From Blood-Red Pencil http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.com
GENERICS
•Use letter-sized white paper – 20 lb.
•1″ margins all around.
•These days, most use Times New Roman, 12-point font, but there is nothing wrong with using Courier. Avoid sans serif fonts; those are fonts without feet, such as Arial.
COVER PAGE
•In the upper left hand corner, you’ll put the following information: full name, address, phone number, and e-mail address, and word count.
•Space down to nearly 1/3 to 1/2 of the page and center the title of your book, then the word “by,” and then your name. Here’s a PDF example of a cover page -http://shonbacon.com/sample-cover.pdf
•If you have an agent, his/her contact information will go in the bottom right hand corner of the cover page.
THE STORY
•Double space throughout.
•Use a ragged right margin – in order words, do not full justify your manuscript.
•In the header, on the left hand side, you will place your last name and book title (or partial book title) and on the right hand side, the page number.
•Though you will be tempted to do this, do not place copyright information on your novel; do not let fear of theft make you do it!
•Place chapter headings about 3 double-spaces down the page, centered and place two to three double-spaces between the chapter heading and the start of the chapter.
•Indent every paragraph – and this seems nonsensical, but I’ve read manuscripts that have not been indented, I’ve read manuscripts where writers literally hit the space bar five times, and I’ve read manuscripts where the author uses the TAB button, which usually moves the cursor a half-inch in. Personally, I hit the TAB. It’s easier for me, and I don’t have to remember to go 1,2,3,4,5 every time I make a paragraph. Besides, this is the age of computers; why manually do anything when you can configure the word processing program to do it for you?
GENERICS
•Use letter-sized white paper – 20 lb.
•1″ margins all around.
•These days, most use Times New Roman, 12-point font, but there is nothing wrong with using Courier. Avoid sans serif fonts; those are fonts without feet, such as Arial.
COVER PAGE
•In the upper left hand corner, you’ll put the following information: full name, address, phone number, and e-mail address, and word count.
•Space down to nearly 1/3 to 1/2 of the page and center the title of your book, then the word “by,” and then your name. Here’s a PDF example of a cover page -http://shonbacon.com/sample-cover.pdf
•If you have an agent, his/her contact information will go in the bottom right hand corner of the cover page.
THE STORY
•Double space throughout.
•Use a ragged right margin – in order words, do not full justify your manuscript.
•In the header, on the left hand side, you will place your last name and book title (or partial book title) and on the right hand side, the page number.
•Though you will be tempted to do this, do not place copyright information on your novel; do not let fear of theft make you do it!
•Place chapter headings about 3 double-spaces down the page, centered and place two to three double-spaces between the chapter heading and the start of the chapter.
•Indent every paragraph – and this seems nonsensical, but I’ve read manuscripts that have not been indented, I’ve read manuscripts where writers literally hit the space bar five times, and I’ve read manuscripts where the author uses the TAB button, which usually moves the cursor a half-inch in. Personally, I hit the TAB. It’s easier for me, and I don’t have to remember to go 1,2,3,4,5 every time I make a paragraph. Besides, this is the age of computers; why manually do anything when you can configure the word processing program to do it for you?
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