Your book is written and edited. For most writers, the next step is getting published. Many things change in the publishing world, and these days, many agents and editors accept manuscript excerpts and manuscripts in digital format. It's important to learn how to prepare a submission-ready manuscript.

If you never intend to submit your book to publishers, you many not want to bother with this part. On the other hand, it's always good to have the information.

Make an Impression

Perhaps you met that editor or agent at a writing conference and impressed her with your personal charm. You pitched your manuscript so eloquently that now she wants to read it. Make a good impression by sending a manuscript that makes you look like a pro.

Attention to detail includes whether you send your work electronically or in hard copy, and what format it is in. Many agents and publishing houses have manuscript format guidelines right on their website that tell you what format is correct for that agent or publisher. If so, then follow what's posted to the letter. If not, here are certain specific guidelines for submissions. Most of them follow common sense.

Document Setup

There's nothing fancy about the format of manuscript pages. Below are some simple guidelines:

• Margins: One-inch margins all around.

• Font: 12-point Times New Roman or 10-point Courier is standard.

• Header at the top of each page: Flush left should be your name, the title of your book, your contact information (use two lines if needed); flush right should be the page number. See example below.

Jennifer Gioia—Edit like an Editor—[email protected]

• Number the pages.

• Footer at the bottom of each page: Normally, there is none.

• Title Page: Centered in the middle of an otherwise blank and unnumbered page put the manuscript title, your name, the date, and your contact information (email, phone number, address).

• Line spacing: Double space between lines.

• Chapter openings: Start each chapter on a fresh page, space down a few lines then type the chapter title, then begin with the first paragraph.

• First line of the first paragraph of a chapter should be flush left.

• First line of every paragraph except for the first in a chapter should have a hanging indent of five or six spaces, or just hit the "tab" button on your keyboard.

• Single space between words.

• Single space between sentences in the same paragraph; double spacing after a period went out decades ago.

• To indicate italicized or bolded text, simply italicize or bold the font (underlining and double-underlining are not necessary).

• Insert two blank lines between scenes; you may want to add a special character like an asterisk (*) to be sure that the scene breaks show up when they fall at the bottom of a page.

• The electronic file should be a .doc file (Microsoft Word); all word processing software allows you to save to or export your file to this format.

• Don't worry about widowed lines; let the page breaks fall naturally where they fall.

Front Matter and Back Matter

There are a handful of parts that come with the manuscript but aren't a part of your story. Known in the publishing word as "front matter" and "back matter," they include the title page, acknowledgments, dedication, references, and any other materials that say something about your submission. You might not include all of these components with every submission, but if you do, format them correctly so that an editor knows what they are (and they realize you know what you're doing).

Dedication

Authors have been writing dedications in their books for centuries. The dedication is a free-form part at the front of your book. It's where you have the opportunity to tell the world who or what inspired you to write this book. Some authors skip this part or use it to thank their agent or editor. Usually, the dedication is personal—like in this guidebook, it's dedicated to my mother.

The dedication should be attached on a separate sheet of paper and clearly marked. The publisher will know what to do with it. Don't overextend yourself on this. Keep it short.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements may be placed in the front or at the back of the book. They are a brief message from the author thanking people for their help with the book. Think about the things that actors say when they win an Academy Award. That's what the acknowledgments are.

Just like the dedication, the acknowledgments are optional. Including them is completely up to you. If you do include them, do so on a separate sheet of paper that's clearly labeled.

References

References may encompass any number of things. You might want to include references for quotes or poems you include in your novel, complete with copyright information. If you created special terminology or used words from a foreign language in your novel, you might wish to include a glossary that defines these terms.

You might choose to include a list of your characters and their specific roles in the book or their family tree. You can also suggest further reading on historical, scientific, or other specific subjects covered briefly in the story. Maps and timelines also fall into this category. Be sure to clearly label each part in the header so that the editor knows what they are.

A fact: A dictionary or glossary of words usually accompanies a science fiction or fantasy novel that uses words that readers won't understand. This is done alphabetically or by order of appearance in the text. Writers also create glossaries if their book contains many foreign phrases or words.

Preparing Excerpts

Often agents and editors ask for "the first ten pages" or "the first thirty pages" of an unpublished manuscript before they ask to read the entire thing. So, it's a good idea to have excerpts prepared in advance.

Create one file that contains just the title page and the first ten pages, and another file that contains the title page and the first thirty pages, and you'll be ready to print out and mail or email an excerpt as soon as you get the request. If a logical stopping point comes on page twenty-nine or thirty-one, then it's okay to make that the excerpt length.

The file should be saved as a .doc file, the format that virtually every word processor will be able to open. If your word processor automatically saves to some different format (like "pages" or "docx") then export the file or use the "Save As" function to create a copy that is a .doc file.

Printing It Out

Many agents and editors today prefer to get electronic submissions. But there are still people who will want to receive a hard-copy manuscript. Here are some guidelines for printing your manuscript:

• Print single sided.

• Never use any color but black ink in the printer.

• Use standard white copy or multipurpose paper, not fancy bond or colored paper.

• Never send manuscript pages that are stained or creased.

Writing in the Margins

Once your print out your manuscript, avoid making corrections with a pen or pencil. Wite-out used to be a popular staple for writers. You could make a mistake with your typewriter, brush some Wite-out on it, and type over it. It was supposed to completely hide the error. It never did. But many writers got away with exceeding the three-errors-per-page rule by using it.

Editors just aren't that understanding anymore. They're held to a certain degree of professionalism in their own work and they expect writers to be responsible for one as well. They don't want to see white blemishes all over your manuscript. If you print out your manuscript and notice mistakes, go back to your file, make the necessary corrections, and print the corrected page. It will certainly be worth the extra work.

Also, avoid making notes in the margins. The only people allowed to write in the margins are editors. You can't use notes to explain your thought processes or defend your ideas. Either the writing stands on its own two legs or it doesn't.

Mailing It Out

If a hard copy is requested, send the manuscript using any of the standard mailing services (USPS, UPS, FedEx, and so on). You may want to spring for overnight delivery if the agent sounds particularly enthusiastic, but usually standard (two-day) shipping is fine. USPS "media mail" is the cheapest shipping rate, but a package shipping that way can take days or even weeks to arrive.

For your own peace of mind, you may want to get delivery confirmation. This is standard with UPS or FedEx shipping and can be purchased for an extra fee from USPS. Unless it's been requested that you do so, do not send the package certified.

So, let me ask:

How many of you write your story in one huge document?

How many of you write each chapter in a separate document?

Personally, I write each chapter in a separate document, but I also have one document with all the chapters combined. I do this just because I'm curious to see exactly how many total pages and words I've written, but when the time comes, it will be easier for me to print out the final manuscript, because it's already somewhat formatted like how it's mentioned above.

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