The Manuscript

Please provide a file and a hard copy of the manuscript. The file must be saved in a standard format (recent versions of Microsoft Word or as a rich text format [.rtf] file). If this is a difficulty, please call to ensure that we will be able to read the files. Any editorial or style questions can be directed to the editor, Nicole Potter, or to the assistant editor, Jessica Rozler. The manuscript should be complete. Information, including bibliographic information and appendixes, should not be left incomplete, unless clearly marked on the pages. With regard to the formatting of the manuscript files, please note the following:

• If you are new to computers, please ask someone to show you how simple it is to use word wrap—that is, allowing the word processing program to wrap your words through to the next line without interruption. Do not use the computer as a typewriter and put carriage returns after each line.
• Manuscripts should be double-spaced with one-inch margins. Do not use condensed type or any special typefaces. ALWAYS use Times New Roman (or Times or Times Roman), because these fonts seem to translate cross platform fluidly (i.e. from your Mac to our PC; from our PC to the designer’s page layout software). Other fonts often cause proofreading nightmares due to translation problems (hyphens become = signs, quotes become capital A’s and @ marks, and so on).
• Justify text to the left margin only.
• The fewer commands in the file, the better. In the running text, do not underline for emphasis; do not bold (except for heads and subheads); do not capitalize entire words.
• Do not put more than one space between sentences.
• Do not skip an extra line space between paragraphs. Indent paragraphs instead, except as described in bullet point below.
• Do not indent the first paragraph of a chapter, subheads, or the first paragraph below a subhead; these should all be flush left.
• ALLWORTH PRESS is an imprint of ALLWORTH COMMUNICATIONS, INC.

• Use subheads, consistently indicating whether each subhead is A or B. A is a subhead and B is a subsubhead. To indicate which is which, heads need to be labeled and lightly styled, as follows. A-heads should be consistently bold flush left, and B-heads should be consistently bold indented. If you have C subsubsubheads, they should be indented and styled as bold italic. Use a subhead for each new subject. In addition each subhead should be indicated like this:

While this may seem redundant, we deem it necessary. Sometimes, in going between editor’s computer, designer’s computer, and typesetter’s computer, indents get stripped out, and we want the organization of the manuscript to remain transparently clear as it travels from stage to stage. Please remember IT IS NOT YOUR JOB TO DESIGN THE MANSUCRIPT ON YOUR COMPUTER, but it is your job to set up the structure of the manuscript clearly so that others can create a design.
A subhead should occur about every two hundred words (roughly once per double-spaced page). If absolutely necessary, a C subsubsubhead can also be used, but is discouraged.

• Skip a space before subheads.
• As regards sidebars (more about this below), bulleted and numbered lists, forms inserted into the text, in short anything that interrupts the regular running text, make sure that you mark it clearly again using the [square brackets] method denoted above in the section on subheads. So for example, at the beginning of a special form inserted into the running text, you would type [begin form] and at the end you would type [end form].
• Use the spellcheck on all text.

If your book is going to contain illustrated materials (i.e. photographs, charts, graphs, and so on), you should let us know how many there are and where these items will need to be placed. We will accept images in multiple formats (digital, black and white prints, transparencies, etc.), but please let us know in advance what formats you plan to use. If you are using digital images our printer has specifications as to file size, resolution, and type of file. Make sure that you number all images and that the number corresponds to

1. a numbered caption, if one is necessary

2. a place marker in the text.

It is extremely important that pictures are named or numbered and that the system of naming or numbering is exactly the same on the picture or file and in the text. Remember, the typesetter is not familiar with your book, and he is not going to be able to figure out which images go where without very specific guidance from you. One other issue regarding pictures, which doesn’t really belong here, because it’s not about style; but it is very important. If you are using images, make sure that you have the right to use those images. For example, if you resolve to use a full page illustration by a prominent living artist without getting his permission, you are making a very bad decision. If you want to use a photograph you took of a model, and she never signed a release; better contact her now, and get her to sign that release. This stuff can be sticky; call if you have questions and we will offer guidance.

Style

Matters of style should, for the most part, follow The Chicago Manual of Style, fourteenth edition and Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, tenth edition. Be consistent in all matters of style and spelling. Make a style sheet in which you resolve all questions of style and spelling, such as names (which should be fact-checked) or words that are not in the dictionary (e.g., technical terms or terminology particular to your subject). Turn in this style sheet with the manuscript so we can benefit from it.

Keep to the agreed-upon page count for the book. Please ask any questions you may have, since the ultimate production of the book will be greatly aided by following these guidelines.

Some General Matters of Style

• Paragraphs should rarely run longer than half a page.
• Make sure that the table of contents matches the text. Often the chapter titles appear one way in the contents and another in the chapter itself (the same goes for subheads).
• Always use the serial comma—that is, for items in a series, always put a comma after the last item before “and” or “or” (e.g., A, B, and C).
• Em dashes should have no spaces on either side (e.g., fish—small, medium, and large). If you have not created a shortcut key in order to insert em dashes, please use a double dash--which will convert easily to a proper em dash.
• There is no space before or after a forward slash.
• Watch for which/that confusion.
• Watch for noun/pronoun agreement (e.g., do not refer to a company as “them” or use “they” when referring to one person). In cases of political-correctness with regard to gender, try to alternate examples from paragraph to paragraph or from case to case (it is often a good idea to assign genders to particular hypothetical examples and use them consistently throughout the manuscript—“the musician” is consistently referred to as “he,” “the lawyer” is consistently referred to as “she,” and so on).

The desire to be politically correct and gender sensitive has led to appalling grammatical transgressions. Witness this worst of all possible scenarios:

Then if a person signs he/she would be perjuring himself if they did not have such authority.

The problem is of course, that “a person” is not gender specific, and in an effort to maintain gender neutrality the author starts out with the construct “he/she.” This would be grammatically okay, although it is awkward. (And it is not part of Allworth’s “house style” so we would probably change it.) Once “he/she” has been established, however, one must follow through with it. Starting with that construct, the sentence would have to read:

Then if a person signs he/she would be perjuring him/herself if he/she did not have such authority.

Very inelegant, and leads to much repetition of either/or pronouns, if we continue to have more sentences about “a person.”

If one wants to follow through with the gender implied by the use of the word “himself”; the whole sentence has to be masculine. Thus:

Then if a person signs he would be perjuring himself if he did not have such authority.

Actually, that is very clean; and probably would be my choice—radical feminism be damned. Although I would probably make the next “a person” in another example in the book into a female. As in

If a person had the good sense not to sign, she would avoid perjuring herself if she did not have such authority.

And how about the use of “they”? Although “they” is commonly used in spoken language, in connection with nongender specific nouns, it is a plural pronoun, and really should only be used like this:

Then if people sign they would be perjuring themselves if they did not have such authority.

The plural pronoun must have a plural antecedent.

But what about this tricky construct? Doesn’t it circumvent the gender bias problems?

Then if a person signs, he or she would be perjuring themselves if they did not have such authority.

Sorry, the conjunction between “he or she” does not allow you to switch to plural pronouns in midstream. This would have to be corrected to:

Then if a person signs he or she would be perjuring himself or herself if he or she did not have such authority.

• Always spell out the word “and” in running text (and even in bulleted lists), unless it is the case that an ampersand appears as a part of a company’s legitimate name.
• Spell out the word “versus” unless citing a legal case.
• The words “street,” “avenue,” “boulevard,” or “suite” should be spelled out in addresses.

• Chapter titles and all levels of subheads should be in title case (i.e., have initial letters of each word capitalized, except for articles, prepositions, and connectives). The first letter of the first and last word should always be capitalized.
• Don’t start chapters with subheads. The first subhead should always follow a block of text introducing the chapter.
• When referring to another chapter in the book, use numerals for the chapter numbers and do not capitalize the word “chapter” (e.g., see chapter 14). The same goes for appendixes (e.g., appendix B). Cross-references between chapters should be filled in when the manuscript is handed in.

• Use text boxes sparingly, if necessary. Usually, material can be organized by separating it into paragraphs dividing it with A- or B-heads. Stories, examples, checklists, and forms lend themselves to boxes and “sidebars.” These should not be less than seventy-five words or more than a book page and never more than a two-page spread.
• If you wish to box certain text, indicate this in the manuscript by typing [begin box] at the start of the box, and [end box] where it concludes. Text in a box should be able to stand by itself and should not be fixed as to where it falls in the chapter.
• Avoid long lists.
• For short lists, use bullets—but try not to do so often. A short bulleted list is often better run together as a paragraph.
• Only number lists if the numbering makes the list easier to understand (such as with a series of steps to be taken). If you are numbering, do not then use lettering for a later list.
• The first letter of a list item is always capitalized, even if the list is a grammatical continuation of the introductory sentence.
• If the reader might want to check off items, it is possible to make checklists by using boxes that can be checked rather than bullets.

• In addition to specific matters of emphasis, italics are used for: titles of books, periodicals, works of art, long poems and musical compositions, titles of exhibitions, and foreign words or phrases not in the dictionary.
• “Words as words” (e.g., definitions) are set in quotation marks.
• “Letters as letters” are set in italics (e.g., the letter r).
• If a periodical or newspaper title begins with the word “the,” it should not be capitalized or set in italics (e.g., the New York Times, the New Yorker).
• Books, films, and works of art with titles beginning with the word “the” should be set in all italics and title case (e.g., The Artist’s Guide to New Markets).
• Articles published in periodicals are set in quotation marks.
• Do not use the words “so-called” before words in quotation marks.

• Numbers one to one hundred should be spelled out.
• Ages are spelled out (sixty-five years old).
• Use numerals for percentages in running text, with the word “percent” spelled out (75 percent)
• Amounts in dollars should be left in numerals with the dollar sign in front ($25.00, or simply $25). This applies to other currency as well (£50, or ¥1,000).
• Always use a comma with numerals unless otherwise instructed (e.g., shutter speeds of camera equipment are typically left without commas).

• Interior, unspoken, or imagined dialogue are not set in quotation marks, unless to avoid confusion. This is also the case for maxims, proverbs, and familiar expressions.
• When a quotation runs over the course of more than one paragraph and the speaker remains the same, quotation marks are placed at the beginning, but not at the end, of each paragraph, and then at the end of the quote.
• When there is a quotation within a quotation, use single quotes.

• Internet (also: the Net)
• Web site (also: the Web)
• e-mail
• zine
• online/offline
• Normally, our house style for “theater” is “theater”; but since you have consistently spelled it “theatre” I finally decided to keep it your way (I initially changed some, but I changed them back).

By contract, you are required to provide us with an index for your book. Although many word processing programs have an indexing option, unfortunately, you will not be able to use this to create your index. Rather, you will have to wait until the book is designed and in galley pages, and then provide a separate, alphabetized file, containing the indexed topics, and the page numbers as listed in the galleys. If you are new to indexing, The Chicago Manual of Style provides detailed instructions as to how to index in Chapter 17. If you choose not to provide an index (many authors do not), we will outsource the galleys to a professional indexer, and that charge will be held against your royalties.

Fact Checking

We do not have a fact-checking department. Although our copyeditors and proofreaders do a valiant job of double-checking, you are ultimately responsible for making sure that dates are correct, names and foreign words are spelled correctly, images are properly captioned, credited, cropped, and aligned, and so on.