The Business Basics for Today’s Writer—Part Two—Submission Standards

Last week I began a new series on the Business Basics for Today’s Writer. This morning I preempted that post with my Calendar Days post. But I know you all are looking forward to this series, so I didn’t want to disappoint you.

Today I’m continuing with a link on submission standards. I’m going to go over the standards today. If you’re unfamiliar how to make these changes in Microsoft Word, leave your question in the comments section and I’ll walk you through it.

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 SPECIFICALLY request it.

Justification

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

Margins

Adjust your margins so you have one-inch margins all around your document.

Spacing

There are now 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: these are not equally acceptable in every case. THEY ARE CASE SPECIFIC, so pay attention.

Single Spaced Document, Standard Formatting—Used almost exclusively for a one or two page synopsis

The entire document is single spaced and paragraphs are indented. There is NOT an extra blank line between paragraphs

Single Spaced Document, Block Formatting—Used for numerous blog and Internet articles

The entire document is single-spaced and paragraphs are NOT indented. There IS an extra blank line between paragraphs.

Example of Block Formatting

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, Standard Formatting—This is used when sending a book submission, and most traditional article submissions

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

Example of Standard Formatting

       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.

If you have any questions about how to make these changes in Microsoft Word, or questions about when to use which type of formatting, please leave a comment in the section below.

Don’t forget to join the conversation!

Blessings,

Edie