BPC Manuscript Guidelines



Bradford Publishing Company

Manuscript Guidelines

Thank you for agreeing to serve as an author for Bradford Publishing Company. These guidelines provide an overview of the publishing styles we use at Bradford, many of which will be applicable to your manuscript. Please note, however—since we publish books for both lawyers and non-lawyers—that some of these guidelines may not apply to your particular book.

For example, while a law book for lawyers should be practical and relatively easy for lawyers to understand, the writing should tend towards a more formal “Bluebook” style, with at least one cited authority for every statement of law. A legal guide for consumers, on the other hand, should be almost conversational in tone, with generalized information and a minimum of cited legal authority (and then only in chapter endnotes). A legal book for non-lawyer professionals—H.R. directors, for example—will fall somewhere in between, depending on the sophistication of the intended audience.

Think of your manuscript in these terms:

• A law book for lawyers should read like a Colorado Lawyer article.

• A legal book for non-lawyer professionals should read like a Wall Street Journal article.

• A legal guide for consumers should read like a People Magazine article.

No matter who your intended audience is, please remember to keep the tone of your book professional. Although the writing process is a creative one, things like poetry, cartoons, “slang” language, and references to religious beliefs are usually not appropriate in legal books.

SCOPE

Bradford’s goal is to publish books that are well written, informative, and useful to Colorado lawyers, non-lawyer professionals, and the general public. We strive to provide practical legal information to our customers. If you have questions regarding the amount of detail or breadth of coverage to include, please discuss the issue with our editorial director or the managing editor assigned to your book. ALWAYS keep the end user in mind: What does your intended audience need to know in order for them to thoroughly understand the subject matter and make use of the information you are providing?

IMPORTANT: We are relying on you to submit your manuscript by the deadline stated in your Publishing Agreement. Our schedules for the production, marketing, and indexing of your book are developed according to your manuscript due date, so please turn your manuscript in on time!

CONTENT

Preliminary Matters

Your project will be assigned to one of our managing editors, who will contact you periodically to check on the progress of your manuscript. Within 45 days after you sign the contract for your book project, you must submit a detailed outline to your managing editor. The outline should list all of the chapters you will include in the book and all of the topics you will cover in each chapter, as well as any forms, checklists, tables, diagrams, or illustrations you will include in the text or as appendices to the book. This outline will eventually become the Table of Contents. Other “front matter” you may wish to submit with your completed manuscript could include a dedication, acknowledgements, and a preface or foreword.

To facilitate editing of your manuscript, the front matter, each chapter, and any appendices should be saved as separate word processing files. Name and number the files in the order they will appear in the book. For example:

Word format: OR WordPerfect format:

00a-Front Matter.doc 00a-Front Matter.wpd

00b-Table of Contents.doc 00b-Table of Contents.wpd

01-Ch 1 Introduction.doc 01-Ch 1 Introduction.wpd

02-Ch 2 Contracts.doc 02-Ch 2 Contracts.wpd

03-Ch 3 Breach.doc 03-Ch 3 Breach.wpd

04-Ch 4 Pleading.doc 04-Ch 4 Pleading.wpd

05-Ch 5 Discovery.doc 05-Ch 5 Discovery.wpd

06-Ch 6 Trial.doc 06-Ch 6 Trial.wpd

07-Ch 7 Damages.doc 07-Ch 7 Damages.wpd

08-App A Forms.doc 08-App A Forms.wpd

09-App B Checklist.doc 09-App B Checklist.wpd

… etc. … etc.

Text

Format each chapter with the chapter number and title at the top of the first page. If your chapters are particularly long, consider listing the chapter topics and subtopics on the first page of each chapter, similar to the corresponding chapter topics and subtopics listed in the Table of Contents. Or you may want to include an introductory paragraph, summarizing the major topics to be addressed, clarifying the scope of the chapter, and directing the reader’s attention to closely related chapters, if necessary.

Thoroughly cover all of the topics in each chapter, keeping in mind that the information should be immediately relevant and useful to your primary audience. In law books for lawyers, include frequent references to statutes and case law, with short summaries where appropriate. From time to time within each chapter, you might wish to insert an “Important Note” to encourage good behavior, a “Caution” or “Caveat” to warn against pitfalls, or a “Practice Tip” to highlight legal issues and to encourage efficient, ethical, and professional methods of practice. At the end of a chapter, or at the end of the book in an appendix, you may also want to include forms, checklists, or timelines if they help to clarify the topic.

Please put quoted material in quotes! If a quoted passage is longer than 50 words, indent it half an inch on both sides and make it a “block quote.” We are amazed, repeatedly, by authors who “lift” entire pages of material from court opinions, statutes, and other sources and paste them into their manuscripts without a single quotation mark. Even if you cite your source, thereby avoiding a claim of plagiarism, you still have to put exact quotes in quotation marks. If you paraphrase, make the words your own.

NOTE: If you plan to include copyrighted materials, forms, or quotations that exceed “fair use” standards (about 200 words), you must obtain written permission to reproduce them from the author or publisher and submit a written permission form with your manuscript. We will provide you with a form for this purpose. Typically, Bradford does not pay fees for copyrighted materials that authors wish to reproduce. Therefore, authors are responsible for paying any reprint fees demanded by copyright owners. Copyright permissions should be turned in on or before your manuscript due date.

Section Numbering: In law books for lawyers and in more technical legal books for non-lawyer professionals, you should use numbered headings and subheadings to break up the text and to identify topics within the chapter. For example, a subheading labeled “§ 12.6.3—Potential Causes of Action” indicates Chapter 12, Topic 6, Subtopic 3, addressing, obviously in this case, the causes of action that might arise based on the facts and circumstances previously described in § 12.6. Since some of our books are indexed to section numbers, not necessarily to page numbers, keep your sections relatively short and PLEASE – do not exceed three decimal places in numbering your sections. Section numbers like “§ 12.6.3.1.3” are verboten! If you need to indicate sub-subtopics beyond three decimal places, use bullet points, unnumbered sub-subheadings, or outline-style numbering (but only sparingly).

Here is a chapter outline from one of our recent books that exemplifies this numbering system:

Chapter 9 WATER FACILITIES

§ 9.1 FACILITY MAINTENANCE: RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF DITCH AND RESERVOIR OWNERS

§ 9.1.1 Rights of Ditch and Reservoir Owners

§ 9.1.2 Easement vs. Fee

§ 9.1.3 Prescriptive Easements

§ 9.1.4 Easements by Acquiescence

§ 9.1.5 Extent of the Easement Rights

§ 9.1.6 The Right to Maintain the Ditch

§ 9.2 RESPONSIBILITY FOR FACILITIES

§ 9.2.1 Injuries Caused by Facility Failure or Overflow

§ 9.2.2 Trespass

§ 9.2.3 Dam Safety Rules

§ 9.3 PROTECTING FACILITIES FROM INTERFERENCE BY THIRD PARTIES

§ 9.3.1 In General

§ 9.3.2 Ditch Owner Impacts and Agreements

§ 9.3.3 Recreational Use

Section Titles: In creating titles for the sections of your book, remember that the titles will be used for indexing purposes and in the table of contents to help readers find the topics they are interested in reading. Therefore, it is best to choose section titles that are descriptive and that accurately reflect the content of each section.

References to Other Bradford Publications: You are encouraged to provide references to other Bradford books and forms, throughout your book, where the other Bradford materials are relevant to the topic you are writing about and useful for your intended audience.

Bibliography

Including a bibliography is optional but can be useful to the reader. Provide a short list of recent writings in law reviews, journals, magazines, books and other legal resources at the end of each chapter or as an appendix to the book.

Footnotes / Endnotes

You may use either footnotes or endnotes for citing legal authorities in your manuscript. Both Microsoft Word and WordPerfect allow you to insert footnotes and endnotes automatically, and you can even switch back and forth between the two forms. We use both endnotes and footnotes in our published books; which form we use depends on the subject matter and the intended audience.

Keep in mind, however, that most readers dislike footnotes and endnotes because they are distracting. They force the reader to stop and check to see whether there is any immediately pertinent information in the note. And we’ve all seen legal treatises where the footnotes on a page take up more space than the text. Who likes wading through all of that? So, do your readers a favor: Include only legal citations in the notes, not any substantive information. If something is important enough to mention, put it in the text. Don’t turn your footnotes or endnotes into repositories for “interesting but irrelevant” factoids.

Moreover, while a law book for lawyers should cite a legal authority for every statement of law (unless it’s something we all learned the first week of law school), you do not need a citation after every sentence. Strings of ids one after another are unappealing and, frankly, useless. Depending on the subject matter, one or two citations may suffice for a whole paragraph—or even a whole page!

NOTE: Please remember that ALL of the materials you wish to include in your book, including forms, checklists, timelines, appendices, diagrams, the bibliography, and the like are part of your manuscript and must be submitted by the submission deadline.

TEXT STYLE

Format

← Software: Please e-mail the electronic file(s) containing your final manuscript to your managing editor at Bradford by the submission deadline. (See below for managing editor contact information.) Alternately, you may deliver the electronic file(s) to your managing editor on one or more IBM-compatible 3.5" floppy disks by the submission deadline. The file(s) must be formatted in either Microsoft Word (preferred) or WordPerfect. We currently use Word XP (2002) for our editing and pre-press production work and can convert earlier versions of either Word or WordPerfect.

← Fonts:

Body text: 12-point Times New Roman, justified.

Footnotes / Endnotes: 10-point Times New Roman, justified.

Section headings: 12-POINT TIMES NEW ROMAN BOLD, CAPS, CENTERED.

Subheadings: 12-Point Times New Roman Bold, Initial Caps, Flush Left.

Unnumbered sub-subheadings: 12-point Times New Roman italics (or bullets), first word capitalized, indented one-half inch, flush left.

← Spacing: double-space all text, notes, headings, and subheadings to facilitate editing. The final page proofs will be single-spaced with a space between paragraphs. Use only one space after a sentence.

← Margins: one inch on all sides.

← Alignment: justified, unless otherwise indicated.

Style in General

Be concise and focused. Avoid legalese like hereinabove and using said as a modifier or in place of such words as the, this, and that. Try to use shorter, active-voice sentences as much as possible. Use bold and italics sparingly. Use gender-neutral language.

← Bradford style conventions:

Refer to cases only by name in the text; put all citation information in the notes.

Spell out the full case name in the first instance; use a shortened version after that.

Use only common abbreviations such as Co., Corp., Inc.

Numerals in the text should be set off with parentheses: (1) text; (2) text; and (3) text.

Spell out numbers one through ten and use Arabic numerals for 11 and up; but when combining large and small numbers in a list, use Arabic numerals for all: 7, 9, and 15.

This is an “em” dash: — . It is the width of a capital M and signifies a long pause. In text, do not put a space before—or after—the dash. (keyboard code: ALT +0151) You may also use two hyphens “--” in place of an em dash.

. (include period at the end if the address is at the end of a sentence)

Board Policy No. 5.1, but “The board’s policy changed in 1992.”

← Statutes and rules:

Use the section symbol: § (keyboard code: ALT +0167).

Don’t use “et seq.” Give inclusive numbers: C.R.S. §§ 39-4-101 through 39-4-106.

← Italicization:

Italicize words or phrases for emphasis, rather than underlining or using bold.

In the text, italicize case names and the titles of books and periodicals:

Matter of Valencia

The Colorado Lawyer

Italicize foreign words that have not been incorporated into common English usage:

en banc

de novo

, e.g., [commas not italicized]

, i.e., [commas not italicized]

prima facie

Italicize references to other sections:

, e.g., See section 3, supra.

After a quotation, do not italicize information in brackets:

[citations omitted]

[emphasis added]

[emphasis original]

← Capitalization:

Capitalize the name of a court when stating its full name:

The Colorado Supreme Court ...

The Colorado Court of Appeals ...

but

The supreme court stated ...

The court of appeals ruled ...

Always capitalize Court and Supreme Court when referring to the U.S. Supreme Court:

The Court stated ...

The Supreme Court held ...

Capitalize nouns only when referring to specific people or government entities by name:

An aide to Secretary Walters revealed ...

The Drug Enforcement Agency announced ...

The Colorado General Assembly passed ...

but

The congressional hearings, the state board, the city council—when standing alone

Capitalize the first word in bulleted items and end each bullet with a period:

• Cases.

• Statutes.

• Books.

CITATION STYLE

Remember The Bluebook? Except for commonly accepted Colorado variations as outlined below, citations should conform to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation. The current edition is the Seventeenth Edition. Please Shepardize all citations before submitting your manuscript.

← Cases:

Dale v. Guaranty Nat’l Ins. Co., 948 P.2d 545 (Colo. 1997).

[comma after case name is not italicized; space between court name and date]

Matter of Valencia, 213 B.R. 594 (D. Colo. 1997)

[space between D. and Colo.]

Parallel citations for U.S. Supreme Court cases may be helpful to some readers but are not required. Cite to U.S. (preferred), or to S. Ct. if the U.S. cite is unavailable.

However, use the appropriate parallel citation when citing to older Colorado cases:

People v. McKenna, 196 Colo. 367, 585 P.2d 275 (1978)

Ball Corp. v. Loran, 42 Colo. App. 501, 596 P.2d 412 (1979).

If no Pacific Reporter or Colorado Lawyer cite is available for a recently announced case, cite the court, case number, and date announced.

Italicize explanatory phrases in prior or subsequent history:

cert. denied

overruled

aff’g

rev’d

Commentary:

cited in citing

quoted in quoting

questioned in questioning

construed in construing

← The Colorado Lawyer:

People v. Coolidge, 26 Colo. Law. No. 11, p. 180 (Colo. App. 1997).

[small caps, not italicized; year of decision, not year of publication]

but

Justice Mullarkey’s article in the June 1999 issue of The Colorado Lawyer ...

[italicized in text]

← Statutes:

C.R.S. § 39-22-520(3).

C.R.S. § 39-22-520(3), (6).

C.R.S. § 39-22-520(1)(e), (g)(II)(A).

C.R.S. §§ 39-22-1801 through 39-22-1803 [not C.R.S. §§ 39-22-1801 through 1803].

C.R.S. §§ 39-22-1801, 39-22-1806 [not C.R.S. §§ 39-22-1801, 1806].

C.R.S. §§ 39-22-1801(4), 40-22-1806.

C.R.S. §§ 39-22-1801 through 39-22-1803, 39-4-101 through 39-4-106.

3 C.C.R. 705-1 at § 8.6.A.

3 C.C.R. 705-1 at § 8.5.1 at .3, .7, .9.

3 C.C.R. 705-1 at § 8.0 to 8.9.

3 C.C.R. 705-1 at §§ 1.0 to 7.17.

Board Policy 50.1

← Articles:

R. Hanes & T. Schultz, The Anatomy of Copyright Infringement, 28 Colo. Law. No. 12, p. 5, 8 (1999)

C. Heilbrun & J. Resnik, Convergences: Law, Literature, and Feminism, 99 Yale L.J. 1913, 1942 n. 122 (1990).

← Books:

4 C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure §1006 (2d ed. 1987).

W. Prosser & W. Keeton, Torts § 102, at 712 (5th ed. 1984).

9 J. Wigmore, Evidence § 2498 (Chadbourn rev. ed. 1981).

Colorado Jury Instructions for Civil Trials 3:5A (CLE ed. 2000).

Short form: CJI-Civ. 3:5A (CLE ed. 2000).

L. DeCaro & L. Matheo, The Lawyer’s Winning Edge: Exceptional Courtroom Performance, pp. 130 to 140 (Bradford Publishing Co., 2004).

← Generally, in footnotes or endnotes: Do not use supra or infra in case cites; rather, cite to the case name, volume and page number. Use Id. in direct subsequent cites. Do not use Id. if the preceding footnote contains more than one authority. Do not use Id.—ad infinitum. Include a space following footnote numbers in footnotes. Include a space before parenthetical explanations of significance of cited authority. Cite page numbers if different from the previous cite:

1. Matter of Valencia, 213 B.R. 594 (D. Colo. 1997).

2. Id.

3. Id. at 595.

4. Dale v. Guaranty Nat’l Ins. Co., 948 P.2d 545 (Colo. 1997).

5. Valencia, 213 B.R. at 595.

YOUR PROFESSIONAL PROFILE

Please write a short professional profile that we can print in your book and use in our marketing materials. The profile should be limited to about 200 words in one or two paragraphs listing the highlights of your career and any personal information you would like to share with your readers. Please do not send your resume in place of the profile. Please send us the electronic file in either Word or WordPerfect format—labeled something like “Your Name bio.doc”—as an attachment to an e-mail message addressed to your managing editor. (See e-mail addresses below.)

Here is a sample profile:

Gregory J. Smith, J.D.

Bradford Publishing Company

Denver, Colorado

[Please use your full name and signature title as you would like it to appear in the book.]

Gregory J. Smith is the editorial director for Bradford Publishing Company, a 120-year-old, family-owned, Colorado legal publisher. He holds a B.A. in English from Colorado State University (1978) and received his J.D. from the University of Denver College of Law (1984), where he was a research and technical editor for Denver University Law Review. During earlier incarnations, Greg managed a saloon, practiced law in commercial litigation, was a senior editor for Shepard’s/McGraw-Hill, Inc., and served as administrative counsel to the chief judge of the Colorado Court of Appeals. Prior to joining Bradford in July, 2002, he served for five years as the director of publications for Colorado Bar Association CLE. Greg is active in the Association for Continuing Legal Education (ACLEA) and currently serves as treasurer for the organization. He has also served as chair of the Publications Subcommittee for the ACLEA’s Best Awards (1998-2000), co-chair of the ACLEA Publications Special Interest Group (1999-2001), publisher for The Best of ACLEA 2000-2003, director-at-large on the ACLEA Executive Committee (2002-2004), and co-chair of the planning committee for ACLEA’s 2003 Annual Meeting in San Francisco. Greg lives in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, with his wife, Dana Collier Smith, who is assistant executive director for the Colorado Bar Association, two sons, Cooper, 11, and Connor, 10, and two rambunctious Beagles named Bailey and Buster.

BRADFORD CONTACT INFORMATION

Editorial Department

Bradford Publishing Co.

1743 Wazee Street

Denver, CO 80202-5920

Fax: (303) 298-5002

Molly McGill, J.D.

Managing Editor

Phone: (303) 292-2500, ext. 326

E-mail: MollyMcGill@

Gregory J. Smith, J.D.

Editorial Director

Phone: (303) 292-2500, ext. 302

E-mail: GJSmith@

Cindy Pace, J.D.

Managing Editor

Phone: (303) 292-2500, ext. 320

E-mail: CindyPace@

THANK YOU!

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