Manuscript formatting:get it down pat!

The instant an agent or editor takes your materiel out of the envelope, s/he gets whapped in the face by one feature which is so highly visible, its impossible to miss. Not your cover letter, nor the SASE. The first hurdle you must get over is right here, in the two or three seconds after your pages see daylight.

It's the manuscript formatting. The simple formatting of the page itself -- including the paper size, the font, the lot. Some editors and agents are so overworked, they'll reject right here, if you make one mistake. You could have written Harry Potter, and an editor wouldn't care. Mistakes at this stage are so visually obvious, you can be slapped onto the "rejects and returns" pile without a single word being read.

Which makes this a delicate and crucial subject ... read on!

All publishers have their own quirks and special requirements, but they all agree on the majority of points regarding how a manuscript ought to be formatted. There are so many different formats into which the same piece of text can be fed (the book, the webpage, the catalog, the magazine extract), and your job is to make sure the plain, ordinary body text supplied by you fits the bill. You can't afford to get fancy at all. Period. Don't insert any formatting, as neat as it might look on your own computer. For all you know, you might be trying to make square pegs fit into round holes.

Publishers, editors and agents should always be specific about what the want. The real chore of editing, at this point, is to ensure compliance. Every house will have a handout, a requirements guide. You can usually download it from the publisher's website these days.

Here are some of the things you'll be looking out for:

Most publishers still demand paper. (This is changing to accommodate email, but at the time of this writing it's still much more normal to send paper when submitting to a mainstream, and major, publishing house.

The paper American publishers want to see is US Letter size, which is 8.5" x 11.0" ... and some of them won't accept A4, though it's the normal paper size for the UK and Commonwealth. You'll need to get some larger paper (A3) specially guillotined to US Letter size.

Set a 1" (2cm) margin all around the page. If by any remotest chance you're typing on a typewriter, don't let your margins get too narrow; you're not fooling anyone by squishing in those extra words per page. Editors were up to these tricks decades ago! And, if typing, always adhere to one fixed "hard" margin on the left, never let the margin "wander in."

Format the text in a specific font. This is probably Times Roman 12pt, or 10 point courier. Do not set type in fonts other than the publisher specifies, not even the title on the cover sheet! There are excellent reasons for this. Editors might have to speed-read (or scan) 1,000 pages per day to sort wheat from chaff. (The chaff gets chucked back, fast.) The easier the page is to read, the more likely it will be to be read. It doesn't have to be pretty, just clear and easy on the eyes.

Never justify the right hand margin of the text. Editors swear up and down that justification makes reading harder. (Go figure.)

Use underlines to indicate where italicized words should be. (Because italics are harder to read. Same reason for using Times or Courier as the font.)

Indent the paragraphs to exactly .5"/1cm on the left only. Do not double-space block paragraphs. (Block paragraphs are paragraphs without any indent. This is the norm on webpages -- like this one -- but it won't pass muster on a manuscript intended for paper publishing.)

Never use more than one (two at most) spaces between sentences within the same paragraph. Huge gaps between sentences irritate the eye. Also, if your work is accepted and you're asked to send a disk, or an email attachment, with the work in electronic form, these extra spaces will have to be removed before typesetting ... and you're the one who's going to spend hours taking them out! Better not to put them in, in the first place, right?

If you're word processing on a computer, never use spacebar strikes to indent paragraphs. In fact, the "proper" way to do it is to use the tab-set rule at the top of the word processor page:

Click on this image to see it at full-size. Notice the rule at the top of the page; notice the two "teeth" or guides ... notice that the bottom one sets the left hand margin (it's aligned with the extreme left side of the text). Now, see the top 'tooth." Wherever you pull that little guy to, sets the paragraph indent. Now, all you have to do is hit ENTER (carriage return) at the end of a paragraph, and there you are. Auto paragraph indents ... which you can change at whim by adjusting the tab-set "tooth" there.

In keying-in, make sure you use the correct kind of quote (speech) marks for the country of your submission. In the US this means double quotes ("/"); in the UK, single quotes ('/') .

Always start a new person's dialog on a new line.

Always start a new sentence with a capital letter: no exceptions!

Always end a sentence with a period (.), ellipsis (...) or emrule (—), never comma or colon;

Always use curved "brackets" (/) for contextual parenthesis, never square brackets [/];

Print out in double-space lines (see the picture above). Never use single-spacing or even 1.5 spacing. Editors have tired eyes ... also, they like to scribble "corrections" on manuscripts, and you have to leave them plenty of scribbling space.

Never double-space paragraphs. You're already double-spacing the lines. If you double-space the paragraphs as well, your manuscript will blow out hugely. It could end up at 600pp for a fairly small novel, and the thickness of the stack of printout paper will be an off-putter before anyone looks at page 1. (It'll also cost a fortune to mail!)

Never use bold or bold-italic in the text; use underline only. Do not use capitalization or asterisks to indicate italics. Always use underline.

Make sure every page is numbered, on a manuscript. You know what offices are like. Someone turns on the a/c and the whole stack goes flying. It's gathered together, but it's out of order ... rejection. Instantly.

Place the author's name in the header on every page, and place the title of the work in the header on every page ... for the exact same reason as you're using page numbering!

Never use footers, only headers.

Never type in, or print out, colored fonts. They're just tough to read.

Where you want blank lines left to indicate a new line, use a hash mark (#) on that line. Indicate the end of the document with three hash marks (###).

These can be boring and aggravating rules. You ask yourself why you ever bothered to get a computer, since you just had to configure the machine to behave like a typewriter ... copy editing isn't always easy, or fun!

Remember, however: this is how the manuscript will be formatted for submission. Once an editor has approved it, and you're expecting a contract ... then, they'll need the whole file on a disk or jumpdrive. They'll take the absolutely plain file, as supplied by you, and they'll format it to suit their own typesetting.

The best thing you can do at this stage of copy editing is to meet them halfway, supply exactly what they want. If you can do this, you'll stand the very best chance of having your work read.

Tired eyes need big, plain fonts, and double-spaced printouts. And every publisher, editor and agent has a different way of working. Some might not notice footers, therefore footers are useless. Others might want only the author's byline in the header, not the whole book title. You won't know till you inquire, and get the "cheat sheet."

Always do some research before you call your copy editing finished and print out the manuscript. Find out exactly what your target publisher wants and needs. Do your best to meet their requirements.

Remember, a wrongly-formatted manuscript will be tossed back unread! One glance at it, and the editor opening the parcels knows instantly, you never bothered to find out what the company wanted. This certainly won't endear the editor to you, and if s/he is inundated with work, and tired, and annoyed, your SASE will be used at once!

Do a little extra work at the preparatory stage ... a little judicious copy editing right now, right here, it can pay dividends later.

The writer who hates to type

Do I have to type the darned thing? Must I use a computer? I hate typing. I wanted to learn to write here, not type!

You'll have to type eventually, but nothing prevents you from writing in longhand. Jackie Collins is famous for writing those massive tomes of hers in 50c exercise books, which are leather-bound when she's done! However, she can afford to pay a typist ... inquire locally as to how much this will cost before you make the decision to outsource your typing. You might be appalled. Some writers have no idea how to write passionate fiction at the keyboard, and yes, they write by hand. But the bottom line is, it has to be typed eventually.


If you're going to use a typing service, consider your handwriting. Do you write well ... or, like most of us, do you scrawl? Most adults evolve their own handwriting, and some of us are the only ones who can even begin to read what we're written! If a typing service can't understand what you scrawled, it can't be keyed in. If you do intend to use a typing service, it'll be most important to learn to write extremely clearly, in longhand. Or relearn how to do this, if the last several decades have reshaped your handwriting into ancient Greek!

If you really hate to type, by all means get the book finished in longhand. Then bribe your friends and family to type for you. The fact is, you could learn to write and never learn to type at all, if you're handy enough around the house. Do the dishes, wash the car, mow the lawn, walk the dog, babysit the kids. Have people key in a few pages here and there, and pretty soon, you're done.

Another caveat: have your helpers key it in on a computer. That way, their typographical errors, misreadings of your scrawl (!), and misspelled words, will be easy to correct when you start your proofing and editing work.

Bottom line: yes, eventually the work has to be typed ... but maybe not by you ... and ten people, all of them bad typists, can collaborate on a computer-based project, and achieve a perfect, seamless result in the end!

Turn page to Learn to love your keyboard...

Learn to write ... love your keyboard!

Learn to write ... learn to love your keyboard!


When you make to commitment to learn to write, and write well, you're actually looking at several layers of skills, from the most mundane to the most artistic and poetic. We live in an electronic world. TV and DVD, music, the Web, communication, publishing, reading, driving, flying ... there's not one darned thing you can do these days that doesn't involve digitizing something.

If you're an artist, you'll either scan your artwork when you're finished, or (and more commonly now) you'll create the whole piece of work inside the computer. Most artwork, in 2008. has never known a sheet of paper or canvas panel, nor felt the caress of a pencil. If you're a writer, your work has to end up inside the computer sooner or later.

The term 'learn to write' can also be understood as the process by which a young child figures out how to hold a crayon and draw the alphabet ... but in our world, the first words a child makes are more likely to be keyed into a computer.

If you write your book by hand, it'll be typed up by someone, somewhere, and the typing process will happen before a publisher takes a look. Sorry, guys. You might be horribly allergic to typing, but, like goldenrod and cottonwood, it's not going to go away! You'll have to grab the Kleenex and soldier on. Learn to write = learn to type. You don't have to like it, but you will have to do it.

Having said that, there are many ways to make the process easier!

Turn page to Learn to write ... but learn to type ... a bit!

A Copy Editing Q&A

Copy editing for myself, do I have to be neat and tidy?

Don't be squeamish: rework the monster.
Only YOU will ever see these sheets, so change the whole thing, if you want to!

No. Proofread and edit in any way you like. Every writer has a different way of working, even though it's true that the industry itself has a traditional, regimented way of doing things. In the early days of a book, however, you're not writing for them, but for yourself.

When you're working only for yourself and no one else has to understand what you mean — go ahead and make a right, royal mess! You only have to worry about your edits being comprehensive to other people if you're working with a publisher and typesetter, and will be mailing the galley proof back to them, with all your changes and corrections in.

So long as you're working for, and with, only yourself, use any system you like. For example, I'll be editing and proofreading at the same time (why not? It's Keegan's own work, on Keegan's own desk), mixing up every kind of symbol (including some self-invented ones) without a qualm ... because I'll be the one putting the corrections into the pages on the computer.

The pages above are from a Keegan book that's receiving its final edits, prior to going to press. When a piece of work has made it out of the computer and onto paper, it will already have been proofread and edited several times. On paper, being the absolutely final version before the type is sent to the printer, I work on a "galley proof," which is a printout of the press-ready copy — the book will be printed at 6" x 9" (trade size), but the reading copy is printed on A4 paper. This gives big margins all around, facilitating the work. I scribble on the copy. ALL over the copy. Almost every page! Very few pages pass parade without getting the spit-shine treatment ... this is copy editing at its most fundamental and effective.

Some writers prefer to work on a double-spaced printout. Others work in colored pens and pencils, and text highlighters. Use whatever you feel comfortable with, and what's handy.

A day will come, however, when you're working with a publisher and typesetting who need to understand exactly what you mean.

Is copy editing the same as proofreading?

No. Proofreading can be done by any literate person, who will look ONLY for typographical, spelling and formatting errors. This person has no authority whatsoever to change, or suggest a change in, so much as a syllable. An editor edits; a proofreader looks for gaffs in the actual typing, typesetting and formatting.

Are there formal symbols used to indicate proofreading corrections, and editing changes?

Yes, and they're similar, though not quite the same. The major difference between them is that proofreading symbols are usually going to appear on the "galley proof" (see above), because the editing is finished and you're just looking for typos and formatting errors, in the absolutely final stage before publication. Therefore, proofreading symbols have to be "squeezy," because you'll be working on the galley. By contrast, copy editing symbols can afford to sprawl, be big and comparatively sloppy, because — at least traditionally! — you'd always be editing on a double-spaced copy. These days, of course, you're far more likely to be editing inside the computer, but you know how long it takes to slow down, stop and turn around the juggernaut of tradition. It'll be another century before it all changes. You can't afford to wait that long, so meet meet the industry halfway.

Here's the rule: When you're editing and proofing for yourself along, use any system you like. However, when you're marking up a manuscript for a publisher, typesetter or printshop, use the traditional proofing and editing markup system. You probably won't need to be completely familiar with the copy editing and proofreading symbols just yet, but let's take a look at them, for the sake of interest.

1) Insert [something] at this point. 2) Insert a comma here; 3) a semi-colon, 4) a full-colon. 5) Insert opening quotes and 6) insert closing quotes. 7) The copy editing symbol for "start a new paragraph and, 8) the proofreading symbol for start a new paragraph. 9) Insert a space (with the slash cutting in where the space should be), also 10) Insert a space. 11 Close up an unwanted space. 12. Insert a line (arrowhead points in between two lines that should be separated. 13) Enclosed "stet" meaning, "Leave as is," often used to cancel out an unwanted change. 14) Enclosed "cq" meaning, "spelling is fine, don't change this." 15) delete this blank line. 16) Capitalize this letter. 17) End of document. 18) Transpose (switch the order of) the words separated out by this wiggly line. 19) Insert a hyphen. 20) Insert an emrule. 21) Delete the unwanted letter which is struck out by the slash (this is the editing symbol). 22. Delete the unwanted word which is struck out by the horizontal line. 23) Delete unwanted letter (this is the proofreading symbol. 24. General "delete this and close up the resulting space" symbol, used in proofreading, not copy editing.

Now ... got your copy editing hat ready?

Turn page to Typographical errors...

Return to What the heck is copy editing, anyway?