Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content that Works (Interactive Technologies) (Interactive Technologies) (Paperback)

by Janice (Ginny) Redish (Author)
Key Phrases: writing meaningful links, hearing clerk, buyer protection, Breaking Up Your Text, Writing Information, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
the book meets a major, previously unmet need of a very large audience: almost everyone who works on a web site. As Ginny points out, good writing is a critical success factor for every web site, and the really good book about how to write for the web just doesn't exist. Personally, I've been waiting for it for years, because I didn't want to write it myself."
--Steve Krug, author of Dont Make Me Think! Redish has done her homework and created a thorough overview of the issues in writing for the Web. Ironically, I must recommend that you read her every word so that you can find out why your customers won't read very many words on your website -- and what to do about it --Jakob Nielsen, Principal, Nielsen Norman Group

Review
"Redish has done her homework and created a thorough overview of the issues in writing for the Web. Ironically, I must recommend that you read her every word so that you can find out why your customers won't read very many words on your website -- and what to do about it."

-- Jakob Nielsen, Principal, Nielsen Norman Group

"There are at least twelve billion web pages out there. Twelve billion voices talking, but saying mostly nothing. If just 1% of those pages followed Ginny's practical, clear advice, the world would be a better place. Fortunately, you can follow her advice for 100% of your own site's pages, so pick up a copy of Letting Go of the Words and start communicating effectively today."

--Lou Rosenfeld, co-author, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann; 1 edition (June 11, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0123694868
• ISBN-13: 978-0123694867
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,694 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #5 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Graphic Design > Website Architecture & Usability
  #18 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Operating Systems
  #27 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Web Development > Programming

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent resource for all online communication, September 12, 2007

By	Chris F. Willis "Media1der" (West Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

My company is a consultancy that creates interactive learning programs for large corporations. I am especially interested in blending the best practices of instructional design/performance support, technical communication, and web site design. For the latter, this book is an indispensible resource!

I shared the book with our Content Director, who, at first, was too busy to really pay any attention to it. Once he cracked the cover, he immediately wrote me back and raved! The book compiles so many of the basic concepts that he and I desire our entire writing team to incorporate into their projects.

We purchased multiple copies and assigned one chapter to each of our team to present to the team as a whole. These weekly presentations have been refresher for some, but new material for others, and now we are finally all level-set on basic writing/presentation concepts for online delivery. Hooray!

Only negative feedback I can give is that I did hear a bit of grumbling that the author broke her own rules in a couple places - using a few headings that were too long, for example, when there is a chapter specifically on writing good headings. I should probably have docked the rating a bit for that stuff, but overall we got so much good from this little book that I feel I must give it full praise!

45 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for info sites, less useful for marketing content, October 3, 2007

By	Janice King "Technical Copywriter and Copywri... (www.writinghightech.com) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Everyone who writes web content will benefit from reading this book with its clear guidelines and extensive examples. The book is well organized and its format makes it easy to find specific ideas.

However, this book will be most useful for writers working on information sites. The book presents only limited discussion and examples for e-commerce sites and does not address important issues for those sites, such as guiding customers to a sale or writing for search engine optimization.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the best book on writing for the web, October 23, 2007

By	nolafilm (new orleans, la) - See all my reviews

i've read several books and countless articles on how to write well for the web. Ginny Redish nails it perfectly. This is hands-down the best book on writing for the web out there. The book is beautifully laid-out, with easy to grasp, common sense advice - all backed up by solid research data and straightforward examples.

If you're a fan of usability, good user-centered design, and easy-to-read helpful books, and you'd like to improve your site's performance with better writing, definitely get this book. I'm already reworking the content on my sites with many of Ginny's suggestions, and I have no doubt my readers will be happy.