The Manuscript

PREPARING THE MANUSCRIPT

Before moving on to the design and layout of your book, you should have the manuscript proofread and corrected, preferably by a professional editor (see Editorial Work). Doing editorial work in the layout program will be more expensive and time-consuming than doing this work in the word-processing program.

1) Digital Manuscripts
If your manuscript is in digital form (i.e., it has been typed into a computer file), and the editing is completed, you are ready to have your book designed. To indicate where an image should be placed, type a short note in the manuscript, preferably in ALL CAPS, so that the designer can easily see it. This note should include the filename of the image. All images should be sent to the designer as separate files. If the images have not been digitized, your book designer can scan them.

2) Typewritten Manuscripts
If your manuscript has been typed on a typewriter, the pages can be digitized by scanning them into a computer file. This is faster and less expensive than having the manuscript keyboarded. The scanning program “guesses” each letter so some errors will be introduced, especially if there are smudges or wrinkles on the pages. For this reason, the digital file should be proofread, preferably by a professional proofreader (see Editorial Work) and corrections should be made to the computer file(s) before the file is sent for layout.

3) Handwritten Manuscripts
If your manuscript is written in long-hand, you will need to have it keyboarded. If you don't have any long-suffering relatives or close friends who will do this for you, local university or college bulletin boards are a good place to find listings for people who you can pay to keyboard your manuscript. Another possibility is to google "Word Processing Services" in your city. After the manuscript has been keyboarded, have the file proofread, preferably by a professional proofreader (see Editorial Work), and either you or the proofreader should make the necessary changes before the file is sent for layout.

CONTACT US at info@self-publish.ca for more information.