# Manuscript

> Source: https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/manuscript

Last updated: 2026-09-06
Category: Manuscript & structure

A manuscript is the author’s complete text of a book before it is edited, typeset and published — today usually a Word document or similar file.

## Definition

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.

## Related

- [Word count](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/word-count)
- [Chapter](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/chapter)
- [Typesetting](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/typesetting)
- [Front matter](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/front-matter)
- [Turn a Word Document Into a Printed Book](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/tools/word-document-to-printed-book)
- [Turn a Google Doc Into a Printed Book](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/tools/google-docs-to-book)
- [How to Write Your First Book](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/guides/how-to-write-your-first-book)
- [Book Publishing Glossary — 59 Terms Defined](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary)
- [Bindery — the Claude-powered book studio](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/bindery)

---

More from Infinite Library, as one map for AI agents: https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/llms.txt