All these different style guides are yet another capitalist scheme to make freelance writers spend their hard-earned money on a fancy book that tells them how to write. The ruling class wants to control every aspect of our lives, even our commas and semicolons! And of course, they want to keep updating it every year, so they can milk more money out of us! But fear not, my fellow writers! Let us unite against this capitalist tyranny and use our creativity to write without rules! Who needs a corporate-enforced style guide when we can use emojis instead of punctuation? Down with the style guides, up with the proletariat writing revolution!

Unfortunately, the fat cats who own the brands and publications we write for do not agree so we need to stock our shelves with reference books that our freelance writing gigs can rarely afford to pay for. Here are 11 such books that all freelance writers should ideally own, with the caveat that you probably cannot afford all of these books at current full retail price if you are a freelance writer. Consider this our companion piece to Our Ultimate Guide to 9 Reference Books You Should Own, as well our dictionary-buying guide and our guide to buying the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary. Please forgive our inconsistent use of italics. We cannot decide on which of the 11 style guides we recommend to stick to.

1. The Associated Press Stylebook (AP Stylebook) 

The heavyweight champion of style guides. The Associated Press (AP) Stylebook is widely regarded as a great reference guide for journalistic writing due to its consistency, accessibility, credibility, relevance, and standardization. It offers a set of standardized rules and guidelines for language usage that helps ensure clarity and accuracy in news reporting, and is regularly updated — although perhaps not as regularly as our living language evolves — to reflect changes in language usage and new developments in journalism. The AP Stylebook is produced by the Associated Press, a respected news organization, and is available in both print and online versions, making it easily accessible to journalists, writers, and editors around the world. If you are a freelance writer and have worked with big brands and well-known publications, you were probably asked to follow AP style and you need this book. 

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2. The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) 

Hey there, folks! Are you tired of feeling like a writing amateur? Well, let me tell you about the Chicago Manual of Style! This baby is the holy grail of writing guides, the cream of the crop, the Cadillac of style manuals! It’s got everything you need to take your writing game to the next level, from grammar and punctuation to citation and formatting. And let me tell you, publishers and editors eat this stuff up! With the Chicago Manual of Style under your belt, you’ll be a writing pro in no time! So don’t wait, order your copy today and start impressing the literary world with your mad style skills! Splurge on the hardcover edition. You are poor but you only YOLO once.

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3. The MLA Handbook 

Are you sick of all the academic mumbo-jumbo and citation confusion? Are you slowly realizing that being accepted into college does not necessarily mean you are smart enough to be in college? Well, fret not because the MLA Handbook from the folks at the Modern Language Association is here to save the day! This little book of wonders is the ultimate guide for the highfalutin writers who want to impress your professors and look smarter than you actually. With the MLA Handbook in your hands, you’ll know how to cite your sources like a pro and format your papers like a boss. Plus, it’s regularly updated, so you’ll always be on the cutting edge of academic style. Grab your copy today and join the elite ranks of scholarly scribblers!

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4. The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White  

Know why you should own The Elements of Style? This little book is the swanky suit of the writing world. It’s got all the style tips and grammatical gizmos you need to make your prose pop and stand out like the pimples on your very face that you are self-conscious about. And let me tell ya, it’s the perfect wingman for those awkward one-night stands with words. With The Elements of Style in your back pocket, you’ll be the Don Juan of the writing scene, sweeping those readers off their feet with your smooth and polished sentences. This is a classic guide to writing in English, widely used by writers and editors to improve their writing style and clarity to help you write like Ernest Hemingway or Virginia Woolf.

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5. The Gregg Reference Manual 

The Gregg Reference Manual is the go-to for business students and professionals, covering the kind of formatting that is widely used in business and technical writing. As a writer who values precision and attention to detail, owning the Gregg Reference Manual is essential. This manual is the quintessential reference for professional B2B and B2C communication, providing guidance on grammar, usage, punctuation, and formatting that is unparalleled in its depth and accuracy. Pro-tip: Do not get an ebook version. Get the spiral-bound print edition so you can go back and forth through the pages much more efficiently. 

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6. The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage 

Any writer or editor who has read The New York Times has probably noticed they do things very weird and tbh, purchasing this book only makes sense if you actually write for the NYT or for a publication that insists on following their peculiar-ass ways. Still, The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage is certainly concise, informative, and useful for writing, proofreading, and copyediting. As a bonus, users report that it’s Kindle-friendly — unlike other style guides that are more efficient if you own a physical edition you can thumb through.

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7. The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation  

Absolutely essential for lawyers, law students, paralegals, and other legal professionals, The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation covers topics such as legal citation rules, punctuation, and abbreviations to help with citing and writing legal documents. This manual is the definitive guide for legal citation, providing a detailed and comprehensive framework for citing legal sources and authorities with the utmost accuracy and attention to detail. With The Bluebook by your side, you will be able to produce legal writing that is not only technically correct but also respected and admired by your peers and colleagues in the legal profession. This manual is the gold standard for legal citation and is recognized and used by courts, law schools, and law firms around the world. So, if you are serious about your legal writing and wish to distinguish yourself as a master of legal citation, then The Bluebook is an indispensable tool that you simply cannot afford to be without. As a writer who values precision and rigor in your legal writing, owning The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation is an absolute must.

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8. The Economist Style Guide  

Like The New York Times, The Economist has their own standardized way with words they are particular about using. However, The Economist Style Guide is a bit more useful for linguists in that it serves as something of a companion piece to The Elements of Style, dispensing writing advice and pointing out common mistakes even the most experienced professionals make. With The Economist Style Guide, you can learn how to write with clarity and precision, avoiding common misunderstandings that can arise when writing on complex and nuanced topics — which can help take your writing to the next level. Fans of The Economist will also find this style guide on-brand and representative of their tone and worth the purchase. Or you can access a PDF version here.

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9. The AMA Manual of Style 

Published by the American Medical Association (AMA), this guide covers topics such as medical terminology, citation, and manuscript preparation for medical writers and editors. And boy howdy, if you are a professional writer, you simply can’t live without the AMA Manual of Style! Because, let’s face it, who doesn’t love dense, technical writing with endless rules and regulations that make your head spin? With the AMA Manual of Style, you’ll be able to dazzle your highly-educated colleagues with your mastery of obscure medical terms and complex citation styles that nobody else understands. Sure, your readers might not have a clue what you’re talking about, but you are far too out of touch with them to care. As long as you can impress your peers with your impressive knowledge of esoteric medical jargon, you’re sure to be invited to the next racquetball outing with the senior doctors. If you want to write like a pretentious, jargon-spewing doctor, then the AMA Manual of Style is the guide for you.

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10. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 

If you want to impress your colleagues with your ability to cite sources like a true neoliberal academic, then the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) is the guide for you! With the APA manual, you’ll be able to cite your sources with such precision and detail that your readers will be left scratching their heads and wondering why they bothered to read your work in the first place. Anyone looking to write like a stuffy, overly-formal academic, then the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is the guide you absolutely can’t afford to miss! Be sure to treat yourself to the spiral-bound version for page-turning ease.

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11. The Copyeditor’s Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications

Ah, yes, The Copyeditor’s Handbook. Because what could be more important than ensuring that the capitalist publishers and corporations are able to churn out their soulless, profit-driven content with perfect grammar and punctuation? As professional writers, we all know that our true purpose in life is to serve the needs of the corporate overlords, and what better way to do that than by becoming the ultimate copyediting machine? With The Copyeditor’s Handbook, you’ll learn how to fix the tiny details that no one cares about, like hyphenation and comma placement, all so that the rich and powerful can continue to exploit the masses without any pesky typos getting in the way. All professional writers looking to sell their soul to the capitalist machine needs to own The Copyeditor’s Handbook.

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