So, here goes:

Use styles in your Word document — not formats

Yours highlights and formats in a text may not survive importing to the book layout software. Using styles, however, will give your document a consistent structure that can be easily imported to the layout design software.

Here is information on how to style your Word document.

Don’t use underlining or bold in the body of your text

In most books, italic fonts are used for emphasis. The bold or underlining, however, are almost never used, not even for URLs. So, if you would like to put an accent on something, use italics.

Figures, images and tables

Send all the images separately in high resolution — 300dpi. It will make processing them easier for the book designer.

Search for and eliminate extra spaces 

Use the Search and Replace function to make sure your file does not contain double or multiple spaces.

Eliminate extra paragraph returns

Designers usually do not use paragraph returns for typesetting. So, a manuscript file should not have any double paragraph returns in it.

Send a complete manuscript

Occasionally some parts of your book are ready for production later than others. Please don’t send the manuscript off to the designer if it's missing some major parts — this will make the production of your book less efficient and more prone to errors.

So, in order to keep your book on schedule and avoid errors when entering your final layout, it’s definitely worth spending some extra time preparing your manuscript files!