5 AP Stylebook shortcuts to keep you on your game

Although many PR pros study the guide’s latest edition, feeling rusty about your familiarity is nothing to be shy about. Here are a few tips to help you find the entry you need with ease.

It’s likely that as a PR pro, you have an AP Stylebook sitting somewhere on your bookshelf.

If your organization uses AP style at its standard, you’re even more likely to have one on your desk.

Still, you might not be using it as often or as well as you should. As a refresher, here are five shortcuts to remember the next time you’re wondering whether it’s “word-of-mouth marketing,” or “word of mouth marketing”:

1. You can invest digitally.

PR pros and journalists who frequently use this resource should get an AP Stylebook account. The option to type your questions (Google-style) rather than flipping through pages can save you time, and the online results are usually more complete.

Besides having Stylebook entries as the physical book does, the Web version also has records of Q&As with editors, which give extra clarity to certain rules. You can find helpful information in these responses that aren’t listed as standard entries in the book. As with the book, the more you use the online tool, the easier things become.

To read the full story, log in.
Become a Ragan Insider member to read this article and all other archived content.
Sign up today

Already a member? Log in here.
Learn more about Ragan Insider.