6 Weeks Till "The Conscious Style Guide" Is Here!
Preorder my book before May 28, 2024!
Karen Yin
April 17, 2024
Hey, friends and literary citizens!
As you may know, my fourth book child—and first book for adults—will be born on May 28, 2024.
I consider it a companion to my website ConsciousStyleGuide.com, which I launched in 2015 along with The Conscious Language Newsletter. Over the years, I quietly put resources together to help editors and writers become more aware of how language can promote equity. While I knew that conscious language, a term that I coined, was a big deal to a lot of people, I didn’t know how big until my literary agent submitted my book proposal to a round of editors. In a tough market made tougher by the pandemic, we had bites immediately. In December 2021, there was a two-day bidding war between six publishers to buy my book. The winner was Little, Brown Spark, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, one of the “Big Five” publishing houses.
And now, in 6 weeks, The Conscious Style Guide: A Flexible Approach to Language That Includes, Respects, and Empowers will be published as a hardcover, e-book, and audiobook.
I have been blessed with tremendous endorsements from folks at the top of their field, but it is a challenge finding an audience when people are overwhelmed by constant bids for their attention. So I am asking for your support. To help make The Conscious Style Guide a success, please:
1) Preorder your copy (or copies) today. Preordering my book before the launch date will help it build momentum among bookstores, libraries, and the media. Follow the links below to order:
Tertulia (use code STYLE for 20% off through May 28, 2024)
2) Spread the word: Share the link below with your friends, book clubs, schools, companies, and organizations. Promote it on Facebook, Instagram, and your other social networks. Drop the link into your Slack, Discord, Teams, and other community forums.
Link to book page: https://karenyin.com/books/csg-book/
Here are some posts that you can reshare:
The Conscious Style Guide is for anyone who wants to communicate with sensitivity and compassion. In the book, readers will learn:
How to approach language as it continually changes
How to use the overarching principles to think critically and compassionately
How to practice conscious language as a tool for self-awareness and empowerment
How to forgive allies and others for using language that you perceive as inappropriate
How to alleviate any stress that may accompany working with language consciously
How to collaborate with others and work across differences
How to create a style sheet to support your practice
Filled with practical advice and hundreds of examples, The Conscious Style Guide encourages readers to explore their interests and intentions, embrace flexibility and creativity, and enhance effective communication in all areas of life.
I believe that my book can make a difference in the world, and I need your support to help my ideas spread. Please check out the advance praise for my book below.
Thank you for your continued support of me and my writing!
~ Karen Yin
P.S. If you subscribe to my Conscious Language Newsletter, you can download an excerpt from my book.
Early Buzz for The Conscious Style Guide
“In a world where perception consistently trumps reality, fighting—let alone undoing—systemic inequity often feels laughable. What can one person do, anyway? Enter the brilliant Karen Yin. By asking one simple, yet incredibly revealing question: Why do I believe this? Yin, with insight, empathy, and unflinching honesty, deftly guides the reader through finding, and unleashing, the most potent power we have: our conscious choice of words.”
—Lisa Cron, author of Story Genius
“The Conscious Style Guide is far more than style guide. It’s a holistic and generous resource for anyone interested in the real guts of language: tender, messy, hurtful, complex human interaction. It navigates the sometimes maddening flexibility of English by grounding the reader in an awareness of self, society, and others based on kindness and curiosity. The Conscious Style Guide captures the nuance inherent in a living language while providing both micro- and macro-level advice on best practices for writers, editors, and readers. No list of dos and don’ts can replace the thoughtful guidance offered by Yin. The Conscious Style Guide is a must-have reference for anyone who wants to communicate well, compassionately, and clearly.”
—Kory Stamper, author of Word by Word
“By encouraging us to consider the real impact of our words, Karen Yin’s intelligent and fair-minded book upends the conventional wisdom that writers alone, writing for some ‘ideal reader,’ always know what’s best. To write consciously is to be aware of and compassionate toward the actual people who determine not only the success but also the meaning of any work. With its emphasis on critical thinking and the fluid interplay between content and context, The Conscious Style Guide will inspire writers and their editors to make choices that not only respect readers but, in the process, bring us all a little closer to the truth.”
—Russell Harper, principal reviser of The Chicago Manual of Style
“Karen Yin has crafted a generous, thoughtful toolkit for anyone seeking to communicate mindfully. Her insights offer a flexible pathway to practicing conscious language that avoids prescriptivism and instead invites deep reflection. A must-have reference for any bookshelf!”
—Emily Ladau, disability rights activist and author of Demystifying Disability
“The Conscious Style Guide is the best tool book of all. In a time when clear, accurate communication is more essential—and more challenging—than ever, Karen Yin gives writers and editors a great gift: a flexible and detailed guide for thinking through the nuances of language and context and making wise decisions in each situation. She calls on us to embrace the complexities both of language and of people—each person we write about, and each person who reads or hears what we write. With compassion and clarity, she points us toward training our minds rather than falling back on often problematic lists of dos and don’ts. This book is a tremendous resource, affirming and instructive at the same time. I absolutely love it.”
—Paula Froke, editor of The Associated Press Stylebook
“An essential resource for writers and editors who want to get up to speed on writing with empathy and care.”
—Mignon Fogarty, host of the Grammar Girl podcast
“Karen Yin is no language cop, ready to arrest us for our word crimes. Instead, in The Conscious Style Guide, she is the beloved school crossing guard, protecting us, guiding us, reminding us to look both ways.”
—Roy Peter Clark, author of Tell It Like It Is
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