A PR handbook that delivers: fresh material and examples make this guide useful for novices and veterans alike.

about the book

The Public Relations Writer's Handbook: The Digital Age by Merry Aronson, Don Spetner and Carol Ames

Jossey-Bass, 2nd edition, 2007, 368 pages

I read The Public Relations Writer's Handbook wearing the hats of both a communication practitioner and a faculty member who teaches public relations writing. I was expecting that only one half of me would be pleased. I'm delighted to report that I am doubly pleased, because this book meets many of the needs of practical use and instructional support.

Practitioners will find fresh material and examples to help them write some of the mainstays of the profession, such as news and product releases, speeches, editorials, obituaries and crisis communications.

The book also covers subtopics on media relations such as lifestyle, trend and research releases, and includes suggestions on how to localize a national release and how to effectively use quotes and photos.

Many communication practitioners are thrust into financial PR without much knowledge of the field or how to support it. The handbook's section "Financial Writing" replaces this angst with commonsense know-how on government reporting requirements, fair disclosure rules, examples of business and quarterly earnings releases, and even some guidance on writing the chairperson's letter for the annual report.

Also of interest to practitioners is the chapter titled "The Pitch: Creating Media Interest." Pitches are the subject of numerous workshops, but you can save yourself a trip because this chapter breaks the process down into four stages, complete with sample telephone and letter pitches.

In the section on presentations--including those with PowerPoint--the authors present their concerns about TMI and TMI (Too Much Information and Too Many Inputs). They remind us that "most people cannot do two intellectual tasks well at the same time [listen to a speaker and read a screen]," so audiences challenged to do just that will "simply tune out in self-defense."

While readers, including faculty, will be especially pleased with the abundance of instruction, guidelines and examples of writing, the chapter on writing for the Internet may be a disappointment.

Even as they acknowledge the challenges that writing for e-mail, web sites and blogs entails, the authors barely scratch the surface of a topic that needs far more in-depth coverage and guidance. The best advice presented here concerns the "Immortality of Errors and Indiscretions."

Although the Internet chapter lacks substance, the "Writing for Broadcast" chapter is well developed and offers special pitch tips for video and sound, using e-mail to excite interest in your story, creating electronic media kits and video news releases, and ways to repurpose broadcast stories for podcasts.

Rounding out this edition, and giving it extra strength, is the Grammar Reference at the end of the book that includes a usage guide and important reminders on sentence structure and punctuation. A glossary will help novices and veterans alike understand basic public relations and communication nomenclature.

As the final punctuation point for The Public Relations Writer's Handbook, Weber Shandwick Worldwide President Andy Polansky wrote in his review: "Good writing is still at the core of all great communications campaigns, and this book provides aspiring and experienced practitioners with practical guidelines and effective approaches to consider."

about the reviewer

Wilma Mathews, ABC, APR, IABC Fellow, is a faculty associate in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communications, director of constituent relations at Arizona State University, and co-author of On Deadline: Managing Media Relations.