We Accept Manuscripts in the Following Formats Only
- MS Word files
- Rich Text Format or .rtf files.
If you aren’t using MS Word, your word-processing program probably has a Rich Text option under Save As.
Manuscripts may be submitted via email or mailed on CD if you have lots of images or large files.
Note: Please talk to your customer service representative if you have questions about what to submit. We’re here to help.
Here are some simple rules to make the submission process easier.
Don’t be intimidated by this. Most of these won’t apply to your manuscript, but avoiding these pitfalls will make it easier to process your manuscript and result in a better layout.
Please DO the following:
DO submit either a .doc or .rtf. document type. The files that Microsoft Word puts out are .doc files. rtf is Rich Text Format, and all major word-processing programs have Rich Text as an option under Save As.
DO send your manuscript as a single file, containing everything you want published, in the order you want it, including the title page, table of contents, dedication, acknowledgments, etc.
One exception: Images should be sent separately (see below).
DO use the font style and size you wish to see in print, e.g. Times New Roman 12 pt. Books read best in common serif fonts like Times New Roman, Book Antiqua, Bodoni, Garamond, Bookman Old Style, Century Schoolbook or Georgia.
Please DON’T do the following:
Don’t use non-standard fonts. If you must use Wingdings or the like, be sure to tell us about it.
Don’t use section breaks. Create your document as a single continuous section (this is usually the default in your program – don’t override it by entering section breaks).
Don’t position things with the space bar or tab key. Use Word’s centering and paragraph indent functions where necessary. What looks centered on an 8.5 x 11 page in Word will not be centered once laid out on a 5.5 x 8.5 book page. This may incur editing.
If you want a standard indent at the beginning of paragraphs, click Format/Paragraph and set first line indent to .2 or .3.
Don’t break words from one line to the next using hyphens. Only use hyphens in words that are normally spelled with hyphens or to set phrases apart.
Don’t underline things you wanted italicized. Use the italics button in your word processor. Remember the typewriter? Underlining is an old-school publishing convention from back before computers. If you want to use two hyphens together to indicate an em (long) dash, you should set Word to make this correction for you.
Don’t use the Enter key to make a page break: Separate your chapters with a hard page break (usually ctrl-enter). Your text won’t flow in layout precisely like it does in your file anyway, but hitting the enter key until Word shows a new page on your computer screen will create a big break in the middle of a book page where you least expect it.
What about images?
Send images as separate files, not embedded in the document. MS Word does funny things with embedded images. Just mark the intended position of each image with the actual filename of the image, like ‘Place image9.jpg here’. We’ll position them where they belong during layout.
NOTE: All images should be at least 300 dpi at the size they will be in print. If you’re not sure, ask your customer service representative.
We are not able to use ‘art’ created by MS Word.
Microsoft WordArt is not a graphics program. Neither is PowerPoint. The art they create, including simple arrows and boxes, is not intended to be used outside of Microsoft Office, and like a lot of things that started life in Word, they won’t behave like you expect when your manuscript goes to layout. This could cause delay, rework on your part and cost everybody money. Graphics should be created using a graphics program like Adobe Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro.
Don’t copy images from the internet for use in your book. You probably don’t have the right to use pictures you find on the internet anyway, but more importantly, the images on the internet are generally about 72 dpi; images that will be used in your book need to be at least 300 dpi. We can’t accept low-resolution web images for your book.
NOTE: This does not apply to stock image sites like www.istockphoto.com or www.gettyimages.com. Images purchased through stock image sites will almost always give you the option of downloading a 300 dpi file suitable for printing. If you are unsure about your images, ask your WingSpan Press customer service representative.