Writing Stack Exchange
Writing Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [manuscripts]

14 questions
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2 answers

Is it unprofessional to criticize competing works in a cover letter?

I am a few days away from sending in a manuscript for a textbook to a publisher. The publisher's site instructs prospective authors to attach a cover letter describing the work, including why the author wrote the work. In my case, this came to…
Village
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After submitting a "complete" manuscript, what role does the author take?

After many years of work, I'm ready to send the manuscript of my textbook to a university publisher. This is a very professional publisher, with a large team, who publishes dozens of books quarterly. I waited until my project was very far along…
Village
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How to format those little blurbs at the start of chapters?

At the start of each chapter in Dune there are quotes from Maudib and Fremen or Bene Gesserit sayings. There are similar epistolary entries at the start of Mist born. What is the proper term for them and how do I properly format them in my…
EDL
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Should I write the 'after'?

Alright, so I just finished a really beautiful scene in my manuscript that happened during an event. Let's say it was a party. So the beautiful scene happened rather in the beginning of the event, with a few time skips to be about an hour or two…
L'Yana James
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What does working after under contract look like?

I worked on a manuscript for many years. During that time, I was independent, so I could make changes and decisions, without documenting or informing or getting permission. I may soon be working to finish this under contract. How does the process of…
Village
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Is there an industry term for a letter inquiring if a publisher is interested in a work?

I finished writing a non-fiction manuscript and now need to find an appropriate publisher. There are no existing books in this particular niche, so it is challenging to find a publisher to fit. In the past, I sent the manuscript to a publisher, and…
Village
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Do publishers and editors require a certain font for the manuscript?

I was about to print my manuscript when a sudden thought occurred to me, do publishers require a certain font? I didn’t want to print out 50,000 words only to discover it was useless, that costs a lot of money. Is there a certain font I need to use?
The-Huntress
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Is there any standard format for the title page of a manuscript?

I'm finally ready to send my manuscript to the publisher. I'm wondering if there is any standard way to format the title page of the document. I'm including such details as my name, the working title, date of the draft, all of my contact…
Village
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The history of italics for emphasis

For printed texts I understand that italics is often used for emphasis. For traditional handwriting, is/was it also a common practise to do the same? If not, what is the history behind this innovation in printing?
Eugene
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Can I use abbreviations in a manuscript?

When writing a book manuscript, what is the proper way to write something like Main Street? Is it OK to use Main St? If I use the abbreviation, is there a period after it?
dean1957
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Best way to indicate section breaks in manuscript

I am preparing writing samples for a trade book proposal. My chapters have section breaks (usually to indicate passage of time). Is there a standard or best practice for how to graphically/typographically represent them? i.e. is an extra space best?…
rougon
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Copyright if I continue someone else's work

I am writing a book - continuing someone's book series. They were finished but I'd really like to see the other characters' lives. I need to quote (I wouldn't say really quote but let's call that quoting) or rather explain the other author's book in…
Emma Edwards
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How should I format chapters in my manuscript?

I'm in my final stages of editing before I send my manuscript to beta readers. I'm wondering how I should format chapter titles. Do I put them as a header, or as a slightly larger, bolder font? (This is the first thing I am sending out to beta…
AnnWithNoE
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I've written a raw manuscript; what are the next steps?

More than 10 years ago, I wrote two books for Manning Publications, a publisher of technical non-fiction books. I didn't need to search for a publisher, I was offered a book contract, first by O'Reilly, then by Manning. I chose Manning…
Bruno Lowagie
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