Text handling
Supplying the text to us
We ask that authors supply the text as a Word or similar file by email or on a USB drive/CD, together with a complete print out which is exactly the same as the material on the disk (so we can check we have all that we should).
It is helpful if you do as little to the text as possible in terms of formatting. This means that you would, for example, italicise words that need to be in italics but don’t worry about making the layout pretty because it is best for us to work with plain text and layout. Use one hard return to start a new paragraph and after a chapter title or a sub-heading.
Tables can be supplied laid out using Word’s table function, using tabs, or by hand (if the writing is very clear). We will need a correct print out of all tables to ensure that we set them accurately. Diagrams, maps, family trees etc can be supplied in a number of forms and it would be best to discuss this with one of us at Scotforth.
If you have at this stage assembled and numbered all the pictures to be included, you will need to mark on your print out where they are to be placed (see also Images), or type the picture number and caption in the main file at the place where the picture needs to be. As long as each caption is a new paragraph we can easily pick them out.
If you have any queries about how to supply your work to us, contact us by email or telephone 01524 840333 and you can talk to our text experts.
What we do with your text
Once we have your text on a disk we convert it so that it can be imported into our page layout programme ready for design and typesetting. As part of this process we will ‘tidy up’ the file, getting rid of double spaces, and standardising as much as we can (such as the way dates are written etc). The content is not altered by doing this, it is just a bit of polishing really!
Editing and proofreading
We don’t edit or proofread your text unless you have specifically asked us to do so. If you require a full manual edit you will need to discuss this with us and an appropriate editor can be sought. We can do a computer-based proofread and edit, however, which will often be sufficient, and is a relatively low cost option. You can decide what you would prefer after initial discussions with us.