The Business Writer's Handbook - Softcover

Alred, Gerald J.; Brusaw, Charles T.; Oliu, Walter E.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312477090 ISBN 13: 9780312477097

Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008

Synopsis

More than just a guide, The Business Writer€™s Handbook places writing in a real-world context with quick and easy access to hundreds of business writing topics and scores of sample documents. Its dedicated author team €” with decades of combined academic and professional experience €” has created a comprehensive reference tool for students and professionals alike, with extensive coverage of grammar, usage, and style. Always anticipating the needs of today€™s business writers, the ninth edition includes expanded coverage of audience and context, and reflects the impact that e-mail and technology have had on workplace communication. An integrated companion Web site works together with the text to offer additional resources with the same clarity of instruction.

About this title

Review:

This fifth edition of The Business Writer's Handbook consists of nearly 700 spiral-bound pages written with both business students and professionals in mind. (It is also available in a paper-bound version, but how nice to be able to lay the book flat on one's desk for ease of reference.) "Our focus," say the editors, "is on helping professionally oriented writers develop effective skills and strategies for communicating in a rapidly changing environment," and that they do. The entries, arranged alphabetically, are straightforward and to the point. Sandwiched between items addressing issues of English grammar and word usage are guides to writing résumés, resignation letters, and everything in between (e.g., abstracts, annual reports, e-mail, executive summaries, form letters, feasibility studies, memos, mission statements, proposals, and trade journal articles). Throughout the book, the point is made that good writing has a marked effect on business communications--a short, personal collection letter, for instance, "will usually motivate a customer to pay a bill faster than will a form letter." Since the book is written for the business professional, many of the usage and grammar issues are illustrated with business-related examples, but don't think that that means the book isn't any fun. Consider the first sentence in an entry for gobbledygook: "Gobbledygook is writing that suffers from an overdose of traits guaranteed to make it stuffy, pretentious, and wordy." --Jane Steinberg

About the Author:

Gerald J. Alred is Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, where he teaches courses in the Graduate Professional Writing Program. He is author of numerous scholarly articles and several standard bibliographies on business and technical communication. He is Associate Editor of the Journal of Business Communication and a recipient of the prestigious Jay R. Gould Award for "profound scholarly and textbook contributions to the teaching of business and technical writing."

Charles T. Brusaw was a faculty member at NCR Corporation’s Management College, where he developed and taught courses in professional writing, editing, and presentation skills for the corporation worldwide. Previously, he worked in advertising and public relations, and he has been a communications consultant, an invited speaker at academic conferences, and a teacher of business writing at Sinclair Community College.

Walter E. Oliu served as Chief of the Publishing Services Branch at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, where he managed the agency’s printing, graphics, editing, and publishing programs. He also developed the public-access standards for and managed daily operations of the agency’s public Web site. He has taught at Miami University of Ohio, Slippery Rock State University, and Montgomery College and is currently an adjunct faculty member at George Mason University.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0312477090
• ISBN 13: 9780312477097
• Binding: Spiral-bound
• Number of pages: 620