People often ask what books I could recommend on topics related to technical communication. Here are a few to start with:
This book by Janice (Ginny) Redish is not only a great guide to writing effective copy for the web but is also a useful guide to reader-centric writing in general. Ginny is one of the pioneers of putting the reader, and the reader’s needs and tasks, at the focus of all technical writing, and I have to say she is absolutely right to do so.
Steve Krug’s guide to website usability makes being simple look like the most sensible thing to do. What’s amazing to me is how many sites are difficult and confusing because they still fail to follow his advice. Read this book, and your site won’t be one of them!
OK, so you know how to write compelling web copy that is both clear and engaging. You know how to make your site easy to use. But do you know how to make sure that your web site is always up to date, and always reflects the company’s policies? Let Kristina Halvorson tell you how!
This is a really enlightening book on why so many presentations are rubbish, and how to make sure your presentations aren’t!
For more suggestions visit the Marginal Notes Store on Amazon
In the interests of full disclosure: if you decide to purchase a book listed on this page by following one of my links I will earn a very small commission from Amazon on each sale which will help to offset the costs of running this site.
