 45 years of hands-on experience as a corporate communications manager, newspaper correspondent, columnist, advertising/PR creative director-copy chief, and freelance writer specializing in business communications. He is also the author of three non-fiction books in the self-help genre.
The seminal message Fisher conveys is that business-related magazines, newsletters, ezines, and other organizational publications need not be dull, dry, or merely informational. Rather, corporate journalists must earn and sustain the interest of their readers, which can only be done with powerful writing. His crisp counsel is packed with riveting examples of journalistic and business prose to illustrate critical points as he teaches organizational communicators how to write.
"Service journalists, that's how an editor-in-chief described us to a roomful of communicators," notes Fisher. "We are purveyors of ideas, of information and inspiration through writing intended to produce a positive response. Call what we do, then, action journalism. A huge difference separates our kind of writing from the standard journalist's."
"They report and analyze. We report and advocate. They help sell newspapers and magazines. We achieve organizational goals by influencing action. We create and enhance employee, shareholder, and customer confidence. We build faith in corporate leadership and pride in its products, heighten employee morale, foster belief in the company's intrinsic worth and trust in its mission."
Lionel Fisher's energetic, engaging style instructs on the essentials of corporate writing, including how to craft powerful leads; compose and edit articles with the proper structure, pace, and flow; nurture creativity; dissolve writer's block and interview effectively. But organizational communicators must do more than just produce outstanding feature and news stories. They are also responsible for organizing their material into attractive, seductive packages. They must target and involve readers; present appetizing arrays of news and feature stories; define and tailor their publications; set stylistic guidelines; motivate correspondents; and much more.
"When in doubt," the author quotes Raymond Chandler, "have two guys come through the door with guns." Potent advice for authors of potboilers," notes Fisher, "but corporate and organizational communicators need a bit more firepower." The Craft of Corporate Journalism provides it.
About the Author
A former corporate communicator, journalist, columnist, advertising creative director-copy chief, and freelance writer specializing in business-organizational communications, Lionel Fisher is the author of three non-fiction books in the self-help genre.
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