I paid for the AP Stylebook online edition. It’s like an old friend has returned.

Paperback Stylebook

I got my first copy of The Associated Press Stylebook in college. During my years editing newspapers, I went through many copies, until finally, we got the online version. It’s still not quite the same as the paperback, spiral-bound edition. The good part is the AP Stylebook online version can be updated constantly, so you’re never out of sync with AP’s guidelines.

But there is something about paging through the Stylebook. I had certain pages marked with Post-it notes for easy reference. In fact, I kept my most recent hard copy AP Stylebook. It’s from 2010, but it still has my pages tagged. I guess I am nostalgic about some things.

AP Stylebook online

Beginning in college, I’d read my Stylebook cover to cover. Originally, we’d be tested on it. Later, I would read it to see what was new with each edition. Then, sometimes I’d read sections of it to familiarize or remind myself with what all was there. Now, I read through the AP Stylebook online version when I have time.

Early in my career, I learned to look things up – even if I didn’t know if it would be in the guide. You’d be surprised at what’s in the AP Stylebook. If it wasn’t there, then you had to look elsewhere. For most newspaper content, it was there, in good old black and white.

I still have some AP entries burned into my brain. Unfortunately, some of them have changed. (Over/more than, for example — please don’t get me started.) I remember, for instance: Affect/effect; ages; state abbreviations in datelines; street abbreviations with numbers. It’s a lot of stuff most people don’t care about.

AP Stylebook an editor’s friend

Ah, but that’s the editor’s job. We care about stuff that other people read past without a second thought.

Editors are picky. We are detail-oriented, organized, curious and questioning. Perhaps all editors are perfectionists. We want to get it right, and we hate it when we don’t.

That’s why I loved my Stylebook. It helped me be right more often than not. Now that it’s back in an up-to-date online subscription, I feel like an old friend is back in my life.