Are manuscripts expected to be in Microsoft Word format?

All my edits these days from my publisher come in the form of track changes, yes.

.doc makes MS easy to read on ereaders. .docX doesn't.

Both of my editors primarily use hard copy edits (marked in ink or pencil) mailed to my house. I'd do the edits on the computer and email them back. However, agent edits, and my last round from my editor are in track changes.

If you don't have Word, a free program like LibreOffice can help you with formatting your MS, and it should run track changes, too. (I know Open Office did, but it came with some glitches.)

Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Hmm... Could someone please explain what track changes are? I've never heard the term before. Thanks.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

No...

But since the majority of editors and publishers use MS Office, I always figure on making things easier on them. Just my thought...

Siri Kirpal said:

Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Hmm... Could someone please explain what track changes are? I've never heard the term before. Thanks.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

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It's a function of Word where you can make changes that appear on the screen, while the original text is kept in place. (If you delete something, it remains on screen, but marked through in blue, red or green.)

It allows side notes for an editor to ask questions or make comments.

Added text is show in a different color.

When you open a tracked document, you can "accept" a change, which will take it out of the different color and make it regular text, or answer the side bar questions, etc.

Copy edits are also done this way.

Track changes is used by many agents, and more important, by many editors at major publishers. This does not mean it's a requirement, but it sure is handy to have when an editor wants to go this route.

LibreOffice also has the track changes feature, but I don't know how compatible it is with the same feature in Word. Hang on a minute, and I'll check.

Okay, I opened a story in Word 2007, added some track changes comments, saved the story as a .DOC file, and then opened in in LibreOffice. All the track changes comments showed up, just as they do in Word.

It was a quick test, and I used only the add comment, but it worked. If you don't have Word, you can at least give LibreOffice a chance. It's free, and does most of the things MS Office does. The UI is very much like Word 2003, so most new users have no trouble adjusting.

Most submissions guidelines spell out exactly what they want. I think everything I've ever submitted has been in .rtf format.

I've never used word except in edits, and yes, all changes are tracked then.

I only take manuscripts in .doc format, and submit them to editors the same way. Whether that is industry standard I don't know, but everyone I know does that.

Cyia said:

It's a function of Word where you can make changes that appear on the screen, while the original text is kept in place. (If you delete something, it remains on screen, but marked through in blue, red or green.)

It allows side notes for an editor to ask questions or make comments.

Added text is show in a different color.

When you open a tracked document, you can "accept" a change, which will take it out of the different color and make it regular text, or answer the side bar questions, etc.

Copy edits are also done this way.

Click to expand...

Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Ah! Well, good! I've done it and didn't know the term for it.

Thanks!

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

I'd rather keep everything on one platform, and I don't really need the exhaustive organization that Scrivener offers. Word works for me.

LearningTwoWrite said:

Since other writing tools can't process the track changes that Word produces, I don't see how I could use them. I am speaking about software like scrivener. At least that is my understanding from reading. I'd hate to build something in Scrivener, save it as a .doc, have the editor or agent do track changes, then not be able to read them, or then have to go back to Word, just to edit from there.

Seems like a long way around to be organized via software.

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Yeah, I don't think you're really understanding how Scrivener works, or what it's used for. Scrivener is an organization/drafting tool, a "project" not a "manuscript." Once you compile your scrivener project, it's a manuscript, no longer a Scrivener project.

Once you are working on a completed manuscript, there is no reason to open it in Scrivener, cause Word can handle the minor changes that you do in edits with your publisher.

Think of it like building furniture. You have your raw wood that you shape and sand and construct. You drill holes, nail stuff together, whatever. This is Scrivener's job--scrivener is your drill, your sander, your planer, etc.

Then, you hit the compile button: you are staining and finishing the work.

All that's left to do is install the hardware in word, and that's edits.

Basically, you can't saw a piece of wood with a screwdriver. But you can wedge just about anything into the screw and turn it.

VanessaNorth said:

Yeah, I don't think you're really understanding how Scrivener works, or what it's used for. Scrivener is an organization/drafting tool, a "project" not a "manuscript." Once you compile your scrivener project, it's a manuscript, no longer a Scrivener project.

Once you are working on a completed manuscript, there is no reason to open it in Scrivener, cause Word can handle the minor changes that you do in edits with your publisher.

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This. I wrote and edited Kitchen Witch in Scrivener, then compiled it to Word. The submission process and edits were done entirely in Word.

P.S.) For Mac users, I wouldn't recommend you go between Pages and Word. Tracking changes isn't harmonious twixt the two.

I do all my writing in Pages (the no-frills formatting is a dream; as a life-long Mac user I just can't deal with Word's finnickiness), but when it comes time for submitting, I export the document as a .doc file with just one or two clicks of the mouse (all formatting remains intact). Every agent who's ever requested from me has asked for it as a .doc file.

LearningTwoWrite said:

Are manuscripts supposed to be in Microsoft Word format?

If they are, is track changes used a lot?

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In my case, the answer to both is yes. My publisher provides a template for Word as well.

But the real answer is, do what your agent or publisher asks you to do.

Jeff

LearningTwoWrite said:

One reason I care is because of all the other software out there. I'd hate to write something outside of Word only to find out the program didn't save the document into something that would be automatically be rejected.

edit: I have Word 2007 and Mac 2008 versions. I just had thought about other non-Word programs.

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Most, if not all, word processors will allow you to manually change the type of document you save to, whether it be .doc or .rtf.

LearningTwoWrite said:

Are manuscripts supposed to be in Microsoft Word format?

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No. Only if the guidelines say so.

If they are, is track changes used a lot?

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I hope not. Track changes isn't always compatible between two different versions of MS Word for Windows, let alone between Windows and Mac versions.

MS Word is a tool of Satan anyway.

James D. Macdonald said:

MS Word is a tool of Satan anyway.

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It really, really is.

MS Word works very, very well. I've had every version for the last ten years, and I've found nothing that isn't compatible with each version, except docx, and there's a filter for it.

Track Changes really simplifies the editing process. So does being able to connect directly with an editor, and not only work on a manuscript one at a time, or on similar manuscripts, but on the same file, at the same time.