Essential for publishing in the UK and everywhere that isn't the US

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Product Description

Throughout the twentieth century, The Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors and Hart's Rules grew to be indispensable sources for all those who deal with the written word. Now, for the first time, The Oxford Style Manual combines in one volume these two classic reference books in their latest forms: the second edition of The Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors, and The Oxford Guide to Style - the new Hart's Rules. Together they offer unrivalled guidance on words and how to treat them. The first part of The Oxford Style Manual contains 16 topic-based chapters of help on every aspect of words in print. The text is full of explanations, examples, and lists of, for example, abbreviations, capitalization, punctuation, and scientific and mathematical symbols. It gives clear advice on how to treat quotations, illustrations, tables, notes and references, specialist subjects, and indexes, as well as exhaustive information on foreign languages. There is also information on recent issues such as citing electronic media, submitting material for online publication, and current copyright law. The second part of the Manual consists of short alphabetical entries that provide easy-to-follow guidance on specific writing conundrums, including common spelling difficulties (hairdryer or hairdrier?); queries on hyphenation and punctuation (brothers-in-law or brother-in-laws?); confusables (impassible or impassable?); differences between British and American English (pyjamas/pajamas); and difficult or unusual terms. The Oxford Style Manual really is the ultimate guide for all book, magazine, and Internet publishers on preparing and presenting the written word.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #220618 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 1056 pages

Review

"This fine guidebook is an excellent choice....Highly recommended."--Library Journal

About the Author

Robert Ritter was an Editor for more than ten years in OUP's Academic Division; currently he is Publications Manager for the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. His wide-ranging editorial experience has been gained in a variety of publishing houses in both the UK and the USA. He is the editor of The Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors (2nd edn 2000), and the author of The Oxford Guide to Style (2002); he has also been a consultant editor for the Concise Oxford Dictionary and the OWLS.

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Customer Reviews

Great help for distinguishing British from American English
What is not clear from the listing for this book in most of OUP's promotional materials is that THE OXFORD STYLE MANUAL is really TWO books in one: THE OXFORD GUIDE TO STYLE and THE OXFORD DICTIONARY FOR WRITERS AND EDITORS. Even at the combined length of just over 1,000 pages, THE MANUAL is a manageable reference work, no more cumbersome than a standard collegiate dictionary.

Although, as an American, I will continue to use the CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE as my arbiter for editorial decisions, I find Oxford's manual an excellent way of distinguishing between British and American styles of English; Part II (the dictionary) is especially thorough in pointing out key differences. Also, beginning on page 244 in Part I is a list of about 500 everyday American words with their British equivalents (tick-tack-toe = noughts and crosses). Although it would be nice to have the same list in reverse (an American's undershirt is a "vest" in UK, and his vest is a "waistcoat", something that is not immediately clear from the way the list is put together), the list is short enough for anyone to read through and become familiar with. (The CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE has no equivalent list.)

In short, a good and thorough resource.

New authors and book lovers should get this
I am writing my first book and want to be able to talk to the publishers with confidence and reduce their work. I may even decide to publish my book myself. The Oxford Style Manual is the only authentic book that I could find that can teach me the basics like the pats of a book, how to create them, in what order they should appear, etc. It also teaches details like punctuatio and formatting.

Even if you are not an aspiring author but just a lover of books, this book is recommendable. It gives you the ability of assessing the quality of a book.

Highly recommended.