Author Style Guide

When the time comes for you to start writing, please make every effort to follow this house-style guide. This will make the editorial process as efficient, accurate, and enjoyable as possible for everyone involved. It will also reduce the probability of errors later down the line, and makes it easier for our editors to focus on the more important thing—your writing!

We take great care to ensure consistency across everything we publish, especially within the same series. So before you begin writing, please take a good look at another title in the series you are writing for, if applicable—or a similar Good Book Company product—and follow what you see.

Thank you for making the effort to serve us, and your readers, in this way.

Bible References

To make your writing as accessible as possible, please use the full name of the Bible book—do not abbreviate.

Bible references should be written as follows:
2 Timothy 3:16-17

Subsequent references in the same Bible book and chapter can be referenced like this:
(v 17)

Note: No “vv” required for multiple verses.
No full stop after “v”.

Where a reference crosses into a new chapter, link the two chapters like this:
2 Timothy 3:16 – 4:2

Bible Translation

Please ensure you use the correct Bible translation. Most products use the ESV or NIV 2011. You should discuss with your PM if you plan to use something different. Feel free to quote from different translations where this is important to the point you are making. Please make this clear by denoting the alternative Bible translation in parentheses.
E.g. (Romans 5:8, ESV)

Please take care when quoting Bible verses to reproduce them exactly as found in the version you’re using, including punctuation. If you are a British author, use the anglicized version of the relevant Bible translation. If you are an American author, use the edition with US spellings.

UK/US Spellings

As a general rule, British authors should use UK English, spellings, and punctuation, and American authors should use US English, spellings, and punctuation.

In any case, be aware that your book will be retailed in the UK, the US, Australia, New Zealand, and even further afield. Try to bear this in mind in your choice of vocabulary and illustrations when you are writing.

Quotation Marks

Use double quote marks for...

• quotations, secular or biblical.
• direct reported speech, e.g. He enthusiastically greeted me: “It’s wonderful to see you again!”
• ironic, apologetic or unusual use of words, e.g. Jesus ate with tax-collectors and“sinners”.
• customized words and phrases, e.g. “God-ness”.

Only use single quote marks for reported speech within a quotation.
E.g. “Lamech said to his wives, ‘Adah and Zillah, listen to me.’”

No quotation marks for paraphrases. Use italics instead.
E.g. Jesus says, Here is the medicine for your sin sickness, and guess what? It’s free!

Referring to God

Use lower case on pronouns and possessive adjectives referring to God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit (his, him, he, etc).
E.g. Jesus Christ died, and then he rose again.

Nouns referring to God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit should generally be capitalized.
E.g. King, Holy One, Redeemer, Father, Comforter, Creator, etc.

Footnotes

References to books should be styled as follows: Forename Surname, Book Title (Publisher, Year of Publication), p. X-Y.

For web resources, provide the URL followed by the date accessed in parentheses: (accessed on Mar. 23 2021).

And Finally, Please...

• don’t use returns to separate paragraphs (instead, adjust the space after paragraphs from the paragraph menu).
• don’t indent paragraphs.
• don’t use double spaces between sentences.
• don’t use ampersands (“&”) in the flow of the text or in Bible references.
• don’t forget that it’s “Bible” (with an uppercase “B”), but “biblical” (with a lowercase “b”).