Most publishers edit your manuscript in Word using Track Changes, City and Mystic Owl included, which means you will need to know how to use it if you are an author hoping to get published by a traditional publisher, or an editor hoping to work in the business. If you've never used it, here is a quick and dirty guide on how to get started using Word's Track Changes.
Open your manuscript in Word. Go to the tabs at the top of the screen and click on "Review". Go to the "Track Changes" dropdown and click on "Track Changes." This turns the feature on and off. Right next to the "Track Changes" tab is a tab that will either say "Simple Markup", "All Markup", "No Markup", or "Original." This needs to be on "All Markup".
Make your changes in the document. If they simply change and don't show a strikethrough for deletions or a different colored font for additions, the feature isn't on. If this is the case, you turned it off instead of on, so just go back up to the "Track Changes" tab and click on it again.
To add a comment, click on the word or highlight the phrase you would like the comment to refer to. Then make sure you are still under the "Review" tab and click on "New Comment". This will pop out a comment bubble to the right of the screen where you can type in your comment.
If no bubble pops out, you may need to format your comments section. To do so, under the "Review" tab, go over to the "Tracking" section and click on the small arrow at the lower right side of the section. This will pop out the "Track Changes Option" box. The dropdown tab under the "Balloons in all Markup View Show:" section should read, "Comments and Formatting". If it doesn't change it. Here is an example of what that looks like:
That will get you started using it. For those who are seeing it for the first time in the form of a manuscript sent to them that has been edited by their editor using Track Changes I will put up a future tutorial. In that we will cover how to accept and reject changes, and leave comments.
