does anyone know of a software package that will format manuscripts for books and short stories for submission? if so which programs are best?
Posted by rickfisher (Member # 1214) on :
I don't, but I wouldn't trust it if I did. More importantly, no one needs one; it isn't difficult. Take a look at www.speculations.com/format.html , for example. Or if you want an excessively complete treatment of a fairly simple subject, get Scott Edelstein's Manuscript Submission.
Or just go for the basics: double-spaced, Courier 12-point font, 1 inch margins, paragraphs indented 1/2 inch (one tab space), header every page with "Last Name / Title / p. #", hyphenation turned off, widow/orphan turned off, "--" instead of em-dash. For the first page only: Name, address, contact info in upper left (single spaced), approximate word count in upper right, Title centered and maybe a third of the way down the page, with "by Your Name" centered on the next line. If it's a novel, the text begins on the following page; if a short story, it begins on the same page about halfway down. For novel chapters, start each chapter on a new page, put the chapter name about 1/3 of the way down the page, and start the text about halfway down.
And, above all, look online for the formatting requirements of the particular market. For that market only, ignore anything I say above in favor of what they say they want.
[This message has been edited by rickfisher (edited June 13, 2006).]
Posted by Spaceman (Member # 9240) on :
Microsoft Word is capable of doing that.
Posted by rickfisher (Member # 1214) on :
Ha! Maybe I was overthinking. Any semi-decent word processor is capable of doing that. But if you're looking for a program that will take your incorrectly formatted MSWord (or other) file and correctly format it for you, don't bother.
Posted by wbriggs (Member # 2267) on :
Even without the template, it only takes a minute or two to format the thing. It's better to know how to format it yourself. That way, if you do find that software, at least you know if it's doing things correctly.