No matter how brilliant your story or book concept, turning in an unprofessional-looking manuscript is enough to make an editor, agent, or publisher groan. In my 25+ years as a book editor, I’ve seen it all. I’ve received manuscripts with a wild array of font sizes and styles; headings formatted with no rhyme or reason; and a rainbow of colors. Sometimes I find distracting watermarks and margins that are so inconsistent that it looks more like modern art than a manuscript.
When authors ask me about how they should format a manuscript, I assure them it’s not as complicated as it may seem. It’s all about following some basic rules. The more a manuscript adheres to standard industry expectations, the stronger your chance at publishing a great book.
These rules aren’t in place arbitrarily. Think about all of the manuscripts an editor, agent, or publisher sees in a day. Presenting your work in as familiar a format as possible helps them clarify what your book needs to improve. Here are more specific tips on how to professionally present your manuscript, from margins and font to chapter titles and dialog.
5 Pointers on How to Format a Manuscript
1. Respect the basic rules.
When it comes to presenting your book professionally, let your story — not your formatting — be the main creative force. When you first open a Word document, designate 1-inch margins. For font, generally Times New Roman or Arial, 12 point, will do. A fancy font is a red flag that you are an amateur.
Indent five spaces for each new paragraph (you can set this up automatically in your word processing software). Be sure to double-space your lines within the paragraphs. As for spacing between the paragraphs, I’ve seen both single spaces and double spaces. The important thing here is to make a choice and be consistent throughout.
2. Label correctly and consistently
When you format a manuscript, don’t forget to insert a header on each page. It should include, in this order, your full name, your book title, and a page number. Place your header in the upper right-hand corner or upper left-hand corner. Whatever your choice, keep it consistent on every page.
Number your pages starting right after your title page. Numbering is not only standard, but essential — especially if you’re submitting a hard copy, which some agents and publishers still require. Think about how many people at an editorial office or publishing house may handle your manuscript from the moment it arrives in the mail to when it’s shipped back. You can imagine how un-numbered pages are an organizational nightmare waiting to happen.
3. Make chapter beginnings clear.
Authors ask me, “How do I designate chapters?” all of the time. Again, keep it simple. Once you end a chapter, insert a page break after the last line. Begin your next chapter a third of the way down the page. You can view the “ruler” in your Word document software to help you place it a third of the way down.
Keep your chapter headings consistent and always format them in the center of your page. Write your chapter number (using numerals) and your chapter title, if your book uses them. Whether you put the chapter number and title on one line or two, use capitals or upper and lower case, is up to you, as long as you’re consistent throughout.
For example:
CHAPTER 7: THE RUSTY KNIFE
-or-
Chapter 7
The Rusty Knife
After your chapter title, start the chapter body three to five lines below. Again, whatever choice you make, ensure it’s consistent with each chapter.
4. Pay particular attention to dialog passages.
If you’ve written a novel, it’s also important to correctly format and punctuate dialog. Obviously, you know to enclose dialog within quotation marks — double if you’re in the United States.
Also remember to begin a new paragraph each time you change speakers. You wouldn’t believe how many first-time author manuscripts I’ve read that forget this principle, making for a confusing read. If a speaker does an action that directly links to his or her dialog, keep it within the same paragraph.
Do:
He walked in and Consuela gasped. “What was he thinking?”
Don’t:
He walked in and Consuela gasped.
“What was he thinking?”
Splitting up Consuela’s action from her speech can be confusing — readers may not understand who said the dialog — Consuela, or the “he.”
5. Leave designing to the designers.
I can’t stress this main principle enough: Don’t try and make your manuscript look like a book. To many authors, this is puzzling. They think, “I’m writing a book — why wouldn’t I want it to look like one?”
However, embellishing with fancy headings, fonts, and perhaps even an already designed title page is a no-no. While even I admit it can be fun to choose fancy fonts and play designer, adding on formatting bells and whistles only distracts. Your book editors, literary agents, and/or publishers have to work harder to read around the distractions to discern what your manuscript needs to improve. Make it as easy as you can for them to help you.
