AP Stylebook Releases an E-book Version

The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law, the main style guide for journalists and public relations professionals, is now available an interactive e-book.

The style guide will be easier to use as an e-book, since journalists, PR pros, copywriters and others will be able to find style rules more quickly and easily in the ebook, according to the AP. An 85-page dynamic index helps users quickly find words and definitions, supplementing the e-book’s search with concepts and themes users might look for.

Stylebook users have asked for an e-book version for years, and have suggested on Twitter that AP introduce an ebook.

AP has offered a digital edition in PDF form on Google Play, Chegg eTextbooks and Follett’s BryteWave. This is the first time the AP Stylebook is available as an interactive e-book on platforms including Amazon Kindle, Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble Nook and Kobo.

Offers a Different Experience

However, the ebook offers a different experience, according to the AP.

“They’re very much siblings in that you can search and browse and link,” Stylebook Product Manager Colleen Newvine told Poynter, “but I guess the main difference is: What’s your preference as a user? Do you like a phone browser experience, do you like an app experience, or do you like an ebook experience?”

With than 5,000 entries, including about 300 new or revised entries, the 2015 AP Stylebook is the largest edition in its more than six decades of publication. The 2015 AP Stylebook includes about 300 new or revised entries.

Because media outlets usually follow AP Style for spelling, language, punctuation, usage and journalistic style, media relations professionals are advised to conform to AP Style when submitting press releases and story pitches. PR pros following AP Style will have an advantage over those who don’t. Some experts also advise marketers to use AP Style.

Recent Style Changes

Some of this year’s updates include:

Favorite is “A button that a Twitter user can click to express approval for a tweet, and/or to bookmark that tweet, and any associated links, for later consumption.” The word can also be used as a verb.

A meme is: “A piece of information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that’s shared verbally or transmitted widely, often in social media.”

The ebook includes a chapter on social guidelines but online lexicon is now in the general section.

“Animal welfare activist” is preferred to “animal rights activist.”

“Global warming” can be used interchangeably with “climate change.”

BLT is acceptable for bacon, lettuce and tomato. Preheat should be avoided in favor of heat.

Elite Eight and Final Four are now capitalized, while figure skating moves are lower case even if named after someone.

Bottom Line: Whether accessed through print, the web or an ebook, the AP Style Book serves as the language and style guide for journalists and PR pros. Public relations professionals may find the ebook version of the AP Style book more convenient and accessible.