Supervising the publication of hundreds of titles a year—The New York Times describes Dreyer's role as "style-arbiter-of-last-resort"—he works with novelist Elizabeth Strout as the sole author he continues to copy-edit himself.

[8] Dreyer's book began as a revision of an internal memo to advise copy editors and proofreaders at Random House.

Dreyer's English debuted at number nine on The New York Times bestseller list for "Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous"[10] and received enthusiastic reviews.

[11][12] In The New Yorker, Katy Waldman writes that "Dreyer beckons readers by showing that his rules make prose pleasurable...The author’s delight in his tool kit is palpable.

"[13] In Paste, Frannie Jackson recommends the book as "invaluable to everyone who wants to shore up their writing skills and an utter treat for anyone who simply revels in language.