Manuscript Guidelines

Manuscript Formatting Guidelines

When you order interior formatting, our professional designers will typeset your manuscript. To ensure a smooth design process, we ask that you adhere to the following guidelines as you prepare to submit your manuscript:

Format of Manuscript

When submitting your manuscript for formatting, your manuscript must be submitted electronically as a Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) or Rich Text Format (.rtf) file. The text should be presented in Times New Roman, 12-point font, and double-spaced throughout. (Don't worry—during the interior layout process, you will have the option of selecting a different font for your printed book.)

The manuscript must be submitted as one file (i.e., all chapters of the book, and any front or back matter, must be submitted as a single file).

Indicating Formatting Preferences

If you have special formatting preferences, we ask that you indicate these preferences using formatting tags (entered into the text in bold type). For example, if you would like to insert a block quote, you would include the following tags:

[FORMATTER_BEGIN BLOCK QUOTE HERE]

Block quote text Block quote text

Block quote text

[FORMATTER_END BLOCK QUOTE HERE]

The following items are examples of design elements that require formatting tags:

  • Block quotes
  • Text boxes
  • Sidebars
  • Non-standard bullet points (e.g., heart-shaped symbols)

The following design elements do not require formatting tags:

  • Bold, underlined, or italicized text
  • Text spaced using MSWord’s alignment tools (e.g., Centered lines, "Align Text Left")
  • Chapter headings (e.g., Introduction, Chapter 1), which will be formatted by your designer based on your preferences
  • Bolded subheads
  • Bullet points or numbered lists made using MSWord’s “Bullets” feature

Do not use the space bar to create indents. Instead, use the tab key to indent all paragraphs.

Do not use the space bar to align text (e.g., centering chapter headings, formatting lists) as this leads to inconsistent spacing.

Do not hit the return/enter key on your keyboard to continue text on the next line. Word-processing programs will automatically carry continuous text to the next line.

Do not include double spaces between sentences. Instead, use a single space after the closing punctuation.

Footnotes/Endnotes

Footnotes and/or endnotes are permissible, so long as they do not refer to specific page numbers within the book (as page numbers will shift when your book is typeset), and should be created using the MSWord “Insert Endnotes/Footnotes” function. If your book contains footnotes and endnotes, these must be included in the manuscript that you submit to us.

Front and Back Matter

Some books contain a foreword, acknowledgments page, introduction, preface, and/or about the author page. All of these elements should be included as part of the submitted manuscript. If you wish to include one or more of these elements, but cannot supply them when the rest of the manuscript is submitted, additional layout fees may be incurred.

Interior Images

An interior image includes any photo, chart, table, or graph (in other words, anything that is not primarily text). All images for placement in your interior must be uploaded to us—as prompted in your author account—as separate files in PDF, JPEG, or TIF format. All image files should be high resolution (at least 300 dpi). Charts made in Excel may also be accepted as separate files.

No interior images, charts, tables, or graphs may be embedded within your manuscript when it is submitted for interior formatting. Instead, please note the exact placement of each image by using a formatter’s tag as follows, where the name of the insertion tag matches the file name:

[FORMATTER_Insert FileName.jpg here]

If you have a caption for a particular image, chart, table, or graph, you’ll need to place a tag for that as well. The tag should immediately follow the image tag, and should be written as follows:

[FORMATTER_Insert FileName.jpg here]

[FORMATTER_Caption: Write Exact Caption text here.]

REMEMBER: Permission to publish may be required if you are using an image that you did not create, or if you are citing work that is not considered to be in the public domain. It is your responsibility to decide whether or not permissions are required, and to obtain those permissions as soon as possible. BookPrinting.com is not responsible for any delays to the production process caused by outstanding permissions.

Have questions? Not sure where to start? Give us a call!
855-251-0692