Post by MontiLee on Jan 18, 2010 18:04:50 GMT -5
You'd think that as writers, most people submitting would know this, or at lease have an inkling as to what editors are looking for when the guidelines point out in bold print Please Use Proper Manuscript Format.
This isn't some sort of arbitrary edit designed by The Man to hold you down. It isn't meant to stifle your creativity or quelch your dreams of publishing a book entirely in Comic Sans 6.
There is a very good reason and it all has to do with readability.
Submissions are the great equalizer. You may write your mss (that's manuscript for the layman) in Times New Roman 12, or Arial 10 with 1.25" margins all the way around because that's just how you feel comfortable. At home, whatever you dress your baby in is fine. However, when it comes to cleaning up your baby and sending it out into the world, you'll dress it in professional clothes.
For 95% of the publishing world, that's William Shunn's method. Who he is would be something you can Google on your own time, but the main point is this: Editor's edit, and to do that they need a readable font, space to write, etc... You'll never read in the guidelines, "just send it to us and we'll tell you how much we love it".
Rather I should say, no reputable magazine has guidelines like that, and no magazine that wants to stay in business for very long ask for anything other than "proper format".
Lots of newer writers confuse design with format, as if what they are submitting should be how it will look in the magazine, book, e-zine. That's only true to a point. How your story reads is far more important than how it looks design wise. A good story in Courier 12 will trump any flashy mess in a green Apple Chancery. Layout comes much later down the line with possibly artwork, a bio, maybe an ad in the sidebar, and that's for the editor and production assistant to decide. If you're chosen, you'll be only one of maybe 15-20 writers in any given anthology. I'm pretty sure the credit alone is far more important that the flashy font.
Editors give guidelines for a reason, and they should be followed. You may luck out sometime and get an editor who really doesn't care, but that's the exception, rather than the rule.
The bottom line is ultimately this - you don't want to give a reader an excuse to toss your story before they get past the first paragraph. Readers and Editors have huge piles of mss to read through and breaking the rules is the quickest path to the slush pile. If you don't think it happens, I can give you the links to well-established magazines and publishing houses that will tell you the same thing. It's not a hot discussion topic on a lot of writing boards to fill space. It's serious business and proper format is just one of those immutable forces of nature.
When you submit, you'll take the craft of the word seriously, you'll follow the rules, and if what you've submitted is well written and catches the eye of the editor, you'll get published. Hard to believe, but it really is that simple.
Willian Shunn's Short Story Format
William Shunn's Novel Format
William Shunn's Poem Format
Discuss.
This isn't some sort of arbitrary edit designed by The Man to hold you down. It isn't meant to stifle your creativity or quelch your dreams of publishing a book entirely in Comic Sans 6.
There is a very good reason and it all has to do with readability.
Submissions are the great equalizer. You may write your mss (that's manuscript for the layman) in Times New Roman 12, or Arial 10 with 1.25" margins all the way around because that's just how you feel comfortable. At home, whatever you dress your baby in is fine. However, when it comes to cleaning up your baby and sending it out into the world, you'll dress it in professional clothes.
For 95% of the publishing world, that's William Shunn's method. Who he is would be something you can Google on your own time, but the main point is this: Editor's edit, and to do that they need a readable font, space to write, etc... You'll never read in the guidelines, "just send it to us and we'll tell you how much we love it".
Rather I should say, no reputable magazine has guidelines like that, and no magazine that wants to stay in business for very long ask for anything other than "proper format".
Lots of newer writers confuse design with format, as if what they are submitting should be how it will look in the magazine, book, e-zine. That's only true to a point. How your story reads is far more important than how it looks design wise. A good story in Courier 12 will trump any flashy mess in a green Apple Chancery. Layout comes much later down the line with possibly artwork, a bio, maybe an ad in the sidebar, and that's for the editor and production assistant to decide. If you're chosen, you'll be only one of maybe 15-20 writers in any given anthology. I'm pretty sure the credit alone is far more important that the flashy font.
Editors give guidelines for a reason, and they should be followed. You may luck out sometime and get an editor who really doesn't care, but that's the exception, rather than the rule.
The bottom line is ultimately this - you don't want to give a reader an excuse to toss your story before they get past the first paragraph. Readers and Editors have huge piles of mss to read through and breaking the rules is the quickest path to the slush pile. If you don't think it happens, I can give you the links to well-established magazines and publishing houses that will tell you the same thing. It's not a hot discussion topic on a lot of writing boards to fill space. It's serious business and proper format is just one of those immutable forces of nature.
When you submit, you'll take the craft of the word seriously, you'll follow the rules, and if what you've submitted is well written and catches the eye of the editor, you'll get published. Hard to believe, but it really is that simple.
Willian Shunn's Short Story Format
William Shunn's Novel Format
William Shunn's Poem Format
Discuss.
