|
|
.
Publishing Your Book
by: Matt Crazoner
Format Your Manuscript for the Publishing Firm
If you want to publish your novel, you must present your
manuscript in the accepted format or else it may never
see the light of the day. You have to make sure that you
fulfill all the requirements and expectations of the
publishing agent. Your manuscript should not be
different from others in form even though it is
exclusive in style and content.
For a first novel, the word count should range from
60,000 to 120,000 words. This can be lower if the novel
is directed to younger readers, but these numbers are
fairly standard. If you\'re submitting directly to a
publisher, you\'ll want to look at other things that
they have published in order to see what kinds of word
counts they like to accept.
The next order of business is to format the manuscript.
This includes having the text in a word processing
document. While typing on a typewriter might be your
standard method of creating your novel, it does not look
professional. If you do not own a computer, pay someone
to type up your manuscript on their computer. However,
you should really look into having your own computer, as
most communication is done via email these days.
Make sure that you type the manuscript in Times New
Roman or Courier font in twelve point font size and it
should be consistently double spaced throughout the
text. The title page should include your name, address
and email address in the bottom right hand corner. If
you are going through an agent, then type your contact
information in the top left hand corner and your
agent\'s contact information in the bottom left corner.
The title of the manuscript should be typed in all
capital letters and placed in the center of your title
page.
The page number is always typed in the top right hand
corner along with your name and title in all capitals,
separated by a backslash in the upper left hand corners.
Skip four lines and type the chapter titles in all
capital letters and then proceed to the text.
Make sure you indent new paragraphs and dialogue either
with the TAB key or with five spaces.
Most importantly, get your document edited by a
professional copyeditor or do it yourself. For this
purpose, it\'s\'sbest to print the document out and read
it word by word. You will be surprised how many errors
get overlooked when the document is on the computer
screen.
A thorough editing job should make your document free of
spelling errors and grammatical mistakes. Otherwise,
your agent or publisher might think that you are not
professional or committed to the manuscript. These
apparently simple errors can ruin your manuscript.
Take the time to create a professional manuscript and
one that is consistent with these industry standards.
Anything flashy will only draw the annoyance of the one
reading it, not the attention.
!
|
|
|
|
Refer this site to your friends |
|
|
