Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Manuscript Format Question

This is topic Manuscript Format Question in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by WillC (Member # 185) on :

Have I been inactive so long that the standard manuscript format I knew changed? I once understood it to be:

1st page:
A. Address upper left of page.
B. Title and Byline center or 2/3 up the page.
C. Body of tale starts.

General:
A. Double Spaced except on address.
B. each page numbered your last name/title/page #

Now I see sapce between each paragraph. Is this a new standard? Or has it been there all the time and I found the wrong source initially?

Will.

Posted by TheUbiquitousMrLovegrove (Member # 390) on :

For sending out professional manuscripts? I haven't sent anything to anyone in a while, but as far as I know, it hasn't changed. I could be wrong...

Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :

Manuscript format for hardcopy (printed on paper) submissions to editors has not changed.

Some publishers and editors may also request a copy of the story on diskette or via email, but they will usually specify the word processing format they want.

Format for sending a story to someone else (not as a submission for professional publication) via email or on diskette uses spaces between paragraphs if the story is in text format. Because text format doesn't include things like tabs and indents, the extra space between paragraphs makes the text easier to read because it makes the paragraph breaks clearer.

Someone who includes extra spaces between paragraphs in a hardcopy manuscript is running the risk of looking like an amateur to professional editors (and of killing more trees because such a practice takes more paper).

Posted by WillC (Member # 185) on :

Thanks all!

I just guess I wasn't as far into the Electronic age as I thought.....