I recently announced that I am finishing a new book about hyphenation.

I searched far and wide for a book like this one, to no avail, so I decided to write my own!

Actually, the book is almost done, but I am also working on some bonuses to accompany the book.

You see, I found that I had so much to say that I could not fit it all in one book, but I want you to have it all.

Here is an excerpt from the opening section of my upcoming book about hyphenation.

I hope that you enjoy it.

Typographically speaking, a hyphen is different than a dash, of which there are several:

• a figure dash (U+2012), which has the same width as a digit in typefaces with equal-width digits, commonly is used within telephone numbers (e.g., “555‒1212”), and is represented in HTML with the numeric form “‒”;
• an en dash (U+2013), which typically has the width of the letter “n”, commonly is used in ranges (e.g., “5–7 years”), and is represented in HTML with the numeric form “–” or as the entity “–”;
• an em dash (U+2014), which typically has the width of the letter “m”, commonly is used to identify a parenthetical thought, and is represented in HTML with the numeric form “—” or as the entity “—”;
• a quotation dash (U+2015), which is used for introducing quoted text, is used in some languages to print dialogue, and is represented in HTML with the numeric form “―”.

If you enjoyed this informative discussion about dashes, then you will enjoy my new book. Stay tuned!

Oh, and by the way: I highly recommend that you use, as appropriate, the above HTML codes in your own Web authoring. They will “class up” the text on your Web pages!

UPDATE: My How to Use Hyphens book is now available in softcover and several eBook editions. Learn more here!