When submitting a manuscript, italicized passages should be underlined. Why? It makes it easier for the editor to read.
When printed, italicized passages should be in, well, italics. Why? It makes it easier for people to read.
Editors are not people. QED.
6 responses so far ↓
1 Kiki // Feb 1, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Thank you for confirming this.
2 Karl // Feb 2, 2008 at 7:02 am
If you’da ast me… I coulda toldja!
3 David // Feb 2, 2008 at 9:26 am
Leaving the question of exactly what they are, then…
4 zizban // Feb 2, 2008 at 11:30 am
Explains my aunt.
(retired editor for the old Holt, Rhinehardt and Winston).
5 Matt // Feb 18, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Well, the underline tells the printer that it’s to be italicized, which is clearer for them when they’re changing the text to whatever font your book designer decides. Goes back a long way, of course, to pre-computer days, but it’s still a useful convention.
Not that editors are people. I suppose that’s part of why, after graduating the Denver Publishing Institute, I went into coal mining. Well, that, and money.
6 skzb // Feb 19, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Coal mining. Yeah. I should have gone into that.
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