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STRUCTURE
OF YOUR MANUSCRIPT
Please present your manuscript in a way that instructs
us about structure and layout, as well as communicating
your message. It is actually unhelpful
to us to receive a manuscript whose pages have been
assembled to look like those of a finished book. Instead,
structure and layout is best described to us by marking
on the manuscript to clearly identify and distinguish
between straight (‘normal’) text, headings
(e.g. for new chapters, and any sub-headings within
chapters in an order of importance), extracts of quoted
matter, and lists.
Please present your text
on disk if possible
This is best for us as a Microsoft Word file on a 3-and-a-half-inch
floppy disk (or CD) accompanied by a printout made from
the same file supplied.
Save your text in a single file if the content is straight
text, up to 100,000 words. For text which is more complex,
or which exceeds 100,000 words, please save the whole
in a series of smaller files; it is best to divide the
text at natural breaks such as parts or chapters. If
your text includes diagrams, complex tables, or illustrations/photos
to appear within the text flow of typeset pages (as
opposed to in a separate plate section), please save
such items in separate files – i.e. not integrated
with the text file(s) which could otherwise be big and
awkward to manipulate.
Name your file(s) to indicate content, e.g. ‘Chs01-05.doc’,
or ‘Complete text’. Label your disk with
the title of the book and summarise the content e.g.
‘All chapters’, ‘Tables’, etc.
If you are working with proprietary software other than
MS Word please supply a copy of your file(s) saved in
‘rich-text format’ (rtf), or ‘plain
text’ format, ensuring that you do not make any
change to a proprietary software file without making
the same change to the corresponding rich- or plain-text
file. Also, kindly note that we can only receive files
prepared on PC/Windows or Macintosh operating systems.
While ensuring that we receive all the files we will
need for your book, please ensure that we do not receive
any files that we do not
need as this only causes confusion.
Please provide a hard-copy
(paper) printout
Whether or not you are supplying your text on disk,
we do need to receive a hard copy printout of the text.
If you are supplying the text on disk, the printout
needs to be made from the same file that you send us
– this is very important, as we cannot be held
responsible for having typeset the ‘wrong’
version of the text if there is more than one!
Please print in black (solid) on white A4-size paper,
using one side only of each sheet, allowing margins
of at least one inch (25 mm) at the top and sides, and
one-and-a-half inches (38 mm) at the bottom. Pages should
be presented in the order that the text is to be read,
and numbered consecutively throughout.
Start each new chapter on a fresh sheet. Keep any headings
within chapters brief and do not use full stops at the
end. If you employ a hierarchy of sub-headings try to
limit these to two levels, or three at most. Mark headings
in such a way as to identify the relative importance
of each one, e.g. A, B, so the typesetter can format
them correctly without having to read the text.
Type should be double-line spaced, and of the same size
and in a readable font throughout (e.g. 12 point Times
Roman). The first line of every new paragraph must be
indented. Please don’t set paragraphs to be justified,
and don’t use hyphenation unless the sense requires
it.
If you require a section break or pause between groups
of paragraphs, please insert an empty line space and
mark it, ‘[break]’ or ‘[pause]’.
Other text features including quotations, displayed
extracts, lists (bulleted or numbered), note-numbers,
instructions about placement of separate tables, diagrams
or illustrations, need to be clearly identified. It
is usually a good idea to do this by hand in the margin,
as you would any hierarchy of headings (see above);
but do make it clear by encircling such notes that these
are instructions not additional text!
A note about artwork
Try to consider how the scale of any artwork will relate
to the proportions of the finished page. The text area
of a printed book will be smaller than that on a page
of A4 and the proportions are rarely the same.
Always supply originals of illustrations or photographs
separately and well protected. If you wish to supply
these on disk, please contact
us to discuss suitable file formats.
Finally, bundle everything together,
in order, with rubber bands – do not use staples
or clips.
Please keep a copy of
everything you send us,
and in the same form that you send it to us (e.g. files
on disk and printout). Do
not send us the only copy of your final manuscript. |
