Please note that while you are correct in that the proper form of the verb “to be” when used with the plural “tips” is “are” it is important to note both the conversational style and informal tone of this article.

In this case, while the use of the contraction “here’s” may not be grammatically correct, its use is a stylistic decision intended to create a conversational tone.

And while yes, the use of contractions is frowned upon in formal writing, you can see that the informal use of the second person throughout the article sets an informal tone for the piece.

The style and tone of a written piece are of great importance. Consideration for both the target audience (or “viewer”) and the format of the piece need to be considered when developing the tone of a written work.

Please don’t confuse editorial “avoidance” with an editorial decision.

Finally, it is important to note that these articles are not intended to provide grammatical directions or instructions. They are provided to help others with a specific writing process. And while grammar is an important part of the writing process, you will not find “proper grammatical directions” in any of these articles. I’ll leave that to Strunk & White.

I would like to bring to your attention that your paragraph heading, “Here’s a few tips to make your white paper easier to read” should be edited to “Here’re a few tips to make your white paper easier to read” as you are referring to a plural word “tips,” not the singular “tip.”

You should also consider that the use of contractions is frowned on in formal writing. As both grammatical errors I now have noted refer to misused contractions, maybe you should avoid them altogether. The correct heading should be “Here are a few tips to make your white paper easier to read.”

When such common errors are included in your articles, and remain there for over a year, I am left with an uncomfortable feeling that I should be skeptical of the accuracy of your instructions. I often make grammatical errors. But I am not providing instructions such as those contained in these articles.

I thought Feedburner offered email subscriptions in the feed link at the top. Unless I’m missing something, it appears that they dropped that feature when they switched to Google.

I’ve added a subscription box in the side bar for email blog updates through Feedburner.

Hope it helps,

Jim

Nice article! Would you please consider enabling email notification with Feedburner?

Mike