Preparing Your Manuscript for Submission

"I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork."

Most authors share Peter De Vries's love/hate relationship with his craft. It's typical of anyone who has ever sat at a keyboard, wearily pounding out yet another draft of a work eternally in progress, or preparing a clean copy of an unsold manuscript that has grown dog-eared and creased from round-trip journeys to publishing houses. However, as with any other profession, there are tricks to the writing game, strategies that can reduce your labor and increase your chances for success.

How can you convince the inscrutable stranger who receives your submission that it is worth time, attention, and--above all--money? The answer is threefold. Editors give their most serious attention to material that is:

* Well written and original
* Appropriate to their publishing needs
* Professionally presented

The following manuscript preparation guidelines will help you prepare your text for publishing once the first two requirements above are met and your manuscript is accepted for publication. The entire book production sequence--editing, design, page layout--goes more smoothly when the original manuscript is in good shape. For a manuscript prepared on a computer, we will need a printout and a copy of the file on disk. We will need to know which word processing software you used and in what format the files were saved, most of which are readily translatable to the Macintosh/Microsoft Word platform we use. If you use a typewriter, we will want one complete copy of the manuscript, either the original or a good photocopy.

Preparing the Text

* Do not forget to use your software program's spell-checker and/or consult a dictionary. Our standard dictionary is Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th edition.

* Prepare a style sheet to include with your manuscript. A style sheet is an alphabetized list of unusual names, spellings, capitalizations, or abbreviations used in your text--that is, any that an editor will not find in a standard dictionary, or that differ by choice from standard spelling.

* Make sure your manuscript conforms to the guidelines in The Chicago Manual of Style (14th edition), which is our style bible at Down East Books and Countrysport Press. Pay special attention to these common trouble areas: abbreviations, compound words, capitalization, and the treatment of numbers. The manual will also show you the right way to set up such elements as an index and/or bibliography.

* Avoid cross-references whenever possible; in a well-organized text, they are seldom necessary. When cross-references must be included, make a list showing exact locations--chapter number and manuscript page--for each pair. Cross-references are most common in cookbooks (e.g., "see Roast Pheasant and Wild Rice, p. XX") and guidebooks (e.g., "see map on page X").

* In a similar vein, delete references by position to illustrations, charts, and photos (e.g., "the photo below," "the drawing on the next page"). In the final book layout, those relative positions are likely to change. Instead, refer to illustrations either by number (e.g., "Figure 7") or by description (e.g., "the photo of Thomas Hall shows . . .").

* Use good-quality plain white paper. If your printer uses pin-fed paper, please separate the pages, removing the perforated strips along the edges. If you're working on a typewriter, don't use erasable papers, which smudge easily. We'd rather see a neat handwritten or whited-out and retyped correction than a line smeared into illegibility.

* Use only a standard, easy-to-read typeface; no fancy script please, or multiple typefaces. Make sure there's a good cartridge or ribbon in your printer or typewriter and, if using a typewriter, make sure it is clean, with no letters filled in with gunk. Keep formatting of text to a minimum, and do not type anything, including heads, in all caps.

* Leave at least an inch margin on all four sides of the paper. The book title should be on a separate page, and chapter titles should be typed with extra space above and below to leave room for the book designer's instructions.

* Type or print out everything double-spaced--no exceptions to this rule! (The computer file itself, however, need not be double-spaced.)

* Don't put corrections or added text on the backs of pages. Either print out the affected pages again, or, if using a typewriter, insert the new copy by cutting and taping (neatly, of course, and with all pages still measuring 8-1/2 by 11 inches).

* Number the manuscript straight through from beginning to end rather than starting each chapter with page 1. Hand numbering is okay; just be sure it's neat and dark enough and not too close to the edge of the paper to be photocopied.

* Any footnotes or chapter notes and captions should be typed separately from the rest of the text. Captions should match up with the illustrations or photos, and their approximate placement should be marked in colored ink in the margins of the relevant text pages.

* Include a cover memo specifying all the components of your manuscript and listing any items that are still to come.

Preparing Illustrations

We will need to discuss the art program (if any) with you before the illustrations are begun, but here are our general guidelines:

* Drawings should be done on good-quality paper. Use the same stock for all art if possible. Use white paper rather than ivory or some other color.

* Ink is preferable to pencil for illustrations.

* Provide originals rather than photocopies whenever possible.

* For images that will be printed as black and white, we prefer black and white photos to color whenever possible. Send good-quality glossy prints, not negatives.

* For color photos, original transparencies are best; glossy prints are second best. Do not send color negatives.

* Package photographs and artwork separately, not interleaved with text pages. Make sure that these items are protected by appropriate packaging to prevent their becoming bent, dirtied, torn, or damaged by weather.

* Number all illustrations in sequence. For most books, a simple 1 through XX numbering sequence is fine. For more complex books with many illustrations, a chapter-by-chapter numbering system works better: Chapter 1's illustrations would be marked 1-1, 1-2, 1-3; Chapter 2's marked 2-1, 2-2, 2-3, etc. If your book will include both artwork and photographs, it is best to number the latter separately: Photo 1, Photo 2, Photo 3, etc.

* Label drawings in pencil in one corner, front or back. Label slides on the slide mount and photographic prints on the back. (Using numbered stick-on labels applied to the backs of the photos prevents damage to the art from the pressure of a pencil.) On photos, too, use pencil. If you must use ink or if the photos are already marked in ink, be sure to cover the ink completely with transparent tape. This is critical! We have seen photos defaced when ink--especially from felt-tip markers--rubbed off from the back of one photo onto the front of another.

* If your book includes art or photos generated by others or taken from other publications, be sure to get permissions, if needed, and pay any required fees. Add complete and correct information for credit lines: Sometimes artists, photographers, or publishers only want a credit line, but other times they require that we print a copyright notice and/or use specific wording.

Notes for Children's Book Authors

* As always, double-space, no matter how short the story, and present text and any illustration suggestions separately. With children's books as with adult titles, we usually prefer to select the illustrator, but if you are an accomplished artist or want to suggest a particular artist to illustrate your work, enclose some sample artwork with the manuscript.

* Avoid the temptation to moralize. Character-building themes (e.g., "honesty is the best policy") are better shown by example than stated.

* Indicate the age level your story is written to reach. If you're unsure, consult with a teacher or librarian who knows children's literature. The most common problem we see in this regard is unrealistic age-level recommendations, such as "three to ten."

Notes for Cookbook Authors

Cookbook manuscripts can be particularly difficult to prepare well because they involve so much detail. For the sake of both publisher and consumer, your careful attention to such details early on will ensure a better book. (Some of these tips may appear so obvious as to not need enumeration, but this list was compiled as a result of our past experiences with cookbook manuscripts.)

* Type only one recipe to a page, unless they are very short. Type the recipe titles in uppercase and lowercase, not in all capital letters. Leave a line space between the title and the main body of the recipe.

* Double-space everything, as you would for any manuscript.

* Type in one column; don't spend time arranging the ingredients list into two columns, for example.

* Be consistent about your use of abbreviations, preferably using those found in the "Abbreviations" section of Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th edition (e.g., tsp. for teaspoon, t. for tablespoon, c. for cup). Pick one style and stick with it, and add abbreviations to the style sheet you include with your manuscript.

* Be as specific as possible about quantities and preparation times. Avoid using such phrases as "a dash" or "a pinch" or "until done" without specifying what that means.

* List the ingredients in the order they are used. Describe all ingredients at the beginning of the recipe; don't add another (a sauce, for example) later on in the directions.

* Include with the manuscript a chapter-by-chapter list of all recipe titles.

* Group your recipes logically within chapters.

* Make sure that you have not included duplicate recipes under slightly different names.

* Check, double-check, and recheck all recipes for accuracy and completeness. Make sure that cooking temperatures, preparation times, measurements, and processes are correct or thoroughly described. Check that each recipe lists the number of servings it yields. Remember that you are writing your instructions for someone who has never before used these recipes.