Includes bibliographical references and index

Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating
Ridiculously Good Content; Contents; Foreword;
Acknowledgments; Introduction; But I'm Not a Writer; What
Is Content?; Why We Need to Wage a War on Content
Mediocrity (Or, Why This Book?); Still Waiting. I Thought
You Said You Were Going to Explain Why This Book?; Part I:
Writing Rules: How to Write Better (and How to Hate
Writing Less); 1 Everybody Writes; 2 Writing Is a Habit,
Not an Art; 3 Shed High School Rules; 4 Regard Publishing
as a Privilege; 5 Place the Most Important Words (and
Ideas) at the Beginning of Each Sentence

Follow a Writing GPS; 7 The More the Think, the Easier
the Ink; 8 Organize. Relax, You've Got This; 9 Embrace The
Ugly First Draft; 10 Swap Places with Your Reader; 11
Humor Comes on the Rewrite; 12 Develop Pathological
Empathy; 13 'Cross Out the Wrong Words'; 14 Start with
Dear Mom . . .; 15 If You Take a Running Start, Cover Your
Tracks; 16 Notice Where Words Appear in Relation to Others
around Them; 17 'A Good Lede Invites You to the Party and
a Good Kicker Makes You Wish You Could Stay Longer'; 18
Show, Don't Tell; 19 Use Familiar Yet Surprising Analogies

505 8 20 Approach Writing Like Teaching; 21 Keep It Simple-but
Not Simplistic; 22 Find a Writing Buddy; 23 Avoid Writing
by Committee; 24 Hire a Great Editor; 25 Be Rabid about
Readability; 26 End on an I-Can't-Wait-to-Get-Back-to-It
Note; 27 Set a Goal Based on Word Count (Not Time); 28
Deadlines Are the WD-40 of Writing; Part II: Writing Rules
: Grammar and Usage; 29 Use Real Words; 30 Avoid
Frankenwords, Obese Words, and Words Pretending to Be
Something They're Not; 31 Don't Use Weblish (Words You
Wouldn't Whisper to Your Sweetheart in the Dark)

505 8 32 Know the Difference between Active and Passive Voice;
33 Ditch Weakling Verbs; 34 Ditch Adverbs, Except When
They Adjust the Meaning; 35 Use Clichés Only Once in a
Blue Moon; 36 Avoid These Mistakes Marketers Make; 37
Break Some Grammar Rules (At Least These Five); 38 Learn
Words You're Probably Misusing or Confusing with Other
Words; Similar or Seemingly Interchangeable Words; Usage
Confusion; 39 Scuse Me While I Kiss This Guy; 40 Limit
Moralizing; Part III: Story Rules; 41 Tell How You'll
Change the World; 42 Tell the Story Only You Can Tell; 43
Voice and Tone
505 8 44 Look to Analogy instead of Example; Part IV: Publishing
Rules; 45 Wait. What's Brand Journalism?; But Is It Really
Journalism?; How Brand Journalism Works; 46 Tell the
Truth; 47 See Content Moments Everywhere; 48 Post News
That's Really News; 49 Biased and Balanced; 50 Nonobvious
Interview Tips; 51 Fact-Check; 52 Approach Content with
'Mind Like Water'; 53 Seek Out the Best Sources; 54 Be
Aware of Hidden Agendas; 55 Cite as You Write; 56 Curate
Ethically; 57 Seek Permission, Not Forgiveness; 58
Understand the Basics of Copyright, Fair Use, and For
Attribution; Can I Just Link?

"Finally a go-to guide to creating and publishing the kind of content that will make your business thrive. Everybody Writes is a go-to guide to attracting and retaining customers through stellar online communication, because in our content-driven world, every one of us is, in fact, a writer. If you have a web site, you are a publisher. If you are on social media, you are in marketing. And that means that we are all relying on our words to carry our marketing messages. We are all writers. Yeah, but who cares about writing anymore? In a time-challenged world
dominated by short and snappy, by click-bait headlines and
Twitter streams and Instagram feeds and gifs and video and
Snapchat and YOLO and LOL and #tbt. does the idea of
focusing on writing seem pedantic and ordinary?Actually,
writing matters more now, not less. Our online words are
our currency; they tell our customers who we are. Our
writing can make us look smart or it can make us look
stupid. It can make us seem fun, or warm, or competent, or
trustworthy. But it can also make us seem humdrum or
discombobulated or flat-out boring. That means you've got
to choose words well, and write with economy and the style
and honest empathy for your customers. And it means you
put a new value on an often-overlooked skill in content
marketing: How to write, and how to tell a true story
really, really well. That's true whether you're writing a
listicle or the words on a Slideshare deck or the words
you're reading right here, right now ... And so being able
to communicate well in writing isn't just nice; it's
necessity. And it's also the oft-overlooked cornerstone of
nearly all our content marketing. In Everybody Writes, top
marketing veteran Ann Handley gives expert guidance and
insight into the process and strategy of content creation,
production and publishing, with actionable how-to advice
designed to get results. These lessons and rules apply
across all of your online assets -- like web pages, home
page, landing pages, blogs, email, marketing offers, and
on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media.
Ann deconstructs the strategy and delivers a practical
approach to create ridiculously compelling and competent
content. It's designed to be the go-to guide for anyone
creating or publishing any kind of online content --
whether you're a big brand or you're small and solo.
Sections include: How to write better. (Or, for "adult-
onset writers": How to hate writing less.) Easy grammar
and usage rules tailored for business in a fun, memorable
way. (Enough to keep you looking sharp, but not too much
to overwhelm you.) Giving your audience the gift of your
true story, told well. Empathy and humanity and
inspiration are key here, so the book covers that, too.
Best practices for creating credible, trustworthy content
steeped in some time-honored rules of solid journalism.
Because publishing content and talking directly to your
customers is, at its heart, a privilege. "Things Marketers
Write": The fundamentals of 17 specific kinds of content
that marketers are often tasked with crafting. Content
Tools: The sharpest tools you need to get the job done.
Traditional marketing techniques are no longer enough.
Everybody Writes is a field guide for the smartest
businesses who know that great content is the key to
thriving in this digital world"--|cProvided by publisher

Print version record and CIP data provided by publisher