I am uber stoker to be able to dig into the wild and crazy brain of someone who is out there doing this crazy publishing stuff professionally. When you read this, you’re gonna want to slap yourself silly, because this is hearing it right from someone who does this for a living. For the next few weeks, we will be delving into the slush pile with professional editor and author Danielle Ackley-McPhail

Here we go…

The Writer’s Toolbox: Give ’Em What They Want! Why Formatting Is Important By Danielle Ackley-McPhail

(Originally published in Allegory Magazine ©2011)

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So far, we’ve discussed that nothing will help your manuscript if the editor in question is not even willing to read it.

We’ve discussed remembering your contact information, and some basics… How to identify yourself, and your manuscript.

Now let’s discuss the basics of formatting

Formatting #1

Some things are just industry standard and if you are serious about becoming an author you have an obligation to learn what those are. If you are submitting somewhere that for one reason or another does not have submission guidelines always assume they want the following formatting:

Font – Courier or Times New Roman, 12 point. These fonts are easy to read and clear and 12 point is generally a comfortable size for most people.

Spacing (Print) – paragraphs should be first-line indented and double spaced, with no line break in between paragraphs. Some programs have an automatic indent feature. These can cause problems in the typesetting process so, personally, I feel it is better to use a tab for your first line indent. Not sure if any publishers or editors (besides myself) express a preference on that. In either case, whichever you chose use it consistently.

It also used to be the convention to double space after a period. This hails from the days when manuscripts had to be manually typeset. It is no longer necessary in the age of computers and digital typesetting, though many still do so, simply because it was how they were originally taught.

Spacing (Online) – paragraphs should be flush left (no indent) and single spaced, with a line break between paragraphs.

Section Breaks – when a scene changes it is very important the transition is clearly marked. Some authors simply use a line space in between the scenes, others use either a number sign (#), or three asterisks (***) so that it is clear the break is intentional.

The End – Generally a good idea to close your manuscript with these words just so it is clear to the person reviewing it that nothing is missing.

Next week we’ll discuss some more advanced formatting requirements.

Be there or be square, or, ummm… rejected?

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