Manuscript Preparation
Q. When abbreviations are used only in appendix A of a book, and the list of abbreviations is placed before the appendixes, how is it designated in the table of contents? Is it designated Appendix A so that the other appendixes become B and C? Answer »
Q. In a book manuscript, the levels of the subheads look a little confusing. For instance, in chapter 1, all the subheads appear to be H1, and then under an H1, there is a run-in head, which would be H3, but there’s no intervening H2. In chapter 2, there’s an H1 (bold, roman type), then what appears to be an H2 (italic type), and then two stacked heads (H2 and H3? but the H3 is not run in). Should I just query and then fix the coding at cleanup? Answer »
Q. What is the rule for including the place of printing with regard to an e-book, which is not actually printed on paper anywhere? If this information is necessary, where should it be inserted in the front matter? Many thanks for your response. Answer »
Q. My group is reissuing a title that went out of print. In addition to all of the contents from the original edition, we are adding a new foreword from an expert in the field, as well as a new piece by our president (who is not the author). Her 2011 reflections will be published in addition to her original piece that opened the 1995 book. Can a book contain three forewords? What else can we call these opening pieces? Answer »
Q. If a book contains only one table, is it necessary to number it? Answer »
Q. The place of publication is included in the front matter of a printed book. Is the place of publication also included in the front matter of an e-book? Answer »
Q. Hi—I am editing an engineering book where the author has used figures in footnotes. I have gone through your suggestion on numbering figures appearing in a preface to a book as figure P.1. Can we number figures in footnotes as figure FN1.1 (for chapter 1)? The same question arises for figures in problems (P1.1 for the first figure in problems in chapter 1). Answer »
Q. In 2.51 you recommend Webster’s Third New International Dictionary and call the Collegiate its “abridgment.” However, they sometimes disagree, which one wouldn’t expect from a true abridgment. (An example is “fire fighter” and “firefighter.”) Does the Third New International always trump the Collegiate when both contain the same word but with different spellings? Answer »
Q. I am using the double-numeration system recommended for heavily illustrated books (e.g., 4.1 for chapter 4, illustration 1). My problem is that there are two figures in the book’s preface, which comes before an introduction without illustrations. Numbering such as P.1 or 0.1 could look awkward. How might I number those illustrations? Answer »
Q. I have to convert author-date references into notes and bibliography style for a publisher. The author has included a list of references at the end of each chapter, which I intend to retain. My problem is that every time I insert an endnote (in place of a text citation), I end up typing the details after the list of references, which looks kind of odd. Is that okay? Will the typesetter take care of it later? Please let me know. Answer »
Q. How do you globally change all the underlining in a manuscript to italic? On page 112 of The Subversive Copy Editor is a story of a colleague who did it all by hand. I am doing that now, but I’d love to know the quick way . . . Answer »
Q. I’ve always indented all paragraphs of my work. But some people in my writers’ group take away the first indention at the beginning of a story or chapter. Which is the correct way in formatting a manuscript? Answer »
Q. What is a callout? Answer »
Q. How do you create a bibliographic entry for a visit to a museum? Answer »
Q. I have translated a recent German-language publication and am almost ready to publish. In collaborating with the German author, I have learned that she updated the original work to include one- and two-sentence passages that reflect current political conditions. She wishes for me to incorporate into my translation these updates and other minor modifications. I can agree to that, but how do I handle the matter of attribution? Answer »
Q. I know that endnotes are indexed. But which page number is listed—the page where the callout occurs, or the page where the actual endnote appears? If the latter, all subjects in endnotes on that page will have the same page number . . . the endnote page. Is that correct? Answer »
Q. My company publishes curricula in the form of modules, which are stand-alone chapters, each with its own page number range. These modules are compiled into perfect-bound volumes and then indexed. The question is how to best indicate that topic X can be found in module 26207, page 4; module 26210, page 20; module 26213, page 4; etc., as clearly and concisely as possible. Is there an alternative to repeating the module numbers and/or perhaps modifying the page numbers to make the index less clunky? Answer »
Q. I am editing a history of our university that is divided into thirteen chapters delineated by time frames. Three of the chapters are divided into parts (not to be confused with subheads, which exist in all chapters), the idea being that they would be too long as single chapters. How should these parts be treated within each chapter (if at all)? Should endnotes stream from one part to the next or begin with 1 for each part? Or should the parts simply become new chapters? Or should we dissolve the parts and accept very long chapters for those three cases? Answer »
Q. I’m copyediting Plato’s Republic and I’m wondering if I should put the dialogue in quotations or not. Answer »
Q. How do you number the pages in the appendix when you have multiple appendixes? Do you continue the same numbering that you have in the text, or do you use A-1, for example? Answer »
Q. When the original author of a book has died and the original book is being revised by others, what is the best way to handle this on the title page? Should the original author be mentioned at all? Answer »
Q. CMOS suggests that non-English terms be italicized on first use, a practice I follow when editing nonfiction. I am currently editing a novel set in Caesar’s time, featuring Roman weapons and other Latin terms. Does this practice also apply to novels? I find the italics interrupt the flow in fiction. Answer »
Q. When sending a paper manuscript for approval of publication in a journal, should it be softbound or sent as loose papers? Answer »
Q. What do ellipses within brackets mean? Often I find this [ . . . ] within a quote. Does this mean that there is an ellipsis in the quoted passage in the original? Answer »
Q. I’m editing a book on King Lear that is supposed to follow U.S. style. The author seems to favor the spelling “theatre” throughout, in both senses of the word: the physical setting of performances, as well as in the generic sense of drama. M-W lists this spelling second, the first entry being “theater.” Should I change “theatre” to “theater,” or let it stand, as it is an equal variant? Answer »
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