Publisher Guidelines
I have looked at some professional publisher – book publishers, novels – and the most common guideline for the file an author submits to them you find everywhere is this: ".doc format, Times New Roman, 12 pt".
Why is the font in there? It's one of the basic functions of modern word processors. Every word processor I know can change the font of the current file, and the publisher should be able to hire a person to check the submitted files and change it. Every word processor I know, even Word, can change just the font without changing any other parameter of the text. I know. I've done it countless times myself.
The thing is, we're talking about Word here. You CAN do it. The problem is, it's not easy. It requires a inordinate amount of discipline of the user doing it. It's buggy. It's error prone. It has the capability to FUBAR the whole file (which it shouldn't, given that is so basic). In short Word is crap. It's so crappy that PROFESSIONALS dealing with it prefer to have others do it rather than themselves.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
