Product Description

The Penguin Writers' Guides series provides authoritative, succinct and easy-to-follow guidance on specific aspects of written English. Whether you need to brush up your skills or get to grips with something for the first time, these invaluable Guides will help you find the best way to get your message across clearly and effectively. Many of us are spending more and more time using emails, especially at work. This practical guide steers you through all the basics and ‘netiquette’ of emailing strangers, business contacts and colleagues: from setting up an email account, presentation and formatting of your emails to how to avoid offensive blunders and the legal issues surrounding this kind of writing. It offers indispensable guidance for simple and direct writing - including cultural differences, appropriate language and common pitfalls - so that your emails give the best possible impression.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #112354 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

About the Author
RL Trask was born in western New York State in 1944. Having come to England in 1970, he obtained his Ph. D. from the University of London in 1983. He taught linguistics at the University of Liverpool from 1979 to 1988, and then at the School of Cognitive and Computing Sciences (now the Linguistics and English Language Department) at the University of Sussex. His special interests were historical linguistics, grammar and the Basque language. He wrote a number of books, including A Dictionary of Grammatical Terms in Linguistics, Language Change, Language: The Basics, The Penguin Guide to Punctuation, The Penguin Dictionary of English Grammar and Mind the Gaffe. How to Write Effective Emails is sadly his last book for Penguin as he died in 2004.

Customer Reviews

Good mesages, but not very well laid out.
Some really good messages in this book. Even as a very competent IT-orientated person, I learnt quite a number of things from this book like
a) the importance of spending time on your message because otherwise why should others put in their own effort if what you have done is sloppy
b) the importance of subject headers and plugging in the message you're trying to convey
c) lots more... too numerous to mention.

Whilst it could have been written better (in terms of layout/structure eg bullet points, bold fonts for key messages) it is nevertheless an easy book to read. I think I read it over two days but be prepared to get out your highlighter to mark those key messages for you.

Useful
I found this book very useful, some if it is quite basic but overall it explains some useful tips regarding email etiquette which may not be obvious to everyone.