What it means
A manuscript is the text of a book as the author delivers it: the words, in order, before an editor, designer or typesetter has touched them. The word comes from the Latin manu scriptus, "written by hand", and it survived the typewriter (which strictly produced a typescript) and the word processor alike.
When agents and publishers ask for a manuscript they usually mean standard manuscript format: 12-point type, double spacing, one-inch margins, a header with the author's name and page number, and chapter breaks on new pages. None of that survives into the finished book — it exists so editors can read and mark up quickly.
A manuscript's length is measured in words, not pages, because page count only exists once a trim size and typeface have been chosen. Typesetting turns the manuscript into pages; printing turns pages into a book.
In Bindery
Bindery takes a manuscript as a Word, PDF or EPUB upload — or notes, transcripts and YouTube links when there is no manuscript yet — and typesets it into a free watermarked proof.
Make the book, not the checklist
Describe a book or upload a manuscript. Bindery writes with you, typesets in LaTeX, sizes the spine from the real page count and produces printer-validated files — the watermarked proof is always free.
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