Manuscript Preparation
Adapted in part from Preparing Your Electronic Manuscript (Association of American University Presses).
Our contract provides that you will deliver to the Press one hard copy of your manuscript along with the electronic files from which it was printed. Observing the following guidelines while preparing your manuscript can save valuable time and effort during the publishing process and help prevent costly errors.
The manuscript (hard copy) and the electronic files that you send to the Press must be identical in every particular. Thus, once you have printed out the final manuscript, do not make any further corrections to the electronic files.
If possible, prepare your manuscript on the same system—both hardware and software—from start to finish. When sending electronic files, note the operating system and the word processing software you have used (including version numbers). Leave your files in the format in which they were produced; we can convert most file formats.
Create a new file for each chapter or other major subdivision of the book. Front matter, bibliography, and other apparatus should be in separate files. Do not put the entire manuscript into one enormous file. On the disks you send to the Press, do not include any files other than those of the final manuscript.
Name files clearly and sequentially; e.g., lastname_ch1.doc, lastname_ch2.doc, etc.
All pages of the manuscript must be numbered. Page numbering by chapter is generally preferable, but be sure to indicate the chapter number on each page; e.g., pages 1-1, 1-2, 2-1, 2-2, etc.
Use the endnote function of your word processing software. Print endnotes beginning on a separate page after the end of the text (i.e., insert a page break at the end of the text). Do not use footnotes, regardless whether your book will be printed with footnotes. Note reference numbers in the text should be superscript numbers.
When using your word processor's automatic word count function, be certain that endnotes are included in the total. The word count in your contract refers to text, notes, bibliography, and all other material.
Although most word processing software now incorporates desktop publishing functions that enable you to produce an elaborate or fancy printout, remember that the typeset book will look quite different from your manuscript hard copy. The Press is interested in using your electronic files only to avoid re-keyboarding the manuscript and, in general, the plainer the printout, the easier it will be to edit and design your book.
Eliminate all formatting that is not essential to your manuscript. Do not use right-hand justification. Do not use font changes other than italics or underlining. (We will print underlined text as italics unless otherwise instructed.) Do not use styles, if your word processing software has this function. Your word processor's functions for superscripts and subscripts may be used.
Use margins of at least one inch on all sides of the page.
Do not put "soft" hyphens at the ends of lines; i.e., do not break words. Also, turn off the automatic hyphenation feature on your word processing software. The only hyphens that should occur in your manuscript should be in hyphenated compound words.
Double-space the entire manuscript, including within notes, extracts, and bibliography. But do not put any extra spaces between paragraphs or between notes or bibliographical entries. Do use one extra hard return above subheads and above and below block quotes (extracts). Otherwise, introduce extra vertical space only where extra space is to appear in the book to indicate a change of topic or abrupt break in the discussion.
Use the tab key, not the space bar or your word processor's indent function, to indent paragraphs.
Use one space after colons and after periods at the ends of sentences.
When typing extracts, epigraphs, etc., align the elements at the left margin. Your book's designer will determine appropriate indents to use in the printed book.
For block quotes of verse, align each line on the manuscript hard copy exactly as you want it to appear in the printed book, showing any special indents.
Use two hyphens for a dash, with no space before, between, or after the hyphens (--). Use six hyphens to indicate the repetition of an author's name in a bibliography (------).
All hyperlinks and field codes must be removed from the files before you submit them to the Press. Your book will not be edited or typeset using files with these features.
Caps and lower case—not all caps—should be used for all subheads, chapter titles, and other elements of your manuscript that will eventually be "display type." Never use all caps for authors' names in bibliographies or notes. Words typed in all caps must be re-keyboarded, and errors can easily be introduced in this way. Align display elements at the left margin.
Hard returns (starting a new line by using the enter key) should be used where you want a new line to appear in the printed book. Thus, they should never occur within a paragraph, but only at the ends of paragraphs and at the ends of items in lists and lines of poetry or other material that must be reproduced line for line.
Never use letters for numbers—or vice versa; i.e., don't type the lowercase "L" for the number one or the letter "O" for zero.
If there are tables in your manuscript, make certain you have an accurate printout of them so the typesetter can easily follow the format. Use tabs, not hard spaces, to define columns, and avoid tables with more than 10 columns because of the difficulty in accommodating them on the printed page. Tables should be saved in separate files and each printed on a separate page, with their placement indicated in the text (e.g., "<TABLE 5.2 ABOUT HERE>") following the paragraph in which the table is mentioned. Do not interrupt a paragraph with a placement instruction.
Indicate placement of illustrations in the text ("<FIGURE 3.1 ABOUT HERE>") following the paragraph in which the illustration is mentioned. Do not interrupt a paragraph with a placement instruction. All illustrations must be numbered. If you explicitly cite one illustration by number in the text, then you must mention all illustrations by number.
Artwork must be delivered according to the art preparation guidelines provided. Artwork delivered in electronic form should be saved in separate files and must be printed separately from the text. Do not embed art in your text files.
If your manuscript has accented letters or special characters that are not available on your computer, provide a list of them and indicate how you have marked them on the hard copies and indicated them on the disk. If possible, bring these special characters to your editor's attention in advance.
For questions of style, including the formatting of notes and references, please consult the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition. If any questions remain, please contact your editor.
