| The ByLine Style Guide AP Style Use the Associated Press Stylebook (AP) as a guide for general style and spelling. The ByLine Style Guide includes some common AP entries. Wired Style Use "Wired Style: Principles of English Usage in the Digital Age" (1996, 1999 HardWired) as a guide for new media style and spelling. The ByLine Style Guide includes the most common terms. ___________________________________________________________________ acronyms In general, use acronyms sparingly. Do not begin a sentence with an acronym. On first reference in body copy, spell out the full name and include the acronym in parentheses only if a second reference will be used. Do not include the acronym in parentheses in a headline or subhead. AAEA and AMS may be used in headlines and subheads, but should be spelled out on first reference in body of article. Agricultural Media Summit Use full name on first reference. Abbreviate as AMS or Ag Media Summit on second reference, but be consistent throughout. If you use Ag Media Summit, there is no need to put this in parens after the first mention. American Agricultural Editors' Association Use AAEA as abbreviation on second reference. Avoid the term AAEAers - preferred term is AAEA members. The abbreviation AAEA may be used in headlines and subheads. books When referencing a book, include the author, year and publisher in parentheses, and suggested retail price if available. company names When company names are mentioned in an article, please research and confirm the official company name. email No hyphen, not capitalized. numerals In general, spell out one through nine, use numbers for 10 and higher. Exceptions include: first word in headline/sentence should be spelled out, use numbers for dates, measurements and percentages. Professional Improvement Foundation First reference should be listed as AAEA Professional Improvement Foundation. Second reference may be listed as PIF. Example: The AAEA Professional Improvement Foundation (PIF) is a great organization. provinces Names of Canadian provinces are set off from community names by commas. Do not capitalize province. Do not abbreviate provinces. Examples: They visited the province of Nova Scotia. They went to Halifax, Nova Scotia. state names Spell out the names of U.S. states when they stand alone. Use AP abbreviations when used in conjunction with a city, i.e. Dallas, Texas; New Prague, Minn., Minot, N.D. Do not use post office abbreviations. submissions for The ByLine Email submissions to either AAEA Associate Director Kenna Rathai at kenna.rathai@kbrcommunications.com or The ByLine Editor Dan Zinkand at dzinkand@comcast.net. Do not submit copy pasted into an email. Submit article in an attached Word document, Times, Times New Roman or Arial font, 12 pt. Include headline in 14 pt bold and author byline (if applicable) in italics with author's affiliation to AAEA. Add author's title, company and contact information at the end in italics. Example:
The ByLine Use full name of newsletter, in italics. times Use figures except for noon and midnight. Use a colon to separate hours from minutes unless it's the top of the hour: 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m. Do not use 11:00 a.m. titles and company affiliations Include titles and company affiliations when mentioning AAEA members in articles, i.e. Den Gardner, executive director of the American Agricultural Editors' Association, or Dan Zinkand, Dan Zinkand Communications. Capitalize the title only if it appears before the person's name, i.e. Executive Director Den Gardner. Webinar Capitalize. Web site Two words, capitalize Web, but not site. |