Overview
An editorial style guide builder helps a managing editor turn scattered house rules into one usable production QA guide. This playbook installs an editorial style guide and terminology checklist for formatting, terminology, claims, citations, and review checks, so writers and editors stop debating the same details on every draft.
It is a focused extension of a brand voice guide. Voice guidance says how the brand should sound; this playbook says how publishable content should be checked before it goes live.
Why you should make editorial rules reviewable
Editorial style gets expensive when it lives in comments, Slack threads, and the memory of one careful editor. The cost is not just commas. It is inconsistent product names, unsupported claims, weak citations, and review steps that change depending on who touched the draft last.
Teams often borrow from known references like the AP Stylebook for mechanics, but marketing content usually needs house rules too: product terminology, proof standards, link policy, claim review, and channel-specific exceptions.
That proof layer matters. The FTC says advertisers need a reasonable basis for objective claims in its advertising substantiation policy statement, which is exactly the kind of rule editors need visible before a landing page, article, or sales asset ships.
Run this playbook when the same editorial questions keep coming back, before a content program scales, after a rebrand, or when claim and citation review needs a cleaner handoff.
Step-by-step
- 1Confirm the brand or product, content channels, existing brand voice or messaging sources, house style preferences, and any claim or citation rules that should shape the guide.
- 2Review source material for enforceable editorial decisions, separating approved rules from observed patterns, inferred defaults, and conflicts that still need human approval.
- 3Build or update the editorial style guide with practical standards for formatting, grammar and mechanics, terminology, claims and proof, citations, links, accessibility-minded copy checks, and reviewer workflow.
- 4Populate the terminology checklist with preferred terms, discouraged terms, approved usage, source notes, owner, status, review requirement, and last review date.
- 5Flag unresolved gaps, especially legal, regulated, pricing, testimonial, comparative, trademark, or customer-proof rules that should not be treated as final without approval.
- 6Reuse the same guide and checklist on future manual or monthly reviews, updating rules in place so the editorial standard becomes more reliable over time.
Frequently asked questions
Is this the same as a brand voice guide?
No. A brand voice guide defines how the brand sounds. This playbook covers production QA rules: formatting, terminology, claims, citations, links, and review checks.
Does it replace legal or compliance review?
No. It helps editors mark sensitive claims and proof gaps before review. Legal, compliance, trademark, pricing, testimonials, and regulated claims still need the right human owner.
What if we do not have an existing style guide?
Juno can start with conservative defaults, available brand context, and visible assumptions. The first version is still useful because it captures open decisions instead of letting them disappear into draft comments.
How often should we review it?
Monthly works well for active content teams, especially when product names, campaigns, offers, or claim standards change often. Run once by default, with monthly review only when selected.