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Manuscript Standards
To minimise manual editing prior to typesetting, manuscripts need to have a high electronic quality
Following the general approach set out here will benefit all authors, irrespective of the destination of a manuscript.
As an introduction, first, make 'invisible' layout characters visible by clicking the ¶ icon on the toolbar. Type a few spaces and tabs and press return to see how these 'characters' are displayed.
Next, open a long document and click the ¶ icon. If there are tabs, empty lines with just a paragraph mark or multiple consecutive spaces, it's likely you are not making the best use of styles. If you use styles well, layout does not depend on pressing the tab key or space bar.
For Goldenford authors, the standards on the following pages are mandatory
pages/technical.txt updated 00:57 Feb 6 2006
Word processing standards
Standards on this page are mandatory for Goldenford authors
working documents
- the same style sheet and styles for all documents comprising the book
- consistent layout and headings set by paragraph styles, not by formatting individual paragraphs
- A4 portrait page layout
- language set to UK English
- no page or section breaks (apart from those controlled by paragraph styles)
- no blank paragraphs (no empty lines)
- no additional spaces or tabs to control layout
- single spaces at the end of sentences and between words
- smart quotes, used consistently
- consistent use of continuation characters, eg ...
- never more than three consecutive periods... with or without spaces
- no full stops in acronyms etc, eg Mrs Jones's CD, not e.g. Mrs. Jones's C.D.
final electronic document
A single electronic document saved in ODF (eg Libre Office) format
What's the right time to apply standards?
pages/general.txt updated 13:05 Aug 18 2011
Optional standards
These recommendations are in addition to the mandatory standards. Whatever your choices, the formatting of your manuscript needs to be 100% internally consistent.
- Single speech quotes
- The standard is single spaces between words and sentences. If you really need extra spaces (eg for emphasis) use hard spaces (Ctrl + spacebar). In sequences like . . . use hard spaces to prevent the sequence splitting across lines.
- In fiction, we prefer three consecutive periods... rather then the ellipsis… (they look similar, but in most fonts the single character ellipsis is less prominent)
- Take care with vernacular smart quotes. Use ’im for him, the opposite of what smart quotes generates if you type normally [ ‘im]. To create the proper form, type h’im and remove the h. Note than a global replacement of the quote character ['] changes vernacular words to the wrong form.
pages/options.txt updated 00:57 Feb 6 2006
Style sequence standards
Standards on this page are mandatory for Goldenford authors
The style sequence below works well and is easy to apply to an existing manuscript. These styles are likely to cover the majority of your needs. Style names start with 'S', standing for Section, adopted to shorten the names. You can invent other paragraph styles if the need arises. See style definitions for details of how the styles below are defined.
Although the style sequence standards are set out in the context of OpenOffice Writer, identical techniques can be used in Word and many other modern word processors. We recommend Writer because it handles styles and templates particularly well.
What's the right time to apply standards?
section style sequence
Having the right sequence means that your manuscript will 'reflow' correctly when font or page size changes are made during the book production process.
Apply paragraph styles in the sequence shown. The OnePoyle Book Template supporting the recommended style sequence can be downloaded
|
description |
paragraph style |
|
Chapter title |
Heading 2 |
|
First paragraph |
S first |
|
All subsequent paragraphs |
S normal |
|
Last paragraph of section
|
S last (before separator) |
|
Visible section break |
S separator |
Sections consisting of a single paragraph require additional styles, included in the Template.
Different names for the section ('S') styles are fine providing they conform to this structure, but if you use the Template it's best to keep our names.
Chapters can be in separate documents. When combined, the page break in 'Heading 2' gives correct pagination (see style definitions)
pages/style_sequence.txt updated 22:24 Feb 12 2006
Paragraph Style settings
Style settings are modified in the Formatting and styles pane. Right click to modify a style.
Adjust style settings and sequence so your manuscript looks good.
The sequence is much more important than the detailed settings.
These settings are used in the style sequence and in the Template, for reference and in case you prefer to create your own styles
- S normal: for most text, first line indented, colour automatic, widow control, language UK English, following style S normal
other styles dependent on S normal, settings thus inherited unless explicitly changed - S first: S normal + no indent, following style Section normal
- S last (space separator): S normal + desired spacing after, following style S first
- S last (before separator): S normal + keep with next, following style S separator
- S separator: S normal + centred with desired spacing before and after, following style S first
- Heading 2: for chapter headings, S normal + page break before + spacing before and after 30pt + font size increase, following style S first
- Heading 3: for sub-headings only if these are to be included in the table of contents, settings similar to Heading 2 without the page break. You may need to adjust spacing in both headings.
pages/style_define.txt updated 15:29 Feb 6 2006
Final checks
Here are some of the checks needed before submitting a manuscript
- Have all multiple consecutive spaces been replaced with a single space?
- Have all tabs been removed?
- Have all spaces at the beginning of lines been removed?
- Have periods been removed in acronyms etc?
- Is the use of smart quotes 100% consistent throughout the manuscript
- Are style sequences set correctly?
- Are applied paragraph styles limited to standard names plus additional ones you have defined?
- Is layout 100% consistent throughout the manuscript?
pages/check.txt updated 00:57 Feb 6 2006
Cover standards
Standards on this page are mandatory for Goldenford authors
For the final cover we need the original components of the cover (photographs, font names etc) or alternatively a layered document with the components that Photoshop can read (Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop* can save layered documents). Also supply a merged document with the cover layout shown as you want it to appear. You may be responsible for additional costs if you use a non-standard font.
The electronic document comprising the cover should be approximately full size and ideally at 600 dpi, minimum 300 dpi. The final cover is prepared at 300 dpi.
To maximise quality, keep original un-amended documents (ie the original electronic objects) for use as the basis of the final cover. This prevents the loss of quality usually associated with saving a succession of drafts. Reduction in quality may not show up on screen, but may do so at the higher quality used for printing covers.
* For background on image editors, see the online tutorial [www.onepoyle.net/art/tutorial/main.pl?image_tech] [new window].
pages/cover.txt updated 00:57 Feb 6 2006
