We all have pet peeves and opinions about punctuation and language usage. However, when we’re writing for publication, we have to let go of all of that.
The website, magazine, newspaper, or company we’re writing for will have selected a style guide, and some publications and companies create their own. We have to follow their style guide and make sure our work matches their requirements.
Another thing to consider is the country you hope to or have contracted to publish in, because there are different usage and style guides for Canada, the U.K. and Australia, just as examples.
The following are U.S. style guides.
For journalism the standard is the AP Associated Press Stylebook but some publications have their own unique style and guides.
In book publishing the bible is the Chicago Manual of Style, and the current edition is the 16th.
The ModernLanguage Association (MLA) maintains a style guide for students.
Individual specialties and fields have associations that create specific style guides, for example the AMA, APA, and APSA (American Political Science Association).
For legal texts, the guide is The Blue Book: A Uniform System of Citation and the current edition is the 20th.
Just remember, every piece of writing that’s published has to conform to a style guide, and it’s important to know which guide your work is expected to follow.
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