Manuscript Preparation

Yesterday, Nick and I were working on preparing one of his short story manuscripts for submission to a fantasy magazine. The rules I learned from submitting my own story proved quite useful. I was reminded that unearthing the general submission guideliness required days of time and effort and involved consulting several sources. I've decided to summarize the manuscript format that I use here.

Cover Page

The margins should be one inch all around so the editor can make notes.

The author's contact information, including (real) name, mailing address, telephone number, and e-mail address goes in the upper left-hand corner and is single-spaced.

Halfway down the page, place the center-aligned title. One double-spaced line below that, write "by" and the author's real name or pen name, if applicable. Double-space again and list the manuscript's word count. I like to use "'x number' words" notation. Do not simply rely on your word processor's count. Editors have developed an industry standard method for tallying up the number of characters in a manuscript better suited to their needs.

The preferred word count formula is as follows: in your manuscript, locate an average-length, mid-paragraph line of text. Count all of the characters from left to right, even punctuation marks and spaces. Divide this figure by six. The product will give you the average number of characters per line. Next, count the total number of lines in the document. The main body of the text should always be double-spaced, so you don't have to count the empty spaces in between; just actual lines of text. A page with no breaks or other totally empty lines works best for conducting your count. Upon determining the total number of lines per page, multiply that figure by the average characters per line as derived earlier. Finally, multiply that number by the total number of pages (minus the cover page). Round this product to the nearest hundred. Authors round up. Editors round down.

In brief: word count = all the characters in a line/6 x total lines per page x (total pages - cover page), round to nearest hundred.

Once you've calculated and noted your manuscript's word count, your cover page is done.

First Page

Now that you're on the actual first page, create a header to be displayed in the upper right. This header should appear on every subsequent page of the manuscript and should at least include the author's last name and the current page number, separated by a forward slash. The title (if it is short), or a significant element from the title, can also be placed between the author's name and the page number, also separated by slashes, e.g.: Farmer/Big Heist/1

For short stories, reproduce your contact information on the first page of the manuscript in the same format and position as it appears on the cover page.

Place the word count in the upper right-hand corner of the first page (not in the header).

Proceed halfway down the first page and write the story's title again. Double-space down and write "by" and the author's real/pen name.

Double space down twice, indent, and begin composing the story. Make sure the body of the text is double-spaced.

A vital detail often overlooked by first-time writers is the correct choice of font. Courier 10 pitch is the standard font for everything from novel manuscripts to screenplays. Your entire manuscript, including all of the information on the cover page, should appear in this font.

As an interesting aside, I use Open Office 3.3. Courier 10 pitch isn't listed in the drop down font menu, but Mick (not a typo; different guy) informed me that it can be written in manually. I tried this DIY tactic, and it worked.