Avoid These Formatting Faux Pas

Many new authors wonder about the best way to format their manuscript before sending it to an editor or publisher. Others waste many hours reformatting a lengthy manuscript, only to find it was not needed and actually slowed down the publishing process.

First, some definitions.

Formatting: the styles used in your manuscript in its draft format. Includes spacing, indentation, fonts, page numbers, bolding or italics. How you set up your words as you write them.

Layout or typesetting: the way the final book will be prepared to go to the printer. This task is best performed by someone who uses a specialized layout program like Adobe InDesign. Transforms your draft manuscript into a 'real' book.

In this article, we will focus just on formatting so that you can save precious time and energy for other things, like creating your book's marketing plan.

As you write your book, write it like you are creating a simple document in your word processing program. Don't waste time selecting fonts, double spacing, adding page numbers or even indenting paragraphs.

Use 12 point Times New Roman, the standard default font. Make it plain and simple so that you can write quickly.

The only things you may want to add are bolding of any headlines or italics when appropriate.

Here's why:

When your book designer or layout professional transfers your draft manuscript into their page layout program, all your formatting will be erased.

Just imagine spending hours double spacing 200 pages of a manuscript only to find that work was not required and actually created extra work for your page layout professional. Ugh!

As you write, concentrate on the beauty of communicating your message. Don't waste time on any fancy stuff with the manuscript formatting. Then, edit your manuscript a couple of times to remove the most obvious grammar issues.

After that, you will turn it over to a professional editor who will polish your words so you look great on paper. Finally, your layout artist will take the edited manuscript to create the fonts, indentions, page numbering, headers and 'look' to match your message.

You write it. Others lend their expertise to create the visual presentation, just like a stylist to the super- stars.