Publishing Questions Answered

Chapter Four: Preparing It

I’ve written my first draft and am just about to start polishing the manuscript and preparing it for submission to literary agents or publishers. What do I do in this phase?

A book manuscript normally requires considerable additional work after it has been initially drafted and before it is ready to submit for literary agent or publisher consideration. In reviewing your work, there are many word usage checks you can make yourself to lift your manuscript to publishable quality. You may also wonder if you should engage the services of a professional editor and, if so, what kind of editor you need. And once the content of the manuscript is as polished as you can make it, you will still need to format it in a way that is acceptable to those you are submitting it to. This chapter responds to those general questions and also provides discussion on some miscellaneous questions that pop up concerning content issues while preparing manuscripts for submission to agents and publishers.

Self-Review: Questions

Although all publishers have their own style preferences, there are a few basic rules book publishers tend to follow in the books they publish, and there also are a few points in use of English in writing that are habitual "sticking points" for most writers. By becoming aware of these basic standards and pitfalls, a prospective book author can enhance the presentation of his/her manuscript and can correct basic style problems in their work. When they do so, the editor(s) for the book will be freed from the distraction of minor problems in the manuscript and will be able to see through to and help correct more basic issues with the manuscript.

What are the style authority guidelines for article and book publishing?

Most U.S. publishers generally follow the Chicago Manual of Style (CMS), now in its fifteenth edition, for books and periodicals in the humanities; the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (known as the APA manual), now in its fifth edition, for books and periodicals in the sciences; and The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law (known as the AP manual) for news agency and newspaper copy. Many publishers do not like the CMS rules for rendering numbers, though (numbers below 100 written out in most cases), and often follow the APA rules (numbers below 10 written out in most cases) even for humanities publications. Scholarly publishers occasionally use the writing manual of the Modern Language Association, the MLA Style Manual, now in its second edition, which is a more comprehensive version of MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers commonly used by university students. Some U.S. government publications use A Manual of Style, which is published by the U.S. Government Printing Office and which is commonly called the GPO Manual. Many book publishers in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand also use the Chicago Manual of Style, more publishers in those countries probably prefer the Oxford Guide to Style. An annotated list of style and usage guides can be found in the Resources section of chapter 2, "Writing It."

What should be used as an authority for spelling and hyphenation?

For proper spelling and hyphenation, you should make liberal use of a dictionary (most U.S. publishers prefer Merriam-Webster’s most recent collegiate edition–currently the eleventh; U.K. publishers tend to prefer the Oxford Dictionary) in addition to your computer’s word processing spell-check system. However, computer program spell-check systems have a very limited vocabulary, at best; do not discriminate between different meanings for words spelled the same; will accept any correctly spelled word, even if that word is not the intended word for that context; and don’t work at 100 percent efficiency. Also (for no particular reason) those who created spell-check programs apparently didn’t always consult publisher-accepted dictionaries themselves before making their spelling decisions, especially for proper hyphenation. It’s always useful to have book publishing-specific writer’s aids at hand and to consult them often on word and grammar choices. What is of paramount importance is that words are spelled and hyphenated consistently across the manuscript—and in such a way as not to distract the reader.

Are there any common word usage pitfalls I can try to avoid in my manuscript to help my editor concentrate on more serious issues?

There are many habitual writers’ practices that either are clearly grammatically incorrect, even though commonly used, or do not match the presentation practices of most publishers. (There are some practices, like the use of serial commas, that may be optional in writing but that are usually uniformly rendered one way in published works.) It is helpful when writers have not fallen into these pitfalls, because although these problems usually are easy for editors to see and correct—since they crop up so frequently—when these nonconforming styles are not present, the editor can spend more time concentrating on other elements of the manuscript. Here are some common errors (in alphabetical order) to keep in mind (and to try to avoid) while you are writing:

Affect, effect: "Affect" is usually used as a verb, meaning "having an influence on." Its less-used noun form means "an emotion." "Effect" is most commonly used as a noun meaning "a result." Its verb form means, "to bring about or execute." If you "affect" something, you are likely to have an "effect" on it. When you use the word, you usually will be using the "affect" version.

Appositives: Novelists may be the world’s biggest promoters of bigamy through the habitual use of the construction "Tom’s wife Mildred went to market." If Tom only has one wife, the sentence should read, "Tom’s wife, Mildred, went to market." The sentence in this instance is nonrestrictive, meaning the name could be dropped and the meaning would still be clear. The sentence should read "Tom’s wife Mildred went to market" only if Tom has more than one wife and "Mildred" has to be included (ergo a restrictive sentence) for the meaning of the sentence (specifying which wife) to be clear.

Compound Sentence Clauses: Independent clauses with subjects and verbs are usually set off by commas, while dependent clauses (ones with only verbs) usually aren’t. It is precisely the presence or absence of such commas that unconsciously signals to the reader what sort of clause to expect next (and thus to smoothen their journey through your work).

Comprise, compose: Careful writers don’t use these terms as synonyms, because doing so will cause picky readers and editors apoplexy. The whole "comprises" the parts and the parts "compose" the whole. If you really want to see such readers and editors choke, use the verbose phrases "are comprised of" or "are composed of."

Due to: The only legitimate uses of "due to" are in the contexts of loan-sharking or the date you are supposed to turn in your term paper. In most cases in which you have the urge to use that phrase, you should be using "caused by," "because of," or "as a result of."

E.g.,/i.e.,: "E.g." is an abbreviation for "for example." "I.e." is an abbreviation for "that is." Many writers incorrectly think they are synonyms. Also, each term has a comma separating it from the clause it introduces: (i.e., she shot him with his own gun, not hers). Also, the abbreviations should only be used in parenthetical phrases and endnotes; the terms should be written out in the body text.

Endnote/Footnote and Bibliography Styles: There are several well-known and quite acceptable sets of rules for formatting endnote/footnote and bibliography citations, most commonly (and most usefully) the Documentation One style of the Chicago Manual of Style for humanities works, the APA Publications Manual for scientific works, and the MLA Handbook for academic works. Most writers use no known—or internally consistent—endnote/footnote style. As a result, publication processes tend to have to devote a greater proportion of their effort working with reformatting endnotes/footnotes (and making authors go back looking for missing information) than with book content. This doesn’t seem all that bright, when a nonfiction writer can easily find out how to create complete, consistent endnotes/footnotes from the beginning of the process and save project time and expense.

Etc.: "Etc." is an abbreviation for "and so forth." It should only be used as an abbreviation in parenthetical phrases and endnotes; the term should be written out in the body text. When it is used as an abbreviation, it concludes with a period.

Farther, further: "Farther" and "further" are actually interchangeable as adjectives, but so many people have come to think that they aren’t that you might as well make a distinction in your writing, so that people don’t point mockingly at you in their ignorance. "Farther" is thought to be restricted to meanings connected to distance, while "further" is thought to be restricted to meanings connected with addition.

Fewer, lesser: "Fewer" is used with countable units (e.g., people and distinct items: "fewer than five ballerinas and fewer than four kumquats"); "less" is used for spans of things (like time: "less than five nanoseconds.")

Foreign Words: Unfamiliar foreign words are set in italics; familiar foreign words are set in roman type. Deciding which is which can be as simple as looking in the dictionary. If the word is there, it’s a familiar foreign word (e.g., de facto, a priori, dacha, fait accompli, mea culpa, status quo).

Impact: If your car has hit a brick wall, you can use "impact" as a verb to describe your experience. If you use "impact" as anything but a noun in any other context, you have been writing memos for the Pentagon too long.

Insure, Ensure, Assure: When writers reach for one of these words, they almost always use "insure," and they almost always should have made another choice. "Insure" is only used for taking out an insurance policy. "Ensure," the most commonly meant variation of the words, means, "to make secure or certain." "Assure" is usually used in reference to a person, as in "setting the mind at rest."

Hopefully: Most word experts, which would include most editors in publishing, insist that "hopefully" cannot be used as it almost always is used: "Hopefully, we will survive until spring." They do not offer up very good substitutes for all instances where the writer would be encouraged to use the word, however. Whether or not they are right, if you use it, they will mark it out—so it’s best to try to write without using it.

Most Importantly: Whenever a book editor sees this phrase, the "ly" will be excised in one swift stroke. You might save editors (and readers) from being distracted by this by writing it "most important" in the first place.

Not Only/But Also: This is a "complete set" combination. Writers often leave out the "also," but the book editor won’t let it go without the "also."

On the Other Hand: The "On the one hand/on the other hand" construction is another complete set. Writers often use just the "on the other hand" part and send intelligent readers running back up the page looking for an "on the one hand" they missed. The isolated "on the other hand" should really be something else, such as "however," "conversely," or "in contrast."

Parallelism: Much editing time is spent in making clauses in series and such things as subheadings parallel (e.g., if you use a verb in one element of a series, every element of the series should use a verb, or vice versa). These also are among the hardest errors to see before the book is published, but the easiest for snickering readers to see afterward. Time spent going over your manuscript, checking on parallelism, is time well spent.

Personal Titles: Personal titles in apposition (e.g., U.S. president George Bush) are more often rendered incorrectly than they are rendered correctly. That’s because proper usage looks like it can’t be proper. This is the proper progression (and I’m using the U.S. president’s title to make a point that, if it’s right for this position, it’s right for all other positions, even—in U.S. publishing, at least—for British queen Elizabeth, or "the queen"): the president; U.S. president George Bush; president of the United States, George Bush; former president George Bush; President George Bush; President Bush.

Serial Comma: Use of a serial comma, or the comma before the "and" or "or" in a series (e.g., blue, green, and purple cows) has become optional in U.S. market word usage, and the trend is toward not using it. Conversely, the majority of U.S. publishers do use it. So, if you don’t know your publisher doesn’t use it, you’d best do so.

That/Which: There are convoluted rules on when "that" and "which" can be used for independent clauses (thus set off with a comma) and dependent clauses (thus not set off with a comma). Most publishers make it quite simple. If it’s a dependent clause, use "that"; if it’s an independent clause, use "which." Therefore, if you’ve written a "which" clause and not put a comma in front of it, you may have been grammatically correct, but most publishers will insert a comma or change the word to "that" (and they’ll also be grammatically correct in doing so).

Trademarked Names: Some company and product names are trademarked (e.g., Coca-Cola, Kleenex, Styrofoam, Band-Aid, Barnes & Noble, Kool-Aid). The myths have become established either that trademarked names can’t be legally used at all in creative writing or that they have to be rendered with a trademark sign on them. Neither of these assertions is true, but they do legally have to be rendered exactly as trademarked. For more information on this and to find out how to obtain a list of trademarked names, consult chapter 8, "Protecting It."

Troops: "Troops" means a unit of soldiers, not an individual soldier. (Oh, yes it does; go look it up in the dictionary.) Thus, it’s highly unlikely you would send 10,000 troops (units of multiple soldiers) into battle. You’d send 10,000 soldiers or combatants. You also, incidentally, wouldn’t be sending "servicemen," unless you were dealing with the army of a country so backward it doesn’t include woman in its armed forces.

Unclear Antecedents: In following up a reference to a formal noun (e.g., "Gertrude") with a pronoun (e.g., "she"), writers will often let another formal noun intrude between the antecedent and the pronoun (e.g., "Hector") that can be confused as intended as the antecedent. This is anathema for the writer, because the reader invariably will stop reading and backtrack to figure out where they went off track. Do what you can to keep your antecedents clear.

U.S./United States: "U.S." is the adjective; "United States" is the noun. They are not interchangeable.

Verb-Noun Agreement: Everyone knows that singular nouns require singular verbs (even when a prepositional phrase with a plural objects intercedes) and plural nouns require plural nouns. Wonder why writers fail to correctly match them so often.

Web site Citations: The use of sources found on the Internet as endnote citations has become very popular, and it is very new. It is so new that authors rarely provide enough information on Internet citations in the endnote references and invariably have to be sent back into belated research to find more information. (Incidentally, publishers will rarely do the footwork to ensure that full endnote and bibliography citations have been obtained. But they usually demand to have complete citations before publishing, because the content of these is connected to copyright requirements. The author usually has to do any necessary follow-up research.) What authors usually fail to provide is an access date, a date on which they can affirm that the material was, in fact, present on the Web site being cited. Since the content of Web sites is quite dynamic, there’s a good chance the material will no longer be there if a reader wishes to check out the source citation—and if it’s not there, suspicion builds that the author has just made up the supporting citation.

Word Capitalization: Writers are habitually cap happy and publishers aren’t. When in doubt, don’t.

Word Hyphenation: The rules for word hyphenation are very complex, and authors can be forgiven for not being experts on this. However, it’s hard to forgive them when whether or not the word they are using is hyphenated is very clearly explained in black and white in the dictionary and they still render it incorrectly. This happens an astonishingly percentage of the time.

Youths: Although it’s becoming a losing battle, the word "youth" has a perfectly good plural form: "youths." Thus, you don’t grammatically send twenty youth over the cliff in a bus, no matter how much these youths irritate you.

Editorial Help: Questions

Do I need to have my manuscript edited before submitting it to agents or publishers?

You really should have someone else edit your manuscript before submitting it for consideration by publishers. You are too close to what you have written to see all of the grammatical mistakes, typos, irrelevancies, and failed linking of concepts and plot. This need not be a professional copyeditor if your manuscript proves to be relatively issue free and if you can find a colleague or acquaintance you feel is qualified and who will work for the pleasure of your company or gratitude or for a few free bags of potato chips and a can of avocado dip.

However, you should also be prepared to have your publisher make acceptance of your manuscript conditional on your arranging and paying for a copy edit yourself. Some of the publishers below the blue chip level have a gray area in which they think the book is good enough to publish and market, but only if it comes to them in publishable form. The better publishers, of course, will not require this. And this does not mean that you should rush to pay for a professional edit before submitting the manuscript to literary agents or publishers (unless a burning bush has told you that you have a guaranteed best seller in your hands). Under normal conditions, many, many, many, many agents and publishers will reject the manuscript before you find your match.

Be wary, however, of agent or publisher offers to highly consider your work—or implies that they may offer representation—if you have it edited at your expense by someone they recommend. This is a widespread scam ploy.

Be aware that if a traditional publisher is publishing you, the publisher, at the publisher’s expense, will have your manuscript edited. (And if you’ve already had it edited yourself, the publisher will still have it edited again.) Publishers do not really expect manuscripts to be pristine and to faithfully follow all of the style choices of either that particular publisher or book publishing in general. If you really think you need an edit before submission (and there certainly are cases where this would be advantageous—if you are self-publishing, vanity publishing cheaply, or e-publishing, be aware that your work probably will not receive a competent edit unless you have one done yourself), we suggest you only take one who has no agenting service or makes no claim of promoting your work further toward publication. (A respectable editor may make some recommendations of where you might try to place it—to the extent they have suggestions—for free in the final memo on your edit.)

Where do I go to find an editor for my manuscript?

You can find an editor by asking literary or extensively read friends to read and make suggestions and to point out possible grammar, spelling, and punctuation problems. You can also ask for recommendations of an editor from other authors or from local publishers or university creative writing programs. In addition, you can find editors listed in the publisher’s "bible" of publishing services listing, the Literary Marketplace, a large, two-volume set published annually and available in the reference section of most public libraries. Or, with a wary eye, you can do an Internet search. Reliable editorial services that can be contacted via the Internet include the following:

• The Editorial Freelancers Association (http://www.the-efa.org), which has demonstrated experience requirements for membership and has a job board where you can list jobs (for at least $15/hour). The Web site also now has a listing of members who offer their services and who can be directly approached.

• The Consulting Editors Alliance at http://www.consulting-editors.com/

• The Editorial Department at http://editorialdepartment.net

• Book Editing Associates at http://www.book-editing.com

A less reliable Internet job board where you can advertise for an editor can be found at the Copyeditor Web site (http://www.copyeditor.com/copy/copy.asp). Credentialed editors do check this Web site, but there is nothing to keep those with no experience or ability at all from bidding for an editorial job from this listing. If you use this service, it is doubly important that you ask for and verify credentials.

How much should I have to pay to have a manuscript edited?

If your work isn’t a disaster, you should be able to find an editor who will charge no more than $22 an hour to line edit and include queries about apparent inconsistencies, redundancies, irrelevant tangents, and structural problems. At the usual rate of seven to eight standard industry manuscript pages/hour, you should be able to get such an edit on an 80,000-word manuscript for $900 or less. For a reference point on suggested price ranges on all sorts of jobs associated with publishing, you can check out the Writer’s Digest compilation "How Much Should I Charge" by Lynn Wasnak at http://www.writersmarket.com/content/howmuch3.asp and the chart on suggested professional charges given by the Editorial Freelancers Association at http://www.the-efa.org/InfoResources/Rates.htm.

What’s the difference between a ghostwriter, a developmental editor, a coauthor, a substantive editor, and a line, or copy, editor?

If something is ghostwritten under your name, you may have provided the information, but someone else is doing the writing. If you have done most of the research and are doing at least some of the writing, with someone else doing major structural work, you are working with a developmental editor. If you are sharing the research and writing chores with another person, and you are both going to be listed as authors, you are in a coauthoring arrangement. A substantive editor will make suggestions on major restructuring or redoing of the content. Acquisition editors in publishing houses—those who actually are shopping for books to publish—usually function as the substantive editor for a book once it has been bought by the publishing house. A line, or copy, editor will make grammar and spelling corrections and may query inconsistencies and redundancies in the content, but will not extensively rewrite what the author has written. For fuller discussion of the various levels of editorial services go to the explanations of this on the Bay Area Editors Forum at http://www.editorsforum.org/what_do_sub_pages/definitions.php. You can read about all aspects of ghostwriting in Eva Shaw’s book, Ghostwriting for Fun and Profit, or find a description of what ghostwriting is and what should go into a ghostwriting contract at http://www.bluefishbay.com/ghostwriting.html.

Can’t involvement in a writing group negate the need for an editor before submission?

Involvement in a writing group certainly can substitute for using the services of an editor prior to submission as long as the group includes others with extensive experience in editing and more education and experience in creative writing than you have. Writing groups are great for bringing the group’s members up to a bit more than the talent level of any individual group member (just like any other group working on any other project), but that level won’t be all that high unless you have a lot of experienced/talented folks in the group. Everyone says how great writing groups are, but few people actually find one that can lift their skills level (and truth be know, most people never really manage to find such a group at all). And even the best groups require such commitment to other’s projects that, unless you are a full-time and extremely focused writer, you won’t be finding a lot of time to devote to your own writing if you are pulling your weight for others in the group.

I’ve been told I need endorsement quotes for my cover. What are these, and when do I need to get them?

Cover endorsement quotes, which are also known as blurbs, are favorable (presumably, or you wouldn’t use them) quotes on your book by book reviewers or popular authors publishing in the genre of your book. These can be quite helpful in enhancing the marketability of your book. They traditionally have been collected by the publisher except for those the author can easily obtain through her/his own connections. But increasingly agents and publishers are asking the author to take an active—and early—role in obtaining them. Authors who have obtained favorable endorsements on their own from significant sources generally can use these to obtain an agent and publisher more easily.

Book review quotes often aren’t available for the first printing of the book, because these reviewers want to see a copy of the book in nearly final form, and many of them are writing for delayed publication. Endorsements can often be obtained from other authors earlier on the strength of a draft version of the manuscript, but success is generally more assured if the established author is not contacted until a publisher has been landed. The addresses of established authors often can be found through an Internet search. Many of them have Web sites of their own to promote their books and activities.

Manuscript Formatting: Questions

Why and how should I format my manuscript before submitting it to an agent or publisher?

If it is immediately obvious to a publisher to whom you are submitting a manuscript that you are a new Hemingway (and if the publisher has a need for a Hemingway on its list), it really doesn’t matter if you submit your manuscript in perfect shape or handwritten and on the back of used envelopes. For the rest of us, however, it’s good to give our manuscripts the best possible chance to gain favor with the publisher. Conversely, at the submission stage, don’t worry more about how your manuscript looks than you do about what it has to say and how well it is written.

Many publishers will provide guidelines on how they prefer to receive a manuscript. If they do, follow these guidelines closely (but not necessarily slavishly). If they don’t provide guidelines, here are a few general tips on preparing a professional-looking manuscript and a few do’s and don’ts about the presentation of your content, including some common writing errors to try to avoid. Also provided are a few tips on such issues as copyright (discussed more extensively in chapter 8, "Protecting It"), what your rights are in choosing a title, and who is responsible for obtaining images and graphics and for providing indexes and final proofing.

1. Produce your manuscript on a computer (either PC or Mac will do, although the industry mainly uses PCs at this stage of production).

2. Word is the most-accepted word-processing program; WordPerfect is also used by publishers, but to a decreasing extent.

3. Laser printing is preferred; ink jet printing is tolerated. Excellent-quality photocopies are acceptable.

4. Use 8 1/2 x 11-inch 20-pound weight regular white typing paper (size A4 if you are in Europe). The print should be only on one side of the paper. Double space everything, including extracts, tables, notes, bibliography, and so forth. Set 1-inch margins on all sides (although 1.25-inch left and right margins usually are also acceptable). Use 12-point type (for everything) and either a nonproportional font like Courier or New Courier or a proportional font like Times New Roman (subject to the preferences provided by the agent/publisher to whom you are submitting—note that proportional fonts use fewer pages compared to nonproportional fonts of the same font size). The only extra line spaces should be before and after headlines and where you wish to designate a section change. There should only be one character space following terminal punctuation (in contrast to the typewriter, where there are two spaces—the computer compensates for this), and there should be no extraneous character returns or extra character spaces at the end of paragraphs. Use left-only justification. All of these settings both provide agents and acquisitions editors considering your book the format they expect (and therefore won’t distract them from the content) and help publishers in estimating how many final book pages the manuscript will require (which is important both in projecting production costs and in helping the publisher determine whether they want to publish your book).

5. All tables and graphics should be extracted from the manuscript and printed on separate pages (and kept in separate electronic files). Publishers tend to prefer that separate electronic files be set for each chapter of the book. Mark placement of tables in graphics in the text with notes (e.g., "table 1 goes here") in square brackets ( [ ] ), separated by line spaces above and below.

6. Sections of books usually flow in the following order, from the beginning (individual books will usually have only a selected number of these separate sections, of course): Title page, copyright page, dedication, epigraph, table of contents, list of illustrations, list of tables, foreword, preface, acknowledgments (if not part of preface), introduction, text, author’s notes, appendix(es), list of abbreviations, endnotes, glossary, bibliography, author(s)’ biography, index.

7. Pagination should be consecutively numbered, in Arabic, in the top right corner, starting with the first page of the text (following all of the front matter), and should continue on through to the end of the bibliography.

8. Publishers prefer endnotes gathered at the end of chapters or the book (most preferred) rather than footnotes. They also prefer that you use the word processor note programs so that they can manipulate the notes, as needed.

9. Don’t bother to create any fancy or cute word-processing system format styling for your book. The publisher does all of the designing of a book, and all of the styling you put in will have to be figured out and stripped out by someone (invariably by an overworked someone who may have a say in whether your book is accepted for publication). Use manual tabbing rather than indent styles (except do hang indent bibliographies to aid editing). Follow the manuscript preparation tips given in the previous section. Avoid bolding, and most (although not all) publishers want italics designated by underlining rather than script italics.

10. Do not bind the pages. Send them loose, with a rubber band around them (or paperclips for shorter material).

How do I mark a section break in a manuscript?

The most common way of marking section breaks—complete changes in scene—is to provide an extra line return, three asterisks separated by single character spaces, and another extra line return. If the publisher decides to keep these section breaks, their designers will identify a design dingbat to substitute for the asterisks. If you just want to denote a pause in the action, you can signal this with an extra line return.

Do I mark italics with regular italics or as underlined words in my text. How can I change italics to underline in Word?

Whether to use regular italics or underlining is one of the most contentious questions in submissions procedure today. The root of the problem is that regular typewriters could not render italics, so until computers became prevalent, italics had to be rendered as underlined words and phrases in submitted manuscripts. The current problem is that, even though the computer, which is capable of rendering italics, has long been in use, some agents and publishers still insist that italics should be rendered with underlining in submitted text. This problem is exacerbated in that some publishers are still using composition programs that do, in fact, need what is intended to be italics to be rendered with underlining to be recognized and properly converted during book setup.

Increasingly, agents and publishers are accepting manuscripts with italics set as italics, and if submissions guidelines don’t specify the use of underlining, your manuscript should be accepted—at least in the review phase—with italics. If it isn’t and the manuscript is returned to you for "correction," conversion from italics to underlining (and back again, if necessary), at least in Word, is relatively simple: in Word, go to "find and replace" and then click the cursor into the "find what" field. At the bottom of the window, click on the "more" button (this will expand the find and replace window); then click on "format" and then click "font." A window will pop up. Click "italics" under "font style." Then click "okay." Now under the "find what" box, it will say "format: font: italics." Now click in the "replace with" box and do the same thing with "format" and "font." Under "font style" click "regular." Then beneath that is a drop down window for "underline style." Select "single" and then click "okay." Now it will say "format: font: not bold, not italics, underline" under the "replace with" field. When you are ready, click "replace all" and every instance of italics will now have been change to underlining instead.

Content Issues: Questions

Who will create the index for my nonfiction book or arrange for, and pay for, creation of an index?

In nearly all cases, you will have to arrange for and pay for the indexing of your book, although you can hire a professional indexer to do this for you by researching editorial services sites on the web, or your publisher might maintain a list of indexers you can engage. You can find a general discussion on how to go about creating an index yourself by consulting chapter 18 of the Chicago Manual of Style. Index-creation computer programs exist, but these still rely on someone to provide the key words and phrases in the manuscript (which is why the chore generally falls to the author; the author is really the best person to know what the key terms in the book are). To review a sample contract with a professional indexer, go to http://www.judykingedit.com/Sample_Contracts/sample_contracts.php#editing%20contract.

Who will do the final proofing of my book after it is edited and before it is printed?

Until you reach best-seller ranks, in nearly all cases, you will have to proof the book. Proofing, by the way, is a word-for-word comparison of a new (live) version against a old (dead) version of exactly the same work and marking the difference—it doesn’t mean light editing.

What responsibilities do I have for material I use from someone else’s work?

Ensuring that you have the required "fair use" rights or permissions to quote from someone else’s work or to use images and graphics owned by someone else usually is the author’s responsibility, not the publisher’s (for fuller discussion of this, see chapter 8, "Protecting It"). In fact, in most cases the author has to track down and provide necessary printable copies of these. The author is responsible for knowing how much they can quote from another work under the "fair use" provisions of copyright law or whether they have to obtain permissions for use of written material, images, and graphics (usually at their own expense, if the owner wants to charge for use). Publishers usually won’t go to publication until copies of all necessary permissions are in their hands (because at this point they become equally responsible for proper use). Good resources on this topic are Paul Goldstein’s Copyright Highway (New York: Hill and Wang, 1994) and The New & Updated Copyright Primer (New York: Association of American Publishers, Inc., 2000). The U.S. Copyright Office can be accessed on the Internet at http://www.copyright.gov and information on UK copyright can be obtained at http://www.cla.co.uk/.

For sample permissions request forms, go to http://rosetta.reltech.org/TC/TCS/permissions.html or http://www.aw-wrdsmth.com/FAQ/permissions_ltr.html.

My manuscript is in a foreign language. How can I get it translated into English for the U.S. market?

For help in translation of a manuscript, check with the appropriate language departments at a university near you. A translator for a book manuscript must be chosen very carefully, as word-for-word translations will not covey well, especially for fiction. The translator must be closely in tune with both the original author and with how the manuscript will faithfully transfer to the cultural base of the new language.

Is there someplace I can go on the Internet for translation help of phrases from English into other languages?

You can obtain at least a rough free translation of phrases into and from major languages at http://www.freetranslation.com/.

How can I find photographs or other graphics to go with my book?

In most cases, the author of the book must pay for and supply both the written use permissions for photos to be used in the book and actual copies of the photos that meet the specific publisher’s requirements. In some cases the publisher will track the photos down, but the unknown first-time author should assume he/she would not be one of those cases.

Permissions to use photographs in for-profit books are almost never provided for free. The owner sets the price for use, which often is based on the print run and can specify follow-up payments for print runs over the agreed number.

Individual photographs are copyrighted from the time of the click just as written works are from the time words start flowing on paper or electronic file. A picture belongs to the photographer, with a few exceptions. If the picture has been taken in a privately owned venue where a notice has been posted that there are to be no photos or that any photos that are taken belong to the venue, the photographer does not own any photographs taken. If the photograph is taken for commercial purposes that prominently features another private person, particularly in a compromising pose, the photographer needs to obtain a signed release from the subject of the photograph to avoid suit when/if the photograph is released commercially. (Public persons don’t enjoy the same protections as private persons in this regard). And if someone else hires the photographer to take a picture, supplies the film, and pays for the developing, this is work-for-hire, and the person paying the photographer to take the photo owns rights to the photo.

Publishers vary widely in the form of photograph they require, so it’s best not to make glossies or digitals until you receive specific requirements from the specific publisher who is printing the book.

Publishers will not send a book to the printers until all written permissions to use all graphics are in hand. The publisher is equally liable for use of graphics without the permission of the copyright owner (or release from a nonpublic person focal subject of the photograph). Indeed, many publishers will not consider the submissions process complete or contract on a book until all of these use permissions are in hand.

There are various sources for photographs:

1. You can take the photographs yourself if you can produce publishing-quality photographs. Copyright is clear on these (assuming you either don’t need releases from individuals who are the focal point of those photographs or have obtained them), and written permissions for use are not required.

2. You can hunt for pictures that are in the public domain. Run an Internet search on "public domain photos." Some Web sites providing links to public domain photos include http://gimp-savvy.com/PHOTO-ARCHIVE/index.html; http://www.savetz.com/pd/ (of some use, but now outdated, because it is not being maintained); and http://www.pdimages.com/.

3. You can hire someone to take the photographs for you. In this case you should establish the work-for-hire arrangement by written contract, and you must include a copy of the contract with the material you send to the publisher (at a submissions or production stage specified by the publisher).

4. You can contract with someone to take the photographs for you and provide copies and use permissions for your specific use while they retain copyright. In this case you will need to provide a copy of the written use permissions to the publisher.

5. You can obtain use permissions and copies of the images themselves directly from the owner of the photograph. For instance, permission to use vintage photos can often be obtained from museums, historical societies, newspapers, or university libraries. Use permissions should be in writing, specifying any limits to use, and copies must be provided to the publisher.

6. You can obtain use permissions and copies of the images themselves from stock photo agencies. You tell these agencies what you want, they search their archives and show you options, you pick what you want, you pay them the price they set for your specific use needs, they provide written use permissions, and you provide this and the copy of the photo (to the specification of the publisher) to the publisher. A comprehensive list of stock photo agencies can be found in the "Stock Photo Agencies" section of the Literary Marketplace, volume one, which can be found in the reference section of local libraries in the United States. The LPM listings are particularly helpful, because they include indexing to topic specialties. You can also find stock photo agencies through an Internet search, using "photo service agencies" as the keywords. A major photo supplier, AP/Wide World Photos (which has 50 million photos available) is on the web at http://www.apimages.com/eng/index.html?wideworld. Another popular Web site is http://www.picturequest.com.

7. If stock photo agencies fail you (especially if you are looking for a specific historical photo), you can resort to photo finders. These are not all that easy to find themselves, however, because they tend to specialize in particular kinds of photos. One way to track such a person down is to search for a major publisher specializing in the topic and ask that publisher if there is a particular photo finder they use. This, of course, usually will be the costliest option, as you have to pay for the time and effort of the finder as well as for the permissions use from the photo owner and the cost of producing copies.

The question also arises whether an author who has a specific photograph in hand that they want to use but for which they have been unable to find the owner can just assume that the photo is in the public domain and go ahead and use it. The answer is no. If the author can’t produce either written use permission or proof the photo is in the public domain, the author is just out of luck and will need to find another photo. A publisher that does not want to share fully in the risk of lawsuit will not publish the photograph.

Resources and Links

Print: Content

The American Heritage Book of English Usage (Houghton Mifflin, 1996)

The American Heritage College Dictionary, third edition (Houghton Mifflin, 1993). Used by some U.S. publishers as the dictionary authority. A prescriptive dictionary—it tells you why words should be used as they are used.

The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law (Perseus Publishing, 2002), edited by Norm Goldstein. Style manual commonly used in news agency and print journalism.

Theodore Bernstein, The Careful Writer: A Modern Guide to English Usage (Antheneum, 1965).

Renni Browne and Dave King, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers (HarperCollins, 1994)

Theodore A. Rees Cheyney, Getting the Words Right—How to Revise, Edit, and Rewrite (Writer’s Digest Books, 1990)

The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition (University of Chicago Press, 2003). Style authority used by most U.S. publishers for books in the humanities.

H. W. Fowler, A Dictionary of Modern English Usage (Oxford University Press, 1996)

Paul Goldstein, Copyright Highway (Hill and Wang, 1994)

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edition (Merriam-Webster Incorporated, 2003). The dictionary authority used by most U.S. publishers. A descriptive dictionary—it describes what exists in acceptable language usage.

The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (Modern Language Association of America, 1999). Used by many university English-language programs as a style authority.

The MLA Style Manual, second edition (Modern Language Association of America, 1998), edited by Joseph Gibaldi. Used by some scholarly publishers as a style authority.

The New & Updated Copyright Primer (Association of American Publishers, Inc., 2000).

The Oxford Guide to Style (Oxford University Press, 2002). An authority for U.K. style.

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) fifth edition (American Psychological Association, 2001). Used as a style manual by many U.S. publishers for scientific material.

Leslie Sharpe and Irene Gunther, Editing Fact and Fiction (Cambridge University Press, 1995)

Eva Shaw, Ghostwriting for Fun and Profit (Writeriffic Publishing Group, 2003)

Harry Shaw, Dictionary of Problem Words and Expressions (McGraw-Hill, 1987). Out of print and hard to find, but it covers words and expressions often not found in newer sources.

William Zinsser, On Writing Well (HarperPerennial, 1994)

Print: Preparation

Dian Dincin Buchman and Seli Groves, The Writer’s Digest Guide to Manuscript Formats (Writer’s Digest Books, 1987). This book shows how to prepare and present book manuscripts, magazine articles, short stories, cover letters, proposals, queries, and more.

David L. Carroll, How to Prepare Your Manuscript for a Publisher (Paragon House, 1988)

Jack and Glenda Neff, Formatting and Submitting Your Manuscript (Writer’s Digest Books, 1999)

Internet Links

Book Editor Sources:

Book Editing Associates (http://www.book-editing.com)

The Consulting Editors Alliance (http://consulting-editors.com)

Copyeditor http://www.copyeditor.com/copy/copy.asp)

The Editorial Department at http://editorialdepartment.net

The Editorial Freelancers Association (http://www.the-efa.org).

Book Editing Price Ranges

Writer’s Digest compilation "How Much Should I Charge" by Lynn Wasnak at http://www.writersmarket.com/content/howmuch3.asp

The chart on suggested professional charges given by the Editorial Freelancers Association at http://www.the-efa.org/InfoResources/Rates.htm.

Copyright Information:

U.K. (http://www.cla.co.uk)

U.S. (http://www.copyright.gov).

Information of ghostwriting can be found at http://www.bluefishbay.com/ghostwriting.html.

Levels of Book Editing

The Bay Area Editors Forum at http://www.editorsforum.org/what_do_sub_pages/definitions.php.

Sample permissions request form can be found at

http://rosetta.reltech.org/TC/TCS/permissions.html

http://www.aw-wrdsmth.com/FAQ/permissions_ltr.html.

To review a sample contract with a professional indexer, go to http://www.judykingedit.com/Sample_Contracts/sample_contracts.php#editing%20contract.

Photo Service Agencies:

AP/Wide World Photos (http://www.apimages.com/eng/index.html?wideworld)

http://www.picturequest.com.

Photo sources in public domain:

http://gimp-savvy.com/PHOTO-ARCHIVE/index.html

http://www.pdimages.com/

http://www.savetz.com/pd/.

Translation help

For words and phrases (http://www.freetranslation.com/).