Manuscript Submissions
 Author Services
Author Services
Author Services

Manuscript Submission Guidelines
A. J. Images, Inc prefers manuscripts submitted in electronic form, often this is in MS Word for many authors. The advantage of electronic manuscripts is that they can be edited more efficently and cost effectively then put into the book layout without having to keystroke anything. Please keep in mind, however, that whatever software you use to prepare your manuscript, the editing department will then convert your manuscript to a software of their choosing. This version is eventually submitted to a layout designer who will make pages in yet another software program, usually InDesign. So please keep it simple—if you spend a lot of time using your software to format your manuscript and customize the way it looks, we, in turn, must spend time paring your manuscript back to its basic elements to ensure that the layout is consistant and the whole process goes smoothly in layout and at press.

Use the following guidelines to ensure that the electronic manuscript and printout you submit to us will be ready to edit without delay or unforseen :

  • All the elements in your manuscript should be easy to identify. Save each chapter as a separate file and file name should be Ch1, Ch2, etc. Each additional part of your manuscript—front matter, introduction, references, appendixes, figures, etc., should also be saved as separate files and named as same. Endnotes need not be in a separate file, unless you choose not to use your word processor’s note-making feature.
  • Your manuscript should be double-spaced throughout.
  • Make sure that there are no comments, annotations, or hidden text whatsoever in the final version of the manuscript that you submit to us. In addition, make sure that all “tracked changes” or other revision marks have been accepted as final (i.e., there should be no revision marks, hidden or otherwise, in the final manuscript).
  • Do not use the space bar to achieve tabs or indents or to align text.
  • Do not use the automatic hyphenation feature. There should be no “optional” hyphens in your manuscript.
  • Use the same font family, throughout the entire manuscript. If a second font containing special characters is needed, please alert us prior to manuscript submission.
  • If a chapter has more than one level of subheads, differentiate them visually (with centering, bolding, underlining, etc.) or, preferably, by typing (using angle brackets) <A>, <B>, or <C> at the beginning of each subhead, as appropriate.
  • To insert notes, use your software’s built-in endnotes feature. Use the feature “as is”; please don’t reset any of the options. The benefit of the built-in notes feature is that it connects the text of a specific note with a specific place in the text. These “embedded” notes can be moved, combined, or deleted with ease; the number in the text will always carry its text with it, and the notes will automatically renumber as needed. All formatting (of number size and style, placement of the notes relative to the book as a whole, and even conversion of endnotes to footnotes and vice versa) will be performed by the layout designer. If you do not use your word processor’s note-making feature, use superscript to indicate note numbers in text.
  • Do not assign “styles” to achieve different formats for subheads, block quotes, paragraph indents, etc. The default, or “normal,” style should be the only style in your manuscript. If your program assigns a special style to automatic endnotes or footnotes, however, that’s okay.
  • Produce any special characters using your word-processing program’s built-in character set. But do not “make” a character by combining more than one character or using graphics or field codes—these will not convert for the typesetter. If a special character is unavailable in your program, hand-insert it on the printout and write the correct character and its name in the margin (e.g., <THORN>, thorn); then call it to the attention of the press in your cover letter.
  • In a list of references, for successive works by the same author, use six hyphens (i.e., ------) in place of the author’s name after the first appearance.
  • Do not insert an additional hard return to create extra space between paragraphs. Where you wish a space break in the book to indicate a change of subject, type “<space>” on a line by itself.
  • Format prose extracts (block quotations) and verse extracts with your word processor’s feature for indenting paragraphs. Insert a hard return only at the end of a paragraph or a line of verse. Do not “line up” text using the space bar—adjust the indent level instead.
  • Do not “manually” create hanging indents for your bibliography by using hard returns and tabs in the middle of an entry. Instead, use the hanging indent feature in your word processing program. If you are unsure how to do this, simply indent the first line of each entry (i.e., format them like the paragraphs in the rest of the book).
  • For each table, illustration, photograph, or figure of any kind, please place a bracketed, sequentially numbered “callout” in the manuscript that indicates placement. Also include a separate, sequentially numbered list that matches the callouts in the manuscript and contains a caption and credit line (or source), if any, for each figure. Regardless of whether you submit the figures in electronic form, you must include a printout or photocopy of each figure with the printout of your manuscript.
  • No two pages of your manuscript should have the same number, and no page should be submitted unnumbered. Either number the pages according to section (i.e., “chap. 1, p. 57”) or consecutively throughout the manuscript.
  • Copy your final, completed manuscript onto CD, or into a folder marked yourlastname-AJImages, then print two copies of your final manuscript from this same CD/files. The electronic files and the printouts that we receive must match exactly. Do not make any changes to the CD/files after you have printed out the final manuscript. If you must make changes after you have prepared the final printout, do so on the printout (hard copy) in colored pencil. Supply a list of page numbers with changes.
  • Finally, label your CD with your name, publishing name (if you have one), working book title and include the name of the software you used to produce your manuscript (i.e., “Corel WordPerfect version 10” or “Word 2002 for Windows XP” or “Microsoft Word for Mac”, etc.,.).


Send to: A. J. Images
12321 East Cornell Ave.
Aurora, CO 80014-3323
or contact us for FTP upload.

 
 
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