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Standard Manuscript Format! How to Write a Manuscript for Your Fiction Novel!

Though most publishers and agents have their own requirements, there is a standard manuscript format you can follow in order to get your work very close to where it needs to be. The closer you are, the less work you have to do when it comes time to submit your work to a publisher.

Submission of a manuscript to some companies can be a very tricky. Ensure you review their proper formatting guidelines for the specific company you will be going through prior to submitting your manuscript. This will avoid definite rejection of your manuscript. The standard manuscript format will most likely be the closest match for most companies.

The general format used by most companies as a standard is simple to understand and easy to achieve on any word processing program. Once you get your manuscript in that format, contacting a company and meeting their deadline is easy.

First, here are some more helpful things to consider when writing in a standard manuscript format:

1. With manuscript format, your book should look as though you typed it on a typewriter. Always use Courier New size 12 font with all of your manuscript writing. This is the easiest font to read when you edit a book. This is also very easy to change if a publisher requires a different font.

2. Do not submit a handwritten manuscript or one that has several different font types. They will get rejected.

3. In your standard manuscript format, your text should be aligned to the left at all times. Remember, it has to look as though you typed it. Any new chapter titles or scene breaks may be centered on the page.

4. Use a high quality 8 1/2 x 11 inch plain white paper. Do not use any specialty papers or colored paper for your manuscript. Only print out your manuscript on one side of this paper.

5. Do not use staples or any kind of binding to hold your manuscript together. Just keep your pages in the proper order facing up. They will stay together. This also means no paper clips, binder clips, and other things like that. They are very unprofessional in manuscript format.

Now that you have the basic things to remember down pat, learn the rest of the formatting dos and don'ts that keep your manuscript in standard format!