Customer Reviews

The Internet Writer's Handbook

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
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This is an AWESOME book! Very well organized. It can be read word-for-word cover-to-cover OR reviewed quickly for the major points! The information is very accessible because of the presentation: lots of bulleted lists, short paragraphs, and special tips. Also, excellent examples (of both stellar and regretable writing) are given throughout the book. This book is a success due to the excellent oranization and presentation, AND the broad scope of information offered (e.g., three chapters on different aspects of writing for the Web, a chapter on editing Web sites, chapters on Web page design and navigation, and more)!

As a novice in the subject of writing for the Web, I've found this an excellent "How to" book. I'm an editor of trade books and other publications, but am learning about writing for the Web. So far, this has been the most helpful book because of the accessibility of the information (not buried in long, narrative chapters).

Another recommendation: I recommend "Writing for New Media" (1998). In "Writing for New Media," authors Bonime and Pohlmann discuss writing for interactive media, which includes interactive thinking, interactive writing (instead of linear writing), and aspects of interactive storytelling.

I've read many books regarding web design and writing for online media. This book combines some knowledge you'd get from The Chicago Manual of Style, with some of the web info you'd get from The Yale Web Style Guide. Great mix of both subjects, in a a format that makes for easy reading. You need this book if you're web mastering and writing the content for your site.

The: Web Page Design, Web Page Elements and Navigation sections are *outdated*. This book was created in 1999 and there has been many advancements and corrections in this field.

The: Web Page Style, Editing and Web Page Writing Techniques sections could be great for beginner writers but for those who thought they would get a whole bunch of nuggets about writing for the web, will be sadly disappointed. At minimum, half a handful of nuggets can be gotten while sifting through the outdated and redundant information.

The: Types of Web Writing section was probably *most useful* to me and I wasn't really wanting information about that in the first place.

The book is also hard-to-read, even though it attempts at making it easy-to-read. Everything is sort of "clumped" together with too many icons, too much in the legend and not enough "white space" to follow the information coherently.

In 1999, I could see this book being a major hit... combining web page design and writing skills but the heavy price tag of the book today isn't merited.

If you get it, skip the stuff about web design. Better yet, pick up a copy at your local library to see what I'm talking about and then make your decision from there.

In my opinion, this isn't a book to keep in your private library collection!

The Internet Writer's Handbook is just that--a handbook. As such, it's not something you'll be reading or spending much time with. But that's a good thing, because this rather expensive book is very cheaply made and violates every rule of page layout its author attempts to teach. Pages are so busy and painful to look at that I'm rarely tempted to pick it up. The information is sound but basic. Much of it is typical freshman comp handbook stuff in Web-style disguise. The high price of this book makes even its good points sting a little. Bottom line: If I could have seen The Internet Writer's Handbook before I bought it, I wouldn't have considered it--especially at [the price] plus shipping.