Preparing Your Manuscript

Save your manuscript as a Word Document (.docx). Use Word's styles to mark structure before you import it into Stet.

For ready-made styles, download Stet Word Template.dotx. Create a new document from the template, replace the samples with your text, and save as .docx. You can style verse, letters, epigraphs, and similar passages in Word with the template or set their roles afterward in Stet's editor.

Chapters and parts

Use Heading 1 for chapter titles. Heading 2–6 mark sections within those chapters. Keep each heading in its own paragraph.

Without Heading 1, Stet also recognizes typed labels such as Chapter One, Chapter 1, and Chapter I, with an optional title. Named divisions such as Prologue, Epilogue, Interlude, and Introduction, and bare numbers or Roman numerals, depend on surrounding structure and page breaks. Review the proposed chapter starts during import.

Stet also recognizes these patterns without heading styles:

• A page break followed by a short centered or fully bold line starts a chapter when the book uses that pattern consistently: at least three such starts, making up at least 80% of its substantial possible headings. Each needs at least 150 words after it. An isolated bold, centered, or all-caps line does not propose a chapter. The line must contain a letter, be no longer than 80 characters, and not end with a period, comma, exclamation mark, question mark, or ellipsis (even inside closing quotes). Lists and scene markers do not qualify.
• Bare word numbers in order, One, Two, Three, and so on through Ninety-Nine, after page breaks start chapters when at least One and Two occur in sequence. Uppercase, lowercase, a space instead of a hyphen, and a final period are fine. Each needs at least 150 words after it. A lone One does not establish the pattern.
• Word's Title style on at least three substantial, spaced display lines starts chapters in a book without consistent heading styles. Each needs at least 150 words after it and follows the display-line rules above. A page break is not required for this pattern. Two spaced Title lines stay unselected in Structure Review, with an explanation of the style. Subtitle does not establish this pattern. Title text in the opening pages keeps its book-title role.

These patterns never override a book whose chapter headings are consistently styled. Short opening pages stay together for review. The first paragraph can start a pattern without a preceding page break.

For parts, use Part One, Book II, or Volume 3. You can add a title after a separator, as in Part One: The Crossing. A separate Part Title paragraph immediately after the part label supplies its title too. A phrase such as “Book of Night” does not mark a part.

Use Word's page breaks or page-break-before setting for an intentional new page. Stet also reads next-page, odd-page, and even-page section breaks. A page break alone does not create a chapter. Avoid rows of blank paragraphs.

In Stet’s Page Setup, choose Start chapters on. Next available page: the default, with fewer pages and a lower print cost. Right-hand page: the traditional start, which adds about half a blank page per chapter. The first chapter, and any chapter after a part page, always start on a right-hand page.

Front and back matter

Use separate Heading 1 paragraphs for matter titles. Position matters: front matter belongs before the story and back matter after it. Stet recognizes these front matter labels:

• Half Title (also Half-Title), Title Page, Copyright, Dedication, and Epigraph.
• Foreword, Preface, Author's Note, A Note from the Author, and Note to the Reader.
• Acknowledgments (also Acknowledgements, singular forms, and With Thanks).
• Praise, Advance Praise, and Praise for.
• Contents, Table of Contents, and TOC. Stet replaces recognized Word contents fields with its own Contents. A typed contents list stays in your text with an unselected removal suggestion in Structure Review.

At the end of the book, Stet recognizes:

• Acknowledgments (the same spelling variants, plus Thanks).
• About the Author, About the Writer, Meet the Author, and author headings with a title-case qualifier, such as About the Author and Her Work.
• Also By, Other Books, Books By, Other Works, More By, and Other Titles By, including supported author-name forms such as Also by Jane Doe.
• Glossary, Key Terms, and Selected Terms.
• Afterword, Author's Note, and Final Thoughts.
• Appendix, Appendices, Additional Notes, and numbered or lettered appendices, such as Appendix A: Sources.
• Bibliography, References, Works Cited, and Index.
• Reading Group Guide, Discussion Guide, Book Club Guide, Discussion Questions, and A Guide for Readers.
• Timeline, Chronology, Resources, Further Reading, Further Reading List, Notes, and A Note on Sources.

Match the whole front matter label, apart from trailing punctuation. A title such as Preface to a Murder remains a chapter title. Back matter inside the last chapter needs a heading style or a consistent chapter-heading pattern. A plain, bold, or centered label alone does not split the chapter. A possible back matter start is offered unselected. Choosing a role moves only that tail of the chapter.

Use Title for the book title and Title Author for its author on the opening page. A match with Book Details or the document's title can also confirm a title page. A page that only looks like a title page stays unselected in Structure Review. An unstyled name does not become the author unless it matches Book Details. Title and author in Word's document properties appear as suggestions in the import summary. Choose Apply to Book Details to use each one.

Stet keeps uncertain opening material for review. A heading's wording does not make an unlabeled passage into a dedication or epigraph. Review the imported structure before you publish.

Scene breaks

Put a scene marker in a paragraph of its own. Use * * *, ***, # # #, ---, or ⁂. Stet also recognizes a single marker or three or more copies of the same character from this set:

* - _ # ~ • ✦ ✧ ☆ ★ ✵ ✷ ✱

Spaces and tabs between repeated characters are fine. Two or more plain empty paragraphs between prose paragraphs in the same chapter become one scene break. Single blank lines are offered together as an unselected suggestion. If the same number of blank lines separates most prose paragraphs, Stet treats those lines as paragraph spacing. Formatting, fields, pictures, notes, or page breaks in the blank run prevent scene-break recognition. You can remove inferred scene breaks from the import summary, with Undo.

Stet also recognizes Word's automatic horizontal rule (type --- and press Enter), Google Docs' horizontal line when saved as .docx, and standalone Insert Symbol ornaments from Wingdings, Wingdings 2/3, Webdings, and Zapf Dingbats (including ITC Zapf Dingbats and Dingbats). Keep the rule or ornament paragraph free of text. Stet uses your book's scene-break ornament when publishing.

Word styles

• Normal: ordinary prose.
• Heading 1: chapter titles; Heading 2–6: section headings.
• Title: title-page text in the opening material. Title or Subtitle immediately after a bare chapter label such as Chapter 3 can supply a short chapter subtitle. Use Stet Chapter Subtitle for an explicit subtitle after any chapter title.
• Title Author: the author's name on the title page.
• Dateline: the opening dateline immediately after a chapter heading. Later Dateline paragraphs stay in place in the chapter body.
• Quote, Intense Quote, and Block Text: block quotations.
• Caption: a caption. Immediately after an image, it attaches to that image.
• List Bullet and List Number (including their 2 and 3 variants): lists with Word's automatic numbering. Stet retains visible bullets and numbers as text on import.
• Character styles such as Emphasis, Strong, Intense Emphasis, Subtle Emphasis, and Book Title retain their supported formatting, as do direct italics, bold, underline, small caps, and superscript/subscript.

Stet also recognizes existing paragraph styles named Block Quote, Block Quotation, Verse, Attribution, Epigraph Attribution, Block Quote Attribution, Block Quotation Attribution, Verse Attribution, Poetry Attribution, Letter, and Epigraph. Style names can contain spaces, and matching ignores case and punctuation. Use the template's Stet styles for the full set below.

Stet styles in the template

Footnotes and images

Insert footnotes and endnotes with Word's note commands. Stet imports their text and references. Typed superscript numbers alone do not create notes.

Insert images in the document and add alt text in Word. For predictable placement, use In Line with Text. Put a Caption paragraph immediately after the image. Stet imports supported embedded images, captions, alt text, and explicit decorative image marks. Check image placement and resolution after import.

A picture-only paragraph at the start of a chapter, after its heading and any subtitle, imports as the chapter’s heading image. Apply Stet Inline Image to its paragraph to keep it in the text. A following Caption paragraph also keeps the picture in the text. Later pictures and pictures in front or back matter keep their placement. In Configure Chapter, choose Move into the text to return an imported heading image to the text.