Over 300 Successful Business Letters for All Occasions

by Alan Bond

Book Overview

Although we live in an age of e-mail, telephone networking, and fax machines, a very real and important need persists for old-fashioned written correspondence. This book answers that need (some have... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0764103229
• ISBN13: 9780764103223
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Barron's Educational Series
• Length: 345 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 7.8" x 10.9"

Customer Reviews

Very good reference, esp. for students

The book is organized by chapters presenting different types of letters you may need to write. At the beginning of each chapter there is short introduction explaining in general terms that type of letter, presenting any information particular for that type. Then you get a number of examples. Most chapters are finished with a list of useful sentences. The end of the book has some brief grammar reference, list of zip codes in US, a list of ways to address a letter to people with a specific title or position, a list of common words that can be easily confused (ex. all togeher vs altogether) and a list of adjectives and names of people for most country names. What I find to be strong advantages of the book is clear division in chapters, many types of letters are covered, useful introductions and list of sentences, the appendix is very useful. I did not quite like some examples and the layout in parts of the book. For example, for emails it is a bit space wasting to use whole page to print a screen shot of an email client to present an email example with 1-3 sentences... Bit this is just a minor remark to think about for any next edition, should not really stop you from thinking about getting the book for yourself. Overall, I am very happy with buying the book; and my wallet is happy too - the book is definitely worth the price! Go and get a copy too!

A very useful reference source

This book seems to cover just about any business letter that you might ever need. The book itself is divided into 16 chapters covering topics such as LETTERS OF INQUIRY, BUSINESS ANNOUNCEMENTS, INVITATIONS, and COLLECTION LETTERS. In addition to providing many examples of letters the book also covers issues and approaches to creating letter for various reasons. This is helpful if you do not want to use the example, but still need guidance on how to compose a letter on a certain topic. The book also provides what it calls "useful sentences" that you can plug into a letter of your own design. There is also a "quick reference appendix" that show Forms of Addresses (if you're writing to a politician or dignitary), common spelling and grammar mistakes, and other helpful pieces of information. Overall I rate this book very highly and think that it should be on the bookshelf of anyone that writes formal business or personal letters.

A solid foundation with a not so perfect house

Alan Bond's book, OVER 300 SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS LETTERS FOR ALL OCCASIONS gives several examples of actual letters. Examples of just about every type of letter you will ever have to write can be found in this book. It was written as a reference for the business professional and home correspondent. OVER 300 SUCCESSFUL LETTERS FOR ALL OCCASIONS does not have a lot of tutorials. It does little to teach you to be a better business writer but is a very good source of examples of actual letters. This book is best when used with BUSINESS WRITING FOR DUMMIES by Sheryl Lindsell-Roberts. BUSINESS WRITING FOR DUMMIES is just the opposite. It does a lot to make you a better Business letter writer but it has very few actual examples when compared to Alan Bond's OVER 300 SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS LETTERS FOR ALL OCCASIONS.Used together, any person has a formidable arsenal to write a well-written professional letter regardless of the subject or circumstances. I highly recommend that anyone interested in improving their business witting skills purchase both Alan Bond's, OVER 300 SUCCESSFUL LETTERS FOR ALL OCCASIONS and Sheryl Lindsell-Roberts' BUSINESS WRITING FOR DUMMIES.