So here’s a checklist of items and tasks that need to be completed before an author submits their final manuscript to their publisher or their freelance editor. Not all of these elements will apply to all projects.
Here’s what you need to turn in with your manuscript:
- Endorsements
- Dedication
- Acknowledgments
- Foreword
- Preface
- Prologue
- Introduction
- Table of Contents
- List of tables, charts, graphs, or images
- Charts/tables
- Graphs
- Photographs, graphics, or other images
- Print licenses for song or poetry lyrics; long quotes from books, websites, and news articles; use of charts, graphs, or photographs; or any other copyrighted material
- Full sourcing (or citation) information for all borrowed and quoted material including author, title, publisher’s city and state, publisher’s city and state, publisher’s name, publishing date, page number, and/or web link
- Signed releases from subjects mentioned by name or likeness in you book (changing a subject’s name is not enough)
- Conclusion
- Epilogue
- Appendices
- Bibliography
- Endnotes or footnotes
- Index list
- About the author page
From “So They Say You Should Write A Book” by Jevon Bolden
