What’s a Style Sheet?

Before your project begins, we ask that you complete a Style Sheet. Our Style Sheet is a personalized guide to your book. It is where you tell your editor and/or proofreader about your book, characters, and specific preferences regarding grammar, punctuation, etc. While we typically refer to The Chicago Manual of Style and Merriam-Webster’s dictionary when editing in American English (unless otherwise noted), there will always be specific style preferences that are at the author’s discretion.

Our style sheet typically includes the following:

• A brief synopsis.

• POVs.

• Numerals.

• Ellipses.

• Made-up words, dialects, or slang used.

• Any additional grammar preferences.

• Detailed bios of each main character.

This guide is so helpful when we are working on your manuscript. We want to know what rules you like to bend or anything unique to your writing style that you want to keep consistent. We can reference this while working, which helps reduce the need for excessive back-and-forth emails.

How do you keep track of your characters’ appearances/attributes?