This volume was prepared in order to meet the demand for a guide, in English, for writers and editors working in the Spanish language. Although many fine grammars and reference works exist for the study and use of Spanish, none addresses the sorts of issues typically associated with a style manual designed for preparing manuscripts and other text for publication. The style manuals that do exist, such as those of the Modern Language Association and the University of Chicago, attempt to address language-specific issues. However, they are sketchy on some crucial points and in error--at least in terms of prevalent usage--on others. To be sure, Spanish, as an international language, presents a diversity of norms. Not only does it have a monolingual base in approximately twenty countries, but it is extensively used in the United States and in other English-speaking countries. Often usage in the latter cases suffers an interference from English that, rather than maintaining a uniformity of style imposed by English, may result in contradictory and inconsistent practices.

The goal of this manual, then, is to suggest uniformities in such humdrum details as spelling and capitalization, as well as to address important categories of grammatical and stylistic usage where it might be helpful for users to have an international norm or, in some cases, reference to a diversity of norms. Our goal is not to impose any particular brand of Spanish; rather, it is to appeal to the need for consistency of usage and to suggest some practices that may serve to achieve it.