MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - eBook, ebook, or e-book?

montana123 · 12-29-2012, 11:32 AM

Daniel Jones wins the award for the most incorrect answer ... and haydnfan takes home the prize for the most correct answer.

As haydnfan says, the correct spelling is "e-book." Of course, that begs the question: According to who?

Well, it depends on which professional style guide you follow. Most every professional publication has its writers follow one specific style guide, and for those writers, the correct answer to any spelling or style question is whatever the most recent edition of the style guide they use says it is.

In the United States, at least, The AP (Associated Press) Style Guide is far and above the most-used guide, followed by The Chicago Manual of Style. Further confusing the matter, though, is the fact that most publications also have their own in-house style guides that are generally used to compliment The AP Guide, The Chicago Manual, or whatever other professional guide they follow.

So, what's the purpose, then, of having an in-house style guide? Well, not every single question is answered in the pro guides, so sometimes a publisher or publication has to settle on its own rule, so that its writers can always stay consistent in their published articles. Also, many trade publications use a lot of words -- industry jargon, for instance -- that you simply can't find in the AP Guide or the Chicago Manual. Again, in order to keep everyone on the same page, a publication needs to decide on its own rules for those specific words.

That is NOT the case, however, with the word "e-book." Both the 2011 and 2012 editions of The AP Style Guide use the "e-book" spelling. But as haydnfan rightly points out, that spelling will almost certainly change to "ebook" withing the next year or two, just as "e-mail" was eventually changed to "email" when the latter spelling became so much more omnipresent, especially in highly-regarded journalistic publications.

One question: Lots of you are clearly under the impression that the correct spelling of the word is "eBook." Where are you getting that from? I'm genuinely curious: Can any of you remember why you first started spelling it that way, and/or why you still think it's spelled that way? Thanks in advance.

12-29-2012, 11:32 AM	#17
montana123 Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2012 Device: Kindle 4	Daniel Jones wins the award for the most incorrect answer ... and haydnfan takes home the prize for the most correct answer. As haydnfan says, the correct spelling is "e-book." Of course, that begs the question: According to who? Well, it depends on which professional style guide you follow. Most every professional publication has its writers follow one specific style guide, and for those writers, the correct answer to any spelling or style question is whatever the most recent edition of the style guide they use says it is. In the United States, at least, The AP (Associated Press) Style Guide is far and above the most-used guide, followed by The Chicago Manual of Style. Further confusing the matter, though, is the fact that most publications also have their own in-house style guides that are generally used to compliment The AP Guide, The Chicago Manual, or whatever other professional guide they follow. So, what's the purpose, then, of having an in-house style guide? Well, not every single question is answered in the pro guides, so sometimes a publisher or publication has to settle on its own rule, so that its writers can always stay consistent in their published articles. Also, many trade publications use a lot of words -- industry jargon, for instance -- that you simply can't find in the AP Guide or the Chicago Manual. Again, in order to keep everyone on the same page, a publication needs to decide on its own rules for those specific words. That is NOT the case, however, with the word "e-book." Both the 2011 and 2012 editions of The AP Style Guide use the "e-book" spelling. But as haydnfan rightly points out, that spelling will almost certainly change to "ebook" withing the next year or two, just as "e-mail" was eventually changed to "email" when the latter spelling became so much more omnipresent, especially in highly-regarded journalistic publications. One question: Lots of you are clearly under the impression that the correct spelling of the word is "eBook." Where are you getting that from? I'm genuinely curious: Can any of you remember why you first started spelling it that way, and/or why you still think it's spelled that way? Thanks in advance.