Style guideA style guide is a set of standards for the writing, formatting, and design of documents. A book-length style guide is often called a style manual or a manual of style. A short style guide, typically ranging from several to several dozen pages, is often called a style sheet. The standards documented in a style guide are applicable for either general use, or prescribed use in an individual publication, particular organization, or specific field.
Developmental editingDevelopmental editing is a form of writing support that comes into play before or during the production of a publishable manuscript, in fiction, non-fiction, and academic writing (including textbooks). As explained by Scott Norton in his book Developmental editing: a handbook for freelancers, authors, and publishers, developmental editing involves "significant structuring or restructuring of a manuscript's discourse". Developmental editors are a type of language professional.
ManuscriptA manuscript is any text written by hand as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced using automated printing technologies. Texts that are mechanically printed and bound are called books. Modern usage of the word manuscript has expanded to include the original, unpublished copy of an author's work, regardless of the technology (typewriter, word processor, etc.) used by the author to create the work.
Note (typography)In publishing, a note is a brief text in which the author comments on the subject and themes of the book and names supporting citations. In the editorial production of books and documents, typographically, a note is usually several lines of text at the bottom of the page, at the end of a chapter, at the end of a volume, or a house-style typographic usage throughout the text. Notes are usually identified with superscript numbers or a symbol.
Copy (publishing)In publishing, advertising and related fields, copy is written material, in contrast to photographs or other elements of layout, in books, magazines, newspapers and advertising. In advertising, the term "copy" means the output of copywriters, who are employed to write material which encourages consumers to buy goods or services.
The Chicago Manual of StyleThe Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) is a style guide for American English published since 1906 by the University of Chicago Press. Its 18 editions (the most recent in 2024) have prescribed writing and styles widely used in publishing. The guide specifically focuses on American English and deals with aspects of editorial practice, including grammar and usage, as well as document preparation and formatting.ProofreadingProofreading is a phase in the process of publishing where galley proofs are compared against the original manuscripts or graphic artworks, to identify errors in the typesetting process. In the past, proofreaders would place corrections or proofreading marks along the margins of printed text. In modern publishing, material is generally provided in electronic form, traditional typesetting is no longer used and thus (in general) this kind of transcription no longer occurs.
Emphasis (typography)In typography, emphasis is the strengthening of words in a text with a font in a different style from the rest of the text, to highlight them. It is the equivalent of prosody stress in speech. Methods and useThe most common methods in Western typography fall under the general technique of emphasis through a change or modification of font: italics, boldface, and small caps.
Web pageA web page, or webpage, sometimes contextually shortened to just page, is a document, typically published on the Web, and normally viewed using a web browser, which consists of hypertext and often additional components such as scripts and graphics. Since an author may publish one or more related web pages together in a website, the terms website and web page form a metaphor for paper pages bound together into a book.GrammarIn linguistics, grammar is the system of rules that governs how a natural language is structured and used, as evidenced by its speakers or writers. Grammar rules may concern the use of clauses, phrases, and words. The term may also refer to the study of such rules, a subject that includes phonology, morphology, and syntax, together with phonetics, semantics, and pragmatics. There are in effect two different ways to study grammar: traditional grammar and theoretical grammar.
TypesettingTypesetting is the composition of text for publication, display, or distribution by means of arranging physical type (or sort) in mechanical systems or glyphs in digital systems representing characters (letters and other symbols). Stored types are retrieved and ordered according to a language's orthography for visual display. Typesetting requires one or more fonts (which are widely but erroneously confused with and substituted for typefaces).
GhostwriterA ghostwriter is a person hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders often hire ghostwriters to draft or edit autobiographies, memoirs, magazine articles, or other written material.
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