William Shunn (he/him)

about 1,500 words

12 Courier Place Pica’s Font, NY 12012 (212) 555-1212 format@shunn.net Active member, SCHWA

Proper Manuscript Format

by Bill Shunn

No one knows how many good stories are passed over because the manuscripts containing them are poorly formatted. We can be certain, however, that editors will more eagerly read a cleanly formatted manuscript than a cluttered and clumsy one. Here are a few suggestions for giving your manuscript that critical leg up on the competition. Start with a fresh white page, no color, no decorations. Set one-inch margins all around--left, right, top, and bottom. This is the default for most word processors, but you might want to recheck your settings just to be safe. Use black type only, since other colors can make your work difficult to read. Set your font size to 12 points. For the