Style sheet

Here are the guidelines to make sure that the primary bibliographic fields which give information about the book according to the need of Publishers, Sales & Marketing Teams, and Customers are provided by the author in order to increase sales of the book.

This will contain all the relevant information about the book that you have written. It should ideally include information such as the title of the book, any subtitles that you may have in mind, the name of the authors and editors, caption or note relating to the frontispiece of the book, and any dedications that you may want to make.

• The title of the book is the most important part of metadata, both structural and descriptive. • Fundamentals of Discoverability: The distribution of keywords efficiently is crucial.

• Title and subtitle should be in Title Case (e.g. The Fault in Our Stars), except a non-English title where this is not a compulsion (e.g. Spanish).

• The title and subtitle should not contain any edition details but may contain information about the volume.

Every manuscript should be accompanied by a table of contents based on the same theme as the one provided at the beginning of this guideline. The table needs to contain anything and everything that needs to be a part of the book following the Table of Contents page. This includes book parts, chapters, sub – chapters, glossary, bibliography, appendices, and index amongst other things.

• The list consists of the main chapters of the book should match with the final list printed in the book.
• Concise, descriptive chapter titles that include keywords.

Please provide the details in an excel sheet as per the following guidelines:

1. Numbered chapters.
2.  Should be formatted as one single paragraph (no line breaks).
3. Number chapters with a period/full stop e.g. “1.”, (i.e., do not use a colon, a semi colon, or nothing).
4. No preliminary material or end matter (e.g. preface, index).
5. Use double-space between the end of one chapter and the number of the next, and between chapters and part titles.
6. Use “and” not “&” (ampersand).
7. No contributor names.
8. Do not include “Chapter” – just numbers;
9. Consistent Title Case (i.e. Capitalise Key Words).
10. Parts titles should be prefixed with ‘Part’, followed by their number (not roman numeral) and a colon e.g. “Part 1:”. Part titles should be emboldened.

If you have collaborated with other contributors for the development of the book then information on the collaborators will also be required. Information required is the names of the contributors along with their fields of expertise and academic qualifications.

The list should be in the alphabetic order w.r.t the surnames of contributors and shouldn’t include any contact information. Contributors should have full names if available and italicized, i.e, in italics.

• Blurbs are statements of delivery and not of intentions or aims: declaring that this guide “provides” guidance is more impactful as well as economical than saying that it “aims to provide.”
• Emphasis on a comprehensive explanation of the book and its contribution to its related field, rather than explaining the general subject area. Stating that “this guide provides detailed instructions for composing effective bibliographic copy” tells you more about the book than saying “Writing copy is an aspect of publishing a book.”
• Try not to start every blurb with “This book/this volume”.
• Make sure the book’s title is not repeated, especially when short on space. The title should go along with the blurb.
• Use “and” not “&” (ampersand).

Standard Blurb

Customer-oriented product description including essential information about the book.

• Concentrate on the value of the content.
• Most important piece of illustrative metadata (besides the title): most frequently used field and the default choice for most significant internal and external outputs (containing sales tools, Google and Amazon).

Paragraph 1: Overview – An overview of the product.

Paragraph 2: Features and Benefits – A summary of key features and benefits to the reader.

Paragraph 3: Audience – Details on the relevant audience.

Paragraph 4: Ancillaries – A description of any ancillary materials, if present.

Paragraph 1: Overview
A single-sentence overview that describes what the book is about, apprehend the essence of the book and focus on the content of the book (rather than the general subject area).

• If the book is a new edition, this should be clearly stated.
• It must be 300 characters or less (60 words approx): Google typically shortens snippets over 300 characters.
• If the product has an additional element like CD Rom this must be clearly mentioned in a second sentence.

Paragraph 2: Features & Benefits

A brief and direct explanation of what the reader will gain from adopting or purchasing the book (benefits) and how the book will deliver it (features).

• Generally, a customer spend a very short time to evaluate a book: an impressive second paragraph lets them to quickly understand the value and decide to purchase.
• If the book is a new edition, the new features and their benefits must be clearly highlighted.
• It should answer the following:
  • What benefits will I get from reading this book?
  • What are the key elements of the approach taken?
  • How exactly does it deliver these benefits?

Paragraph 3: Audience

A simple statement about the type or group of customers for whom the book is designed.

• This will distinguish the book from others on the topic and allow the customer to identify rapidly whether it is suitable for them.
• An individual who can recognize themselves in the target audience quickly will be more likely to purchase the book.
• A bookseller who can understand the market will be able to specify if it is suitable.
• An instructor or student who can clearly determine the level at which the book is aimed and the area of study is more likely to request an inspection copy, recommend to their library or purchase a copy.
• The paragraph should answer the following:
  • Who is the book written for?
  • Who do you expect to purchase this book?
  • What course or area of research would they be studying

Paragraph 4: Ancillaries

Essential information on any added-value elements that support the book but are not included within it. For example, companion website materials for textbooks.

Illustration:

Written in line with the best practice it represents, this blurb describes the expected composition of blurbs for maximizing discoverability and sales. The first paragraph is an overview of up to (close to) 300 characters that includes keywords and will also appear in the Short and Seasonal Blurbs. Paragraph two’s composition can be recalled using the mnemonic FBI: Features; Benefits; Impact. The paragraph provides a brief and direct explanation of what the reader will gain from adopting or purchasing the book (benefits), how the book will deliver it (features), and the effect the benefits and features will have on the reader (impact). This paragraph imitates the tone and content conveyed in the Selling Points field in GT and it is acceptable to present this paragraph as a bullet list of Unique/Key Selling Points. The final paragraph should clearly define the audience and market for the book, including the readership level – in this case: professionals – and list the relevant disciplines, such as academic publishing and copy-writing. In conjunction with the first paragraph, it will form the Seasonal blurb (and should therefore be around 400 characters). Where present, an additional fourth paragraph might be added to describe any ancillary materials accompanying the book. The entire blurb should be approximately 200 words in total.

• A short summary of the book author/editor(s)’s primary professional/academic identity.

  • Compose and punctuate as a regular sentence.
  • One line per Author/Editor.
  • Avoid academic abbreviations and acronyms as far as possible (e.g. PhD, MA).
  • Avoid titles and prefixes (e.g. Professor) as far as possible.
  • Avoid mention of books published by other publishers as far as possible.
  • Should include as a minimum for each Author/Editor:
    • Full name;
    • Current Professional/Academic Position/title;
    • Current Professional/Academic Institution;
    • The country in which Institution (or author, if different) is located.
  • Can be supplemented with a small amount of additional notable information, where space permits, such as previous professional posts, relevant societal memberships, and other Manakin Press titles authored, etc.

  Illustration:

  Rudyard Jones is Professor of Ecology and Agricultural Sciences, Cornell University, USA.

  Kim Tennyson is Senior Researcher at Institute for Research and Technology, Thessaly Centre for Research and Technology, Greece.

• Carefully selected keywords and phrases that characterize the book and would be used by customers searching for content. Providing catchwords is an effective method for increasing the likelihood that an interested reader will discover a book whilst searching for content on their chosen topic.

  A minimum of 5 catchwords is required for all product types (no maximum), to be provided at the proposal stage and reviewed at RFM

  • Single words or multiple-word phrases of 2-4 words.
  • One word/phrase per line (add as many lines as necessary using “insert Line Above/Below”).
  • Do not repeat author/editor names in catchwords.
  • • Avoid reference to rank (“best-selling”) or promotions (“free” or “discounted”).
  • Ask Authors and Editors for catchwords as part of the proposal (they know the content best and as both creator and consumer).
  • Opportunity to highlight important concepts/topics covered that may not be overtly flagged in Title etc.
  • Harvest recurring concepts form the table of contents.
  • Research and include common synonyms for key concepts in your book as appropriate; add alternative phrases, synonyms, or refinements of other product information already supplied.
  • Include course titles (or keywords from them) for textbooks where the main words are not already in the book title/subtitle.
  • ‘Stemming’ for the most significant concepts (e.g. computing, computational, computer).
  • Include legitimate spelling variations of an important concept the book covers (e.g. “Hanukkah”, “Chanukah”, and “Chanukkah”).
  • Unless unavoidable and justifiable, do not reference competing works or authors to increase search results. This unfair practice can result in demotion in search results.
  • Sense-check selection by posing as a consumer and searching Amazon to see if competing/complementary books appear.

  Illustration:

  Title: Advances In Science and Technology a Proceeding of International Conference

  Catchwords: Science, Technology, Conference, Proceedings, Advancement, etc.

• If the book contains images, tables, maps, graphs, diagrams, and any other type of supporting elements, then a list of these must also be included along with the manuscript along with their positions in the book.

You can choose to acknowledge anyone for your book. A separate section will be included for acknowledgements.

If your book is in a technical field then you may need to include a Glossary or an Index at the end of the manuscript defining all the technical terms used in the main text of the book. The Glossary or Index needs to include entries in alphabetical order with pages where the term is mentioned included.

Depending upon the nature of your book, you could include any number of supplementary material such as question banks, additional study material, or other information. Appendices must be included as a part of your manuscript.

References made in the book need to be provided in the bibliography. This could include references to books, journals, research papers, blogs, mainstream media, and even fiction. More information can be found in the ‘References’ section of these guidelines.

Apart from what you need to include with your manuscript, there are other things that you’ll have to keep in mind.

• In the order of sequence, the digital files must be named 001_A, 002_B, 003_C with the

alphabets the titles of the pages such as ‘manuscript cover page’, ‘preface’, ‘table of contents’, etc.

• We prefer to work with the font Times New Roman and font size 12. For more detailed information on fonts, refer to the ‘Fonts’ section of these guidelines.

• If you have chosen to use footnotes then please ensure that every page’s footnotes begin with ‘1’.

• We request you to avoid using tabs and instead use first line indents, if necessary.

• Please ensure that the line spacing in the text is ‘double-lined’.

• We will need you to submit your completed work to us in both digital and hard copy formats. Please make sure that both versions are identical.

At Manakin Press, we accept books in both English and punctuation conventions from the US and UK. However, we don’t accept books that carry mixed styles. We also maintain a Style Sheet. Please go through the following and ensure that your manuscript conforms to the provided elements.

If you’re dividing the book into parts then it part with begin with a part page. On this page, the title must be Part I, Part II, Part III, and so on with the numbers being represented by Roman numerals.

Chapters must be based on Arabic numerals. Effectively, ‘Chapter 1’ is right while ‘Chapter One’ is not. While referring to a chapter within the book, ‘Chapter 1’ must be used but if you’re referring to a chapter in another book then ‘chapter 1’ in lower case must be used.

The purpose of headings is to give the reader an intimation of what subject the next set of words will cover. Headings are especially useful in providing the reader with a structure to follow. There can even be subheadings to headings to the second layer. However, there shouldn’t be more than two sub-layers of headings as that would complicate the hierarchy. Formatting of headings must be.

• Heading 1 – Arial, 14pt, Centred, Title Case
• Subheading 1 – Arial, 12pt, Left, Title Case
• Subheading 2 – Arial, 12pt, Left, Title Case, Underlined Captions must be placed after chapter and caption numbers. Captions need to be concise and informative.
• Captions must be accompanied by instructions for insertion at the exact position where it is to be placed. If you have a book that focuses on artistic subjects, please contact us for more detailed instructions on captions.

Bold is only allowed for headings and subheadings. If you have to emphasise a word or a phrase within the text, do so with Italics instead.

Italics are to be used for proper nouns of all inanimate and abstract items including magazines, journals, newspapers, research papers, films, and plays. It can also be used for foreign language and if you want to emphasise some word.

Underlining within the main text is to be avoided. However, some subheading layers can be underlined. 

Capital letters are not to be used for any sentences as they make reading difficult. Capitals, however, can be used as a part of title case or wherever basic rules of the English language allow them.

• If you’re using excerpts and extracts from other publications or even famous words spoken by others, you must ensure that you keep the text same in terms of sequence, spelling, and even punctuation. In case, you’re using less than 50 quoted words then you can work them into the main body of the text.

However, if the word count exceeds 50 then you’ll have to use display text wherein the quoted words will be displayed in a separate, indented paragraph. If the quotation is too large to be included in full, you can take away a chunk of from its middle with the use of ellipses.

• You have to attribute all quotations you use in the book to the proper source either before providing the quotations or after the quotation marks are closed on them.
• In US English, the date comes after month but before the year while in UK English it comes before the month and the year both. If you’re using decades then you must put the ‘s’ at the end without the apostrophe such as 1990s, 2000s, etc.

Note: Please refer to Chapter 5 ‘Attributions’ for more details on copyrighted issues and procedures.

• If you’re using images and tables then you must ensure that they’re accompanied by captions and are numbered in the right sequence. The same captions and numbering must be provided in a separate list.
• If your subject depends on equations and the characters in the equation are font sensitive we advise using MathType.

• You can use either bullet points or numbers to create your lists. However, lists within lists need to follow different styles. If you’re using numbers the sub-list should be of alphabets and if you’re using bullet points then the sub-list should be empty circles as opposed to filled circles. The sentence before the beginning of a list should end with a colon while the list itself should end with a full stop unless multiple sentences are used in the list.

• Number between one and nine need to be written in alphabets unless they are denoting some kind of measurement and are followed by measurement units. Double digit numbers need to be written in digits. No sentence should begin with a number unless it is written in alphabets and more than 4 digit numbers should have a comma in the appropriate places.

• In US English ‘percent’ is used while in UK English ‘per cent’ is used. The character for percentages i.e. % should only be used in tables.

• There is a difference between how some words are spelt in US English and UK English. Depending on which style of language you’re following, please ensure that the spelling convention remains consistent.
• There should only be one space after punctuations such as full stops, commas, semicolons, and colons. Similarly, paragraph spacing should also be single.

• It is advisable to avoid abbreviations wherever possible. however, if unavoidable, the first time the phrase or name is mentioned abbreviation should be provided in parentheses e.g. ‘united kingdom (UK)’.
• Most abbreviations don’t require a full stop in the middle e.g.UK, USA, UN, EU, etc. abbreviations which end with the same letter as the actual word are known as contractions e.g. MR, DR, EDS, etc. however, in some situations where contractions don’t end with the last letter of the actual word, full stop is used e.g. ch. and ed.

• Regardless of which style or convention you choose, please keep it uniform throughout the manuscript. Things to keep an eye on include list styles, references, hyphens, capitalisation, and abbreviations amongst others.
• Inflammatory, racist, and sexist language is strictly advised against. In addition, other things pertaining to language that you need to avoid include colloquial usage, ambiguity, and jargon without explanation.

Since punctuation conventions also vary from one culture to another, we have a house style sheet for them as well. Consider the following.

• Commas – In US English, comma is used before the final ‘and’ or ‘or’ of a list but in UK English it is not. We follow the same conventions. However, our advice is to keep the uses of commas to a bare minimum with the exception of using them in lists and where necessary. If you find yourself dividing a sentence with multiple commas then it would be possible for you to break the complex sentence to multiple smaller ones instead. This will help readability.
• Dashes – In US English unspaced em dashes are used for parenthetical aspects while in UK English, spaced em dashes are used.
• Ellipses – While using ellipses ( … ), ensure that there is space before and after them unless it is followed by a note reference number or a quotation mark.
• Periods – Periods are not required on headings, subheadings, part pages, chapter titles, and captions.
• Hyphenation – You can choose to use or not use words in their hyphenated forms. Sentence breaks with hyphens is not recommended.
• Parentheses – These can be used in the form of en and em dashes, curved brackets, and square brackets.
• Plurals – Plural words or numbers do not require apostrophes unless you’re trying to use the word in a possessive manner.
• Quotation Marks – In US English, double quotation marks are used while in UK English single ones are used. You have the option to choose either. Please use curly quotation marks (‘’) as opposed to straight ones (“)
• Accents – If you’re using words with accents then special characters must be used such as é. The accent, however, is not relevant if the word begins with it and must be capitalized.