Page LayoutHere are some guidelines for submitting to both the publisher who's doing electronic publishing and the publisher who's still typesetting. Your best bet is to contact the publisher you want to submit your manuscript to and request guidelines. Always follow the publisher's guidelines; in the event they're not available, use the following.
- The standard margin is 1 inch. Top, bottom, left and right (both electronic and typeset)
- Double line spacing (both)
- Full justification (electronic)
Left justification (typeset) - Don’t double space after
periods (electronic)
Double space after periods (typeset) - WYSIWYG (electronic)
Don't italicize words; underline them instead (typeset) - Use a standard font, one that’s easy to read (electronic)
A monotype font, such as Courier (typeset) - 12 is the standard font size (both)
- Short stories (both)
- Your full name, street address, phone/fax numbers, and e-mail address go in the upper lefthand corner of the first page.
- Include the word count in the upper righthand corner of the first page.
- Start page numbering with page 2. The number goes in the upper righthand corner -- just the number, nothing else.
- Starting with the second page, insert your name and/or title of the story in the upper lefthand corner. Perfect job for your headers.
- Novels (both)
- Include a title page. It should contain the book title approximately a third of the way down the page. Centered at the bottom are your name, address, phone/fax numbers, and e-mail address.
- Start page numbering with page 2. The number goes in the upper righthand corner -- just the number, nothing else.
- Starting with the second page, insert your name and/or title of the novel in the upper lefthand corner.
- Do not put page numbers or headers on the first page of any chapter.
Widows and Orphans
This phrase refers to the three-sentence paragraphs at the bottom of a page where two lines are on one page and the last line is on the other. You should never end or begin a page with one line. When you turn on the Widows and Orphans part of your word processing program, it will automatically move all three lines to the next page.
Trademarks
If you’re writing of something that’s a trademarked item,
you must capitalize the word no matter how you’re using it.
A trademarked item will have either a small
or a ® at the end of the word. Examples of such registered trademarked
items are Pepsi, Coke, Kleenex, Reeboks, Windows 2000, DOS, Frisbee, Xerox.
A few publishers require the inclusion of the
and ® symbols, but most do not. Check your publisher's guidelines.
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