A rant on proper manuscript formatting

[ellen_datlow]

Recent reading and editing has brought to my attention the fact that some writers have suddenly (well, since using computers and email) decided that the usual rules of mss preparation are no longer necessary.

Three examples:
1) I have received print submissions without PAGE NUMBERS (not often, but still, this should never happen).

2) I have increasingly been the recipient of manuscripts that don't underline words meant to be italicized in the story's final, printed form. The reason editors/copy editors/and whoever does the production on a mss need to see underlines is that some typefaces don't show italics very well, and even if they did--it's quicker to "see" underline than italics

3)I have been receiving mss without anything indicating space breaks. What happened to ###? I'm in the middle of reading a printout that seemed to be missing at least two pages because there were no transitions...When I checked the efile, lo and behold, the sentence breaks were in different places so I could actually see that there were supposed to be space breaks. Writers--new and pro--please please show your space breaks by putting in hash marks.

4) Paragraphing--before online publishing, paragraphing was shown by indenting margins...Guess what, folks? Most publishing (especially of books) is still print, which means that paragraphs are indented.

Rant over

Comments

Robert Stephenson

[(Anonymous)]

I understand this oh too well. I get single spaced justified and unparagraphed submission to my agency. Sometimes, when I am feeling generous I do read a page, but am usually left disappointed. These days if a mss comes to me badly formatted I just dump it - life too short. Cruel, I know, and maybe I might miss a gem but if you can't submit properly it immediately tells me you haven't done any homework on the industry at all. If you can't get simple things like that right how could you get the complexities of a novel right?

When doing anthologies I'm a little more forgiving but problems still exist and they aren't getting any better. A good format means I'm more likely to read your work.

I'm with you Ellen, and it is from your many examples of work that I have taught myself some elements of editing.

Re: Robert Stephenson

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

The thing about formatting is that you don't want to distract from the story!

I don't want to scare off writers--I can see just from this conversation that formatting varies among different media--electronic formatting is different from print format. Novel formatting can be different from short fiction formatting.

It's good to be aware of why certain formatting is asked for and use your judgment (or read the guidelines or ask the editor if there are certain formats she prefers).

Scaring off writers

[madwriter.livejournal.com]

My guess is that the ones who are dedicated enough to keep plugging away at their writing until their work is professional and publishable won't be scared away.

Heck, for me, formatting is the easy part.