Format for writing books

[Demonrogue]

I would like to know the format to use when writing a book using a word processor or microsoft word

 

[kmtolan]

You can start with Times New Roman 12 point - double spaces with one inch borders.

Then expect to change it to meet the publisher's tastes.

Kerry

 

[Demonrogue]

ok thank you for the info

 

[tdnewton]

For some reason, it's hard for me to write in anything but Verdana. Weird habit, I guess.

 

[Demonrogue]

I wouldn't call writing with verdana a weird habit because I changed font's may times depending on what my mood is

 

[Salsa Dip]

If you're interested, I always found this page to be a very handy summary of what a manuscript should look like (done in ms format )

http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html

But the others are right, of course: write in whatever format you want, as long as you change to suit the agents/publishers' own requirements.

PS - here's a more nitty gritty version of ms format advice.

http://www.sfwa.org/writing/format_betancourt.htm

 

[Demonrogue]

thanks salsa for helpful information and i just found some manuscript templates by searching Microsoft online through word 07

 

[Mock]

This reminds me: Do most publishers still want underlining instead of italics?

 

[hippokrene]

I would like to know the format to use when writing a book using a word processor or microsoft word

Write in whatever is comfortable for you. As most publishers have different formats, you'll end up changing it whenever you submit anyway.

 

[Susan Boulton]

. As most publishers have different formats, you'll end up changing it whenever you submit anyway.

Errr... no, least from my experience most agents/publishers prefer double spaced, one inch (or 2.5 cm) margins all round and either new courier or Times New Roman. Sometimes ebook publishers require a bit of fancy formating, but on the whole the basic is accepted by most of the industry for submissions. Just check the agents/publishers submission details, if no desired submission requirements are given, go with the basic.

I write in the basic format, so I don't have to do too much fiddling before submitting.