Little Blue Books have certain very definite mechanical requirements.
It is extremely important that Little Blue Book writers conform
absolutely to these requirements. If you wish to deliver satisfactory
Little Blue Book manuscripts, it will be a good idea for you to read
this section carefully and memorize the specifications that apply to
you.
Little Blue Books are now added to the series in two lengths only--32
pages or 64 pages (that is, in the completed book). This is counting
every page from title page to last page (covers excepted). Little Blue
Books are set in eight-point type, solid (which is to say, eight-point
type cast on an eight-point slug), in lines 16 ems wide, 35 lines to
the page. (Notice the manner in which this Little Blue Book is set.)
Quotations (excerpts from other books, quoted letters, etc.) are set
off from the main text by a slight space (leads) top and bottom,
and set in seven-point type. Such quoted matter should be either
single-spaced or indented about 1½ inches in manuscript. _It should not
be enclosed in quotation marks._ (Note the quoted matter on page 12 of
this book).
A 32-page Little Blue Book contains--when set as above--about 7,500
words; a 64-page book contains twice as many, or 15,000 words. You
should indicate which length your idea is likely to require when you
submit suggestions.
_How to judge the length of your manuscript_: It is unnecessary to
count the actual number of words in your manuscript. If your typewriter
has pica type (look up your bill of sale, or ask your typewriter
salesman, if you do not know), 23 to 25 pages of manuscript, 8½ ×
11-inch sheets, typed on one side of the paper only, double-spaced,
with not over ½-inch margin at left and right, or ¾-inch space top and
bottom, will make a 32-page Little Blue Book. From 50 to 55 pages of
such manuscript are required for a 64-page Little Blue Book. If your
typewriter has elite type, a 32-page book will require about 17 pages
typed as above; a 64-page book will require about 36 pages.
Always type on one side of the paper only. Always _double space_ any
typewritten manuscript. Always submit the original (not the carbon
copy) to the editor. Keep the carbon copy for your own files--and, by
the way, it is wise _always_ to keep a carbon copy. No editorial office
assumes responsibility for any unaccepted manuscript beyond the usual
reasonable care. Manuscripts also may be lost in the mails, and the
slight labor of keeping carbon copies even over a period of years may
some day repay your effort if a valuable manuscript is somehow lost.
_Number the pages of your manuscript._
You may, if you like, divide your manuscript into chapters or sections,
or both. Such divisions are advisable in any technical manuscript. If
such chapters are titled (and it is a good idea to give them titles),
be sure to include with your manuscript a Table of Contents, leaving
space for the printer to write in the page numbers when the type is
divided into pages.
Be sure you distinguish the Table of Contents from the Index. The
Table of Contents is arranged in the order of the pages--that is, the
chapters, stories, or whatever the book contains, are listed in the
order they appear in the book, with the number of the page on which
each such chapter or section begins. An Index is an alphabetical
guide to the contents of the book. In the Index subjects are listed
alphabetically, as in a dictionary, and the page numbers (added after
the book is set in type and paged) are put in to correspond. An Index
is necessary only in a book dealing with various phases of some subject
where frequent reference, for ready information, is likely to be made
by the reader. (See Little Blue Books Nos. 815 and 816 for examples of
indices).
In typing your manuscript indent the first line of every new paragraph
three spaces on the typewriter. No other marking is necessary. Words
you wish italicized should be underlined once. Words to be printed in
small capitals (seldom used), should be underlined twice and marked
“s. c.” Words to be printed in bold-face (seldom used), should be
underlined (sometimes a wavy line is used) and marked “b. f.”
A minor point in typing manuscript--but nevertheless an important
one--is to make clear the difference between a hyphen and a dash. The
hyphen on the typewriter is adequate to signify a hyphen in manuscript,
and the printer will set it accordingly. But a dash, which is much
longer than a hyphen in type, is not provided for on the typewriter
keyboard. The best way is to use two or perhaps three hyphens together,
thus ---. When so typed, these three hyphens will be set as one long
line or dash. (As a matter of fact, special instruction to the printer
is necessary in this manuscript to be sure he sets those three hyphens
as _hyphens_ instead of a dash!)
Inexperienced writers make oftentimes funny mistakes in preparing
manuscripts. I remember one writer who persisted in dividing words at
the end of the line and placing the hyphen (indicating division, or a
broken word) at the beginning of the remaining part of the word on the
line below! Of course, the printer set the manuscript all right, but
the habit was annoying.
_Please_ use 8½ × 11-inch manuscript paper, white, not too thin or too
thick. White bond paper between 16 and 24 pound stock--as the stationer
would say--is ideal. Do not use manila paper, or any color other than
white. The color of your typewriter ribbon does not matter, but in
typing manuscript use one color only--it is confusing to mix red and
black, or red and blue, in a manuscript.
Again the inexperienced author, trying to attract attention by being
“different,” errs in preparing his manuscript. One Little Blue Book
author succeeded in delivering every one of several books typed on
heavy foolscap, with deckled edges! Fortunately, it was not perfumed.
Another writer--this time an unsuccessful one--sent in a manuscript on
sepia brown paper, beautifully typed in dark brown ribbon to match.
Such idiosyncrasies are inexpressibly annoying to both editors and
printers. Avoid them.
_A Word About Special Sizes of Type_: Any necessary type or character
can be used in setting up a Little Blue Book if it is essential. The
books are standardized, as I have already said, being set throughout
in 8-point type, with quoted matter (when it exceeds more than a
sentence or two in length) set off from the rest of the text by
being set in 7-point. Larger type is used for the headings (10-point
caps--capital letters--as a rule). Boldface type, italics, small
capitals, etc., can all be used in technical books if desired. Too many
kinds of type in one book are in rather bad taste, so it is well to
keep the typography simple and neat.
The Little Blue Book dictionaries are usually set in 5½-point type, two
columns to the page. (Examine Little Blue Books Nos. 192, 696, 697,
637, 1011, 1105, etc.). The lines are therefore set 7½ ems wide; with
one-em space between the columns; this makes the page the usual 16 ems
in width. An em, by the way, is a printer’s unit of measure. There
are six ems--sometimes called pica ems for greater precision, since,
strictly speaking, an em may refer to any size type--to the inch. A
pica em is the width of a capital letter M (square) in 12-point type.
Incidentally, there are 72 points to the inch.
_Preparation of Illustrations_: In technical books illustrations are
sometimes necessary. We expect an author to prepare and submit his own
illustrations with his manuscript. If a technical title is assigned, it
is given to someone who can send illustrations if they are necessary.
Halftones (reproductions of photographs) should be avoided. In fact,
it is so difficult to print halftones on the paper used for Little
Blue Books, so they will show up well, that we are not using them at
present.
Illustrations should be outline drawings or diagrams in black ink.
These illustrations may be much larger than they are to appear in
the book, if it is any easier to prepare them that way. They will be
reduced to the proper size when they are made into line cuts (zinc
etchings).
If illustrations are sent with a manuscript, be sure to indicate in the
manuscript where, in the text, each illustration should appear, so that
in making up the book the printers can place the cuts properly. Also,
be sure to allow for the space the cuts will occupy in the finished
book, and reduce the word-count of your manuscript accordingly. It is
impossible for any Little Blue Book to be other than 32 or 64 pages
in length. You _must_ make your work fit into one or the other of
these--whichever is specified at the time you receive the assignment.
Also, you must not let your work fall much short of these lengths, for
it is just as bad to have a manuscript fill 50 pages of a 64-page book
as it is for it to run over to 40 pages of a 32-page book. It just
can’t be done.
Do not hope to have an extra long manuscript converted into a
two-volume Little Blue Book edition. This experiment has been tried and
it is not feasible. Each title must be complete in itself, and run to
either 32 or 64 pages.