Writing and Preparing Your Manuscript
1. Just say what you want to say and go for it. Turn your dream into a reality.
2. Don’t worry about editing your writing. The editor will help with that.
3. Type your manuscript in a compatible word processing program such as MS Word.
4. Make sure to set a one-inch margin all around, and choose double spacing for your line spacing.
Don’t forget to number your pages.
5. Never use fancy fonts or try to design your manuscript by adding photos and
graphics. It should simply contain text only. 10 point Times is just fine. Leave the rest to your book designer or publisher. They will listen to your ideas and take a look at your art and photos. Make sure you will be able to provide your
manuscript electronically as a Word doc or pdf file, as well as a hard copy.
6. If you are going to cite or share any information from another publication or book, know that you must obtain permission and you must cite the source information the way the copyright holder wants it to read. Make sure you have all of your references.
7. To ensure you’ll have a book with a nice spine size, one that looks like a book and not a pamphlet, your manuscript should consist of at least 40,000 words. For a book size of 5.5” x 8.5” perfect bound, that would give you a spine size of approximately 1/4” to 3/8” wide. Each of your manuscript pages would have approximately 800 words; that’s with 10 point type, double-spaced. Keep in mind these are just average numbers to work with and should give you a good guide to follow while writing your book.
8. Make your best attempt at separating your story into chapters by topic significance. Don’t worry if you feel it’s not quite right. A good publisher or editor will help you enhance areas where needed.
9. Leave the cover design to a professional. Your book’s cover will entice buyers to pick it up in the first place to see what it’s all about. The concept and quality is critical to this end. This means no clip art, and don’t be dead set in your mind exactly what you want your cover to look like. Openly look to your publisher for input.
10. Have fun.
