If you're editing or writing in Microsoft Word, you need to understand Word’s advanced search features. These features are extremely powerful, but they’re also virtually undocumented; most explanations of their use have been limited to a simple table of wildcards. My new book, Wildcard Cookbook for Microsoft Word, explains in detail how you can use these powerful tools to blaze through repetitive problems that would take hours to correct by hand. It covers:
- Using Word’s find and replace options (yes, all of them—including the hidden ones).
- Finding and replacing with Word’s built-in codes (for dashes, page breaks, and much more).
- Finding and replacing with numeric character codes (ASCII, ANSI, and Unicode—when regular letters and numbers aren't enough).
- Finding and replacing with wildcards, including wildcard ranges, wildcard groups, and the powerful “Find What Expression” wildcard. (This is the good stuff, the real meat of this book.)
The book explains all aspects of finding and replacing in Microsoft Word, with numerous examples of wildcards used to fix real-world documents, wildcard tips and techniques from readers of Editorium Update newsletter, a reference section for ease of use, and a thorough index.
Although I write and sell Microsoft Word macros for a living, the tools I depend on most are Word's advanced find and replace features. Learning to use these tools takes time and effort, but the payoff is huge. I hope this book will help you use these tools to streamline your work, save time, and make more money!
Daniel Heuman, CEO and founder of Intelligent Editing, sent me the following unsolicited comment:
This. Is. Amazing. What a brilliant, brilliant idea! I've actually been directing people to your wildcard freebie page lately. But this is so much better! The world has needed this book for a while!
Thank you, Daniel! The book is now available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and other online retailers.
Resources
Wildcard Cookbook for Microsoft Word is a fairly small (but value-packed) book (114 pages, 5.5 by 8.5 inches). My big book, Microsoft Word for Publishing Professionals (632 pages, 7 by 10 inches) is now available as a free download from Intelligent Editing. All you need to do is sign up for Daniel Heuman's free newsletter, which covers a wide range of topics and provides free tips for authors and editors. I subscribe, and I think you should too. When you do, you'll get Microsoft Word for Publishing Professionals as a hyperlinked, searchable PDF, perfect for easy reference in handling those tough Microsoft Word problems.
Note: The PDF includes a secret special offer right after the front cover. I won't tell you what it is; you'll need to find out for yourself. But I think you'll like it!
