Up To Date Business by Seymour Eaton

carrier? (_b_) Must a public carrier take everything offered? (_c_) What rules of liability apply to common carriers, and how can they be modified? PREPARING COPY FOR THE PRESS AND PROOF-READING I. PREPARING COPY Our purpose in these few lessons is to give some explicit directions as to the general make-up of manuscripts intended for printing. Every person who has even a business card or a circular to print should have a knowledge of the common phraseology of a printing house. As to paper, the size in most common use for manuscripts is what is known as _letter_. The sheets in any case should be of uniform size. Avoid all eccentricity and affectation in the preparation of your manuscript, or "copy," as printers call it. The more matter-of-fact and businesslike it is the better. If at all possible have your manuscript type-written, and under no circumstances should you roll the sheets when preparing them for the mails. There are a number of large publishing houses which positively refuse to touch rolled manuscripts. The very first impression created by such a manuscript is one of extreme irritation. A rolled proof is pretty nearly as discouraging, yet many printers still follow the annoying practice of rolling their proofs. Every printing establishment of any note has its methods and customs as regards orthography, the use of capitals and of punctuation. As a rule it is best to leave doubtful points to the printer. Any little deviation desired may be easily remedied in the proofs. Paragraphs should be boldly indicated by setting the line well back in the "copy." Extract matter included in the text should be clearly shown, either by marking it down the side with a vertical line from beginning to end or by setting the whole well back within the compass of the text. Such matter is commonly set in slightly smaller type. With regard to the corrections in the proofs it must be remembered that the more carefully an article is written the smaller the expense for author's corrections. This charge is often a great source of contention between the author and the printer, and, altogether, is an unsatisfactory item. A printer is bound, with certain reservations, to follow the "copy" supplied. If he does that and the author does not make any alterations there is no extra charge and nothing to wrangle about. A small correction, trivial as it may seem to the inexperienced, may involve much trouble to the printer. A word inserted or deleted may cause a page to be altered throughout, line by line, and a few words may possibly affect several pages. The charges made for corrections are based on the time consumed in making the necessary alterations. II. ON THE NAMES AND SIZES OF TYPE The beauty of printed matter depends very largely upon the selection of a suitable style of type. For books and newspaper work there are in use two general classes known as (_a_) _old style_, (_b_) _modern_. These names refer to the shape of the letter and not to its size. The several sizes of type commonly used in all plain work are as follows: