This is part two of a six part series. Part one is here. Parts three through six are coming soon.
2. Formatting your manuscript so it’s easy for your editor to read
When someone contacts me about editing for them, a big part of quoting them a price is what their manuscript looks like. I always ask for the first two or three chapters so I can get an idea of what skill level they’re at, but I always look at the formatting, too.
At the very least, your manuscript should be double-spaced, in a plain, easy-to-read font, preferably either Courier, Times New Roman or something similar. This is a holdover from traditional publishing when a physical manuscript was sent, via snail-mail, to the editor at the publishing house the writer was hoping would acquire the book for publication.
The double spacing was so the editor had space to mark up the manuscript, usually in red. Generally, back then, a manuscript had to be in 12 pt. Courier font — deemed the easiest on the eyes. If you sent in a manuscript printed in anything but 12 pt. Courier, there was a good chance your clearly amateur manuscript would be discarded unread. I say “clearly amateur” because there wasn’t an agent alive back then, that wouldn’t have ensured proper manuscript format.
Seems ridiculously nitpicky now but, from the editor’s standpoint (or more likely their intern’s standpoint), when you’re going through a dozen or more manuscripts every day, your eyes can definitely get tired and the easier the manuscripts are to read, the better.
Do not send me or any other editor an 8 pt., single spaced, Comic Sans manuscript. It’s unprofessional and it’s damn hard to read. While I wouldn’t immediately reject the manuscript, but I would note the amateurish presentation and the per-word cost I quoted to edit the book would be higher as a result.
Also, have decent sentence structure and reasonable paragraph breaks. I once got a “first two or three chapter” sample that was 36 pages long, single spaced, and was just one long paragraph!
With a well-formatted manuscript, you’ll make a great first impression on any editor, and that’s always a good thing.
Next week: Proofreading your manuscript.