How to Submit Your Manuscript
Information Sponsored by Scalar Consulting Group Inc.
from the website: FreelanceonlineWhat format should I use for a manuscript?
Preface
All of the following rules can be broken. However, any time you break one of them, you run the risk of irritating an editor. To quote Strunk and White:
"It is an old observation that the best writers sometimes disregard the rules of rhetoric. When they do so, however, the reader will usually find in the sentence some compensating merit, attained at the cost of the violation. Unless he is certain of doing as well, he will probably do best to follow the rules."
General
Manuscripts should be typed in black ink using a new ribbon or printed on a daisy wheel, ink-jet or laser printer. Never write or print a manuscript by hand. Each page must be doubled-spaced (one blank line between each line of type) and each side must have at least a one-inch margin. Use white medium-weight business letter-sized paper (either 8-1/2 x 11 or A4) and type or print only on one side. Once the manuscript is typed or printed, do not staple, bind, or otherwise attach the pages to one another.
What font should I use?
A manuscript is not an opportunity to show off your elaborate desktop publishing system. Many publishers specify a font or type size in their writer's guidelines and only a fool would ignore such a requirement. Editors read vast numbers of pages and anything that strains their eyesight gets a deserved toss toward the reject pile.
If no font is suggested then the writer should choose one that does not distract from the writing. Serif fonts, which have slight projections to finish off the stroke in each letter, are been proven to be easier on the eyes than san-serif fonts, which resemble block printing.
Whether the font is proportional or monospaced also affects how easy it is to read. With proportional fonts such as Times, the individual characters vary in width ("w" is wider than "i.") With monospaced fonts such as Courier, all characters are the same width. Proportional fonts make a manuscript look more like a book and allow more words per page but monospaced fonts give editors a more accurate feel for the space required by the piece.
Size also matters, at least for fonts. The usual size is "12 point" (also referred to as "10 pitch" or "pica.") Pitch refers to the number of characters per inch. Point size refers to the relative height of the font; a point is a typographical measurement very close to 1/72nd of an inch. Anything smaller than 12 point or 10 pitch and editors might strain to read the words; anything bigger and editors may assume that you are disguising a too-short article.
Although any legible font might be acceptable, the safest choice is Courier 12. Work printed in Courier 12 closely resembles typewritten work. Familiarity with Courier allows editors to quickly extract word count and other important information from manuscripts printed in it.
If you submit a photocopy, make sure it's clean and clear; it also doesn't hurt to explicitly mark it "Not a Simultaneous Submission" (if this is the truth), as some editors assume photocopies are simultaneous. NEVER submit your only copy of a manuscript; tragedies do happen. Photocopy the manuscript, back up the disk. Not vice versa.
1.3 How should I format the first page and following pages?
First page header:
I. Wanna Write Approx. 2000 words 1000 Maple Street Anytown, USA 00000 (508)555-1212 address@ISP.com(about 1/3 of the way down the page)
Title of Story
by
Ima Pseudonym
(Note that you use your real name, not your pseudonym, as the return address; the publisher wants to know who will be endorsing the check.)
Other additions to the header about which there is some debate:
- Your Social Security number (Pro: Aids publishers in record keeping when they cut you a check. Con: If they need it, they'll ask for it.)
- A copyright notice (Pro: May be useful in establishing legal claims to ownership of your work, should problems arise. Con: "This is a mark of the amateur; editors have better things to do than steal story ideas.")
- Membership in writers' professional organizations -- SFFWA, SCBWI, et al. (Pro: Gets editors' attention in the slushpile. Con: Doesn't help, doesn't hurt.)
- Rights offered (more important for articles/stories than for books)
Second-through-final page headers:
Writer's name/Title of Story Page X
This shouldn't take up more than one line; shorten the title to fit. Manuscripts *do* get dropped; if you identify every page, you reduce the odds of your story's being re-collated with the last third of "Marshmallow Mud Maidens from Madagascar". (Richard Curtis, the renowned agent, feels it's a mistake to include the story title in the page header, since this requires you to retype or reprint the entire manuscript if you change the title.)
1.4 How should I indicate that the last page of my manuscript is the last page?
It may also be a good idea to put an "end of story" marker on the last page. Use "# # END # #", "--FIN--", or anything else you're confident the editor won't mistake for part of the story. (Some people think that this marker is amateurish.)
1.5 How much of my manuscript should I include?
Research the rules of the market you're submitting to. For short fiction (less than 20,000 words), you normally submit the entire manuscript. For novel-length fiction, many publishers prefer to receive a couple of sample chapters and an outline; if the publisher likes your sample, he/she will request the remainder of the book.
Publishers won't normally commit to buying a manuscript from an unknown writer until they've seen the whole thing. DON'T submit a portion of an unfinished book, unless you are certain that you can finish the book very quickly (within a month) if the publisher expresses interest.
1.6 How do I format a picture book? What about illustrations?
Children's picture books are normally assembled by the publisher, who buys a manuscript, then assigns an artist to create the drawings. Historically, most publishers have strongly preferred *not* to receive manuscripts with illustrations; the feeling has been that it was too difficult to accept one part of the package and reject the other. Author-illustrators generally earned their spurs by illustrating the works of others, and were then allowed to create their own books. Some publishers are beginning to accept (but not prefer) complete packages; check *Writer's Market* to find suitable candidates.
If you are submitting an unillustrated manuscript for a picture book, you should generally not attempt to indicate page breaks, double-page spreads, etc., or give detailed illustration suggestions, as these are the book designer's and illustrator's domain. Anything that you want to appear in the picture should be part of the text. One obvious exception to this rule is irony: if the text reads "Irene's room was always tidy", you're allowed to insert a note like "(Illustrator: the room is actually a pit.)"
As always, you should read many different picture books to get a feeling for the strengths and limitations of the format. Bear in mind that picture books are almost invariably 32 or 48 pages long, including title page and other front matter.
1.7 How should I format a poetry submission?
According to the _Writer's Market, 1997 edition, poems are submitted one to a page. The format is single-spaced with two lines between stanzas.
1.8 How do I count the number of words in my manuscript?
Start at the beginning. Point at the first word and say "One." Point at the second word and say "Two." Repeat, increasing the count by one integer for each word at which you point. <g>
Now, some more professional answers:
- You could use the "Word Count" feature of your word processor. Note that all word processors do not use the same algorithm to compute this--Word may give a different figure than WordPerfect.
- You can multiply the number of pages in the manuscript by 250. This gives a very rough estimate.
- Figure that 1.5 typewritten/computer-printed pages equal one page of a book (another rough estimate)
- Count the words on five random pages of the manuscript. Find the average number of words per page (divide the count by five) then multiply this number by the number of pages in the manuscript.
You will be paid by the publisher's word-count, not yours; the publisher's algorithm may differ. (And padding word-count is like double-parking in front of Police Headquarters; you *will* get caught.)
1.9 What are the standard word counts for novels, short stories, et cetera?
- 0 - 250 words: Flash or sudden fiction
- 0 - 2,000 words: Short-short story
- 2,000 - 10,000 words: Short story
- 10,000 - 40,000 words: Novella
- 50,000 - infinity (or durned close to it): Novel
A good length for a novel (by consensus of this newgroup) is 80,000 words.
Certain genre publishers require a maximum word count because they produce a standardized paperback. Follow these requirements.
1.10 What is the best length for a chapter?
It depends. Although chapters of a standard length (4,000 words, say) may be easier to outline, plan, count, and edit, there are no rules on chapter length. It is easy to find huge novels divided into 20 or fewer chapters and very slim novels with 45 or more divisions.
When to end a chapter and begin another one is one of the factors of story-telling. Sometimes a chapter closes where a story would end: following a brief cooldown after a crisis resolution. This gives a feeling of accomplishment for the reader and a sense of intermission.
Sometimes the chapters close before the resolution of a crisis, or after the introduction of the next crisis. These chapter breaks give a sense of suspense--that events are crowding in on the reader.
Sometimes chapters are kept consistent in length to establish a rhythm. Sometimes chapters vary greatly in length, giving the reader a sense of a kaleidoscopic world. Other times, chapters end and begin with a change in Point Of View, the scene's setting in time or space, or at a radical change in mood.
All depends on what suits the needs of your story.
An Editor's Perspective: Guidelines for an (Almost) Ideal Submission,
by Alexander Danner
August 22, 2000
Manuscript Preparation
You've probably heard it way too many times already, but the first and most important thing that you must do with your manuscript is proofread. There is a limit to just how many grammatical errors the editor will be willing to overlook before he dumps your story into the "out" bin, no matter how great your idea is.And if you still have to ask why, then you probably shouldn't even be bothering - hand copies out to your friends, and just leave it at that.
Still, there are a few more issues to consider when putting your manuscript together.
Headers
First off, it's a good idea to use the header function that just about every word processor offers. The items that should be included are: your name, the title of your piece, and the page number. The page number should be in the form of "Page X of Y," so that if your story happens to get split apart, the editor will be able to put it back in order easily, and will know how many pages to be looking for. The one exception to this rule would be sites where all submissions are supposed to be anonymous. In this case, still include the title and page numbers, but leave out your name.If your manuscript happens to be disposable (or "recyclable" if you're eco-conscious), you could also put this in your header, so long as you know how to use the "first page different" header function. Otherwise, just mark it somewhere in the corner of the first page. There's no need to replicate this across every page of the manuscript.
Text Formatting
In my previous article on electronic submissions, I mentioned that one of the nice things about submitting electronically is that it saves the editor time, because it presents the work pre-formatted. It was brought to my attention that I really need to clarify what I meant by this. First off, it's convenient in that it saves the editor from having to type or scan in the full text. But as far as formatting goes, what I was primarily referring to is the fact that an electronic submission will preserve unusual line breaks, such as in poetry. What I was not suggesting is that you should use this to work in unique fonts, tables, or other fancy formatting. For an excellent article on why electronic submissions should not include any advanced formatting at all, please read Brian Asbury's Everything Must Go!As for print submissions, the rules aren't much different. Don't use stupid fonts. Ever. No magazine is ever going to print your submission in Lucida Calligraphy, French Script, or even Flubber no matter how much you insist that your favorite font perfectly compliments your poetry. If your poem doesn't hold up without the help of French Script, then it's not ready to be submitted. Keep working on it until it looks good in Garamond.
The most basic acceptable fonts are Times New Roman for prose or Garamond for poetry. There are others that are also acceptable, but always stay with a basic serif or sans-serif font. No handwriting fonts are acceptable, nor are any special effects fonts. Courier is not as bad, but is still discouraged. It is very difficult to read submissions printed entirely in any of these fonts, and using them marks you as an extreme neophyte. And yes, this applies to titles too, even though many editors will use more interesting fonts for titles. The goal is to have as little emphasis on your font as possible - all attention should be on the writing itself.
(Note: Yes, Flubber actually is a real font. In fact, I've even found use for it in print - for the title of a cartoon that appeared in issue 6. But as the editor, I do get to use stupid fonts when I think it's appropriate.)
A few other text formatting guidelines:
Fiction should be 12 pt. double-spaced, unless it's "micro" or "flash" fiction, in which case single-spacing is more likely to be acceptable.
Poetry should be aligned left, aside from intentional visual design. Don't center every line of a poem, unless you have a particularly good reason for doing so. Few reputable publications will center their poetry this way.
The Mechanical Stuff
A few general guidelines:Manuscripts should be printed on standard white printer paper. Don't use the thin cheap stuff - it looks thin and cheap. Don't use fancy resume paper - it looks arrogant. Using photocopies instead of a new printout each time is generally acceptable, so long as it's a very clean photocopy - but I wouldn't recommend it. A new printout always looks better than a photocopy.
Never ever use a dot-matrix printer. Most editors won't even read a submission that comes out of a dot-matrix. You'd almost be better off hand writing it (But, for goodness' sake, don't do that either!).
SASEs
I'm going to assume that everyone at least knows that you do have to include return postage if you ever want to get a response to your submission. However, there are still a few more things to be said on the topic. Granted, some of these things are nit-picky details, but even those play a role in assembling the "ideal" submission. And that's the goal we're shooting for, right?So, let's talk a minute about origami. More specifically, let's talk about the fact that your SASE should not be an example of origami. It all starts with a common problem - you have a standard No. 10 business envelope. Into that, you have to place another envelope - which happens to also be a standard No. 10 business envelope. Naturally, this cannot happen unless the second envelope is somehow diminished in size.
One common solution to this problem is to fold the envelope over about 15 times, until it is barely larger than its own postage stamp. This is not a good solution. First off, it looks sloppy. Secondly, once you put it into the other envelope, it makes the envelope lumpy, which annoys the postal workers, since it can jam up their machinery. And I'm sure those poor postal workers didn't do anything to you, so let's not bug them, okay?
Another common solution is to fold two edges of the internal envelope over by just about a quarter of an inch, reducing it just enough to fit into the outer envelope. I'll admit, this is certainly a better solution than the 15-fold method, but it's still a little sloppy looking. Besides that, it's just a nuisance to unfold again. And frankly, I can't imagine that it's not a pain in the patootie to try to fold an envelope up that way in the first place.
The easiest way to fold the envelope, and the most convenient for the editor, is also the most common-sense way. Just fold it in thirds, like you would a piece of paper, and it'll fit in the envelope just fine, while still looking perfectly neat and presentable.
Of course, none of this matters if you're using an envelope large enough to hold your SASE unfolded. But the right times to use a larger outer envelope will be covered in Part 2 of this article.
Finally, if you want to make the editor really happy, use a self sealing envelope for the SASE (But NOT for the outer envelope - those things are a pain to open.). Of course, since many magazines only use SASEs for rejections anyway, whether or not you really feel like appeasing the editor on this point is very much up to you.
However, a bit more important than your choice of folding technique is your decision as to whether you want to include enough postage for the return of your manuscript. If you want it back, then you have to include sufficient postage. However, if the manuscript is disposable (recyclable!), don't just leave off postage - make sure you specify that the manuscript does not need to be returned, either in the cover letter or on the manuscript itself.
As one final note, I have noticed that a number of people have started to request that their responses be sent via e-mail. Personally, I'm happy to encourage this trend - I prefer using e-mail in the first place, and besides, it will get the author a quicker response. However, even if you want you response by e-mail, I urge you to still include a SASE. First off, the arrangement of requesting response by e-mail simply isn't commonplace yet, and many editors may resist it. But beyond even that, the editor may have difficulty e-mailing you - for instance, I had one author recently who mistyped his e-mail address. I was unable to contact him. Fortunately, he had also included a SASE, so I followed up via the post. Other times, certain ISPs simply aren't able to negotiate proper connections with each other - for instance, I used to have an ISP that would never send e-mail to hotmail accounts. These situations are rare, but they do happen, so it's best to prepare for them.
Cover Letters
Always include a cover letter. Period. Even for electronic submissions. Unless, of course, the market you are submitting to specifically says that they are not interested.Many writers feel that it is unfair for editors to use cover letters as a tool in the selection process. Commonly, they see the cover letter as nothing more than a crutch for editors who base the choices they make purely on name recognition and previous publishing credits. There are editors who agree with this viewpoint. These editors are a very small minority.
The rest of us have found that cover letters really are useful tools that help make our job easier. And, no, it's not just a matter of picking out the most recognizable names with the most impressive publishing credits. The fact of the matter is that cover letters are very frequently a reliable indication of both professionalism and writing ability. Yes - writing ability.
Once, a long time ago (well, okay it's only about seven years ago), I had to fill out college applications. These applications invariably included a section where I had to write a few paragraphs on some completely inane topic; "What are your long term goals" or "How do you feel that you can make Lehigh University a better place," or some cow-pie like that. At the time, I found these extremely frustrating, since I didn't see what possible good they could do.
I've since changed my mind about that.
Once I started running a magazine, I started receiving cover letters, and I learned something that should have been obvious in the first place: It's usually a pretty safe bet that if a cover letter is full of grammatical errors, then the submission will be too. Think about it - if a writer can't handle 2-3 paragraphs of decent composition, why should the editor expect that the 10-15 page story will be written any better?
Granted, this isn't a rule without exceptions - but in the two years since we founded Shades of December, I've only seen two or three submissions that included a careless cover letter paired off with a worthwhile submission. Do I read all of the submissions anyway? Of course. But if I'm close to a deadline, and am in a rush to pick a couple of pieces of additional content from a big stack of submissions, can you guess what I'm going to read first? Not the stories - it would take way too long to read them all under time constraints. I'm going to read the cover letters first, and then just read the stories whose cover letters left me with a positive vibe about the author's competence.
What Should Go Into a Cover Letter?
The first thing that should always go into a cover letter (other than your return address, which should be obvious, and an e-mail address, which I discussed earlier) is a list of the pieces being submitted. If you're submitting just one or two pieces, they can go in a sentence at the beginning of the letter. (i.e. - "Please consider the attached story, Mulberry Wing¸ for publication") If you're submitting several pieces, such as with a poetry submission, they can go in a list at the end of the letter. The purpose of this is simple: if one of your pieces gets separated from the rest of the submission, or if an editor isn't sure which author a particular piece came from, the cover letter will serve as a reference to make sure that your entire submission receives consideration, and is attributed to the correct author.Moving on to the more obvious elements, the cover letter should include a short list of your publication credits. Vanity and International Library of Poetry publications don't count. If you don't have any publication credits yet, don't be afraid to say so straight out - it will very rarely be held against you, and can sometimes even work in your favor. Many editors enjoy "discovering" new talent, and a number of very reputable publications even include special sections just for previously unpublished authors. Either way, an editor will respect you more if you just admit to your novice status freely, rather than trying to hide it with some rambling digression that doesn't pertain to anything.
The last main element that the cover letter should include is some personal background. Usually, this just includes your profession and other creative/artistic activities. You don't need to include your life story, marital status, and favorite band - unless, of course, these details actually pertain to the work being submitted. If you do have some personal experiences that make you particularly qualified to write about the topics covered in your submission, then it's fine - advisable even - to mention that.
Finally, if your manuscript is disposable (recyclable!), this should also be noted in the cover letter.
For more information on what not to do in a cover letter, please read my article, Cover Letter Atrocities.
What NOT to Include In a Submission
This one is simple - anything not pertinent to your submission.The editor is not interested in seeing flyers for your upcoming poetry slam, nor is he interested in seeing advertisements for your forthcoming chapbook. He doesn't want bookmarks decorated with inspirational verse by you or anyone else. Excerpts from reviews of your past novels are useless - no matter how great your novel was, if the story you've given him to read isn't just as great, he's still not going to want to print it. Some journals, especially Internet journals, may ask you for a photo of yourself. Most don't. And if they don't ask for, then they probably don't want it. And certainly no magazine is interested in picture of your kids - especially non-descript pictures of the back of some unknown kid's head.
And yes, I really have received every one of those things in submissions for Shades of December.
Magazines that want "gifts" are rare. (Although I did once write for a zine that liked to receive Lego people - don't ask.) And magazines that want your personal promotional materials are damn near non-existent.
And Finally - Choosing the Right Envelope!
First off, there are only three acceptable envelope sizes for a normal submission - a standard No. 10 business envelope, a 6"x 9" envelope, or a 9"x11.5" envelope. Anything else will make the editor laugh at you. And not in a good way. Letter-size envelopes look silly, especially since they require you to fold you submission in silly ways. Over-sized envelopes look even more ridiculous.The No. 10 envelope will require that both the submission and SASE be folded in thirds. The 6"x9" will require both the submission and the envelope to be folded in half. The 9"x11.5" will not require the submission to be folded at all, nor will the SASE need to be folded, unless you are using an equal sized envelope (i.e. - for return of your manuscript.). In that case, the SASE should be folded in half.
So, when do you use which envelope?
Always go for the No. 10 envelope first. Whenever I receive a big envelope that only has one or two poems in it, I really have to wonder why the author spent the extra money on the envelope and postage. Did he really think his submission was too good to fold?
Beyond that, I would say that if your submission is going over five or six pieces of paper, it's time to start looking at a larger envelope. Basically, if the envelope is starting to stretch out, that should be a sign. And absolutely, if it's costing more than 55¢ to mail it, it should not still be in a No. 10 envelope.
As for whether to jump to the 6"x9" or the 9"x11.5" there's no real rule. I prefer the 6"x9" myself, but those are far less commonly used. The main point, really, is just that the submissions should fit snugly in the envelope, without starting to make it bulge obscenely.
About the author:
Alexander Danner is co-editor of Shades of December, a small press literary magazine. In addition, he is an editor at WatchIT.com, a company producing educational multimedia programs on Information Technology topics, and has served as the editor of the X over IP News, a newsletter about the Internet telephony industry.
Links:
Getting Published
A guide to getting your work published on the web