Industry Submission Standards—Part One

Every industry has standards and the writing community is no different. However, since the advent of email submissions, the rules have gotten muddy. Today I’ll share some rules to follow that will help you present yourself professionally.

Font Size and Selection
Times New Roman or Courier – 12 point – are still the gold standard. Try not to vary from these two options unless the submission guidelines request it.

Justification
Always justify your margins left. NEVER justify them left and right (like a newspaper).

Spacing

There are two, equally acceptable ways to space your document for submission. In times past, there was only one acceptable spacing option, double spacing. This has changed with the formatting needs of the Internet.

Special Note: When submitting a book length manuscript double spacing is the ONLY industry standard accepted.

Single Spaced Document
The entire document is single spaced and paragraphs are NOT indented. An extra space is added between paragraphs.

Example
When painting your garage floor the first thing you have to do is prepare the surface. You need to give it a thorough cleaning. Consider using a pressure washer to save time when you need to remove stubborn dirt and debris. If the garage floor has been painted in the past, it’ll be necessary to remove all traces of the old paint.

After cleaning, allow the concrete time to dry. This may take several days depending on the climate and weather. After it’s dry you’ll need to fill any cracks or holes. You can find the correct supplies at your local hardware store. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s directions when applying.

Double Spaced Document
The entire document is double spaced and paragraphs ARE indented. There is NO extra space between paragraphs.

Example
       When painting your garage floor the first thing you have to do is

prepare the surface. You need to give it a thorough cleaning.

Consider using a pressure washer to save time when you need to

remove stubborn dirt and debris. If the garage floor has been painted

in the past, it’ll be necessary to remove all traces of the old paint.

       After cleaning, allow the concrete time to dry. This may take several

days depending on the climate and weather. After it’s dry you’ll need

to fill any cracks or holes. You can find the correct supplies at your

local hardware store. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s directions

when applying.

All of these rules may seem random and arbitrary, but they're not. They help an editor avoid eyestrain when reading hundreds of manuscripts during the course of a week. They also help those who upload or in rare cases, typeset the submitted material.

Next week I'll go over cover letters, queries and synopsis lengths and changing standards.

Don't forget to join the conversation!
Blessings,
Edie