Help Authoring Books Helping You
Write Better Documentation

The User Manual Manual: How to Research, Write, Test, Edit & Produce a Software
314 pages - Untechnical Press, November 1999
$ Buy "The User Manual Manual: How to Research, Write, Test, Edit & Produce a Software" from Amazon.com
£ Buy "The User Manual Manual: How to Research, Write, Test, Edit & Produce a Software" from Amazon.co.uk
This is a must-read book if you are new to creating user manuals for software products or even technical writing in general. Michael Bremer takes care of the tech writer, walking you through every step of the entire process, from planning to writing and editing to final production. Unlike many books on technical writing, The User Manual Manual assumes that you can write. Bremer does not waste a lot of time going over grammar lessons. The focus of this book is more on processes such content editing and testing. Also, Bremer is focused solely on the software manual. He includes instructions on writing specifically for that genre, such as how to write quick-start guides, online help and readme documents. Bremer is also careful to give plenty of examples throughout the book so that you can see his advice in action.

The Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications
350 pages - with CD-ROM - Microsoft Press, November 2003
$ Buy "The Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications" from Amazon.com
£ Buy "The Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications" from Amazon.co.uk
If Microsoft-compatibility is important to you, this book is a must have. (If you think Microsoft already has too much influence on your life, do not bother reading it.)
This manual was originally written for in-house use by Microsoft only. It provides technical writers and editors with a style standard for technical documentation, including: use of terminology; conventions, procedure, and design treatments; punctuation and grammar usage.
In short: if you do things the way this book tells you, you are doing things the Microsoft way. The advantage is that people used to MS products like Windows and Office, will feel immediately at home when they meet your work.
The included disk contains the book's text as an online help file.

The Chicago Manual of Style - The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors, and Publishers (15th Edition)
921 pages - Published by University of Chicago Press, 1993
$ Buy "The Chicago Manual of Style - The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors, and Publishers (15th Edition)" from Amazon.com
£ Buy "The Chicago Manual of Style - The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors, and Publishers (15th Edition)" from Amazon.co.uk
This is the essential reference for all who work with the English language - writers, editors, proofreaders, indexers, copywriters, designers, publishers, and students; whether your material will be print or made available on-line.
Certainly if English is not your first language (but even if it is), you can hardly do without a good reference. This one is very thourough (though a bit dry, but that does not hurt) and has an excellent index.

Managing Your Documentation Projects by Joann T. Hackos
656 pages - John Wiley & Sons, March 1994
$ Buy "Managing Your Documentation Projects" from Amazon.com
£ Buy "Managing Your Documentation Projects" from Amazon.co.uk
In this book, the author presents you solid methods for managing your documentation projects, based on clearly explained theories and the many years of experience the author has in the documentation process.

Adobe Acrobat 8.0 Classroom in a Book by Adobe Creative Team
456 pages - with CD-ROM - Adobe Press, January 2007
$ Buy "Adobe Acrobat 8.0 Classroom in a Book" from Amazon.com
£ Buy "Adobe Acrobat 8.0 Classroom in a Book" from Amazon.co.uk
If you prefer a printed manual instead of finding your way through the online documentation (hey, isn't that the reason why we're trying to create printable documents), buy this book. It is written by Adobe's documentation team itself. The book is clearly written and has been carefully edited. It is most likely the best book about Acrobat you can find.
Note that the book is aimed at beginners. For the more advanced stuff, the book will tell you where you can find more information in the online documentation.

Adobe Acrobat 8: Visual Quickstart Guide by John Deubert
264 pages - Peachpit Press, December 2006
$ Buy "Adobe Acrobat 8: Visual Quickstart Guide" from Amazon.com
£ Buy "Adobe Acrobat 8: Visual Quickstart Guide" from Amazon.co.uk
If you want to get started quickly and easily with Acrobat 4, buy this book. It does not try to explain any difficult details, but helps you get started quickly by showing many screen shots with short explanations.

The Official Microsoft HTML Help Authoring Kit: Understanding, Creating, and Migrating to Microsoft HTML Help by Steve Wexler, Brett Foster
with CD-ROM - 300 pages - Microsoft Press, February 1998
$ Buy "The Official Microsoft HTML Help Authoring Kit: Understanding, Creating, and Migrating to Microsoft HTML Help" from Amazon.com
£ Buy "The Official Microsoft HTML Help Authoring Kit: Understanding, Creating, and Migrating to Microsoft HTML Help" from Amazon.co.uk
This is Microsoft's official documentation to creating Microsoft HTML Help files, the standard help format for Windows 98. With nothing more than this book and Microsoft's HTML Help workshop (included on the CD that comes with the book), you will be able to create decent HTML Help files.
Note that this book does not explain the innards of the HTML Help system. Also, the HTML Help Workshop is free (it can also be downloaded from Microsoft's web site), and you really get what you pay for. If you only need to create an occasional, small help file, you'll be fine with this book.
But for serious work, you should really consider acquiring one of the many help authoring tools available. It will save you quite some frustration. Since version 5, my own HelpScribble supports HTML Help.

Microsoft Windows 95 Help Authoring Kit: Guide to Creating Help Files for Windows 95
with CD-ROM - 328 pages - Microsoft Press, December 1995
$ Buy "Microsoft Windows 95 Help Authoring Kit: Guide to Creating Help Files for Windows 95" from Amazon.com
£ Buy "Microsoft Windows 95 Help Authoring Kit: Guide to Creating Help Files for Windows 95" from Amazon.co.uk
This is Microsoft's official documentation to creating help files for Windows. It explains the syntax of the .RTF and .HPJ files you are to create with a word processor and how to use the help compiler to turn these source files into a distributable .HLP file.
While modern help authoring tools like HelpScribble make your life as a help author a lot easier by generating the .HPJ and .RTF files with their confusing syntax for you, professional help writers will still find this resource kit interesting. It offers complete descriptions of all the WinHelp macros, which you cannot do without if you want to create powerful help files. It may also help you to make better use of your the help authoring tool you use since most of the restrictions imposed by that tool are probably there because the WinHelp standard imposes them.
You can use the info in this kit for creating help for Windows 3.1 and NT 3.5 as well, since the features new in WinHelp 4 (Win95 and NT4) are clearly marked as new.

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