Submission Guidelines: Outline Procedures

Last Updated: August 28, 2017

Every game or game supplement starts life as an outline. Outlines vary a great deal, but we expect to see a few things in all cases.

An outline must allocate pages to each element of the work that will get a top-level (AA) entry, in the sequence below. Not all outlines require all of these sections.

• Title Page (always just one page)
• Table of Contents (usually one page, occasionally two in very long works)
• Introduction (one page or rarely two, and should include Publication History and About the Author sections)
• Chapters (in numerical order)
• Appendices (in numerical order)
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Index (ask your editor for the likely page count)
• Record Sheets or Worksheets (customarily come at the back of the work)

Titles in outlines should be arranged hierarchically and prefaced with the appropriate codes below (the ones in boldface). Not all outlines need all levels, and it is acceptable to skip levels. Indentation using tab characters, though not mandatory, is highly recommended.

AA All headings in the work that will be formatted in our A-HEAD style. These are reserved for the top-level items listed above. Each should have an estimated page count in parentheses afterward, like this: (00 pages). Make sure all the page counts add up to the expected length of the work!

BB All headings that will be formatted in our B-HEAD style, under each AA-level heading. These are a chapter's sections. B-HEAD style is very large and will break across columns in the final layout, so try not to overuse it.

CC The most important headings that will be formatted in our C-HEAD style, under each BB-level heading. These are major subsections.

DD A few example headings that will be formatted in our D-HEAD style, under each CC-level heading. These are minor subsections.

EE A very few example headings that will be formatted in our E-HEAD style, under each DD-level heading. These are trivial subsections, most often used to break up lengthy DD-level sections. They're fussy for an outline – don't include more than absolutely necessary.

C-BOX All headings that will be formatted in our C-BOXHEAD style. These are text boxes that run to two or more paragraphs, or that contain subheadings or tables. These asides aren't part of the AA through EE hierarchy, and should follow the main-text heading for which they're most relevant.

D-BOX Headings that will be formatted in our D-BOXHEAD style. These are one-paragraph boxes and subheadings within a C-BOX. In the latter case, they should appear under the relevant C-BOX.

MAP Maps, if any, must be indicated in the outline wherever you want them to go. Treat them as BB-level headings in importance – or as AA-level headings if they're to appear as appendices.

Finally, if the meaning of any heading isn't self-evident from its title, annotate it. Put annotations in brackets [ ] on the line below the heading title. There's no need to indent these with tabs.

Here is a simple example of an outline (for GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 11: Power-Ups) which illustrates most of these concepts.