Editing Federal Writers' Project (section)

== American Guide Series and other publications ==
{{main|American Guide Series}}
[[Image:Skiing in the East LCCN98514616.jpg|thumb|upright=1|Produced by the Federal Writers' Project, the American Guide Series of books presented American history, geography, and culture, and stimulated travel to bolster the economy during the [[Great Depression]].]]
The [[American Guide Series|''American Guide'' Series]], the most well-known of FWP's publications, consisted of guides to the then 48 states, the [[Alaska]] Territory, [[Puerto Rico]], and [[Washington, D.C.]] The books were written and compiled by writers from individual states and territories, and edited by Alsberg and his staff in Washington, D.C. The format was generally uniform: each guide included detailed histories of the state or territory, with descriptions of every city and town, automobile travel routes, photographs, maps, and chapters on natural resources, culture, and geography. The inclusion of essays about the various cultures of people living in the states, including immigrants and African Americans, was unprecedented. City books, such as ''The New York City Guide'', were also published as part of the series. Some full-length books are available online at the Internet Archive.

The FWP also published another series, ''Life In America'', and numerous individual titles.  Many FWP books were bestsellers, including ''New England Hurricane: A Factual, Pictorial Record'', a rapidly produced volume about the devastation wreaked by the [[1938 New England hurricane]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Fox |first=Daniel M. |date=1961 |title=The Achievement of the Federal Writers' Project |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2710508 |journal=American Quarterly |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=3–19 |doi=10.2307/2710508 |jstor=2710508 |issn=0003-0678|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Others, such as ''Cape Cod Pilot'', written by author [[Josef Berger (speechwriter)|Josef Berger]] using the pseudonym Jeremiah Digges, received critical acclaim.<ref name=":1" />

In each state, a Writers' Project non-relief staff of editors was formed, along with a much larger group of field workers drawn from local unemployment rolls. The people hired came from a variety of backgrounds, ranging from former newspaper workers to [[White-collar worker|white-collar]] and [[blue-collar workers]] without writing or editing experience.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}