For Authors

Manuscript Submissions

Manuscript submissions are welcome in fields appropriate for Penn Press's editorial program. The Press's acquiring editors, and their fields of responsibility, are listed in the Contact Us section of this site. Although we have no formal policies regarding manuscript proposals and submissions, what we need minimally, in order to gauge our degree of interest, is a brief statement describing the manuscript, a copy of the contents page, and a reasonably current vita. Initial inquiries are best sent by letter, in paper form, to the appropriate acquiring editor.

Guidelines for Manuscript and Artwork Preparation

A manuscript that is clean and legible can, in the long run, reduce problems to a minimum and speed the publication process. Although no one expects authors to submit a letter-perfect manuscript, final manuscripts should meet certain specifications.

Preparing the Typescript for Editing and Production

1. Provide two copies of the complete manuscript, including front and back matter, photocopied illustrations with captions, and permissions (for both quoted text and reproduced images).
2. Wordprocessor disk files must match the paper copy character for character. Save each chapter with its notes in a separate file labeled with the chapter number and name. Use the same software and hardware throughout the manuscript (IBM-compatible format if possible). Avoid elaborate formatting features. Label the disk with name, date, and format as well as software used.
3. Manuscript pages should contain 1600-1800 characters (ca. 250-300 words, in 12-point type) on each. Leave ample margins, at least one inch, along all four edges of the manuscript page.
4. Number pages consecutively (front matter with lowercase Roman numerals, text with Arabic numbers). In multiauthor works, or if tables are numerous, number the tables by chapter. Thus: Table 1.1, Table 1.2. Number charts and illustrations the same way. If charts, illustrations, or maps are numerous, please make a list of them.
5. Everything--text, notes, block quotations, captions, bibliography--must be double-spaced. Turn off automatic hyphenation and justification programs. (Ragged right margins are preferable throughout.)
6. Verify all statistics, quotations, notation, versions of proper names, and transliterations. Run your wordprocessor's spellchecking program before you give us the final manuscript.
7. Accents and any other special characters must be in place throughout the manuscript. Add them by hand if necessary.
8. Occasional interlinear corrections are acceptable if they are made clearly (and horizontally), in pencil, in uppercase and lowercase letters. Additions of more than a few words should be typed on separate sheets of paper, keyed to the manuscript page on which they belong, with a note on the manuscript page that there is an insert (e.g., insert A for page 64 follows on page 64A).
9. Block quotes (usually, quoted material ten lines or more in length) should be double-spaced, indented, with an extra line of space above and below. Do not use tab stops within the block to give an indented appearance.
10. Notes should be numbered sequentially by chapter. Use superior reference numbers in the text; use Arabic numerals, and place them slightly above the line without embellishment (i.e., no parentheses, brackets, or slashes). The numbers should follow the passages referred to; if the passage is a block quotation, the reference number should come at the end of the quotation, not after the author's name or at the end of the textual matter introducing the quotation. The notes themselves must be double-spaced and printed as endnotes, not footnotes.
11. To be complete, the manuscript front matter should include--if the book is going to include--a title page, table of contents, list of illustrations, list of tables, dedication, foreword, preface, and introduction.
12. A preface differs from an introduction: it introduces the book as book, discussing its largest significance and aims, its scope, structure, and origins. Acknowledgments are sometimes appended. An introduction, by contrast, introduces the subject matter proper of the book. A foreword is generally written by someone other than the author of the book.
13. Back matter elements in the final manuscript include notes (multicontributor works may have notes at the ends of the individual essays), volume bibliography (if any; often this is not needed if full information is provided in notes), a list of contributors (for multicontributor works), and acknowledgments. A list of contributors should consist of two or three sentences about each contributor, including name (as it appears with the chapter title), affiliation, and brief background information. Acknowledgments may include thanks to individuals and institutions as well as permission credits for previously published work.
14. Illustrations should be provided in camera-ready form and submitted with the final manuscript. Compile a list of captions (double-spaced) that includes both descriptive copy and credit lines. Photocopies of all illustrations should be placed in position in the manuscript.

For general information, including guidelines on the use of capitals and italics and the preparation of notes and bibliography, consult The Chicago Manual of Style,14th edition.

Preparing Artwork for Publication

Artwork may be of two kinds: (1) line drawings, which include graphs, charts, maps, and the like; and (2) halftones, i.e., photographs or material that must be reproduced with continuous gradation in tone like that of a photograph. All artwork, together with legend copy or captions, should be submitted along with the final manuscript; otherwise an editor cannot work effectively or efficiently.

Halftones should be printed no smaller than 5" x 7" on glossy stock. Images and contrast in the tones of the photograph should be sharp and distinct.

Line drawings must be submitted as camera-ready copy. That is, they will be sent to the printer for photoreproduction in the form submitted, and this is the form in which they will appear in the finished book. (They may be submitted in rough form for copyediting, before their final submission in camera-ready form.) The Press has no staff or facilities for redrawing this material.

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