Stuck in a rut with startup vs. start-up vs. start up

This appears to be one of those words in flux, as different spellings and punctuation rules are followed by different reputable sources.

Start-up works as a noun (a start-up business), verb (“Start-up the car!”), and adjective (start-up costs), according to merriam-webster.com. The Chicago Manual of Style, which is commonly used in book publishing, agrees.

The Associated Press Stylebook, however, dispenses with the hyphen. So almost all American newspapers and magazines use startup.

And while both oxforddictionaries.com and dictionary.cambridge.org list start-up, they also acknowledge that startup is an acceptable alternative spelling.

No one, however, gives start up as acceptable.

Bottom line: Stick with start-up unless you know the publishing house handling your manuscript uses Associated Press style, then go with startup.

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My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past decade, I’ve helped more than 300 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the 7 Minutes a Day… writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.