As of 11/20/12

Advertising and Promotions

Copy Style Guide

Table of Contents

Frequently (Mis)Used Words and Phrases 1

Grammar and Style Elements 3

Publications Lists 10

Imprint Lists 17

Best Practices 20

Frequently (Mis)Used Words and Phrases

afterward (not afterwards)

all right (never “alright”)

audiobook

audio CD

bestseller/bestselling

biblical; the Bible

boxed set

brand-new

coauthor, cocreator, codirector, cofounder, cohost, cowriter

eBook, eBook original, eNovella

email

eReader

farther (physical distance; “run farther”), further (time or degree; “investigate further”)

Internet

iPad, iPhone, iPod

mass market (never hyphenate)

middle grade (never hyphenate)

nonfiction

okay (not OK or ok)

online

paper over board (never hyphenate)

preorder

Scripture

self-help

smartphone

super (usually closed up, “supercute”)

theaters (except in National Amusements ads, which use “theatres”)

3-D

true-crime novel

TV (not television)

two color throughout

two-color photographs throughout

website

YouTube

Grammar and Style Elements

Abbreviations

a.m.; p.m.

BA

MD

PhD

UK (noun and adjective)

US (noun and adjective)

Bios

Do use appositive commas (Her husband, Kyle, and her dog, Fitz.).

Spell out state names in bios. (She lives in Shreveport, Louisiana.) When possible, end with

location. (“She lives with her family in Shreveport, Louisiana.” Avoid using “She lives in

Shreveport, Louisiana, with her family.”)

Do not capitalize job titles (ie, professor of literature; founder; president) unless referring to the

President of the US.

List of cities that do not require state names: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati,

Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Honolulu, Houston, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Los Angeles,

Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New Orleans, New York, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia,

Phoenix, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle,

Washington D.C.

Commas

Use the serial comma.

No comma after introductory phrases, except when to prevent misreads or separate two proper

nouns (ie, “In New York, Mary was lonely” but “In New York she was lonely”)

Do use comma after introductory clauses (ie, “When she came to New York, she was lonely”)

Do use comma after introductory words (“Oh, sure”)

Do use a comma to separate two complete clauses of a compound sentence. (She traveled the

globe, and he stayed home.)

Do not use a comma to separate the parts of a compound predicate. (She traveled the world and

purchased souvenirs.)

Colons

Capitalize the word following a colon if it begins a complete sentence.

Compounds

Refer to Merriam-Webster.com as primary source.

Hyphenate adjective compounds preceding a noun.

Covers

For ads, please check the title and author against the cover. Title and author names must exactly

match the cover, excluding ® and ™ symbols. Quotes on the cover are the reference point for

quotes in the ad.

For catalog copy, the first reference to title and/or author should ideally match the cover, though

variation is acceptable.

Dashes

No spaces before or after any form of dash.

hyphen: Use for compound words: blue-blooded critic; not-to-be-forgotten moment. Adverbs

ending in ly do not need a hyphen to connect them to the words they modify.

em dash (shift/option/dash): Use for sudden breaks and abrupt changes, as well as for

amplifying, explanatory, and digressive elements.

en dash (option/dash): Use to connect continuing, or inclusive numbers; dates, time, or reference

numbers. 1995–1997. 3–6 p.m. Pages 38–46. Also use for sports scores: A 7–2 victory.

Additonally, use in compounds when two or more elements are hyphenated compounds:

Caldecott Medal–winning author. Academy Award–nominated screenwriter.

Dates

See Numbers.

Ellipses

Three periods, no spaces. (Can create “…” using option/colon.)

In copy: When ellipses are used to trail off a sentence (technically called “suspension points” in

this usage), do not include a period preceding the ellipses, and leave a space between the ellipses

and the start of the following sentence. (The trouble had just begun… Next time, she’ll think

twice!)

In quotes: When ellipses represent missing text, there is no space between the ellipses and the

remainder of the quoted text. If the ellipses follow a complete sentence, end the sentence with

proper punctuation and then add ellipses. There is still no space between the ellipses and the

remainder of the quoted text.

Initials

There is no space between initials when used in place of a full name, ie, “W.H. Auden”

Italics

Italicize books, comic books, comic strips, cartoons, movies, plays, magazines, newsletters,

album titles, television shows, radio shows, paintings, airplanes, boats, trains, spacecraft.

Do not italicize series titles. Use quotes for short stories, comic book issue titles, magazine

articles, songs, episode name of TV program.

Numbers

Spell out numbers one to one hundred. Use numerals for numbers 101 and above, but spell out

round numbers easily expressed in two or three words (“five hundred,” “two thousand,” “three

hundred million”) Use commas in numbers larger than three digits. (1,036 pages)

[Exception: for key selling points in Audio catalog, TI3s, or # rankings on bestseller lists, write

out one to ten and use numerals for 11 and above.]

Dates: September 12, 1989; September 1989; the 1960s; the sixties; in ’69; 460 B.C. (note small

caps)

Time: spell out even, half, and quarter hours (seven thirty; seven forty-five) but use numerals for

exact times (7:38 a.m.)

Ages: He was in his thirties. She was fifteen when she got famous. Three-year-old child; a three-

year-old; he was three years old. The book is for seven- to ten-year-olds; written at the first-

grade level; for a first grader

Percentages: 10 percent; a 10 percent raise (no hyphen)

Fractions: one fifth of a mile; two-thirds majority

Locations: the East Seventies, Seventy-third street

Misc: Refer to 9/11 as September 11.

Regarding consistency within a paragraph, see Chicago 9.7.

Plurals and Possessives

Add an s or es to make a proper noun plural. Add an apostrophe to a plural to make it possessive.

The Smith family. The Smiths. The Smiths’ legacy. The Jones family. The Joneses. The Joneses’

legacy.

For the possessive form of a noun that ends in s, add ’s. Per Chicago 7.17, “this practice not only

recognizes that the additional s is often pronounced but adds to the appearance of consistency

with the possessive forms of other types of proper nouns.” Albert Camus’s novels. The duchess’s

property.

Note “The Jesus Exception”: Jesus does not get an s. “Jesus’ fish,” but “Judas’s lies.”

Quotations

See Italics for usage.

Formatting:

“This is a standard quote from a publication.” —Publication Title

“This is a quote from a starred review.” —Publication Title (starred review)

“This is a quote from author.” —Author Name, author of Notable Book

“This is a quote about a backlist title.” —Publication Title, on Relevant Book

Formatting in a keynote or copy:

“This is a quote from a starred review” (Publication Title, starred review).

In ads, never edit existing quotations. (Unless to make them match a quote on the book’s cover.)

In catalog copy, grammar and punctuation edits are acceptable, provided they do not alter the

meaning of the quote.

Spaces

One space after a sentence.

One space after a colon.

No spaces around em dashes, en dashes, or hyphens.

No spaces in ellipses.

Titles

When listing titles, always use italicized title case, never all caps. Refer to IMS for accurate use

of title case. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, never THE PERKS OF BEING A

WALLFLOWER.

Publications Lists

Blogs and Websites

For websites, no “www.” and capitalize all words, excepting articles. (Don’t cap “and,” “the,”

“of,” etc.)

Italicize blog titles, unless using “.com,” in which case keep roman and treat as website.

• Audio.SimonandSchuster.com

• AuthortkNametk.com

• Academic.SimonandSchuster.net

• Bookreporter.com

• TheDailyBeast.com

• HigherEd.SimonandSchuster.net

• HuffingtonPost.com

• Kids.SimonandSchuster.com

• Salon.com

• ShelfAwareness.com

• SimonandSchuster.com

• Slate.com

• Teach.SimonandSchuster.net

• Teen.SimonandSchuster.com

• USNews.com

Magazines and Newspapers

• The Akron Beacon Journal

• The Albuquerque Tribune

• The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

• The Atlantic

• AudioFile

• The Baltimore Sun

• Booklist

• The Boston Globe

• The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books]; The Bulletin; BCCB

• BusinessWeek

• CBA Retailers+Resources

• Chicago Sun-Times

• Chicago Tribune

• The Christian Science Monitor

• The Cleveland Plain Dealer

• The Commercial Appeal (Memphis)

• Commonweal

• Condé Nast Traveler

• Cosmopolitan

• The Daily Beast

• Daily News (New York)

• The Dallas Morning News

• The Denver Post

• Detroit Free Press

• The Economist

• Entertainment Weekly

• Esquire

• Forbes

• Fortune

• The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

• GQ

• The Guardian

• Harper’s Magazine

• Houston Chronicle

• Huffington Post

• The Independent

• Kirkus Reviews

• Lexington Herald-Leader

• Lingua Franca

• The Los Angeles Times

• The Los Angeles Times Book Review

• Men’s Journal

• The Miami Herald

• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

• Le Monde (Paris)

• Money

• The Nation

• National Geographic

• National Geographic Traveler

• The Newark Star-Ledger

• Newsweek

• The New Orleans Times-Picayune

• The New Republic

• New York magazine

• New York Newsday

• The New York Observer

• New York Post

• The New York Review of Books

• The New York Times

• The New York Times Book Review

• The New Yorker

• O, The Oprah Magazine

• The Observer (London)

• Orlando Sentinel

• The Palm Beach Post

• People

• The Philadelphia Inquirer

• The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)

• Playboy

• The Portland Oregonian

• The Providence Journal Publishers Weekly

• Rolling Stone

• RT (Romantic Times) Book Reviews

• The Sacramento Bee

• Salon

• The San Diego Union-Tribune

• San Francisco Chronicle

• The San Francisco Examiner

• San Jose Mercury News

• Seattle Post-Intelligencer

• The Seattle Times

• Self

• Shelf Awareness

• Slate

• South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)

• Sports Illustrated

• St. Louis Post-Dispatch

• Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

• Sun-Sentinel (Ft. Lauderdale)

• The Sunday Times (London)

• The Tampa Tribune

• Time

• The Times (London)

• The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)

• Times Union (Albany)

• The Toronto Star

• USA TODAY

• U.S. News & World Report

• Us Weekly

• The Vancouver Sun

• Vanity Fair

• The Village Voice

• Vogue

• The Wall Street Journal

• The Washington Post

• The Washington Post Book World

Television Shows

(Networks are not in italics)

• 48 Hours

• 60 Minutes

• ABC World News Tonight

• CBS Evening News

• Dateline NBC

• The Early Show

• Good Morning America

• Katie

• Larry King Live

• Late Show with David Letterman

• NBC Nightly News

• The Oprah Winfrey Show

• Today (The Today show)

• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

Wires

• Associated Press

• Reuters

• United Press International

Awards List

• Amelia Bloomer Selection

• ALA Best Book for Young Adults

• ALA Notable Children’s Book

• ALA Popular Paperback for Young Adults

• ALA (Top Ten) Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers

• ALA/YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Nominee

• ABA Kids’ Pick of the Lists

• Association of Jewish Libraries Sydney Taylor Book Award

• Bank Street Best Book of the Year

• Best Book Award

• Booklist Editors’ Choice

• Booklist Top of the List

• Boston Globe–Horn Book Award

• Boston Globe–Horn Book Award Honor Book

• Caldecott Medal

• Caldecott Honor

• CBC (Children’s Book Council) Children’s Choice Book Award Finalist

• CBC/NCSS Notable Children’s Book in Social Studies

• CCBC Choices (Cooperative Children’s Book Council)

• Christopher Award

• Coretta Scott King Award [Honor Book]

• Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award [for New Talent]

• Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award Master List Selection

• Edgar Allan Poe Award

• Ezra Jack Keats Award

• Gay/Lesbian Book Award

• Golden Kite Award, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators

• Golden Kite Honor Book, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators

• Golden Spur Award, Western Writers of America

• Horn Book Fanfare List

• International Reading Association Children’s Book Award

• IRA Children’s Book Award Notable

• IRA/CBC Children’s Choice

• IRA Teachers’ Choice

• IRA Young Adults’ Choice

• James Beard Foundation Award (or James Beard Award)

• Junior Library Guild Selection

• Lambda Literary Award

• Lambda Literary Award Finalist

• Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal

• Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award

• Library of Congress Children’s Books of the Year

• Literary Lights for Children Award

• Man Booker Award

• National Book Award

• National Book Award Finalist

• National Jewish Book Award

• NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children

• NCTE Notable Children’s Book in the Language Arts

• Nebula Award

• New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age

• New York Times Notable Book

• Newbery Honor

• Newbery Honor Book

• Newbery Medal

• CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People

• NCTE Notable Children’s Book in the Language Arts

• NYPL Book for the Teen Age

• Parents’ Choice Award [Silver Medal]

• PEN/Norma Klein Award

• PEN/Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Working Writer Fellowship

• PEN USA Literary Award Finalist

• Michael L. Printz Award

• Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book

• Printz Award

• Printz Honor Book

• Reader’s Choice Award

• Reviewer’s Choice, ALA Booklist

• School Library Journal (SLJ) Best Book of the Year

• Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction

• Smithsonian Notable Book

• Texas Bluebonnet Award

• The Society of School Librarians International (SSLI) Book Award

• The Society of School Librarians International (SSLI) Book Award Honor Book

• VOYA Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers

• Whitbread Book Awards

• Whiting Writers’ Award

Imprint Lists

When referring to the imprint, please write out the full name:

Adult:

Atria Books

Atria Books/Beyond Words

Atria Books/Marble Arch Press

Blue Heeler Books

Cash Money Content

Emily Bestler Books

Folger Shakespeare Library

Free Press

Gallery Books

Howard Books

Karen Hunter Publishing

Mercury Ink

Scribner

Simon & Schuster

Simon & Schuster Audio

Strebor

Touchstone

Washington Square Press

Pimsleur

Pocket eBooks

Pocket Star Books

Threshold Editions

Children’s:

Aladdin

Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Beach Lane Books

Libros para niños

Little Simon

Little Simon Inspirations

Margaret K. McElderry Books

Paula Wiseman Books

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Simon Pulse

Simon Scribbles

Simon Spotlight

Best Practices

Great catalog copy begins with the completed, informative tipsheet. The perfect keynote should

include:

• an exciting snapshot of the book

• tip to the resounding prior success of the author

• include a snippet of an awesome reviewer quote, or the tease of an intriguing concept

It should NOT say things like, “In the tenth installment of his bestselling series…” or, “From

well-known herpetologist John Doe comes a book about…” Think about a consumer buying a

book from an online retailer: What would appeal to him or her? Are any references we use too

obscure? Is the copy reader-friendly? Your ad/promo copywriters are trained to craft winning

catalog keynotes that explain the heart of a book in a way that compels a reader to buy it. But it

all begins with your tipsheet!