I am looking for a good style guide for American English business
writing.  Some style guides that I know of are too academic or
journalistic (e.g., Chicago, AP).  I work in the accounting dept. of a
law firm, but a guide for general business is fine.

Thank you.

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 11 Aug 2006 10:42 PDT

Nelson,

The Gregg Reference Manual is highly regarded by many. If you're
registered at Amazon, you can take a look inside. Let me know what you
think.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0072936533

~Pink

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Clarification of Question by nelson-ga on 11 Aug 2006 16:07 PDT

I like it.  Post as an answer, please.

(Unfortunately, I was at the Met[ropolitan Museum of Art] today and
spent my book budget on art books.  I'll just have to save up.)

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Request for Question Clarification by tisme-ga on 11 Aug 2006 17:57 PDT

Library, library, library! (at least until you get the money). :P

tisme-ga

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Clarification of Question by nelson-ga on 12 Aug 2006 11:08 PDT

Or I could just charge it . . .

Nelson,

Thank you very much for accepting my suggestion of the Gregg Reference
Manual as your official answer. I was aware of this publication
because it was used by an advertising agency for which I worked
several years ago.

Amazon: The Gregg Reference Manual
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0072936533

As you've noticed, it's not inexpensive. If the price is an obstacle,
you might consider buying an earlier edition. Business English has not
changed immensely in a few years' time (except for technology-related
slang), and used copies of earlier editions are very reasonably
priced.

Abebooks search: Gregg Reference Manual
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&y=11&tn=gregg+reference+manual&x=34

Best,
Pink

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Clarification of Answer by pinkfreud-ga on 12 Aug 2006 11:58 PDT

I had meant to include this link in my answer, but somehow I got
confoozled while cutting and pasting, and I left it out. There are
some great prices here on an earlier edition:

Half.com: Gregg Reference Manual
http://product.half.ebay.com/Gregg-Reference-Manual_W0QQtgZinfoQQprZ1674838

~Pink

Thanks, Pink.

This book also seems a popular recommendation. There are sample pages
from the book online at Amazon.com. Since this is a new edition, you
could look at the page for the previous edition to check some of the
reader reviews, if you're interested (last link).

The Business Writer's Handbook, Eighth Edition (March, 2006)
Gerald J. Alred, Walter E. Oliu, Charles T. Brusaw 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312352689/sr=8-1/qid=1155317717/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-0035346-0090458?ie=UTF8

Seventh edition (2003)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312309228/sr=8-2/qid=1155319694/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-0035346-0090458?ie=UTF8

Many thanks for the five stars & the nice tip!

~Pink