Books writers and editors need

Freelance writing and editing has low start-up costs. Assuming you have a home and phone, all you need is a computer and these books:

• The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law—even if you’re not writing or editing for the media, many public relations documents use this style
• The Chicago Manual of Style-–the industry Bible
• The Economist Style Guide—less of a necessity than the other books (no client has ever asked me to write in The Economist’s style, but a good resource nevertheless)
• The United States Government Printing Office Style Manual—a must if you edit for the government or government contractors
• Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications—the main style guide for many computer manuals
• The Elements of Style—less of a guide than the others, writers and editors should read this book annually to correct bad habits and reinforce good ones

One Comment

PJ Muller  on January 19th, 2008

Thanks for the tips, Zach. Enjoyed the reviews, too. You’re sharp!

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