AUTHOR AND EDITOR GUIDELINES

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION AND BOOK PRODUCTION

Dear Author/Editor:

Welcome to our list! These guidelines have been compiled to help you prepare your manuscript and to introduce you to the publication process at Rutgers University Press. If your book has unusual needs that are not covered here, it is important that you discuss any special requirements ahead of time with your acquiring editor.

OVERVIEW OF PROCEDURES AND SCHEDULING

  • When the final electronic draft is delivered to and accepted by your acquiring editor, s/he will transmit it to the prepress department for copyediting, design, typesetting, and printing.
  • The production editor will send you a rough schedule to give you an idea of the approximate date for your review of copyediting, receipt of the typeset pages for proofreading, and deadline for the index if you are preparing it yourself or for your review if it is prepared by a professional.

PREPARING THE MANUSCRIPT

Format and Style

The following specifications apply to the ENTIRE manuscript, including front matter, back matter, and notes.

  • Times New Roman, 12 pt font, double-spaced, normal margins, left justified.
  • Do NOT use any special formatting except where required (eg, italics for book titles).
  • Do NOT use extra spacing (only one after a period; use tab for an indent), or line breaks.
  • Do NOT use headers or footers.
  • DO NOT send a manuscript with tracked changes. While this may be useful to you while revising, all changes should be finalized and comments should be removed before submitting the manuscript to RUP.
  • Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) is preferred, although you may consider using other styles (MLA, APA) depending on your discipline.
  • Consistency is key; if you choose not to use CMS, be sure the same style is used throughout.
  • Number the pages consecutively, starting with arabic numeral 1 on the first page of the introduction (or first chapter if there is no introduction) and follow through to the end of the manuscript. The front matter—the section that contains, among other things, the contents page, preface, and acknowledgments—is numbered in lowercase roman numerals.
  • DO NOT use hard returns and indents to achieve a hanging indent.
  • Use endnotes rather than footnotes. The notes to each chapter should follow the text and start at the top of a new page for authored manuscripts or directly following the text for edited volumes. They should begin witha key to that chapter (e.g., “Notes to Chapter 1”). The numbering of the notes should start over for each chapter.
  • Divide the text into separate chapter files. The copyeditor cannot work when everything has been stored in a single file. Be sure to label files clearly.

Front Matter

Please see the front matter model in our online Author Toolkit. Make sure that the title and subtitle are final, and include your name as you would like it to appear in the book and in promotional material.

The Main Body of the Text

Chapter Structure:You may want to subdivide your chapters. For most texts one or two levels of subheadings are sufficient; three is the maximum possible. Subheads should not be numbered and should be typed in the regular font and title style—no boldface, all caps, italics, or underlining. The designer will style headings later. Distinguish the levels by placing them in different positions, as follows:

Level A (or 1): on separate line, centered on the typed page

Level B (or 2): on separate line, flush left

Level C (or 3):flush left followed by period and text.

Quotations:The CMSrecommends that quotations of eight lines/100 words or more should be set off as indented extracts; shorter quotations should be run into the text and enclosed in quotation marks. Material set off as a block quotation should not be enclosed in quotation marks. The length guideline can be overridden if you are quoting poetry, dialogue, or the material where paragraphing or alignment is important for accurate interpretation.

Double-check all quotations carefully, since you are the one responsible for their accuracy.

Foreign Terms and Acronyms:A specialized term or foreign word or phrase should be defined on first use in the book. The foreign word/phrase should also be italicized, on first use, unless it is a very common one appearing unitalicized in an English-language dictionary, such as per se or zeitgeist. Please do double-check spelling and accents of any foreign words that do not appear in an English-language dictionary. The copyeditor is not responsible for foreign languages. Acronyms should be fully spelled out on first use, followed by the acronym in parentheses. If you use a great many acronyms in the text, you should consider supplying a list of acronyms in the front matter of the book for easy reference.

Tables and Illustrations

Tables:If you use tables, number them consecutively throughout the manuscript, or if they are numerous, by chapter: Table 1.1, Table 1.2, Table 2.1, and so on. Do not use roman numerals. Do not leave tables embedded in the text. Each table must be typed on its own page and a clear marker must be inserted in the manuscript where you wish the table to go. To indicate placement, type in a separate line, stating {~?~Insert table 2.5 about here}.Never use such phrases as “the following table” or “the table above” because table placement will be determined by the page layout and cannot be predicted at manuscript stage (and the same goes for figures or images). In order to direct a reader’s attention to a table, use wording such as “see Table 2.5”—please note that this does not take the place of {~?~Insert table 2.5 about here}.

Figures: Charts, graphs, line drawings, and the like are called figures and should be treated the same way as tables. Number them consecutively by chapter and key them to the text as you would tables. Key their ideal placement on a line of their own, not bolded. Ex: {~?~Fig. 1 near here}.

The figures must also be accompanied by a separate list of captions, providing all relevant information and a source and credit line, if necessary, for the originator and/or owner who gave permission for its use.

Images:Most authors now submit their images as digital scans. For best results, the resolutionmust be high enough for print reproduction, which is much higher than web reproduction standards (see separate guidelines on digitized images). Please submit your images, before transmittal of the finished manuscript if possible, for the prepress department to check resolution. If your manuscript is a single-author volume, number the images in the order in which they are to appear in the book. If there are 123 images, they should usually be numbered 1 to 123 for the book as a whole and not by chapter; don’t use numbers like “12A” or “12B.” If yours is an essay collection, see the Editor Checklist for instructions on how to number images. Key the images in the manuscript the same way you would tables and figures (as above). If you have both black-and-white and color images, use a different designation, e.g., “image” or “color image.” Provide a caption list with credit lines as for figures.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

Production of Your Book

Copyediting: Every manuscript, before it is typeset, will be copyedited. The manuscript editor is a professional freelancer, selected on the basis of affinity for and knowledge of the subject matter. This is the only person working for the Press who will closely read the entire manuscript for punctuation, grammar, spelling, and consistency of various elements such as headings, notes, bibliography, tables, and captions to illustrations, if any. The copyeditor will also query you if something seems unclear or in error and make suggestions for rephrasing a sentence here and there or for replacing a word for one that will more accurately express your meaning. At this time, you can accept the changes or make counter suggestions. This is also the last opportunity for major changes, additions, or deletions, and all citations must be complete. Before returning the manuscript to the copyeditor, you should save a copy showing all the corrections for yourself, so that you have the text to read against at the proofreading stage. The copyeditor will then incorporate your changes in the electronic files, which is sent back to the Press.

Once the manuscript is back in house, the production editor will check the copyeditor’s work to make sure everything is in good order and the manuscript has been properly coded for the designer and typesetter. The production editor will be in close contact with you by e-mail or telephone to tie up any loose ends.

It is crucial that you adhere as closely as possible to the schedule, so that your book will be ready in the publication month announced in our catalog. Any protracted delay is liable to break the chain of production, marketing, and publicity.

Design and Typesetting: The Press relies on you as the author to proofread carefully. Proofreading means checking for typographical or other errors you and the copyeditor might have missed at earlier stages.At this stage, no major changes or rewriting are possible.

Indexing: A basic component of any book is the index. You should decide early whether you want to do the index yourself or have us recommend a professional freelance indexer for you. Your production editor will be able to give you a rough estimate of the cost of hiring a professional.

MARKETING

  • The marketing department will send you catalog copy and cover copy for your approval.
  • You will be asked to complete our Marketing Questionnaire around the time when we are preparing the catalog. You can download the questionnaire from our Author Toolkit if you want to get a head start.
  • Feel free to contact the appropriate person in marketing with any questions you may have. Contact information is listed on our website.

CONCLUSION

We hope you will find these guidelines helpful and informative. If you have any questions feel free to contact your acquiring editor. Congratulations on the acceptance of your manuscript; we look forward to working with you in the coming months.

Rev. 8/24/16 LB

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