How to submit your book – and cut your editing costs!

Copy-editing is a key stage of any book’s development – this is when we make sure that the language flows and the spelling, grammar and punctuation are correct. It can be a long, painstaking process – and consequently an expensive one. Here we suggest ten simple ways to prepare your manuscript for submission, help cut the copy-editing time and thus reduce your costs.

 

1. Submit your manuscript as a Word document. PDFs have to be reformatted before we can work on them – and that takes time.

2. Use either Arial or Times New Roman font – it’s easier for us to work with.

3. Manuscripts should be double line spaced.

4. Don’t add an extra line space between paragraphs.

5. Use single spacing between words and after full stops.

6. Start every chapter on a new page.

7. The first line of a chapter or after a section break should not be indented. All other paragraphs should start with an indent.

8. Use single quote marks for speech – ‘…..’ – that’s the standard format for UK publishers.

9. Check your spelling for consistency. If you use –ize spellings (e.g. realize) make sure you stick with that throughout.

10. Spelling, grammar and punctuation are a bugbear for many writers – and when you’re busy telling your story, they can easily go wrong. Put your manuscript away for a few days when you finish writing, then go back and proofread it – you’ll be surprised how many changes you need to make! If you’re not confident about your own language skills, see if you can find a friend who’ll help out.

Above all, enjoy your writing!

Images supplied by © Raya | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos