Re: Stylebook committee

**B*@aol.com**

(Note 
the botanical names in their example are in italics). 

According to the AP stylebook, Margaret, all foreign words are italicized. 
But I've seen botanical names used in gardening magazines that were not. 

This doesn't address the real question, though, which is whether there is a 
need for a uniform and consistent style manual specifically for gardening 
communicators. And if there is, who will write it---and, more importantly, 
use it.

I went through this same drill several years back with the outdoor writers. 
The need was the same. And the OWAA---which has exponentially more influence 
in its field than GWA has in its---actually put one together. But I don't 
know half a dozen people who use it. 

The fact is, unless the editors we write for adopt a particular stylebook, it 
may as well not exist. Most newspapers, for instance, use either the AP 
stylebook, the NY Times stylebook, or their own. Magazines have their own 
requirements (most often, but not always, the AP stylebook). 

If we had a gardenwriters stylebook and it conflicted with the stylebook used 
by the publication, guess which one would take precedence?

So, what I'm saying is, that while a garden writers stylebook would be nice, 
putting one together would likely be an excersize in futility.

Brook

Brook
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