5 Simple Ways to Prepare Your Manuscript for Publication
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It may have taken countless hours, buckets of tears, and a bottomless cup of coffee (or something stronger), but you’ve done it. Your manuscript is complete!
When you’ve caught your breath after happily dancing atop your kitchen table, it’s time to focus on the next task at hand: preparing your manuscript to submit to your publishing partner. Fortunately, this leg of the journey is much less arduous than the writing process.
To make readying your manuscript even more straightforward, FriesenPress editor Janet Gyenes created the following list of basic (but important) technical and formatting rules. Implementing these rules will enable you to start the publishing process with the cleanest manuscript possible, thus making the editing and design processes go more quickly and smoothly.
Please note your final manuscript must be saved in the DOCX format. DOCX is the widely compatible standard in the publishing industry, meaning it can be opened on all types of computers and software that industry professionals work with, like Adobe InDesign and eBook formats. Microsoft Word (paid) or LibreOffice and Google Docs (both free) are excellent word processing software options that can export files in DOCX.
Without further ado, we’ll let Janet guide you from here:
1. Start fresh
Writers will often undertake many rounds of writing, rewriting, and self-editing, which means that documents are at risk of acquiring glitches or “quirks” that can create issues during the editing and design phases of book production. Follow best practices by copy/pasting your manuscript into one single “fresh” document to avoid this potential issue.
Professional editing reduces distractions that diminish your book's readability, such as convoluted content structure, incorrect grammar, and persistent typos. From developmental editing to proofreading, our vetted editing team will match you with the editorial services you need to create the best book possible.
2. Keep it simple
On the subject of quirks, you want to ensure your manuscript is formatted and styled as simply as possible when submitting it for publication. Here’s how:
Avoid uncommon fonts that will convert on opening your file, or ones that are simply difficult for the editor to read (e.g., Comic Sans). The following fonts are your best choices: Times New Roman, Arial, Helvetica, or Calibri.
Use a 12 point or 11 point font for the main text. Headings and subheadings can be a point or two bigger.
Use 1.5 or 2 spaces between each line.
Use one space after a period, not two.
Remember: the layout/design of your manuscript will change how many words are on the page, the density of the text, and — very likely — the font. The goal here is to provide the editor with a “clean” manuscript that’s easy to read and edit.
3. Maintain proper paragraph spacing and indentation
There are two ways to indicate new paragraphs.
The first is to ensure each new paragraph is indented 0.5 inches (again, this may change in layout/design). Set this automatically in your word processor (look for “Styles” or search the Internet to learn how your word processing program works). When you hit “Enter,” the next line will automatically indent at 0.5 inches. Avoid using the spacebar or “Tab” button.
The second option is to leave a full space between the paragraphs, as indicated in this article. As you can see, there are no indents between paragraphs; just a full space. To achieve this effect, press “Return” or “Enter”; do not use the spacebar.
Both methods are perfectly acceptable.
4. Use the page breaks feature
When starting a new chapter or section, avoid using the “Enter” key or spacebar to get to the next page. Instead, insert a Page Break. This can be done by selecting the “Insert” tab (or CTRL + ENTER) on Microsoft Word. Naturally, during the editing phase, elements will move and shift around. The Page Break feature helps keep things consistent and clear.
Additionally, the “show/hide” tool in MS Word (indicated on the toolbar with a paragraph symbol) is invaluable for revealing “hidden” formatting, whether extra spaces, paragraph breaks, or page breaks.
5. Set your language and run a spelling/grammar check
Are you writing in American, British, or Canadian English? Set the language on your word processing program if you haven’t done so already. Although this tool is far from perfect, it does a good job at catching the lion’s share of spelling differences between the English variants (e.g., colour vs. color) by revealing a red line under the “misspelled” word.
Next, run the spell checker to catch some of the inevitable typos that will show up in every manuscript. Most word processing programs will check grammar at the same time, similarly making recommendations. This can be a helpful tool for determining those pesky compound hyphens, serial/Oxford commas, and more. If your grammar is already excellent, you may wish to take some of the suggestions with a grain of salt as they’re sometimes not as intuitive as a solid writer or editor. You may also wish to add unique words or terms to your spell checker with the Add to Dictionary tool; this can help you catch instances where you’ve been inconsistent in spelling.
As these five simple steps indicate, a little attention to detail after you’ve written “The End” can go a long way. Not only will you shorten your production timeline, but you’ll also give your manuscript the kind of professional polish that will make your editor, designer, and project manager jump for joy.
