Zach Everson

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