A Proposal: In a full proposal of a book being written, offer a detailed overall description, an outline or Table of Contents, estimates of total word count, and a completion date. Include a Preface or Introduction and one or two chapters to illustrate your writing style. If the proposal is for a finished manuscript, send us the full proposal and the first three chapters of the book along with a Table of Contents, and the total word count.

Finished Manuscripts:
Please make sure that your manuscript follows these guidelines:

Format for text and paragraphs:

1. Your manuscript must be saved in Word Document 2002 or earlier format.
2. Your manuscript must be in a readable font such as Times New Roman.
3. Your manuscript should be typed in 12-point type and double-spaced.
4. Begin each paragraph with a tab stop indentation. Indentations should be set at 1/4 inch (.25 inch). Do not use the space bar to do indentations!
5. Paragraphs should follow one another without any additional line spaces.
6. Do not right justify your manuscript.

Format for chapters:
Use the following order for sections of your manuscript:

Title page
Copyright page
Table of Contents
Dedication (if any)
Acknowledgments (if any)
Prologue (if your book is fiction, this is not needed)
Introduction (if your book is fiction, this is not needed)
Chapter 1 - End
Epilogue (if your book is fiction, this is not needed)
Bibliography (if your book is fiction, this is not needed)
Index (if your book is fiction, this is not needed)

Ellipsis:
When using an ellipsis in your text, do not put any space between the three periods. Do not use a space between the ellipsis and the word before it or the word after.

EM dashes:
Where you would normally include an em dash (-), use the double hyphen instead (--).

Italics:
Character thoughts should always be in italics without quotations when in the first person. Example: Dan Turner thought: I must find that moll!

Magazine, periodical, and book titles should be italicized with no quotation marks. If "the" is the first word in a magazine, periodical, or book title, then it is italicized and capitalized. Example: The Story of Santa Claus (book), or The Saturday Evening Post (magazine). If "the" is not part of the official title, it should be in lowercase and not italicized. Example: They read the Los Angeles Times. The only exception is if "The" begins a sentence, in which case "The" is capitalized but not italicized. Example: The Los Angeles Times is found in most libraries. If "magazine" is part of a title, it is italicized and capitalized. Example: Mad Magazine. If "magazine" is not part of the title, do not italicize it. Example: LIFE magazine.

Titles of television series should be italicized and the first letters should be in capitals. Example: Highway Patrol. Titles of television series episodes are written in quotation marks. Example: In 1955, the pilot episode, "Road-Block", of Highway Patrol was televised.

Titles of articles and stories in magazines are not italicized. Enclose them in quotation marks.

Quoting:
In your non-fiction book, do not waste too much space quoting what other critics and/or genre writers have said about your subject. If quoting, use major sources (Variety, Los Angeles Times, People, etc.).

Other:
Footnoting for documentation and crediting outside sources is acceptable but should not be overdone. Please put all footnotes at the end of the chapter, NOT at the bottom of each page. Try not to overdue the number of footnotes. Try to put all documentation in the body of the manuscript instead of in a footnote or endnote. ALWAYS give credit to any outside sources referenced in your manuscript.

Photographs/Illustrations:
For non-fiction works, it is the author's responsibility to provide the illustrated matter for their book. See our Photo Guidelines page on our web site.