Typeface: Unless Times is stated, when submitting work to an editor for actual hands-on line editing or copy editing, use a monospaced type such as Courier.

• This is Courier (it’s monospaced; all letters and punctuation marks are the same width).

• This is Times New Roman (it’s proportionally spaced; everything fits closely). 

Times is preferred by agents and editors who want a quick read to get a hasty impression of the writing. Courier is preferred by hands-on manuscript editors who need a clear look at the actual text.

Note: To mimic the appearance of typesetting is to look like an amateur. So will variations from standard manuscript format that attempt to be "attention-getting." (The only attention-getting factor that matters is the quality of your writing.)

Typewriter users (yes, a few are still living and writing): “pitch” refers to characters per inch: elite = 12 pitch or 10 points; pica = 10 pitch or 12 points.

Title page, headings: Same size and typeface as the text. All caps for the title is optional. Put your name, address, phone, and edress in the upper left corner of the first page, and the approximate word count, rounded, in the upper right corner. Space halfway down on the page and center the full title of the work, your byline, and the start of your text.

For every subsequent page, type 2 words separated by 1 slash, plus 1 number, into the "header" feature of your word processor. The page number can appear after a second slash or alone at the far right:

LastName / 1wordfromtitle / #

Serif typeface: Courier and Times have little “feet” that make them easy to read, so never use a sans serif typeface (such as Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, or Gill Sans) for manuscripts. Go easy on the italics and avoid ALL CAPS and all decorative and display type.

Double-spaced typed text: This does NOT mean one-and-a-half lines of space. It means that for 12-point type, line spacing or leading should be a full 24 points. Also use 12-point double-spaced type for quotations, extracts, endnotes, and footnotes.

Margins: Minimum 1" top and bottom, 1.25" sides. Large margins make it easier for an editor to write notes and for the author to read them.

Alignment: Flush left, also known as ragged right. Never justify.

Paragraphs: Don’t skip lines between. To separate scenes within a chapter, hit “return” once and type # # # or * * * (with spaces) in the center of that line. To separate chapters from each other begin each on a new page.

Paragraph indents: One tab or 5 spaces.

Tabs: Use only for indents that you have set in your word document's "ruler." Never tab to simulate columns, tables, or centering. Instead, use the word processor’s features meant for those functions.

Underscore: This tells copyeditors and traditional typesetters to set words in italics, which at one time was a different font from your keyboard shortcut). You can use either your keyboard shortcut or underlining, not both. But apply italics according to standard usage when your text includes most foreign words and when you refer to the titles of books, plays, movies, and TV series. Note: Do not use quotation marks when your text refers to the titles of articles, chapters, acts and scenes in a script, poems, short stories, and TV episodes in a series; instead, use quotation marks. To de-italicize words, underscore the italicized text and in the margin write rom (for roman) and underline the abbreviation.

Bold face: May be used for chapter headings in fiction and for headings and subheadings in nonfiction. Never use in text. Also, never use all caps within text. If emphasis is required, underscore or italicize.

Dash: Type as a double hyphen--without spaces--so its length is unmistakable. Don’t type a 1-em dash because its length can change appearance when your text is converted to a different typeface.

Ellipsis: Show with 3 spaced periods, or with 4 periods when the trailing off doesn't prevent the sentence from being grammatically complete. (Please see the TIP on page 193 of Don't Sabotage Your Submission or on page 177 of Don't Murder Your Mystery.) Turn off the automated keystroke feature that creates 3 condensed dots. Tip: To keep an ellipsis from breaking in the middle at the end of a line, skip 1 space before the first dot, use a nonbreaking space after both the 1st and 2nd dots, and a normal space after the 3rd dot. For an ellipsis that follows a complete sentence, type the usual period plus 1 space before starting the spaced ellipsis. Note: you never know where later revisions could cause an ellipsis to move to the end of a line; hence, the nonbreaking spaces.

Hyphenation: Off.

Widows and orphans: Off.

Page numbers: Must be in sequence throughout, including front matter (remember, you're submitting a manuscript, not a finished book). Be sure no pages are missing, repeated, or out of order. Use the auto-numbering feature that’s part of your word processor’s header and footer options. If you don't know how to use that function, hand-write page numbers on your printout; never type them on individual pages in a word processing program because pages change when revisions are made and individually typed page numbers become scrambled within the text.

Footnotes (for nonfiction): If the work is being submitted for editing, use your word processor’s footnote or endnote feature and set all notes and bibliographic material to print the same as other text: 12-pt Courier double-spaced. Or type the actual note directly into the text where you want it referenced, and enclose it in parentheses, without numbering it.

Graphics: Avoid embedding charts, tables, figures, etc., in the main text. Number each separate graphic, print it on its own page, and show where it belongs by typing a corresponding number in the text, adding the words: “Insert figure x here.”

Paper: Standard white 8-1/2" by 11"; no pin-feed tear-offs or hole punching. Avoid erasable bond, which smudges. Avoid heavy bond; the added weight increases shipping costs and makes editors judge a manuscript's length as excessive.

Printing: One side of the paper only and one column of text (despite sensible efforts to use both sides of a sheet, because publishing has its own rules for manuscript submission, and saving paper isn't one of them).

Black ink: Use a laser or ink cartridge that produces clear, sharp, black text. If submitting a photocopy, it should be a first generation copy. Handwritten text must be typed. If accepted for publication, text must be available electronically, so use a computer. Scanning is not recommended.