We are delighted that you have decided to publish with Stylus Publishing. Please take a moment to read through these instructions before you undertake extensive writing.

The length of the manuscript is an important part of the contract: it is a key factor in determining the list price as well as the cost of producing and printing the book. Manuscript length is expressed as thousands of words. Book length is expressed in multiples of 16-page or 32-page “signatures,” which are the number of pages created by folding and gathering paper mill reels or large sheets of paper into a bound book. Accordingly, a typical Stylus contract may stipulate a manuscript not exceeding 84,000 words, which, allowing for front (“prelims”) and back matter (usually bibliography and index), will yield a 224-page book of a given trim size and using a page design with a particular typeface.

The word count allows for the fact that a number of pages are set aside for such elements as the title page, the copyright page, dedication, acknowledgments and table of contents (the “prelims”), so you don’t have to reduce the manuscript word count you have been allocated. A typical double-spaced word-processed page of 12-point type comes to about 300 words.

If a book is to be illustrated or will present a great deal of tabular material, or needs a design with lots of indents and bullet points, this needs to be discussed at or soon after contract stage so that these factors are taken into account in determining length.

Our new Stylus contracts call for you to submit your final manuscript in only digital forms, as PC compatible files sent either as e-mail attachments or in the medium of a CD-ROM.

It is also very important to adhere to the following instructions in preparing your manuscript. In addition to the quality of the content, the physical form of submission is a key element of what constitutes an acceptable manuscript.

These instructions are designed to streamline the work of the many people who will be involved in editing, designing and printing your book, and enable them work effectively with you in the process.

We welcome any questions you may have, and look forward to working with you.

A. Text and Typography

1. Format for printing as if using standard US 8½” x 11” (letter size) paper.


2. Justify left, and leave right of line unjustified or “ragged.” Keep a further copy of complete manuscript for yourself.


3. Double-space, and allow generous margins (1 inch is standard) for annotation.


4. Use your word processor’s default font (the one that comes as standard when you create a new blank document — often Times Roman) in 12pt.


5. Please single space between the period ending one sentence and first word of the next.


6. The style of headings and subheadings should be simple and consistent, e.g., all first-level headings centered, all second-level headings flush left. Generally, try to avoid using typographical features such as FULL CAPS, underlining, different fonts and sizes, etc. Use of bold or italic may be required if the manuscript’s complexity requires but note that undoing such coding can be time-consuming for copy editors and the designer responsible for the book’s typographical design. However, do use italics for book titles in text or bibliographies, for foreign words and emphases (sparingly!).


7. Paginate the entire manuscript consecutively (i.e., do not number each chapter individually), unless the book is an edited collection of chapters by different authors or you are only submitting an individual chapter or chapters to a contributed book.


8. Ensure the manuscript is complete, and contains at least the items marked with an asterisk below. If you have questions about any of these elements, don’t hesitate to ask.

   Dedication
   *Table of contents
   Table of illustrations
   List of contributors
   Foreword
   Introduction or Preface (if not a chapter in the text)
   Acknowledgments (may be included in Preface)
   *Manuscript text

Notes / footnotes. Notes to each chapter should be clearly headed as “Notes to Chapter X,” and should be submitted on a separate page or pages as, depending on each book’s design, notes may either be printed at the end of their corresponding chapter, or at the end of the volume.

*Index. This is normally created at proof stage. If you want to create the index entries without page references when you submit the manuscript, this will help us determine the overall length of the book (but this is entirely optional, and not frequently done), but we will need the paginated index when you return corrected proofs. Our contract usually specifies that the author is responsible for the index. If you do not want to undertake the indexing yourself, you may ask us to hire an indexer and charge the cost against royalties. Let us know which course you want to pursue when submitting the final manuscript. Outsourcing the index can cost upwards of $750.00.

   *Bibliography (usually following each chapter or at back of book)    Appendix (-ices)
   *Permissions (see below).


9. Be consistent in matters of style (when to use words or numbers, punctuation, capitalization, and layout of bibliographic data.


10. We recommend running all files through your spelling checker and, if you have them, format and grammar checkers.


11. Please do not activate the internal hyperlink feature of your word-processing software when creating your Table of Contents. T of C should be plain text like the rest of the manuscript.


12. Style for references.


1. Please follow APA style consistently for all references. If you normally use Chicago or MLA styles, this is OK if, again, you use the style consistently, however let us know in advance if you plan to use a style other than APA
2. Please ensure that all references cited in the text are included in the reference list and, conversely, that all references listed in the reference list must be cited in the text.
3. Please be careful that spellings of the names and the dates of publication are consistent in all locations.
4. Note that APA reference style requires the following elements

           i.       ALL the authors' names and initials

           ii.      Date of publication

           iii.      Title of book or article

           iv.      With authored books, the place of publication and name of publisher

           v.      With edited books, the publication date, author's name, name of the author's chapter, names of the editors, name of the book, publication place, publisher, and page numbers of the chapter

           vi.      With periodicals, authors' names with initials, date of publication, name of periodical, volume number, issue number if available, page numbers of article

           vii.      Web sites: name of the article or information, date of publication if available, date of access, complete URL (test this to make sure it works)




See the APA style manual for variations such as magazine articles, subsequent editions, translations, etc.

Particularly if you’re the editor of a multi-author book, please check that

contributors provide all these elements when you receive the manuscripts.

Unanswered queries – particularly regarding references – at the copyediting stage can delay publication.

13. URLs & E-books
    In the e-book edition of your book, the URLs will be rendered as hotlinks, so their accuracy is critical. If you have any doubts about the longevity of a link, please omit it.


14. Submit text file in PC compatible format, on a CD-ROM or as an attachment.


15. Each chapter, its corresponding notes, and each element listed in I.7 above should be a separate file (e.g., “Ch1,” “Ch1Notes,” “Intro”)


16. Label the CD-ROM/s, giving book title and list of file. If you use a word processor program other than Microsoft Word, consult us before sending the disk


17. Coding. Please turn off any word-processing program coding (such as “Track Changes”, macros, shading of text, “Auto Summarize”, automatic Table of Contents coding, etc.)

B. Illustrations & Tables

I. Placement of Illustrations & Tables

1. The position of any illustration, or table, which cannot be rendered as simple text, should be clearly identified in the text file, be numbered sequentially in the text, and “keyed” either to the corresponding image file (if supplied on disk or as an attachment in a zip file). Use the following or similar numbering convention to identify both the chapter and the illustration’s sequence within it. E.g., first illustration in Chapter 6 should be numbered:

a. “6.1” in the text; and

b. the file should be named correspondingly, e.g., “Ch6ill1” or “Ch6_6_1”


2. In the chapter text, leave 2 blank lines where you ideally want the illustration inserted, then type in the appropriate instruction in square or angled brackets, e.g.:

    [insertillustration 6.1 here] <insert illustration 6.1 here > and follow with two blank lines.



3. If you have a caption, insert it as text below the insertion instruction, e.g.:

   Caption 6.1: This is the caption to the above illustration.

   and then follow with two blank lines; but please also create a separate file containing all captions for the manuscript, and precede each caption with an identifier: e.g., “Caption to Chapter 6, fig. 1” or whatever consistent convention you have decided to use.

4. Captions to photos should include a credit to photographer or source, e.g.:

   a. Seaman Annaliese Knapp unravels line aboard the hospital ship USS Sanctuary at Mayport, Florida, 1974. U.S. Navy/L.Anderson

   b. In July 1976, the U.S. Naval Academy included women for the first time. Elizabeth Belzer, the first to graduate, stands at far right. National Archives

II. Digitized Illustration Files

1. This applies to all digitized illustrations, including screen shots from the Internet

   a. Ideally ensure body text of all screen shots is identical (Times Roman is a good default font)

   b. Resolution

   i. 72 dpi for Web screen shots and higher resolution for all other illustrations (use minimum of 300 dpi and preferably 600 dpi for all illustrations except screen shots). There are ways to submit screen shots in 400 dpi – consult your IT support about how to do this.

   c. Use TIFF, jpeg, or eps formats

   d. Ideally sizeas illustrations to the size in which they will be printed in the book (or in proportion to these dimensions):

   Half page size: approx. 4 ¾” - 5” wide and 3 ½” - 4” high

   Full page size: approx. 4 ¾” – 5” wide and 7 ½” - 8” high

   e. Supply in two files: Black and white, or grayscale; and color (for use in e-books). If you convert a color file like a bar code to black and white /grayscale, please be sure that there is sufficient differentiation between the different shades of gray. If not use different fill-in patterns for each bar, e.g.:

Note: Having something saved too large is less of a problem than having it saved too small: reducing an image enhances resolution, whereas enlarging it degrades it.

C. Permissions

Supply hard copy of permissions, using Stylus’s standard permissions form (ask for a hard copy or a word processor file via e-mail attachment).

The permissions form provides a space for you to identify where in your manuscript the third party copyright material appears.

If permissions relate to text, it’s because you’re quoting extensively from someone else’s work. Such extracts should be typed as a new indented paragraph or paragraphs in the text, and identified at the beginning and end with a notation in square brackets, e.g.: [Start of Peter Drucker extract], [End of Peter Drucker extract]. Note that, when quoting a song or poem, the copyright holder may consider a line or two “extensive”, and the permission may be prohibitively expensive. Generally, avoid quoting poetry. If in doubt, consult us.

If the permission is for a table or illustration, key the permission to the material, using same numbering system as for the illustrations themselves.