Q. Does it matter what font style and size are used when submitting an essay for contest consideration?
A. Contest rules usually give guidelines for submitting work. Otherwise, it is standard in publishing to use 12-point type in
a serifed font like Times New Roman. Use one-inch margins on all sides, no colors, no ALL CAPS anywhere. Indent the first
line of each paragraph. Don’t add space between paragraphs. Type a single space between sentences (not
two). Editors want the text to be clear and to speak for itself. Prose decorated with bold and italics and caps looks unprofessional.
If you are entering a contest, good luck!
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Can you recommend a best practice for dealing with URLs that are so long that they must break at the end of a line? This is primarily for a printed journal (thus short lines). If I allow the software to hyphenate the URL, it introduces a potentially confusing hyphen. If I force a line break, can I assume my reader will understand that it is all one looong URL? Thank you for your time.
A. Just as you say, URLs should be broken so as not to introduce any ambiguity. A hyphen or period at the end of a line, for instance, can confuse readers. Break after a colon or double slash but before most other punctuation. Please see CMOS 14.18 for details and examples.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I don’t know the correct spelling of a last name. How do I indicate in my newsletter that I may have
misspelled it? [Sic] doesn’t seem right.
A. Sic would actually mean the opposite of what you want to say; it would mean that although the spelling may look wrong, you are
confirming that you have spelled it correctly. If you are not able to contact the person or produce any reliable sources confirming
the spelling, and if you decide that it’s still a good idea to publish this item, at the very least
note that the spelling is unverified.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
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?
A. Yes. Remember too that it sometimes makes sense to skip a level, if the author wants similar content to reflect the same
level of importance or organization in all the chapters. In your cover letter, ask the writer to confirm that her heads reflect
the hierarchy she intended and that you have coded them correctly.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. The levels of the subheads in a MS I’m editing are confusing. For instance, in chapter 1, all the subheads
appear to be level 1 (based on the way the author has sent them, typeface-wise), but then under a level 1, there is sometimes
a level 3 with no intervening level 2. Maybe the author was just inconsistent with his use of bold and italics for heads.
I guess if it doesn’t make sense when I’m reading I should just query?
A. Yes, and perhaps ask the author to label the subheadings with numbers or letters in order to clarify their hierarchy. Remember
that it’s fine to skip a level here and there so that similar content will be headed at the same level
of importance or organization across all the chapters.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
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?
A. There are various ways to handle this. A short abbreviations list could be incorporated into appendix A under a subhead “Abbreviations”
and not be listed in the contents at all. A longer list could appear as its own back-matter section called “Abbreviations”
just before the appendixes. (It would not itself be an appendix to the main text.) In this case, the contents page would list
Abbreviations, then Appendix A (with title), then Appendix B (with title). Alternatively, you could condense the contents
listing to Abbreviations, then Appendixes.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I transcribe audio recordings verbatim, and sentences cannot be changed to leave out a false start. In this situation, is
the word after the dash capitalized? “The—when you were turning into the apartment
complex, was there enough room?”
A. Since The is a false start, the word when effectively begins a new sentence and may be capped to show that. It’s probably not a good idea to
build a rule around this, however; rather, decide case by case.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
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.
A. Conventionally the printing statement goes on the copyright page, along with the place of publication. It’s
not clear under what circumstances it would be “necessary” to include a printing
statement in an e-book, but if forced, write “This book was not printed anywhere.”
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
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?
A. Yes. Publication has to do with where books are acquired and edited (which applies to e-books), not where they are printed,
which is most often somewhere else.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. If a book contains only one table, is it necessary to number it?
A. No. In that case, a number would serve no purpose. Even with many tables, numbers are not always needed. Assign numbers if
the author uses them to refer to the tables elsewhere in the text, or if you think readers would find them helpful for citing—for
instance, in digital publications without page numbers.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]