*changed after reading McIntyre's article

1. Courier? I thought Times was the current darling? (yes, I'm going there.)

2. In my story, there are whole paragraphs in italics. The MC is writing. If I go with Courier font, do I underline these? Is that too much underlining?

3. Do I need to think about a special way to ship the manuscript? No bending, no staples, use bubble wrap--stuff like that.

4. Anything parting advice, you who have entered before?

I'd really appreciate any words of wisdom or old-pro tips. Thanks in advance!

http://www.sfwasite.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/Mssprep.pdf

However, Ms. Wentworth never sees the cover pages. Ms. Labaqui, contest administrator for Author Services, administrator of the WI&OTF contests, strips the cover pages before she forwards the manuscripts to Ms. Wentworth. She keeps them for record-keeping purposes and to keep track of their SASE's. I've never had any issues from following Ms. McIntyre's guidelines.

I will suggest that an e-mail address on the cover page is vital, and a phone number also if there's an expectation of a phone call. Mailing address isn't a bad idea, in case a SASE is lost.

Also, Ms. Labaqui has stated her Green perspective. She prefers recycling manuscripts rather than returning them, so just including a No. 10 SASE and a cover page with a manuscript suits her. She does return manuscripts if an appropriate mailer with return postage is included. It's a good idea to note on the cover page whether the manuscript can be recycled or if it's wanted back.

For both submission and return manuscript envelopes, standard, plain 9" x 12" clasp envelopes are suitable. No bubblewrap or staples required.

I'm partial to getting the manuscripts back, at least because that way rejection letters and any certificates I earn don't come back with creases in them.

Many happy returns.

I actually changed my questions after reading it.

quote:

---

1. Courier? I thought Times was the current darling? (yes, I'm going there.)

2. In my story, there are whole paragraphs in italics. The MC is writing. If I go with Courier font, do I underline these? Is that too much underlining?

---

1. I won't go there except to say, some houses accept Times. Ms. Wentworth has said she's not partial to Courier, Times is okay. But standard manuscript format calls for a monospaced typeface.

2. A large amount of italics or underlining especially can startle a weary reading eye. Ms. McIntyre's formating guidelines don't recommend how to treat cited material in a manuscript, even False Document content in fiction, like correspondence, diary entries, and the like. One style manual recommendation calls for block indentation, with a double indent for paragraph indentation, no italics in the manuscript version, but typeset for publication, italics can be indicated.

          Darcy come over on the ferry today. She din't bring the
     fish for the dogs, though. Whiskey running low too. The lite
     gots hot last night in the lamp room. Carting oil up the
     tower like to broke my back. Needs more wiping wrags and
     polish compound than the supply boat brung...

(2.) If you're indicating italics in a printed manuscript, the standard way is supposed to be underlining. I wouldn't recommend having "whole paragraphs" underlined, though.

(3.) The standard way to send any manuscript is in a manila envelope---that's those big yellow ones, nine inches by twelve, or ten by thirteen---with enough postage on it to get it there. For a normal market, you'd send a return envelope with it, to ensure you got the MS back---does the WotF return MSS now?

I'll pass on (4.), not having entered the WotF in years---I'll avoid my usual rant about the WotF 'cause I'm going to rant below, some, on another issue.

I'll add my 2c on your questions, as I had a few more things to suggest.

1. Yes, courier. I don't know any market who accepts only print submissions that does not request courier. The electronic ones don't much care anymore, it seems, but the print-receiving pubs are all courier.
2. Have you considered setting apart your MC's writings via section breaks? (done with a hashmark: #) Just one thought. I don't think you should underline entire paragraphs, but rather find some other typographical way to indicate the different concept. Were you to win publication in the WOTF anthology, you could work with the typesetters to determine how to set off those sections. I personally would probably use a block indent to indicate the writing, but if it's multiple paragraphs that span more than one double-spaced manuscript page, the block indenting might not be obvious to a reader, in which case section breaks might be a better bet.
3. Ship the MS flat in an envelope, no bending, no staples, no need for bubble wrap. I usually use a thin piece of cardboard above and below the mss to keep it from getting completely mangled in the mail. I do this in part because I ship in those tyvek envelopes that are lightweight and plasticky, because they are not the precise size of the paper, the MS can shift around a bit in the envelope and the thin pieces of cardboard can help (I snag these from the backs of used-up notepads, or random things like the inserts to dress shirts, LOL, I have a spot in my desk where I keep my cardboard collection for exactly this kind of use!
4. Make sure your speculative element is RIGHT up front - first page, preferably (by page 2 at the latest.) And my observation is that my straight sci-fi type stories have done better than my contemporary fantasy stories. But that's just my personal observation on 4 or 5 subs. I need to get off my duff and get another one submitted, yikes it's been a while since I've had that particular joy/torture.