In this issue
	Coming up in 2004 Official Launch of Model Business Letters 6th edition Cover letters and resume writing Rules for Writers And finally ...

Official Launch of Model Business Letters 6th edition

Many thanks to Pearson Education and JobsDB Singapore for collaborating to arrange the official launch of the 6th edition of Model Business Letters, E-mails and Other Business Documents at the Executive Club on 8 November. 250 people attended the launch, and all received free desk calendars and bookmarks. There were lots of books to sign too, as you can see from this photograph. At the launch I made a presentation called 'Don't let writing be your weakest link'. If you want to see the main points, please click here. Thanks again to everyone who attended, and I hope to see you all again at one of my public workshops in 2004. See what people are saying about MODEL BUSINESS LETTERS 6th Edition »

Cover letters and resume writing

Here is a photo of some of my good friends from Pearson Education Singapore, taken at the launch of Model Business Letters 6th edition in November. As promised at the book launch, here are some useful links to articles about cover letters and resume writing. If you are thinking of applying for a new job, I hope you find these links useful: Cover letters - do people really read them? Some rules for getting your resume noticed The headless resume 10 Funniest Interview Questions Read more articles from Shirley »

Rules for Writers

I found this article recently and thought I would share it with you, to end the year on a humorous note. RULES FOR WRITERS Shun and avoid the employment of unnecessary, extra, excess words. Make certain all sentences are full and complete. If possible. At all costs, avoid cliches as you would the plague. Take panes to spel and, punctuate corectly:" BE Consistent. Don't approximate. Always be more or less precise. Sedulously eschew obfuscatory hyper-verbosity or prolixity. Avoid pointless repetition, and don't repeat yourself unnecessarily. Observe, in all written expression, it is, of the foremost qualification - if not, certainly not or less than - at least definitely secondary then, the importance, of whenever possibly trying, so that when, except where it cannot be avoided and/or in further necessary development it becomes imperative to omit, yet, remember without fail, to be brief and clear. If you've seen similar Rules in the past, you'll notice that one rule is missing: Never use a preposition to end a sentence with. NB: I cannot recall where I found this article, so if anyone knows where this came from please let me know and I will be happy to acknowledge the source in a future edition of Shirley Says.

And finally ...

TIP OF THE MONTH You have to put in extra effort as continuous improvement is essential. Thanks to Chrissy from Malaysia who suggested this month's TIP OF THE MONTH. Chrissy will be receiving a free copy of my new book, Model Business Letters, E-mails and Other Business Documents. If you would like to receive a FREE COPY of one of my books, please send your tips to me at news@shirleytaylor.com. I hope you've enjoyed this issue of Shirley Says. If you have any ideas about what you would like me to include in future issues, please write to me at news@shirleytaylor.com. PS: You may reprint this e-newsletter or forward it to your customers and colleagues. However please keep this copyright and contact information intact: Copyright Shirley Taylor 2003. Shirley Taylor is author of several popular books on effective communication and business writing. She lives in Singapore and works as an international trainer, seminar leader, professional writer and conference speaker.