The Book

Writing for the Web, 4th Edition by Crawford Killian touches on all aspects of writing web content including website structure/organization, word choice, style, and editing. Also addressed is the issue of writing for different audiences in sections on corporate websites, blogs, and marketing/advocacy writing.

The Review

Take a quick spin around the Internet and you’ll find a number of sites (including corporations) that need a lesson in writing online copy. If the job of writing web copy has fallen to you and you’re not quite sure how it should be different from printed copy or if you simply want to know how to write better for the online medium, then Writing for the Web, 4th Edition is a readable, useful book to have on hand.

An introduction to hypertext starts off the book. Using the history of the medium, Killian explains why online and offline are different and deserve different treatment. The author goes on to cover structuring a website, organizing a website, writing good content, editing webtext (print if off to read!), corporate webwriting, writing for blogs, advocacy and marketing on the web, and frequently asked questions.

Each chapter is subdivided with many lists, bullets, and examples that make it easy to understand and remember the points being made. It is nice to see references (usually online so the reader can access them) to back up the occasional statistic or other figure used to make a point. The occasional exercise is included so that you can practice the concepts discussed (sample answers for some exercises are even included in an appendix). Some chapters also include handy reference lists, like a list of frequently confused words (like ‘affect’ versus ‘effect’) and lists of common abbreviations.

Despite being suitable for use as a textbook (it has in fact been used for workshops and college courses), Writing for the Web, 4th Edition is an easy read. Written in a conversational tone that speaks directly to the reader using language that seventh graders’ can understand, Killian practices the concepts of reading level and writing tone that he teaches in the book. Too bad more textbook writers don’t do the same (I would have spent more time reading and less time sleeping while studying if that had been the case).

Like other Self-Counsel Press books, Writing for the Web, 4th Edition comes with digital content, but thankfully this book has its additional content online so it is accessible to both Mac and Windows users (or, for that matter, users of any other type of operating system). Killian’s blog devoted to web writing is actually quite useful and not your typical author “buy-my-book” blog.

At 150 pages, Writing for the Web, 4th Edition is short enough not to be intimidating but long enough to convey a lot of useful information and serve as a handy reference to keep on hand.

You can buy this and other Self-Counsel Press books from Self-Counsel Press (US & Canada) and Amazon (US, Canada & UK).

This giveaway is a little different than the ones I’ve had recently: there will be three winners and each winner will get to choose one book they’d like to snag out of the following titles:

I’ve reviewed Start & Run a Real Home-Based Business and Do the Web Write: Writing and Marketing Your Website already (click links to see reviews). I’ll be reviewing Start & Run an Internet Research Business, Writing for the Web (4th Edition) and Marketing in the New Media (2nd Edition) in the coming weeks. So far I’ve found the books easy to read and full of practical advice, so if you’re trying to set up a home business or market a business online you’ll find some help here.

Giveaway Details

Eligibility

1. Open to residents of the United States and Canada. Shipping courtesy of Self Counsel Press.

The Book

The winners will each receive their choice of one of the following five books from Self-Counsel Press:

• Start & Run a Real Home-Based Business (Dan Furman),
• Do the Web Write: Writing and Marketing Your Website (Dan Furman),
• Start & Run an Internet Research Business (Gerhard W. Kautz),
• Marketing in the New Media 2nd Edition (Holly Berkley), or
• Writing for the Web 4th Edition (Crawford Kilian).

Deadlines

There will be three winners (one per drawing) so there are several closing dates (ALL entries count for ALL draws):

I will pick a winner on July 28, 2009, another on August 4, 2009 and one on August 11, 2009.

The winner will be announced and e-mailed the day of the drawings (unless I’m swamped, but I’ll try not to be). If the winner doesn’t reply to the e-mail notification within 72 hours, a new winner will be drawn.

More Free Stuff.

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