Manuscripts

Track author work-in-progress from initial idea to publication-ready.

What is a Manuscript?

A Manuscript is a work-in-progress: a book that is being written but is not yet published. Use a manuscript to:

  • monitor writing progress
  • manage file versions
  • track when a work is ready for publication

Manuscripts vs Titles

Manuscript Title
Work-in-progress Published work
Has a working title Has a final title
Tracks word count progress Has editions, and each edition has a page count
No ISBN needed Its editions have the ISBNs
Internal tracking Public product

A manuscript does not turn into a Title. When the book is ready, create the Title as usual. Then choose it in the manuscript’s Published Title field. See Linking to the Published Title below.

Manuscript Status

Every manuscript has one of these statuses:

Status Meaning
Idea Concept stage, not yet started
Outline Planning the structure
Drafting Writing the first draft
Revising Author self-editing
Editing Professional editing stage
Ready for Publication Complete, ready to publish
Published Has been published
Abandoned Project discontinued

Manuscripts do not have to move through the statuses in order. You can skip Outline. You can switch between Revising and Editing as often as you need.

Showing or hiding Manuscripts

Manuscripts comes with every plan. It appears in the sidebar under Books.

An administrator or owner can hide it for everyone:

  1. Click your workspace name at the top of the page.
  2. Choose Settings.
  3. Open the Defaults tab.
  4. Under Sidebar, untick Manuscripts.

A hidden app keeps its work. Its links still open it.

Creating a Manuscript

  1. Go to Manuscripts in the sidebar.
  2. Click New manuscript.
  3. Fill in the basic information:
  4. Working Title: what you are calling it now. You can change it later.
  5. Status: where you are in the process.
  6. Optionally set targets:
  7. Target Words: how long the finished manuscript should be.
  8. Target Date: when you need it done.
  9. Add context:
  10. Synopsis: what the book is about.
  11. Notes: internal notes and reminders.
  12. Click Create manuscript. This saves the manuscript and opens its detail page.

The Contributors and Versions sections are not on the create form. The Files section is on the form, but it only says Save the manuscript first to upload files.

You edit all three sections on the manuscript’s edit page. To reach it, create the manuscript, then click Edit.

Tracking Progress

Word Count

Two fields track writing progress:

  • Current Words: how many words you have written so far.
  • Target Words: the goal for the finished manuscript.

Update the current count as you write. Pubblish works out the percentage. It shows next to Word Count on the manuscript’s detail page. It also shows as a progress bar in the manuscripts list.

Example: - Target: 80,000 words - Current: 45,000 words - Progress: 56% complete

Target Date

Set the Target Date to the date you want the manuscript finished. The manuscript’s detail page shows it as Target Completion. Use it to plan your editorial schedule and publication date.

Managing Versions

You can track several file versions of one manuscript.

Version Types

Type Purpose
Draft Working drafts (first draft, second draft)
Revision Author’s revised versions
Edited Post-editorial versions
Final Publication-ready version

Adding a Version

You add versions on the manuscript’s edit page. The Versions table on the detail page is read-only.

  1. Open the manuscript and click Edit.
  2. In the Versions section, click Add version.
  3. Select the version Type. This creates the version and unlocks the other fields.
  4. Pick the file in the File box. It lists the documents you are allowed to see, including the ones filed under this manuscript. Only administrators and the owner see correspondence and other confidential documents.
  5. Enter the word count in the Words box.
  6. Describe what changed in the Notes box.

Each version saves automatically as you fill it in. You do not need to click Save changes for it.

Version numbers increase within each type (Draft v1, Draft v2, and so on).

Filing Files Under a Manuscript

A manuscript holds its own files. Use this section for the drafts, proofs and editorial letters that arrive before the book has a Title record.

Four categories are offered:

Category What goes in it
Manuscript The draft files themselves
Edition Files (marked Proof) A read-through or a review copy
Marketing Materials The synopsis or pitch a submission needs
Correspondence Editorial letters and reader feedback

All four are document categories. If you drop an image on the manuscript’s drop zone, Pubblish files it as cover or promotional artwork. Those categories are not on the list above, so the file disappears from the manuscript. File a cover under the book’s Title instead.

Uploading a file

  1. Open the manuscript and click Edit.
  2. Go to the Files section at the bottom of the page.
  3. Drag one or more files onto the drop zone, or click browse to pick them from your computer.

Pubblish reads the words in the filename to pick the category:

  • “proof” goes to Edition Files, marked with the Proof status.
  • “letter” or “correspond” goes to Correspondence.
  • “marketing”, “press kit”, “one sheet”, “sample”, “excerpt” or “preview” goes to Marketing Materials. So do “chapter” and “free” on a PDF or an EPUB.
  • “manuscript” or “draft” goes to Manuscript.
  • “contract” or “agreement” goes to Contract. “tax” goes to Tax Forms. “bank”, “iban” or “swift” goes to Banking. These three categories are for administrators and the owner only. They are not on the list above, so the file disappears from the manuscript page.

Check the category after you upload. A file named bank-details.pdf or contract-notes.docx is filed under one of the last three.

A file with none of those words is filed by its extension:

  • A .docx, .md or .txt file goes to Manuscript.
  • Any other document, such as a PDF or an EPUB, goes to Uncategorized.

Uncategorized is not one of the four categories above. The file is missing from the list on the manuscript’s detail page. It is still in the Files section of the edit page.

To move a file:

  1. In the Files section, find the file’s card.
  2. Click the Show details icon on the card. The File details panel opens on the right.
  3. Change the Category box under Filing.

Seeing what is filed

The manuscript’s detail page lists its files under category headings. This section is read-only. It appears only once at least one file is filed. To add or change a file, click the Edit manuscript to manage files link below it.

Correspondence is confidential. Only administrators and the owner see it on the manuscript’s detail page. Only they can open those files. Editors see everything else filed here: Manuscript, Edition Files and Marketing Materials.

Crediting Contributors

You can credit as many people as you like on one manuscript. Co-authors, editors and translators each get their own role.

You add credits on the manuscript’s edit page. Open the manuscript, click Edit, and find the Contributors section.

Adding a credit

  1. Choose the person in the Contributor box.
  2. Check the Role box. It defaults to Author. Change it if the person is an editor or a translator.
  3. Click Add a contributor to start the next credit.

The credit saves the moment you choose the person. This section has no Save button.

The Role box stays grayed out until you choose a contributor. Hover over the box to see the tooltip “Select a contributor first”.

The Contributor box lists only people who are already contributors in your workspace. If someone is missing:

  1. Add them under Contributors in the sidebar.
  2. Return to the manuscript’s edit page.

Order, and which name comes first

Every saved credit has Move up and Move down arrows in its Order column. Use them to set the order the names read in.

Author credits always come first, in every list of names. The arrows set the order among the Author credits. They set a separate order among everyone else. The rows on the edit page stay in the order you arranged them.

The first Author credit is the primary name. Pubblish shows this name wherever only one name fits, such as the Author column of the Manuscripts Pipeline report. If nobody holds the Author role, Pubblish uses the first credit on the list.

Credited names appear in two places:

  • The Contributors column of the manuscripts list.
  • The Contributors field on the manuscript’s detail page. Each name there links to that person’s contributor page.

Removing a credit

Click the bin icon at the end of the credit’s row. Its tooltip reads Remove.

Removing a credit takes the person off this manuscript. It does not delete the contributor.

Linking to the Published Title

When the book is published:

  1. Open the manuscript’s edit page.
  2. Choose the title in the Published Title field.

The manuscript’s detail page then links to the title.

Best Practices

Getting Started

Do: - Create a manuscript as soon as you have a concrete project - Set realistic word count targets - Credit the author as soon as you know who it is - Write a synopsis to help stay focused

Don’t: - Wait until the book is finished to track it - Set impossibly tight deadlines - Leave a manuscript with nobody credited

During Writing

Do: - Update word count regularly (weekly at minimum) - Move through statuses as work progresses - Add versions when you have significant milestones - Keep notes updated with key decisions

Don’t: - Let status get out of sync with reality - Upload every tiny change as a new version

Managing Multiple Manuscripts

Do: - Use status consistently across all manuscripts - Narrow the manuscripts list with the status dropdown to see one stage at a time - Review your manuscripts list on the Manuscripts page regularly

Don’t: - Leave manuscripts with an outdated status - Delete manuscripts (change status to Abandoned instead)