ALL CAPS: Unless you truly want words ALL CAPITALIZED -- which in typography is generally used to signify a SHOUT -- convert them to sentence case. (Also see Italics below.)
Dashes: Use an "em" dash -- a dash that is the approximate width of the letter "m" -- rather than two hyphens. (Check your software manual to learn the key combinations for the em dash; a standard on the Macintosh keyboard is Apple+shift+hyphen.) Note: em dashes cannot be used in Website typography, so don't judge its length by what you see here.
Ellipsis: If you absolutely must use this generally misused punctuation mark, apply the keyboard character rather than three consecutive periods. (Check your software manual to learn the key combinations for the ellipsis; a standard on the Macintosh keyboard is option+semicolon).
Indentations: Use the ruler, not the tab key. (With the mouse, grab the top ruler slide-leave the bottom at zero or on the far left-and drag it to the right two clicks or lines. This will indent the first line of each paragraph a quarter-inch; the tab key creates a too-wide half-inch indentation. (Also see Tabs below.)
Italics (for emphasis): Use italics rather than ALL CAPS or an underline for emphasis in a sentence. (Save all caps for when you want to SHOUT at the reader, which should be almost never; and save underlining for -- well, it's difficult to find a reason for ever using it. (Also see ALL CAPS above.)
Italics (for titles): Use italics rather than an underline for appropriate titles. (Underlining is another throwback to typewriter days, when italics could only be created on a printing press.)
Quotation marks: Use "smart quotes," the quotation marks that curl into the quoted word or passage. (You can usually turn on this feature in the preference panel of your word processing program; this will also result in "smart" apostrophes.) Note: smart quotes cannot be used in Website typography, so don't judge their style by what you see here.
Spacing (at ends of sentences): Insert one space after periods, not two. (Your word processing program makes any necessary spacing adjustments; two spaces is a distinguishing trait of those who learned to type on typewriters rather than on keyboards.)
Spacing (at ends of paragraphs): Insert no extra hard returns (hitting the keyboard's "return" key) between paragraphs unless you want the extra space (and if you do, insert just one extra return).
Tabs (to indent or space): Delete all tabs and use the ruler instead. (See Indentations above.)
Underlining (for emphasis or titles): Use italics instead. (See Italics above.)
The bibliography format we use at Bear Creek Press is more informal and less academic than what many writers and other publishers use. The point of any bibliography we include in a book is not to impress readers with the breadth or depth of the writer's knowledge or research, but to give them the opportunity to find more information on the subject.
Books
Format: Author last name, author first name. Title of book in italics. Publisher, date.
Example: Calico, Joe. Teaching Your Cat Parlor Tricks. Feline Press, 2003.
Note: If an editor receives the book's byline, then replace author's name with editor's:
Example: Calico, Joe, ed. Teaching Your Cat Parlor Tricks. Feline Press, 2003.
(Punctuation -- periods and commas -- should follow format and example.)
Articles (magazines and newspapers)
Format (article with author): Author last name, author first name. "Title of article in quotation marks," name of publication in italics, date.
Example: Smith, Sam. "How I Won World War II," The Oregonian, December 25, 1946.
Format (article without author): "Title of article in quotation marks," name of publication in italics, date.
Example: "Totin' That Barge and Liftin' That Bale," Indentured Servants Monthly, March 1967.
(Punctuation -- periods and commas -- should follow format and example.)
The following is intended as a reference for some of the most common concerns and frequently-asked questions about usage. More will be added to this section as the need arises, but what follows is a list of what we prefer to see in a manuscript as far as particular uses of numbers and titles are concerned. For punctuation usage, see Punctuation Guide in House Style.
Use Words |
Use Digits |
Numbers of fewer than three words |
Numbers of more than two words |
Money figures of fewer than three words (use "dollars" rather than the dollar symbol) |
Money figures of more than two words (use the dollar symbol $) |
Time with "o'clock" |
Time (use :00) with a.m. or p.m. |
Percentages less than 21 |
Percentages greater than twenty (use "percent" rather than the symbol for it) |
To begin a sentence |
To keep numbers in a sentence parallel |
For fractions |
Page numbers |
For ordinals (second, third, fourth, etc.) |
Dates (but do not use ordinals) |
Use Italics |
Use Quotation Marks |
Ballet Book Comic strip Computer/video game Epic poem Legal case Magazine Maps Movie Music album Newspaper Non-English word Opera Painting Pamphlet Play Ship Statue Symphony Train TV program Vehicle |
Article Chapter Essay Poem (but italicize epic poem: The Illiad) Song Story (short) |
Bear Creek Press
With its World Headquarters located at the old Abbie Riggle Place on Bear Creek Road just one mile from downtown Wallowa, Oregon, Bear Creek Press is the largest publishing house on the southwest bank of the Wallowa River.
"Well-designed and well-printed books."
Statesman-Journal (Salem, Oregon)
"There could be nothing so important as a book can be."
Editor Max Perkins in a letter to author Thomas Wolfe
