The Business Writer's Handbook

Twelfth Edition

Publication Date: October 05, 2018

Spiral-Bound ISBN: 9781319058494

Pages: 640

Business Writing from A to Z

From abstracts to online professional profiles, from blogs and forums the e-mail and formal reports, The Business Writer’s Handbook uses smart, accessible language to spotlight and clarify business writing today. Hundreds of topic entries, 90+ sample documents,...

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ISBN: 9781319058494
The Business Writer's Handbook

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Abbreviations
Abstracts
Abstract / Concrete Words
Acceptances/Refusals (for Employment)
Acknowledgments
Acronyms and Initialisms
Adapting to New Technologies
Adjectives
Adjustment Messages
Adverbs
Affectation
Agreement
Allusions
Ambiguity
Antonyms
Ampersands
Apostrophes
Appendixes
Application Cover Letters
Appositives
Articles
Audience
Awkwardness
Biased Language
Bibliographies
Blogs and Forums
Brainstorming
Brainstorming
Brackets
Brochures
Buzzwords
Capitalization
Case
Cause-and-Effect
Chronological
Clarity
Clauses
Clichés
Coherence
Collaborative Writing
Colons
Comma Splice
Commas
Comparison
Comparison
Complaints
Complements
Conciseness
Compound Words
Conclusions
Conjunctions
Connotation / Denotation
Content Management
Context
Contractions
Contractions
Copyrights, Patents, and Trademarks
Correspondence
Cover Messages (or Transmittals)
Dangling Modifiers
Dashes
Dates
Defining Terms
Definition
Description
Description
Direct Address
Division-and-Classification
Document Management
Documenting Sources
Double Negatives
Drawings
Ellipses
E-mail
Emphasis
English as a Second Language
English, Varieties of
Environmental Impact Statements
Ethics in Writing
Euphemisms
Exclamation Marks
Executive Summaries
Expletives
Expletives
Exposition
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
Feasibility Reports
Figures of Speech
Flowcharts
Foreign Words in English
Formal Reports
Forms
Forms
Functional Shift
Functional Shift
Garbled Sentences
Gender
General and Specific
Global Communication
Global Graphics
Glossaries
Gobbledygook
Grant Proposals
Grammar
Graphs
Headers and Footers
Headings
Hyphens
Idioms
Indexing
Incident Reports
Infographics
Inquiries and Responses
Instant Messaging and Live Chat
Instructions
Intensifiers
International Correspondence
Interjections
Interviewing for Information
Interviewing for a Job
Introductions
Investigative Reports
Italics
Job Descriptions
Jargon
Job Search
Laboratory Reports
Layout and Design
Letters
Listening
Lists
Literature Reviews
Literature Reviews
Logic Errors
Manuals
Malapropisms
Maps
Mathematical Equations
Mathematical Equations
Meetings
Memos
Methods of Development
Minutes of Meetings
Modifiers
Mixed Constructions
Mood
Narration
Newsletter Articles
Newsletters
Nominalizations
Note-Taking
Nouns
Number (Grammar)
Numbers
Objects
Online Professional Profile
Order-of-Importance
Organization
Organizational Charts
Outlining
Pace
Paragraphs
Parallel Structure
Paraphrasing
Parentheses
Parts of Speech
Periods
Person
Photographs
Persuasion
Phrases
Plagiarism
Plain Language
Point of View
Positive Writing
Possessive Case
Preparation
Prefixes
Prepositions
Presentations
Process Explanation
Progress and Activity Reports
Pronoun Reference
Pronouns
Proofreading
Proposals
Proofreading
Punctuation
Purpose
Question Marks
Questionnaires
Questionnaires
Quotation Marks
Quotations
Reference Letters
Readers
Refusal Letters
Repetition
Reports
Repurposing
Requests for Proposals
Research
Resignation Letters
Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Elements
Résumés
Revision
Rhetorical Questions
Run-on Sentences
Scope
Selecting the Medium
Semicolons
Sentence Construction
Sentence Faults
Sentence Variety
Sequential
Slashes
Social Media
Spatial
Specifications
Spelling
Style
Subordination
Sentence Fragments
Synonyms
Suffixes
Syntax
Tables
Tables of Contents
Technical Writing Style
Telegraphic Style
Tense
Test Reports
Text Messaging
Titles
Thesaurus
Tone
Trade Journal Articles
Transition
Trip Reports
Usability Testing
Usage
Unity
Vague Words
Verbals
Verbs
Visuals
Voice
White Papers
Word Choice
Writing a Draft
Writing for the Web
“You” Viewpoint

Quick-reference alphabetical arrangement, helpful topical keys, and a student-friendly index make business-writing topics easy to find. Cross-references throughout the book guide students to related entries.

More than 90 sample documents demonstrate a wide range of effective professional writing models, including formal reports, proposals, résumés, cover letters, blogs, brochures, e-mails, and presentation slides.

Comprehensive discussion of the writing process and in-depth treatment of grammar, usage, and style provide guidance on writing well. Every stage is covered in detail—from research and audience analysis to revision and proofreading. Discussion addresses both independent and collaborative writing.

Up-to-date coverage of workplace technologies gives students the latest advice on adapting to new technologies, interpreting infographics, e-mailing colleagues, conducting online research, creating a professional social media presence, writing for the Web, and more.

Advice, tip boxes, and checklists call attention to recurring features and useful asides. Ethics Notes and Professionalism Notes offer special guidance for handling ethically challenging office scenarios. A list of Commonly Misused Words and Phrases breaks down grammar with accessible language and examples. Writer’s Checklists help students tackle each step of complex tasks like writing collaboratively and evaluating sources.

LaunchPad Solo for Professional Writing lets students explore the full professional possibilities of today’s technologies in clickable, assignable learning sequences. Additional sample documents provide a wide range of effective professional writing models for students to emulate. Tutorials walk students through using online tools to access projects across platforms, design dynamic presentations, develop podcasts, and manage their personal brand. Diagnostics provide opportunities to assess areas for improvement and assign additional exercises based on students’ needs. Pre-built units—including readings, videos, quizzes, and more—are easy to adapt and assign by adding your own materials and mixing them with our high-quality multimedia content and ready-made assessment options, such as LearningCurve adaptive quizzing and Exercise Central. LaunchPad Solo for Professional Writing can be packaged at a significant discount with The Business Writer’s Handbook.

A new entry on creating an online professional profile helps business writers select the appropriate forum and represent themselves and their accomplishments effectively on sites such as LinkedIn, AngelList, and Academia.edu.

A thorough updating of the job-search entries, including new coverage of co-ops, service internships, and "gap year" opportunities—crucial information for students and professionals seeking a new career. Updated coverage of interviewing for a job offers more coverage of what to do after the interview and includes a new model follow-up letter.

A new entry on spreadsheets explains how and why to use them and provides tips for finding up-to-date help.

Updated coverage of documenting sources provides current guidelines for citing sources in Chicago style.

A new professionalism note on the etiquette of mobile devices helps students move seamlessly from personal to professional worlds.

New instructor support materials, including advice on structuring the class and sample course plans, are available on the instructor’s tab from the book’s catalog page at macmillanlearning.com.

"The Business Writer’s Handbook is full of useful examples, helpful usage entries, and just practical advice for people in the workplace."
–William Allegrezza, Indiana University Northwest

"The concise and informative content and ease of use make this text the best business writer’s handbook on the market."
–Sonia Khatchadourian, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee

"No business school grad should be without The Business Writer’s Handbook. It’s an indispensable tool for students and grads alike."
–Nancy Nygaard, University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee

"It’s small enough to be easily carried—this is a bigger issue than you might think—and it’s practical enough to be of use in the real world of work."
–Greg Brecht, University of South Florida–Petersburg

Gerald J. Alred

Gerald J. Alred is Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Wisconsin– Milwaukee, where he is a teaching-award recipient and an adviser to the Professional Writing Program. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles and several standard bibliographies on business and technical communication, and he is a founding member of the editorial board of the Journal of Business and Technical Communication. He is a recipient of the prestigious Jay R. Gould Award for “profound scholarly and textbook contributions to the teaching of business and technical writing.” He developed and manages the Web site InlandChorus.comTM.

Charles T. Brusaw

Charles T. Brusaw served as 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, technical writing, public relations, and curriculum development. He was also a communications consultant, an invited speaker at academic conferences, and a teacher of business writing at Sinclair Community College. He passed away in 2015.

Walter E. Oliu

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, as well as the daily operations of the agency’s public Web site. He is the recipient of the agency’s Meritorious Service Award. He has also taught at Miami University of Ohio, Slippery Rock State University, Montgomery College, and George Mason University.