Sending your manuscript to an editor in Word and bringing their edits back

Pendrilo can make a Word file of your book for your editor, and then replace the text with their edited version. Your styles, book details, pictures and fonts stay as they are.

Export your manuscript for Word

Before you send the file, save a named version of your book. That gives you a fixed point to compare against when the edits come back.

1. Open the book in Pendrilo Studio or the Formatter.
2. Choose Book → Version History…. Type a name, such as "Sent to my editor", in the box and click Save a Named Version. Pendrilo keeps named versions for good.
3. Choose Book → Export for Word….
4. Choose where to save the file.

Pendrilo makes a standard manuscript in .docx format. It's set in Times 12, double-spaced, and it has real footnotes and tables, so your editor sees them as normal Word footnotes and tables. Sections you've left out of the book aren't included in the file.

Bring the edits back

When your editor returns the file, choose Book → Update Text From Word File… and select the edited Word file. Pendrilo replaces the text of the book with the text in that file.

Your book details, styles, pictures and fonts stay as they were. Only the text changes.

Because the text is replaced, any change you make in Pendrilo after you exported is not in the book unless it's also in the Word file. If you've kept writing during the edit, copy those changes into the returned file first, or make them again in Pendrilo after you update.

Check the result

After the update, look over the book before you go further.

Compare the changes. Open Book → Version History…, click Compare With Now on the version you named before you exported. The chapters that changed are listed. Words cut appear struck through in red, and words added appear in green.
Look at the status bar. Checks lists anything a printer, a store or a reader would trip over. Click it to see anything that needs fixing.
Look at the pages. The page preview on the right shows the book as it will print and as an ebook. Check a few chapters with footnotes, tables and pictures in particular.

If you don't like the result, open Book → Version History…, find the named version, and click Go Back to This. Pendrilo keeps what was on screen before the restore in the list as "Before restore", so you can return to it.

Tips

Export again whenever your editor needs a fresh copy. Save a new named version each time, so every round has its own record.
Keep the file your editor returned. It's a good record of what was agreed, and it's useful if you need to check a change later.
If you're working on a book with several sections, check that the sections you want in the manuscript are not marked as left out. Left-out sections are not exported.