Whether you're a student struggling through Composition 101 or a professional writer on a quest for perfection, The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law is always ready to fill the role of trusted advisor to your creative genius. Revised and updated in 2000, this version contains a 40-page section on media law, guides for punctuation and bibliographies, and specialized glossaries for business and sports writing, all in addition to its 280-page generalized stylebook.

Within each section, entries are alphabetized, and searching for an answer is a fairly simple process. Tricky words--those that can be hyphenated (know-how) or not (jukebox), homonyms, nonstandard spellings (mo-ped)--are given their own short entries. Larger categories, such as religions, military titles, the Internet, and datelines, have multiple pages devoted to their explanations, but detail and clarity are brought nicely together in each listing. Many entries concern brand names and trademarks--never again will you question whetherpingpong or Ping-Pong should be used in the flier for your table-tennis tournament.

While a few sections of this book--the ones concerning media law, photo captions, filing the wire, and proofreading marks--will most likely be used by professional and student journalists and editors, the majority of this book is an excellent tool for anyone who ever has to write for the public. Whether it's a newsletter for your badminton league, a training manual for your employees, or a press release detailing your company's quarterly earnings, this stylebook will help you turn out well-written copy that gains the approval of every English teacher you've ever had. --Jill Lightner

Customer Rating:
Summary: Journalism Class
Comment: Nice book for a journalism class. It got me through the course alive : )

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Customer Rating:
Summary: oops! wrong edition
Comment: Perhaps my mistake, but I wanted at least a 2003 edition, not the 2001 one I already own. The subcontractor told me I can return the one I got, but I presume it will cost me more in shipping than a copy would cost me here in town.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: AP Stylebook Review
Comment: The 2008 AP Stylebook is a useful guide to any potential journalist. It is necessary to know the ins and outs of writing and nothing articulates it better than this book.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Helpful
Comment: This was quite helpful while taking a journalism course. It takes a few minutes to understand the layout of the book to lookup things, but once you get it, it's easy.

I think this book helped raise me a letter grade in my course. Anyone taking a journalism course with a strict professor or planning on entering journalism should get a copy. My textbook had a reference in it, but it was quite small. With the low cost of this book, you can't go wrong.

If you're taking the course without an intent to go into journalism, check to see if you can use copies from the department first.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: The supreme authority!
Comment: I have used the AP Stylebook for over 5 years. The entries are easy to find and easy to understand. Entries are brief and to the point. Are the seasons capitalized? How about north, south, east and west? Where do you place adverbs - before or after the verb, or someplace else? It's Web site - two words and the first one is capitalized. Internet is capitalized because it's a proper noun.

This book has the definitive answers. I don't work for a newspaper anymore, but, as a freelance writer, I miss this book more and more everyday. I must get my own. You will never be sorry that you bought this book. It will help you no matter what kind of writing you do.

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