And that’s never the impression you want to give to the person reading and judging your writing. When an editor recieves a manuscript that’s formatted in a quirky, unusual, or unexpected way, it makes the author look like an amateur. The best way you can do that is to make sure it looks how they expect it to look-i.e., professionally-formatted. Lucky for you, applying industry-standard formatting to your short story manuscript is pretty easy! Why does short story manuscript formatting matter?Įditors of magazines and anthologies are just as busy as agents and publishers, so it’s important that their first impression of your manuscript is a good one. This will help if you need or want to send it out again.Short story manuscript formatting is slightly different from novel and book manuscript formatting, and it’s always a good idea to check submission guidelines for each magazine or anthology you wish to submit to, as they can-and do-differ. Keep a record of where you sent your manuscript and when you sent it.Make sure your return address is in the upper left hand corner. If you are submitting via snail mail, send your manuscript in a standard size 9 x 12 envelope.If you are submitting electronically, follow any guidelines given by the publisher.(Scroll down and click on the arrow at the bottom of the title page to see the second page with header.) Here is a sample of what your title page and header should look like.That way, the pages are located and easily assembled once the story is printed out. If you are submitting your manuscript as a document via email, it is doubly important to make sure you use a header. The pages are then attached with a paper clip. A header appears in the upper right-hand corner and contains your last name followed by a brief title and the page number. You can avoid this by creating a header for every page. In that case, removing the staple is an inconvenience, albeit a minor one. However, an interested editor may want to make copies of your manuscript and distribute them to her colleagues. Stapling is usually the easiest way to attach your pages.You may leave the number off your title page and begin numbering with "2" on your second page. The layout and page breaks will be done later by the editor and art director. It should flow continuously from one page to the next. Enter your text the same way you would as if you were writing an essay or college paper. Do not worry about page breaks or the layout as it would appear in the published book. Drop down four spaces below your title and begin your text. You can use all capitals, underline, or use bold type if you wish. Your title should be about one third to half-way down your first page.The first page of your manuscript should contain all your contact information-name, address, phone, email-in the upper left hand corner.Text Spacing: All text should be double spaced and flush with the left hand margin.If your world processing program does this automatically, that's fine. Some people prefer to set the left and right margin at 1.25 inches.
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