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If I tell my author something enough times, maybe they'll get it. Happy Friday, everyone. From Head Like an Orange.

Always count all the words!

When you're submitting a word count at any point in the process, always count all the words. ALL OF THEM. Every last endnote, bibliography entry, and caption. I see time after time "The book will be 80,000 words, exclusive of endnotes and bibliography." Do you know how many books I've worked on that had an endnotes section as long as the main text? Too many. And a book that's 160,000 words ain't gonna fly. So when you're doing a word count--whether it's when you first submit the manuscript or when you're submitting your final version--make sure to include everything. Because every word on a page in a manuscript is a word on a page in a real book. And those words take up space.

Follow the submission guidelines!

So, you're ready to submit your manuscript or proposal to a press. Congratulations! Now, before you do anything, go to that press's website and look for their submission guidelines. No, seriously, don't assume all presses have the same guidelines. So go look them up right now. And follow them closely.

Or don't. It's not like we have them sitting right in front of us and if you're missing section A in the proposal we toss it in the garbage recycling bin. But, generally, follow them pretty closely. There's a reason why we ask for specific sections, like chapter summaries, word count, and delivery date.

And, don't contact the editor or the editor's assistant asking for help or permission to do things differently. You're an adult (hopefully--it's hard to sign contracts with kids). Take the initiative to figure it out yourself, and clearly explain yourself in your cover letter if you're diverging from the guidelines. So, if there's a (valid) reason for why you're only submitting one sample chapter instead of the required two, tell us why! And if your book is good enough, we won't mind.

Don't call!

If you are under contract, do not call unless it is an emergency. Are there emergencies in book publishing, you ask? No, there are not. So probably best to just email anyway.

If you are not under contract, do not call requesting an update on your book proposal you submitted. You can email. Once. At least eight weeks after you submitted the proposal.

If you are not under contract but you have spoken to an editor at a conference one week ago and have not heard from that editor yet, most definitely do not call to see if we are still interested in the project. As everyone complains, scholarly publishing takes time. We do not make decisions in one week (unless the book is really good, and the authors that want a follow-up in one week normally aren't writing those books). Patience is a virtue.

It's currently -2 degrees Fahrenheit outside right now at this lovely publishing house. So, let's fantasize about how amazing our summer hours will be. From the George Eastman House Flickr page.

#weather #funsies #summer hours

No bibliographies at the end of the book for edited collections!

These days scholarly publishers often chop up edited collections to sell chapters separately. Not because we make a lot of money off this (we don't make a lot of money) but because it's something libraries and scholars want in this new digital age. So, if you are an editor of an edited collection, please be sure each chapter has its own bibliography at the end of the chapter (and when would you be using a bibliography? when you're using in-text or shortened citations, you say!). Even if multiple chapters use the same citations and you think it will save pages in the end, your editor's assistant will require that you break them up.

And doing that is a lot of work! So save yourself the hassle and keep the bibliographies the contributors submitted at the end of each chapter.

#bibliography #edited collection #basics #formatting #citations

No double full citations!

This may be a house style preference where I work, but please DO NOT submit a manuscript with full citations in the notes and also a full bibliography. We won't let you do this, no matter how many times you ask, no matter how many ways you try to convince us it would be good for the readers. You either have shortened citations in your notes with a full bibliography or you have full citations in your notes with no bibliography. Period. The end. Have a nice day.

In all seriousness, doing this adds time onto the production of your book. Your editor's assistant will ask you to remove these before the book goes into copy editing (really, no exceptions). This can often take days or even weeks depending on how busy you are. Those days or weeks can delay the manuscript by weeks or months.

#citations #bibliography #basics #formatting #notes

Label your permissions!

Remember how you're collecting permissions to use song lyrics or poetry? Well, when those come in, make sure to label them clearly so your editor and/or your editor's assistant know what these letters relate to. While it may be clear to you that this particular email states you have rights to quote 2Pac lyrics in chapter 3, your editor and/or your editor's assistant may not be able to as easily decipher the email at first glance. Make it easy for them!

If you are submitting hard copies (and this particular editor prefers hard copies, even though it's bad for the trees, because I'm going to have to print them out anyway and put them in your permissions folder), put a sticky note on the front of each permission letter stating what chapter it corresponds to. This is a good idea for image permissions and previous publication permissions, too! For images, be sure to include not just the chapter, but the figure number as well.

#permissions #song lyrics #poetry #basics #formatting #previous publications #figures #illustrations #images

A glamorous Friday afternoon at your local scholarly publishing house (photo taken by my esteemed colleague @susanmpls)

#funsies #day in the life

Acknowledge us!

Narcissistic, perhaps, but including us in your acknowledgments goes a long way. Unless you've had a very tumultuous relationship with your editor and/or your editor's assistant, it's a very nice, simple, and free gesture of gratitude for the work they've put into your manuscript.

#acknowledgments

No spiral binding!

Do not EVER submit an unsolicited manuscript (or a solicited manuscript or final manuscript for that matter) with any kind of spiral binding. Your editor and/or your editor's assistant will be grateful. At publishing houses, we often have to make copies of materials. How will we make copies of materials if it's spiral-bound? Oh, page by page? NO THANKS. Oh, cutting through wire or hard plastic spiral binding? NO THANKS.

Do your editor and/or your editor's assistant a favor and submit materials using rubber bands, binder clips, or paper clips (remember, no staples!)

#basics #unsolicited manuscripts #binding

Send photos!

Send photos of old French philosophers to your editor and/or your editor’s assistant (okay, okay, this is unique to this particular editor who is also partial to baby photos). Photo of Jean-François Lyotard from Bracha Ettinger's Flickr account.

#funsies

Request permission!

If you use more than 2-4 lines of a song or poem created after 1923, you need to get permission from the copyright holder. It's normally easiest to start with the company that published it (so, Epic Records or W. W. Norton, for example). And remember, it can take months to get these permission requests resolved. Your editor and/or your editor's assistant love to answer questions you may have about this! But only if you ask before you submit the final manuscript.

Note, however, that if you have been developing a happy relationship with your editor and/or your editor's assistant already, they may be much more pleasant to you if you forget to request permission. They might even do it for you!

#basics #permissions #song lyrics #poetry #previous publications

No staples!

Do not use staples to join paper together. EVER. Instead, use paperclips or binder clips. Your editor and/or your editor's assistant will be grateful.

#basics #binding

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