Manuscript Preparation

Preparing the manuscript package

The manuscript package must be complete when you submit it. An incomplete package will delay acceptance and will likely cause delays in the entire production process.

Manuscript versus manuscript package

The manuscript comprises the elements listed below, although not every item will be needed for every book:

Title page
Dedication
Contents
List of contributors
List of illustrations (figures)
List of tables
List of abbreviations
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Text
Appendices
Footnotes or endnotes
Glossary
Bibliography
List of index entries

The manuscript package comprises the manuscript and all other elements necessary for us to publish your book, including:

Artwork (figures)
Figure captions
Tables, plus titles
Permission forms
Text disks (including printouts of disk directories and format information)
Artwork disks (including printouts of disk directories and format information)
Companion disk (and printout of disk directory), if one will be packaged with your book
Updated author questionnaire
Style sheet for use in copy editing and proofreading with proper spellings of technical words and terms, unusual-looking acronyms, uncommon units of measure, etc.

Some of these elements might not be essential to your book; check with your editor if you are uncertain.

More on the manuscript

The manuscript should be word-processed and then printed double-spaced on 8½ × 11-inch, good-quality white paper. Leave at least 1 inch of margin space on all four sides of the text for editing and typemarking. Please use the same typeface throughout. More sophisticated authors may type directly into our Microsoft Word template, which is available for download.

To repeat, all copy, including extracts, lists, references, and tables, must be double-spaced, on one side of the page only. A manuscript that is single-spaced will be returned for reoutput. Handwrittens copy is unacceptable. Indicate new paragraphs by indenting five spaces using a tab stop; do not skip lines between paragraphs.

Do not incorporate figures, photocopies of figures, or figure captions into the text; keep your art package separate. (We must emphasize this point: The text and figures must be submitted as separate entities.)

Number your manuscript pages consecutively either from 1 to the end of the manuscript or by chapter. If you number by chapter, use a double-numbering system: the chapter number followed by a hyphen and the page number.

Submit two clean, readable copies of the manuscript, and keep a copy for reference.

Do not justify the right side of the manuscript. Do not end a line with a hyphen - turn off the hyphenation feature of your word processor.

Avoid using bold or italics in your manuscript; let emphasis come from the words you select. You manuscript will be edited by a copy editor who will indicate appropriate usage of different typefaces as needed.

If you are writing a technical book that includes computer program listings or commands, refer to the section on text figures in the Art Preparation section of this site.

Manuscripts printed on continuous-feed paper must be separated at the perforations before submission; check that each page is numbered and that copy has not been cut off or rendered illegible at the perforations.

You must also submit your completed manuscript on disk. Include a directory printout for each disk.

If your manuscript will require special characters that are not on a standard keyboard, contact your editor for instructions on how to type them. A few minutes' discussion up front can save us time and effort during editing and production.

Author Questionnaire

The author questionnaire is essential to the successful publication, promotion, and sale of a book, and thorough, thoughtful answers are much appreciated. Advertising and publicity copy, as well as the copy for the cover or jacket of your book, is derived from the questionnaire. Coauthored volumes require only one questionnaire, but each author should provide a short biography or curriculum vitae (C.V. or resume). If changes occur before publication of a book, such as a change in the content, the market, or an author biography, an updated questionnaire should be submitted to ensure that we have the most current information.

Contact your editor if you need another copy of the author questionnaire.

Nine important things to remember

Keeping the items in the following list in mind will help you prepapre a better manuscript package and thus facilitate the acceptance process.

Submit your manuscript double-spaced, not handwritten or single-spaced. Tear continuous-feed printouts into individual sheets.
Submit the art program separate from the text manuscript. Remember that all figure captions must appear together on double-spaced pages, separate from the text.
Obtain permission to use all material garnered from outside sources. Request the permission as soon as you can.
Keep a close eye on manuscript length as you write. If you begin to exceed or fall short of the contracted length, make adjustments to get back on track or call your editor to discuss the matter.
Remember that all artwork, including line art and photographs, must be legible and of good quality. Supply originals, not photocopies.
Prepare your Contents and Preface and/or Introduction; these sell more books than any other individual component. The Contents should list many, if not all, headings and subheadings and must be double-spaced.
Refer to the latest edition of the University of Chicago's Manual of Style for guidance on style, and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary for proper spellings and divisions of words. All writers, whether novice or veteran, should read Strunk and White's Elements of Style.
Monitor your progress and keep your editor apprised. Remember that meeting your contracted delivery date is important to the successful and timely publication of your book.
Keep a copy of everything you submit (not just the text manuscript).

See also our manuscript submission checklist.