Formatting a Manuscript for Submisson

For those who are just starting, here are the basics on formatting your manuscript to send to an editor or an agent or a contest.

PAPER

1. Use only white 8 1/2" by 11" paper, 20 to 24 lb weight. The brighter the paper the easier to read so use 94 or better brightness.
   
2. Use the correct paper for your printer. Laser paper for laser printers, ink jet paper for ink jet printers. Only use a letter quality printer.
   
3. No colored paper, no fancy borders, etc. You don't want anything to distract from your story. And while you might think that pale pink paper with a heart border is romantic or that the cowboy motif paper adds to your western romance or the fluorescent paper will get you to the top of the slush pile, an editor will most likely just think it's unprofessional.

FONT

1. There are two preferred fonts: Courier and Times New Roman. Either is acceptable, but again I caution that you need to check for publisher/editor/agent/contest preferences on which font to submit.
   

   Let me explain the difference: Courier, New Courier and Dark Courier are non-proportional fonts. That means the letters are of a uniform width. The lower case f or i takes up as much space as an upper-case M. Times New Roman is proportional font. With TNR, an “M” takes up more space than an “I” does.

   Using TNR will allow more words on a page than Courier. With your page formatted for 25 lines to the page (More on that later under Word Count.), TNR yields approximately 300 lines to a page while Courier will produce 250 words to a page. Your total page count will vary, but your total word count as specified by the publisher you are targeting should not.

2. Sometimes guidelines will specify font pitch, which refers to number of characters per inch. Most prefer a minimum of 12 point.

   *TNR at a font pitch of 14 will produce approximately 250 words per page and be very easy on the eyes.

3. Don't use any fancy fonts, scripts, italics, Arial type, etc. Remember, editors work long hours. Your manuscript should be as readable as possible.

4. If you prefer Courier and are having difficulty in the newer versions of MSWord printing light, here’s a link to download Dark Courier font and install it on your machine: http://www.procat.com/Winner/tips/dark-courier.htm

MARGINS

1. Use 1 inch margins all the way around the body of your manuscript. If you use MSWord, you will need to change the margins on the Page Setup to 1”. Normal style sheet (template) default is 1.25” on the left and the right.
   
2. Do not right-justify your manuscript. Only the left-hand margin of your manuscript should be straight. The right-hand side should look ragged on the edge.

SPACING

1. Using one or two spaces after periods and colons is acceptable, according to the 15th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style. The key is to be consistent throughout your manuscript.
   
2. In the body of your manuscript, double-space between each line, and indent the first line of each paragraph five spaces.
   
3. Don't skip an extra line between paragraphs - this only throws off your word count.
   
4. If you want to break a phrase - like this - in your finished book, indicate that by typing it this way:

   And so -- according to the villagers -- he was the King’s illegitimate son. The newer versions of Word auto format to be the single dash you see on the page:

   And so – according to the villagers – he was the King’s illegitimate son.

5. To create the em-dash (a longer connecting dash)—like this—you would type the two short dashes without any spaces. --like this-- The computer would auto format to the em dash you see in the sentence above.
   
   *NOTE: You can disable or set Auto Format. In MSWord, use your Tools option.

ITALICS

Underline words or phrases in your manuscript that are supposed to be in italic. You aren't producing a finished typeset book. You are working on a manuscript and you need to make it as readable as possible.

SPELL CHECKER

1. Check your work for typos, misspellings and grammatical errors. Every occurrence will pull your reader out of your story. And, because editors will assume you don't know the rules if they find more than an occasional problem with grammar and spelling. Editors and agents do not have time to teach basic spelling and grammar. Given a choice between two manuscripts, they will buy Suzy Q. Buttercup’s manuscript which is just as entertaining as yours, but had few or no technical errors. I know it doesn't seem fair, but that's the way it is.
   
2. Use your spell checker/grammar checker. . .but remember the computer is a machine and can’t think for itself. You have to read each grammatical correction, each spelling error it finds and verify the correction.

You are a professional, and your manuscript should reflect that to any editor or agent or contest judge who picks it up.

COMMA USAGE IN A SERIES

While this isn’t a true formatting issue, it is a concern for most writers. Do I insert the comma in a series before the word and? You’ll probably get as many different answers as people you question. According to the 15th edition of the Chicago manual of style:

TITLE PAGE

1. In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, place your legal name, address, telephone number and email address. In the upper right-hand corner put the genre and approximate word count of your manuscript.
   
2. Next, center your title one-third of the way down the page. Since you will have 25 double-spaced lines per page this is at line eight. Then, press the enter key once, and under your centered title, put by ________ _______ Use your name - or if you are using a pen name, this is the place to indicate that.
   
3. Example:

    

   Suzy Q. Buttercup 12345 Any Street Any town, Any State Zip Code Phone number Email address

   Single Title Mainstream Romance Word count: approximately 100,000 words

    

Line 8 or 1/3rd of the way down page and centered:

TRUE LOVE

by

SUZY Q. BUTTERCUP

4. Each chapter should begin one third of the way down the page with the words 'Chapter One, Two' etc. on the 8th line. If you are putting your entire book into one file, use the 'page break' function to maintain this format.
   
5. Also, remember to read the rules of any contest that you enter. Some require a title page some do not. Most do not want the writer's name on the entries and will disqualify entries if your name appears in the pages to be judged.
   

6. Double-space twice and begin the first paragraph of your manuscript after typing Prologue or Chapter One. Each subsequent chapter should have two double-spaces between the chapter heading and the first paragraph.

SCENE BREAKS

Some authors use *** to indicate scene breaks. According to Leslie Waringer’s Writing a Romance Novel for Dummies, a scene break should be noted with a single symbol # centered on the line between the scenes.

Really, I don’t think it matters to editors, but I’d advise against using blank spaces like you see in the final printed copy of books. . .too confusing especially if the scene break occurs between pages.

HEADERS

1. Headers should appear in the right-hand corner of every manuscript or synopsis page except the first. Your pen name, address and title are on the first page. It's redundant to repeat that information on every page.
   
   Last Name/Title/Page number

   Why the right hand side? Because the left-hand side of the manuscript is clipped making it hard to read under the clip.

2. Example of a header - Buttercup/True Love/p. 2

   Don't put your first name in the header, unless you have a common last name like Jones. Then, you might consider adding your first initial to the header.

3. Use the header function of your word processor to create your header. If you don't know how, try looking it up in the help section.

WORD COUNT

Coming up with word count is always a nightmare issue for a new writer. The word count on your word-processing program gauges how many words are in your manuscript by counting short words like, 'is' and 'the' the same as 'inexpressible'. It's not accurate for most publishers, but some publishers do use it, especially e-publishers.

If you want a straight count (not a computer count), count the number of words in five lines and divide by five to get an average. Count the number of lines on three (or more) pages and divide by three (or the number you used). Multiply the number of words per line by the lines per page to get a words per page count. Multiply that by the number of pages to get a full count.

The formula: Words per line x lines per page x number of pages = total word count.

If you have 25 lines per page and 1 inch margins, using any Courier 12, you will have 250 words per page. This makes it very easy to tell what your approximate word count is. Just multiply 250 by your page count, and you know how many words you've written, i.e.

100 manuscript pages = 25,000 words
200 manuscript pages = 50,000 words
300 manuscript pages = 75,000 words
400 manuscript pages = 100,000 words.

Using TNR 12, you will have 300 words per page and can calculate the same way. But, if you are using TNR 14, you’d use 250 words per page to calculate the number of pages.

To force your word processor to consistently put 25 lines on a page, you have to change the formatting options. To do this in MSWord:

1. Select Format from menu option bar.
   
2. Then select Paragraph.

a.) Under Indents and Spacing Tab, change defaults as follows:
~Indention: Left 0” and Right 0”
~Special: First Line and By: will automatically change to 0.5”
~Spacing: defaults to Before: 0 and After: 0
~Line Spacing: Exactly At: 25 pt

b.) Under Line and Page Breaks Tab: Make sure the 'Widow and Orphan' control is turned off.

I hope these guidelines and tips help, but I have to remind you that these are generally accepted guidelines. Some publishers have very specific guidelines so ALWAYS check before you submit to an editor or an agent. You don’t want a rejection because your formatting did not follow clearly stated guidelines on a publisher’s or agent’s website.

And most important, remember most editors and agents aren’t using a ruler to check margins or measuring the font size. They are looking for great stories. So focus your energy on creating compelling characters in creative stories, not obsessing over formatting nitpicks.

Now get those manuscripts out there.

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