| Manuscript Formatting |
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| Need some help figuring out how to format your manuscript? Want to be certain the editor won't take one look at your single-spaced, double-sided submission and stick it right back in the SASE? Here are some tips to help you out on that score. |
The ideal page for an editor's poor, tired eyes has plenty of white space, and, for ease of printing when it reaches that point, 250 words per page. But how to get that set up? Keep reading. First of all, you've got to set your margins. The margins around the sides and top of the page should be between 1 inch and 1.25 inches. No more, no less. Next up is your line spacing. You want 25 lines per page, with the lines double-spaced. I work in WordPerfect, so when I'm setting up for a new book, my line spacing goes to 1.8. Font? It's ugly, but Courier 12 gets the word count correct with the rest of your page set up correctly. Headers: you need to set these up so that the title of the book and your name are on every page of the manuscript along with the page number--it is possible that the pages may be dropped somewhere along the line, and you want the editor to be able to get them back together again. While it doesn't matter which corner your title/name are in, mine is set up so that the title/name are in the top left corner, with the page number in the top right. Nice and easy. Starting a new chapter? Begin either 1/3 or 1/2 way down the page. Need a title page? The format of these isn't set in stone either, but my basic format is this: Top left corner, my name and contact info. If I had an agent, that info would go in the top right corner. Dead in the center of the page, manuscript title and underneath it, the type of book (ie, category, historical, etc.) and word count. Oh, how to get the total word count--and editors don't generally want the computer's word count for a manuscript, but the 250 words/page word count. If you've set your pages up correctly to get the 250 words/page format, the following chart will help you to figure out your approximate word count for the manuscript: 200 pages = 50,000 words 240 pages = 60,000 words 280 pages = 70,000 words 320 pages = 80,000 words 360 pages = 90,000 words 400 pages = 100,000 words If you're dead set against looking at Courier 12 for the entire length of your manuscript, check out Ann Josephson's website. She's done a study of how the different fonts match up as far as word count goes. Me, I prefer to make things simple for myself. I'm sticking with the Courier 12 and using Dark Courier to make it easier to read. For an example, go here. |
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