Tag: copy editing

dash it all!

Published on by Mike McCandlessLeave a comment

I can’t imagine why there’s a controversy around the use of the em dash, but there it is. My position? Use em and other types of dashes liberally, but accurately.

Like so much publishing terminology, the term “em” in “em dash” derives from the old days of printing and typesetting. The length of an em dash, far from being arbitrary, was equal to the width of the letter “m” in whatever typeface was being used. Simple.

The bigger question is when to use em dashes. That’s pretty simple, too, but also a bit sublime. I find that em dashes are all about pacing — (note the em dash) guiding the reader through your text. This is really useful in fiction. Storytelling with em dashes at just the right points is almost like being there — listening to you tell the story audibly.

Less-experienced writers sometimes use the ellipsis (the three-dot thingie) where they should being using an em dash. Ellipses indicate missing text: “His boring speech began with a joke…it ended with mild applause.”

There is also the “en” dash, which, you guessed it, is equal to the width of the letter “n” in the typeface. En dashes are used by rule to separate the elements of a range, as in pages 12–15, a connection, as is in the date 12–19–2025. It’s sort of like a hyper hyphen, which is just a shorter dash.

How do you insert em and en dashes? Your word processing tool may let you use the commands Insert and then Symbol. A faster way is to hold down Alt and type 0151 for an em dash or 0150 for an en dash. These numbers are part of the ASCII range of codes, but that’s another post.

For more on any of this, just consult your favorite search engine, AI tool, or Wikipedia. And have fun going crazy with dashes until you get them under control.

What are the specific manuscript formatting guidelines I should follow?

Published on by Mike McCandlessLeave a comment

You can save yourself a lot of time, hassle, and potentially money if you clean up your manuscript prior to editing or review by a professional or friend. Here are some manuscript formatting guidelines to follow as you get your book ready for publishing.

Use these standard manuscript formatting (SMF) guidelines to create a cleaner manuscript that will make you or someone helping you more productive. SMF helps authors produce ready-to-edit manuscripts without unnecessary characters, spacing, and formatting that only needs to be deleted and re-done later. Professional editors or formatters you may use will spend less time and save you money. A manuscript created using SMF leaves formatting to the formatting phase, where tools such as Word, Adobe InDesign, Atticus, or Kindle Create can do what they do more efficiently.

SMF formatting specifically in a Microsoft Word file format (.doc or .docx) is required by many publishers including Touchwood Press as a pre-requisite for accepting a manuscript for review and evaluation. The best way for you to implement these guidelines in your manuscript is to make use of Styles in Word. If you don’t know how to use Styles, ask someone, take a course, or proceed without Styles until you learn how. This is a really key way to up your authoring game.

SMF Guidelines

  • Times New Roman, 12-point throughout.
  • Double spaced lines, but DO NOT double-space with carriage returns. Just proceed with default line-spacing until you can learn how to double space automatically in Word.
  • Paragraphs indented 1/2″, no lines between. Use tabs, not spaces, if you must. Again, learn how to automate this and include in a Style.
  • Margins = 1″ on all sides.
  • Scene breaks: Use 3 #s, 3 *s, or 3 ~s only with a space between each one. A “scene break” is often used in fiction within a chapter to change the setting or break to a new scene like in a movie.
  • Chapter titles: Begin 1/3 of the way down the page, flush left. Then, leave a blank line between the chapter title and the body of the chapter. Make the CHAPTER TITLE all upper case.
  • Headers & Footers: Author last name / BOOK TITLE—all flush left. Page numbers: top right.

These guidelines will dramatically improve the usability of your manuscript for an editor or designer.

AVOID

  • Adding spaces or lines between paragraphs or around scene breaks
  • Adding extra indent at left or right margins.
  • Using spaces or tabs to indent or center text.
  • Using other fonts for titles, chapter titles, or in body
  • Using Enter to go to next page. Use INSERT PAGE, Ctrl/Command Enter to insert a page break.

As always, contact us here at Touchwood Press for more information.

Myths & truths about book editing

Published on by Mike McCandlessLeave a comment

Of all the parts of self-publishing that authors should get help with, editing should be your first priority. You don’t have to pay a professional editor, but you do need your book looked at by someone who can be dispassionate and knows their way around a style guide such as the Chicago Manual of Style or the AP Stylebook. This well-written article explores the common myths and the key truths about book editing and editors. Use a wise eye and a cool head to glean what it offers.

Source: 7 Deadly Myths and 3 Inspired Truths About Book Editing

Copy editting…don’t publish without it.

Published on by Mike McCandlessLeave a comment

Editor job title on nameplateEffective copy editing removes verbal noise from your manuscript. Great copy editing is invisible and makes you look like a better author. Here’s a good article for self-publishers on the promise and pitfalls of doing your own copy editing. Summary? Proceed with caution. (Yes, we know about the misspelling in the header.)