Actively learning, practicing openness to change, and conserving only the most important standards are essential to communication careers in the 21st century
Excerpt from the Foreword to the First Edition
1 The New Publishing Landscape and Lexicon
Many new-media buzzwords come packed in conceptual fuzziness that makes it hard to keep up with, much less master, electronic communication and publishing tools
2 Creating Valuable Content: The Internet Influence
We have to broaden our definition of audience and of literacy—pluralizing both—but the thundering migration to myriad versions of online content by no means makes all printed content obsolete or even inferior
3 Connecting with Tomorrow’s Readers, Customers,
and Colleagues
No psychographic profile can pinpoint the traits of all individuals. But publishers would be foolish not to align their message strategies with the preferences of the readers they most need to reach: traditional-media-resistant millennials
4 Understanding What Web 2.0 Means for Editors and Writers
The new publishing mandate—inviting information users to contribute to mediated content—requires editors and publishers to see the value of genuine interactivity, and encourage it
5 Listening to People Talk: How Conversational Media Works
When it’s lively, informational, responsive, and civilized, public talk can build community, forge personal loyalty, and affect corporate reputations
6 Shaping Information for Its Users: The Pursuit of Usefulness
When publishers go beyond organizing content the way they want people to use it and allow different ways to access self-selected information, users repay that increased relevance with their attention
7 Web Style: Writing, Organizing, Editing
Web style integrates content and presentation in ways directly pegged to the capabilities of online information search, navigation, linking, and sharing—so good Web writing isn’t just a plugged-in version of writing for the page
8 The Rules Used to Matter. What Now?
We can’t deny the energy that Internet publishing has brought to traditional editorial gatekeeping, which has been characterized, not to put too fine a point on it, as, uh, well, dead. But excellence in written and graphic communications is still the goal
9 You’ve Got a Style of Your Own
Creating an organizational style guide (or style sheet) takes time and effort, but once it exists, you’ll wonder how you got along without it
10 New Usage: Adventuresome, Troublesome, or Tiresome?
The one thing editors and designers can count on is the steady evolution toward down style, a trend toward omitting optional but unnecessary—and possibly intrusive—capitalization, punctuation, and special emphasis. The less complexity, the better
11 Coda: The Future of the Book
“The new digital genres require rethinking and relearning the craft of authorship, and there are still many stories best told through the traditional linear book and many arguments best presented as lengthy textual passages.”—Clifford Lynch