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Format Your Manuscript for the Publishing Firm

If you want to publish your novel, you must present yourmanuscript in the accepted format or else it may never seethe light of the day. You have to make sure that you fulfillall the requirements and expectations of the publishingagent. Your manuscript should not be different from othersin form even though it is exclusive in style and content.

For a first novel, the word count should range from 60,000to 120,000 words. This can be lower if the novel isdirected to younger readers, but these numbers are fairlystandard. If you're submitting directly to a publisher,you'll want to look at other things that they havepublished in order to see what kinds of word counts theylike to accept.

The next order of business is to format the manuscript.This includes having the text in a word processing document.While typing on a typewriter might be your standard methodof creating your novel, it does not look professional. Ifyou do not own a computer, pay someone to type up yourmanuscript on their computer. However, you should reallylook into having your own computer, as most communicationis done via email these days.

Make sure that you type the manuscript in Times New Roman orCourier font in twelve point font size and it should beconsistently double spaced throughout the text. The titlepage should include your name, address and email address inthe bottom right hand corner. If you are going through anagent, then type your contact information in the top lefthand corner and your agent's contact information in thebottom left corner.

The title of the manuscript should be typed in all capitalletters and placed in the center of your title page.

The page number is always typed in the top right hand corneralong with your name and title in all capitals, separated bya backslash in the upper left hand corners.

Skip four lines and type the chapter titles in all capitalletters and then proceed to the text.

Make sure you indent new paragraphs and dialogue either withthe TAB key or with five spaces.

Most importantly, get your document edited by a professionalcopyeditor or do it yourself. For this purpose, it's'sbestto print the document out and read it word by word. You willbe surprised how many errors get overlooked when thedocument is on the computer screen.

A thorough editing job should make your document free ofspelling errors and grammatical mistakes. Otherwise, youragent or publisher might think that you are not professionalor committed to the manuscript. These apparently simpleerrors can ruin your manuscript.

Take the time to create a professional manuscript and onethat is consistent with these industry standards. Anythingflashy will only draw the annoyance of the one reading it,not the attention.