HomeMy WebLinkAboutGuidelines for Authors (Revised)3UIDE,LINES
for
AUTKCR.S
(Revised)
Editorial Department
r
THE INTERSTATE
Printers & ublishers, Inc.
GUIDELINE FOR AUTHORS
YOU FOLKS WHO WRITE OUR BOOKS are
technical specialists, not English teachers --
we know that. We also know that you are busy
people, rushed for time, stealing time in min-
utes here and minutes there to try to get your
manuscript completed by the date when we
have asked for it. Yet it is essential to make
sure that all the words are spelled correctly,
that the punctuation is right, that footnotes and
bibliographies are consistent, that all number-
ing is accurate, that all center headings, side -
headings, subordinate headings, etc., are pro-
perly and clearly shown, and that all the other
detailed polishing has been done which is needed
to insure that the finished book will be a work
both you and we can be proud to have to our
mutual credit.
"The printed book is a permanent and
far - reaching expression of the mentality,
personal limitations, and exactness or
carelessness of its author.. .. One who
is .writing a work important enough to be
published as a book should also be will -
ing to undergo the labor necessary to
give it the finish suitable for this perma-
nent form."
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"When your manuscript copy leaves your
hands it should be prepared to represent
you, the author, to the reading world. Do
not, therefore, permit yourself to be
stampeded into delivering up the copy
until you are satisfied that it is as
letter - perfect as you can make it....
A publisher has the right to assume that
a manuscript finally delivered by an
author is a finished literary or schol-
arly work which is to be put into book
form as it stands -- that is, there should
be no further need to verify statements
or to alter or correct grammatical or
rhetorical constructions...."
THESE TWO QUOTATIONS are from The
Author's Handbook by Edward Monington Allen.
WHEN A MANUSCRIPT arrives here, con-
sistent in its internal style and organization as
to footnotes, bibliographical entries, abbrevia-
tions, punctuation, spelling, and all other such
technical details, ready to have type set on it,
it can be placed into production very soon
after we receive it. And if the manuscript,
from the beginning, says what the author
wants it to say, there will be no need for him
to rewrite portions of it after type has been set.
Under such circumstances, the galleys and
page- proofs merely have to be checked for typo-
graphical errors, to make sure that the com-
positors have set in type what the manuscript
provided. Given such a competent manuscript,
we can set up a production schedule and keep
2
it. That will enable us to get the book on the
market at the right time.
GENERAL COMMENTS
A DECADE OR two ago, nobody made much of
an issue of perfection in the manuscript. Hasty
preparation of a manuscript meant lots of
changes in the galleys and page - proof, but
when printers were working for $40.00 per
week, resetting type cost only 20� to 40� per
line. Now it costs approximately $1.00 to
change a line of type! The constant upward
spiral of printing costs dictates clean copy; it
has become imperative that corrections in the
copy be made while it is still in the manuscript
stage, not after type has been set!
WE HAVE GROWN with the years; no one com-
positor now sets your entire book into type; in-
stead, the manuscript may be divided among a
dozen different compositors, so they can no
longer even attempt to polish up whatever
errors and inconsistencies may exist in your
manuscript. There is an old saying that the
compositor is supposed to follow the manu-
script even if it flies out the window, and when
the work is divided among a number of com-
positors, that is what they have to do. Oral
instructions to compositors are no longer prac-
tical -- the only communication that can be ef-
fective is the manuscript itself. Therefore, the
manuscript presented by the author must be
ready to set into type; the compositors can be
3
expected to exercise only typesetting skills,
not to correct and organize the : nor
to exercise judgment as to what the author had
in :mind.
t UNFORTUNI.TE LY, EVIDENC-E OF haste in
the preparation of :manuscripts is not unusual
with - many of our authors -- even from some of
those from whom it would be least expected.
Nor are we the only ones who are aware of this
problem and to whom it presents headaches; a
well -known educator, who from time to tune
has assisted us with manuscripts in his field,
has had occasion to pass along to us such co-
gent observations as these:
"It has been quite a struggle to get the
manuscript into as good a shape as it is
in now and makes one wonder whether
editing books is a very desirable side-
line. I'rn still marvelling that a per-
son can acquire a Ph.H., attain high posi-
tion in a great university, write articles
and books, and still write as this author
does. I':m sorry I did not show you the
manuscript in its original state."
"I have been struggling with the revision
of this author's book. It is a terribly
sloppy job.... I ain inclined to recom-
mend that the manuscript be sent back to
him for complete rewriting."
TO SHOW THAT these are not isolated in-
stances, let us quote another top - flight educat-
4
or, who sometimes assists us with manu-
scripts in a different field,
"This thing is taking hours of my time.
If I am going to have to go through this
whole manuscript in the detail that I have
gone through it so far, before I get
through with it I am going to put in 100 or
200 hours of work.... The author is a
scholar and ought to be ashamed to send
manuscripts like this. I know that if it
were printed in the form he sent it, when
the book finally came out he would either
be critical of it or ashamed, and either
would be bad. Certainly none of the three
of us -- you, he, or -myself -- wants to do
a `botched -up' job, and I know that the
only way to assure a good job is to send
you a decent manuscript."
THIS SORT OF thing has cost us thousands of
dollars and countless hours of wasted time.
As a result, we have learned that attempting
to turn a poorly prepared manuscript into a
respectable book is next to impossible and
seldom proves profitable. Therefore, more
and more frequently we have been returning
such manuscripts to their authors for re-
writing.
OUR EDITORIAL STAFF members are, of
course, kept busy with their own primary re-
sponsibilities, which include reading and evalu-
ating manuscripts submitted for consideration;
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corresponding with authors and prospective
authors about books which are being considered
for publication, are being published, or have been
published; going through accepted manuscripts to
code them for the compositors as to style, kind
and size of type for each separate part, etc.; con-
sulting with the artist as to covers and art -work;
checking and marking all of the illustrations
which will appear in the book,, ordering the en-
gravings, inspecting them when they are delivered,
and marking them for placement in the text; ser-
ving as liaison between the author and the pro-
duction department throughout the period of pro -
duciing the book and answering production depart-
ment questions relative to books in progress;
planning and preparing initial releases which
start the ball rolling for promotion of the sales
of the book prior to and immediately upon com-
pletion of its publication; copyrighting the book;
sending out personal letters with complimentary
copies of each new book to magazines for review
and to influential persons in the field; -- and
dozens of other functions which have to do with
the publishing of books, and which leave little
or no time for the task of going over manuscripts
and proofs for misspellings, inconsistencies,
grammatical errors, etc. To the extent that time
permits, we are glad to do this as evidence of our
desire to cooperate, but it is better for all con-
cerned if the author accepts the responsibility for
the correctness of his manuscript, thus enabling
our staff to use its time in those activities which
are its primary duties.
59
HERE ARE A few special comments to help
you with the problem of manuscript preparation.
We hope you will follow them closely.
1. Outlining. Before you start to write, pre-
pare an outline of the topics you plan to
include in your book. This will enable you
to develop the book in a logical fashion. By
following this outline as you engage in the
actual manuscript preparation, all mate-
rial can be arranged in proper sequence,
and you will also find that the major divi-
sions of your outline provide an easy
method of determining what information
should be contained in a certain chapter and
under a certain heading.
We suggest the following outline format;
I.
A.
1.
a.
b.
2.
and so forth.
It is usually true that the Roman numeral
division will call for a new chapter, the
capital letter for a first weight heading, the
Arabic numeral for a second weight heading,
and the lower case letter for a third weight
heading. Further subdivisions would neces-
sitate additional types of headings.
7
To be well organized, it is almost essential
that a manuscript be written from an out-
line, and all too often it is evident that an
author has not done this. Headings fall
naturally into place when a carefully organ-
ized outline is prepared first, but if the book
is written without such an outline, it is
virtually impossible for either the author
or the editorial department to rearrange the
contents of the manuscript in logical order.
A well- organized manuscript is the author's
responsibility and is the mark of good
writing.
2. Headings. In typing your manuscript, set
up a definite placement of headings and fol-
low this throughout. A good system is:
first weight -- all capitals, centered; second
weight -- capitals and lower case, flush left
margin; third weight -- capitals and lower
case, underlined and run into the paragraph.
You may find it necessary to establish more
than three weights. In any case, the run -ins
should constitute the lowest weight.
Whatever style you follow, consistency is of
the utmost i mportan ce. Do not, for example,
type first weight headings as all capitals in
one chapter and capitals and lower case in
another or centered in one chapter and flush
left in another.
3. Numberi i llustrat ions, t able s, f ootnot es,
etc In the past, illustrations and tables
were usually numbered consecutively
throughout the book. However, it is our
hope that each book will be so successful
that revisions will be required throughout
the years to come. If numbering is con-
secutive throughout the book, any change
(addition, deletion, etc.) will require all
subsequent numbers to be changed. Thus,
consecutive numbering throughout the book
causes much unnecessary expense at the
time of revision.
We wish also to discontinue the practice of
numbering footnotes by page, for this re-
quires extra typesetting at the page -proof
stage.
Our present policy is to number illustrations,
tables, footnotes, etc., by chapter. Thus, on
a new book, no resetting is required at the
page -proof stage, and on a revision, no num-
bering is disturbed except for those entries
which follow an inserted new addition or a
deletion -- and then only to the end of the
particular chapter affected. Therefore, we
ask that you show illustrations and tables
within each chapter as follows:
Chapter I -- first illustration: Fig. 1--1;
second illustration: Fig. 1 -2, etc.
Chapter II -- first illustration: Fig. 2 -1;
second illustration: Fig. 2 -2, etc.
Chapter I -- first table: Table 1 -1; second
table: Table 1 -2, etc.
Chapter II -- first table: Table 2 -1; second
table: Table 2 -2, etc.
E
Footnotes should si _aply be numbered be-
ginning with 1 for the first footnote within
the chapter, 2 for the second, etc. The First
footnote in each chapter should always be 1,
t 4. <age refe Isle ask that to the greatest
extent possible you eliminate page references
in your manuscript. If you say, "See page - -,"
you have automatically made it necessary to
reset the line at the page -proof stage, whereas
if you can make the desired reference to a
subject heading, such as "See HIXI 7^ TI�
VJILDCLTS in Chapter II," those word can be
set in the first galleys and do not have to be
changed later. So please try to devise a system_
of references which does not require saying,
"See page - -."
5. Captions. Sorne of our authors put the captions
for their illustrations on the backs of the
illustrations themselves. Unfortunately, this
gives us nothing to send to the compositors
who have to set the captions in type. The best
way to prepare captions is to type them sepa-
rately from the manuscript. Then make a
notation, such as "Fig, 5-1 here," on the
manuscript page to indicate the desired location
of each picture.
6. Tables. Since tables are not usually set by the
same compositor who sets the text, prepare all
tables as separate manuscript pages. Then indi-
cate the desired location of each table by writing,
for example, "Table 5 -2 here" in the same
manner as the placement of illustrations is
shown.
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7. Pre paratio n of new m_ anuscrip copy. A.11
new manuscript copy should be typed double
spaced on one side only of 8 -1/2 v 11 sheets.
Use good heavy weight paper, never thin or
onionskin paper. !_void also any kind of
paper from which the typewriting can be
erased with an ordinary pencil eraser.
Erase all errors completely; do not sinapiy
make overstrikes.
Be sure that all handwritten corrections in
the copy are legible.
Leave wide margins of approxi 1-1/2
inches on all four sides to allow room for
us to write instructions to compositors, etc.
Number all manuscript pages, either by
chapters or consecutively throughout the
book.
8. Sample chapters If you are a new author
who is in the process of preparing a manu-
script, we would like very much to see two
or three sample chapters to assure us that
you are proceeding on the right track. Our
comments and suggestions at that time before
you have completed the entire :manuscript
can prevent your having to do =much of your
work a second time. ,7hile we will be inter-
ested primarily in the content, we will also
want to get an idea of the general quality of
your writing, including grarnniar, spelling,
and punctuation. Therefore, proofread these
sample chapters carefully so that we will
not get the wrong impression.
11
9. Camera -copy books If, in our correspond-
ence with you, we have agreed to consider
your work as a carriera -copy offset book --
that is, one in which the actual :.manuscript
pages are photographed and printing plates
made directly from them -- do not attempt
to prepare the final copy until we have first
seen and approved a draft of the entire book.
To prepare this draft, follow the instructions
given for a regular :manuscript, vle will, by
examining the draft, be able to -Hake neces-
sary editorial corrections and comments
before you go to the time or expense of pre-
paring finished camera copy.
10. Preparation of = manuscript for revision of
current edition It would, of course, be
needless to send co new type-
written copy for each page of the new edition,
if entire pages and paragraphs fro the
current edition are to be continued without
change. Cn the other hand, because of the
way work is divided in the composing room,
there should never be copy on the back of
any page. ?7hen you plan to prepare a
revision, remind us to send you two copies
of the current edition of the book with the
backs cut off. Be sure your revision is made
from the most recent printing of the latest
edition, as well. If you work from the first
printing of the present edition of your book,
you may find that there was a second or
third printing in which we voluntarily :made
some corrections, and if so, your use of the
first (or uncorrected) printing will force
12
you or us to do a great deal of extra and un-
necessary workon yourrevision manuscript.
By having us send you two copies of the
present book with the backs cut off, you can
mount page Ion one sheet of 8 -1/2 x 11 paper,
page 2 on a second sheet, and so on to the
last page of the book, thereby eliminating the
need to write on the back of any page. Use
a good heavy weight of paper just as on new
manuscript copy.
In preparing a page of manuscript for a
revision, if you are including only a part
of a page from the old book, and if the page
number does not appear on the part you are
using, please show on what page of the old
book the type appeared. The compositor
must have this information in order to pick
up the type from the forms which are stand-
ing.
In preparing your manuscript, we have no
objection to your using the scissors -and-
cement technique if you wish to clip from
some magazine article, or other such
source, material which you wish incorpo-
rated into your book, but please check it
carefully to make sure that it (a) contains
nothing that does not fit, such as "See
Table 1 above" when there is no Table 1
above in the portion you are using, and (b)
follows the exact style of your book manu-
script, including headings, bibliographical
entries, etc. If these factors are not con-
sistent with your own manuscript, either
13
mark the excerpts to make sure they will be
correct and will match the manuscript style
or do have them typed rather than use the
scissors and cement! (Incidentally, if you
plan to use any type of adhesive, select a
good grade of rubber cement. Spread the
cement over the entire back of the page or
section you are gluing down, not just at the
center and the corners. Use plenty of it, but
be sure to wipe away any excess so that the
manuscript pages won't stick together. Never
use a flour paste or other adhesive which
dries to a brittle crust, because this crum-
bles away when the pages are folded for the
linotype machines. Also avoid the use of
cellophane tape, as its adhesive qualities are
not long- lasting. Another acceptable technique
is to use staples. If you prefer this method,
be sure to staple each page securely at each
of the four corners.
All new typed copy should be prepared in
accordance with the instructions given in
Item 7 of this section.
Where two or more authors are collaborating
on a revision, one author must act as co-
ordinator. In this function, he should see that
all the authors' changes are incorporated into
a single revision manuscript which can then
be sent to us for typesetting. It is not pos-
sible for us to work from more than one
manuscript.
14
A FEW OTHER suggestions which we would like
to pass along include the following:
1. If you have an existing book which you are
employing for your model, send it to us
with your manuscript. We shall be glad to
consider using it as our model, too, insofar
as it is practical. Indeed, if you do not al-
ready have an established style, it might be
desirable before you start your own book
to look for a model which you like and then
follow it in preparing your own manuscript.
2. Maintain internal consistency. Whether a
word is or is not hyphenated is not of world -
shaking importance, butto have it appear
throughout the book sometimes one way and
sometimes the other looks careless. Once
type has been set, we resist resetting a line
just to put in a hyphen or take one out. The
same thing is true of spellings (per cent or
percent, sulphur or sulfur, Corn Belt or
corn belt, etc.). The time to achieve con-
sistency is when you are preparing the
manuscript.
This problem of consistency becomes doubly
or triply compounded when two or three
people collaborate on a manuscript. Each
is an individual, with his own individual
quirks and preferences, and these all show
up if someone has not carefully gone over
the combined manuscript to bring about
internal consistency. If one uses %_o, one
uses per cent, and one uses p ercen t, or if
15
one uses boldface run -in headings with a
dash and no period, another uses italicized
run -in headings with a period but no dash,
and the third prefers caps with neither per-
iod nor dash, you can see what a tremendous
task is presented in trying to keep the book
from looking like something casually thrown
together. Co- authors have a special need to
adopt a uniform style and to agree on usages
before the manuscript is undertaken, or
should otherwise insure that the final draft
is as internally consistent as if a single
person had written it.
If you want to put periods after the entries
in a table, put them there -- but do it every
time, not on a hit -or -miss basis. If you
wish the titles of books and magazines to
be italicized, don't write them in all- capital-
letters part of the time. If you like to
abbreviate certain words, go ahead and do so
-- but make sure that these words are ab-
breviated in the same way throughout the
book.
There is considerable controversy as to
whether or not such abbreviations as e.g.,
i.e., and so on should be italicized. Many
English books and style manuals recommend
doing so, while others speak unfavorably of
the practice. Also, there are many foreign
words which some dictionaries recognize as
having been Anglicized, no longer requir-
ing italics, but which others still regard as
being foreign. Two good examples are
Eire,
pe r se and laissez faire �Tle are willing to
accept your preference in the matter, but
be consistent. If you wish an abbreviation
or a word to be set in italics, underline it
-- and do so every time it appears in the
manuscript.
F requently the dictionary will give one
usage of a word as correct or at least pre-
ferred, but if the author is consistent in how
he does it, he can suit his own preference
in - -nzost cases without detracting from the
effect of the finished book. Consistency has
a virtue and a strength of its own.
'What you have in the manuscript is what
you are probably going to get in the fin-
ished book, for that is what the compositor
is supposed to give you -- and it is just as
easy to be consistent as it is to be incon-
sistent!
3. In your field, a word may have a particular
meaning which is not the usual dictionary
meaning to which we are accustomed. In
addition, inen-zbers of a specialty frequently
develop a kind of "lingo" that is perfectly
meaningful to all others in the field but
which baffles editorial staff members who
seek the definition in a standard dictionary.
If you can identify such words in advance
and supply us with an informal glossary
with the manuscript, it will save us much
time and save your answering our subsequent
queries about the words.
17
4. If references are to be made to other books,
as in bibliographies, and if THE INTERSTATE
has good books available in the field being
covered, we naturally are pleased to see our
publications listed if it is fitting and proper
for you to include them.
5. Be very wary about putting into your book
dated materials and references. An undated
statement may read just as well ten years
from now as it does today, but a dated re-
ference or quotation may make your book
seem obsolete very quickly. You may wish
to quote something that is hot off the press
as you write, but if we are still selling this
edition five or perhaps eight years from now,,
it may sound pretty ancient -- especially if
someone else comes out with a competing
book that year! The same caution applies
to expressions about time, such as "Five
years from now, in 1969" or" The study was
made in 1960, and now, four years later - -,"
or "A recent study - -" with a footnote
showing that the study had been made in
1960, while we are selling the book in 1970.
Where dating exactness is essential for
so.me valid reason, such as in giving histor-
ical background, by all means be exact in
the matter, but if a general wording will
serve equally well, it is usually wise to be
general, rather than specific, as to time and
dates.
6. We rely upon our authors for the illustra-
tions to be used in the book. In this connec-
tion, do not think of illustrations as strictly
18
photographs, graphs, maps, charts, etc. If
you propose providing sample letters, sam-
ple instruction sheets, or any other kind of
forms and models for your reader, provide
these as actual samples. Supply us with
error -free models of the forms that the
reader is to nArneograph, etc. (We stress
error -free because what you send us will be
reproduced exactly in an engraving or by
photographic reproduction, so any errors or
imperfections, such as erasures or dirty or
broken type on your typewriter, which are
visible in your "model" will also appear in
the illustration in the finished book.) Fre-
quently, you can provide tabular material in
a form that can similarly be : into an
engraving directly from what you send us,
rather than our having the table set in type;
when this is possible, it is a great service
to us and saves considerable cost in the
production of the book.
7. Look critically at your illustrations, and
keep in :Hind that we are not professionals
in your field. We have had the unhappy ex-
perience of learning that a picture in the
completed book was upside down. This can
happen easily if we are not familiar with the
subject matter and if the picture is not
self - evident. `le would recognize an upside-
down cow, but not necessarily an upside-
down attachment to a corn - planter. So
please, when there is any chance for doubt,
show which is the top of the picture! (Use
light blue pencil on the reverse side of the
19
illu s tration. )
8. There are differences of opinion with regard
to the ethics of changing an error (especially
a misspelling) in a quotation. One school of
thought is that the original author would un-
questionably appreciate having his misspell-
ing corrected. However, many authors pre-
fer to quote verbatim, errors included. If
you wish to do this, please place a check
mark over the error to show that you in-
cluded it purposely, f.lso, if the error will
be obvious to the reader, it is an acceptable
practice to follow it with the iJatin word sic
placed within brackets. If one of these
things is not done, the editorial department
or the proofreaders will be inclined to cor-
rect it as an inadvertent typing error.
9. Please don't use longhand! Except for an
occasional one- or two -word correction on
typed or printed matter, longhand is simply
not acceptable as manuscript material to
give to a compositor.
10. Please send us your complete :manuscript at
one time; do not send it to us piecemeal.
11. Proofs are expensive, but in cases of mul-
tiple authorship, we are not unwilling to
send proofs to more than one author if re-
quested to do so, however, it will be neces -
sary for you to notify us in advance if you
wish this done. In these instances, one
author :rust take the responsibility of see-
ing to it that all the authors' changes or
20
corrections are incorporated into the of-
ficial set, which is the only set that should
be returned to us.
12. Copy should always be sent back with proofs.
In other words, when returning galleys, send
the manuscript back to us also; and when re-
turning page- proofs, include the galleys.
13. Check galleys and page- proofs as if nobody
else had read them or would read them.
Cur proofreaders are human, and so are
the men of our editorial staff. We try
to catch all errors, but it is your book, and
you are the person most embarrassed if in
the finished book there are errors which
you might have detected if you had read the
proofs inore carefully. 7' resist resetting
type in many circumstances, but we never
will hesitate to reset type to correct a mis-
spelling.
Despite a minimum of six readings by edi-
tors, proofreaders, and the author during
the process of turning a r. anuscript into a
finished publication, it is all too common
still to find some obvious error in the
printed book, too late to be corrected. It
is always baffling how so many eyes could
have overlooked it. Possibly there is no
such thing as a perfect book, but that is what
we are all trying to achieve. You, more than
anyone else, can insure this by carefully
reading every line of every proof we send
you.
21
COMPETITION IS INCREASING -- and our
books have to be able to meet (and preferably
excel) the standards of the books put out by our
-- and your -- competitors. But even if this
were not true, both you and we want you book
to be as absolutely error -free as possible, as
a matter of pride, of prestige, and of personal
and professional satisfaction.
IF, IN OUR day -to -day relations in the years
ahead, both you and we use these guidelines as
our mutual starting point, not many other rou-
tine questions will arise. (Special problems, of
course, will always have to be taken up sepa-
rately. Don't hesitate to write us about any
questions that come up.)
THIS IS A promise -- if you send us a manu-
script that is ready for printing, we can give
you better service all the way around: faster
completion of the finished book, which means
getting it on the market quicker, which in turn
means more sales; the time we now spend on
trying to polish up manuscripts and proofs can
be devoted to better and more intensive sales
promotion for the book, which also means more
sales. Fatter royalty checks mean happier
authors -- and we want you to be happy!
22
ADDEIMU14
1. Permissions When you submit a manuscript
for publication, you guarantee us that the
work in no way violates any copyright be—
longing to any other party. This means that
you have secured written tten consent for the use
Of all illustrations, quotations, and the
like.
There is lack of agreement among authorities
as to how much can be lifted from another
source without getting permission. Because
no one can say definitely where the danger
point lies, play it safe! Get permission
for everything which is not your original
work.
Some copyright holders will require that you
pay them a fee for reproduction of their
material; others will grant permission with—
out charge. Read carefully all permission
forms you receive from copyright owners to
make certain that you have met all of their
stipulations. Keep the forms in your files
where you can locate them if the need should
ever arise.
All permissions must be obtained before you
send us your manuscript for editing and
typesetting.
23
2. How to express numbers Expressing numbers
consistently is a problem that plagues au-
thors and editors alike. Every handbook and
style manual sets forth its own complex set
of rules, and no two of these books agree.
Therefore, vie have carefully examined vari-
ous sources recognized as authorities by
most publishers and selected from these
guides those rules which we believe are the
most logical and the easiest to use. If you
will follow the rules presented here, you
can save us much time in the editing of your
manuscript.
Spell out all numbers under 10 and express
as figures all numbers of 10 or over, except:
a. Men there are both numbers under 10 and
numbers of 10 or over referring to like
items in the same sentence in which
case all numbers are to be expressed as
figures.
b. [)eights, measurements (excluding time
measurements), amounts of money, and
percentages, all of which are to be ex-
pressed in figures.
c. Plumbers of a million or over, which are
to be composed of a figure and a word,
such as 11 4 million" and 11 25 billion."
In this case a figure is always to be
used before the word, regardless of
whether that number is under 10 or is 10
or over.
d. When any number is the first word in a
sentence, in which case it is always
spelled out regardless of its size; oth-
er numbers in the sentence need not be
24
made consistent with the first word.
Often, however, it is desirable to re-
write a sentence so that it does not be-
gin with a number.
The same general rule applies to fractions,
which, when standing alone, are to be ex-
pressed as words when the denominators are
under 10 and as figures when the denomi-
nators are 10 or over, except:
a. When some fractions
denominators under
denominators of 10
case all fractions
in figures.
in a sentence have
10 and others have
or over, in which
should be expressed
b. When fractions are used with integers in
mixed numbers, such as "1':, in which
case both they and the integers should
always be shown as figures.
c. When used in conjunction with weights,
measurements (excluding time measure-
ments), and percentages.
d. When a fraction is the first word in a
sentence.
The terms "a hundred," "a thousand," and "a
million" may be used interchangeably with
"100, to "1,000," and "l million," but not in
the same sentence.
The terms "first," "second, " "tenth, " "twen-
tieth," etc., are always to be expressed in
words. Using "lst," "2nd," "10th, "20th,
etc., should be avoided.
25
3. Copie of your manuscript Always prepare
one or more carbon or Xerox copies of your
manuscript, and retain them in your files.
These grill prove most valuable should the
original become lost. Ali-rays send us your
original manuscript (In the case of a new
typewritten manuscript, a good Xerox copy is
satisfactory.) Except in an emergency situ—
ation, we cannot accept a carbon copy for
editing and typesetting.
�. Receiving pr and_ returning proofs Upon re—
ceiving oofs on your book, immediately
check the contents of the package against
the itemized list which appears on the ship—
ping memo. Then, sign the orhite copy of the
memo and mail it back to us to indicate that
the package arrived intact.
Read carefully any special remarks we have
included on the shipping memo.
Unless specifically directed otherwise, al—
ways return all materials we send to you.
Use the same method of shipment that ore used
to get the proofs to you. 11hen addressing
the package, be sure to include the name of
the person who signed the shipping memo.
This grill allow the package to be delivered
without any delays in our plant.
26