Preparing to submit your manuscript

If you are a book author or editor, we are delighted that you will soon be submitting your book. Please read on...

 

Keep us informed

Let your Commissioning Editor know when you are close to delivering your final manuscript files. They will be able to tell you the best way to deliver and may pre-empt any queries you have. Keeping us informed on your progress will also allow us to start marketing your book at the right moment.

Submit only the complete and final materials.

Please remember that you need to deliver all the material to be included in the book at the same time and that it won’t be possible to make changes to the files once you have delivered them. Please ensure that you have finished work on the book before you contemplate delivery of the material.

Chapter contributor?

If you are a chapter contributor please submit your manuscript directly to your book editor. Please ensure that you have reviewed the As you write your book or chapter and Elgar copyright policy sections of the Author Hub, and are familiar with the Additional information for contributors to multi-authored books.

 

This will greatly assist your editor in compiling the full book manuscript and accompanying materials for review and submission to Elgar.

Book submission checklists

Once you have reviewed this section and have the compete manuscript files and information ready to submit, please complete the appropriate checklist and include this in your submission. This will allow us to expedite the preliminary checks and begin work on producing your book more quickly.

Please complete a Submission Checklist and include this in the materials that you submit

Checklist - Authored book Editable PDF

Checklist - Edited book Editable PDF

Checklist - Textbook Editable PDF

Checklist - Law Practitioner books Editable PDF

Checklist - Subsequent editions Editable PDF

Checklist - Casebooks Editable PDF

Preparing the preliminary pages

These should be prepared in Word and included when the final manuscript files are submitted (with the exception of the copyright page) and should be as follows (as applicable): 
NOTE Your introduction should be chapter one of the main text
  • Title page – title, subtitle, author’s name and affiliation
  • Copyright page – to be compiled in house by EEP. Please leave blank
  • Dedication (if applicable)
  • Contents page showing part and chapter titles (no subheadings)
  • List of figures (if more than 5 and fewer than 20)
  • List of tables (if more than 5 and fewer than 20)
  • List of boxes (if more than 5 and fewer than 20)
  • List of contributors (if applicable)
  • Foreword and/or Preface (if applicable)
  • Acknowledgements (if applicable)
  • List of abbreviations (if applicable)

Table of contents

Please include a table of contents, in a Word file, that is clear and easy to refer to. Don’t include chapter subheadings in the table of contents. 
  • Do not include individual chapter contents pages. 
  • Please do not bookmark the table of contents. 
  • Please include only main part titles in your table of contents, using roman numerals (e.g. I, IV, III...) for part numbers.  
Numbering chapter files

Please number all chapters with Arabic numerals (e.g. 1,2,3...) and save each chapter as a separate file. Every chapter should contain a logical sequence of headings. 

Please double-check that the table of contents chapter titles match those on the actual chapter pages.

List of contributors for edited books

Please include a ‘List of contributors’ after the table of contents. This should be prepared in Word, ordered alphabetically with either a brief affiliation or a short biographical paragraph, ideally a maximum of 80 words long. Please follow one style or the other and check that author names on the list of contributors exactly match those on the table of contents and chapter page. 

Example: Brief affiliation

Example: Short biographical paragraph

Covers - including advice on AI generated images

The design of the cover for your book is our responsibility. We have access to image databases and we will discuss the options with you once you have delivered your manuscript files but before work begins on the production of your book. 
 
Please note that if your book is to be published in a series there will be a standardized series cover design. 
 
If you have already agreed to use a particular image on the front cover with your commissioning editor, submit this with your final files along with proof that the copyright holder of the image (this may be the artist or photographer) has given you permission to use the image in this way, royalty free for all editions (please refer to the Elgar copyright policy section). We require high quality images for use on the front cover of your book.

 

AI generated images

If you wish to use an AI generated image there are some issues you need to bear in mind. 

Please check the terms of service of the AI platform to ensure you have the right to use the image commercially.

The quality of AI generated images is often below what we would usually require for cover artwork. Such images can appear fine in the previews when a search is carried out, but the deficiencies only become apparent when our designers are attempting to download the images and manipulate them. There are often errors within such images that are not corrected by the artist e.g. incorrect flag details and distortions of objects, people and backgrounds. Such details can be misleading and would be far more apparent on a printed cover than they may at first appear on screen.

It is not always easy to tell that images are AI generated as photo libraries (such as Adobe Stock and Unsplash) do not separate these out or label them as A, instead it requires a manual selection/filter.  Please bear all these points in mind if you choose an AI image and consider a non-AI back-up image to also send to us in case of issues.

Please advise us if the image you have chosen is AI generated.

Textbooks and companion website pages

If you have agreed with your editor that your textbook will include a companion website please send these materials when you submit your manuscript.

Our companion sites guidelines can be found here.

How to send your files to us

Well done, you have filled in the checklist and have the complete and final files ready to submit!

Submit the manuscript files via email, Google Drive or a file transfer service such as Dropbox to your commissioning editor. If you do not have access to such a service your commissioning editor will be able to provide you with a link to our own.

Our production schedule will start once we have reviewed the checklist and all materials, received confirmation from you that all necessary copyright permissions have been cleared, and have confirmed that submission is complete.