Want to be a writer?
Barbara Sachs Sloan
Format Requirements
- Agent information: name, address, phone lower right-hand corner (do not include your own address in this case)
- Alignment of story text: flush left, ragged right (not justified)
- Byline: small "b" on "by" with author's name doublespaced below it in upper and lower case
- Chapter beginnings: TITLE or CHAPTER NUMBER halfway down, centered, text two doublespaces below that
- Copyright Notice: upper right corner but not essential
- Cover page (for novels): TITLE centered halfway down, byline doublespaced below that; address, phone, fax, email below that (omit if agented); word count doublespaced three times below that; no page number
- Document: when submitted electronically, all chapters should be combined into one file, with pages consecutively numbered
- Ending: Center "The End" without the quote marks a doublespace below your novel's last line.
- Margins: one inch on all sides
- Page Header: half inch at top, with author's last Name - SLUG - page number aligned right (slug is a main word from your TITLE)
- Paper: 20 lb plain white copy/bond
- Paragraph indents: standard five-space tab
- Printing: laser or high-quality inkjet, black on front side of paper only
- SASE: a self-addressed postage-paid return label, or include sufficient return postage by check
- Spacing: double space the story text; double doublespace between POV shifts within a scene or chapter
- Type: 12-point Courier or Courier New (Times New Roman or Georgia acceptable); use underlining for italics
- Word Count: include on cover sheet only
- Sci-Fi author John Stith has an excellent explanation of proper manuscript format and other important details on his website.