We know that there is a “standard manuscript format” that has been used for years that hark back to an earlier age of manually typed manuscripts. Since we’re living in a digital age and our submission process is strictly by email, here at 2Leaf Press we subscribe to a slightly different format. For example, we don’t require a cover page, we want headers on each page with your name and contact information, and we want line spacing at one-and-half instead of double-spaced because it saves us paper and trees.

Back in the day, when people were just beginning to use word processing programs, and there was an abundance of them on the market, each with a different aesthetic (does WordPerfect, AmiPro, Wordstar, DisplayWrite, MultiMate ring a bell?), it was difficult to provide instructions on how to manage each software. Nowadays, with just about everyone using Microsoft Word, it’s easier to learn how to implement proper formatting techniques.

For example, instead of typing headers manually throughout the document, you can create headers that automatically appear on each page. You can use “styles” that automatically indent each paragraph five spaces, as opposed to manually tabbing each paragraph.  And our all time favorite: you can use page breaks using the command CTRL+ENTER, instead of inserting tons of paragraph returns to begin a new page, making it far easier for us to use your manuscript to typeset your book.

Yeah, we know, you’re a writer, not a word processor, but it behooves you to submit a clean manuscript, both grammatically as well as format-wise, so to help jump start your way to a cleanly formatted document, we’re providing a Word template, plus information on how to format in Word 2003 and Word 2007, as per our format requirements  as listed below:

Document Setup

Margins: Left and right: 1.0 inch; Bottom: 0.75 inch

Font: What font? Well, there has been an ongoing battle between the Times New Roman camp and the Courier camp for years. While we do not have a preference, you should not choose anything other than one of these two fonts in 12 point size. Seriously. No matter how much Gill Sans Ultra Bold Condensed is calling your name, please resist or your manuscript may not be read.

Header: Flush Left, as follows:

First name, Last Name
Address
City, State, Zip
Telephone Number
Email Address

Footer: Page number, centered

Table of contents: Table of contents should be set up on the first page with the Name of the Manuscript appearing at the beginning of the page. Those of you who are technically savvy can generate an automatic table of contents using styles.

Title: On the first page of the manuscript, the title should appear as the first line, centered, followed by the word count appearing directly underneath the title, also centered.

Paragraphs: Modify your BODY TEXT style to indent five spaces at the beginning of each paragraph, and adjust line spacing at one and a half (as opposed to double-spaced). Paragraphs should be left-justified only, with the right margin appearing “ragged.” Create additional styles for different formatted  paragraphs such as indented paragraphs (five spaces on the left and right margins), that you can use throughout your document.

Don’t insert extra lines between your paragraphs. If you want to indicate a blank line, place a blank line, centered with three # characters in the middle of it. If you want to indicate a section break, place a blank line, centered with thee * (asterisk) characters in the middle of it.

Please don’t “underline” emphasized text, it’s not used when typesetting books.  In fact, text was initially underlined in typed manuscripts to signal the use of italics.  Since we’re living in a digital age, just use italics as they would appear in print (names of books, internal dialogue, foreign words etc.).  Bold should be reserved for captions and titles, so don’t use bold  within your text, as there really isn’t a need to do so.

Use page breaks (not the ENTER key) to start a chapter on a new page. (CTRL+ENTER creates a page break in Word.) Allow lines to wrap normally in paragraphs, DO NOT use tabs and spacing to create a paragraph, use styles instead.  We cannot emphasize this enough!

Also, put the word “End” at the end of your manuscript, centered on its own line.  It let’s us know definitively that nothing else follows.

Poetry Manuscripts:
The only difference in submitting poetry manuscripts is that the poems must be submitted single-spaced and appear as they would in their final form. You should use the NORMAL style in Word and use tabs and spaces to help with positioning lines in your poems. Each poem should appear on a separate page (page break here is mandatory, CTRL+ENTER, in Word). Everything else as mentioned above applies.

A Final Word on Formatting
Here’s a bit of advice, a big 2Leaf Press tip: No fiddling with anything else — no messing with spacing between paragraphs, no fiddling with the width of the type, no full justification. And most importantly — don’t try and make your manuscript look like the layout of a book. That’s what we do, and we do it well, using a professional typesetting program. By providing us with a properly formatted manuscript, it helps us typeset your book quickly and effectively.

Content
The content of your manuscript, of  course, is key to getting your work accepted. What’s remarkable is the well-meaning manuscripts editors receive with typos and poorly thought-out sentence structure, that has sealed the fate of many writers. In fact, there’s really no excuse to send anyone a manuscript riddled with typos and grammatical errors, what with spelling and grammar checkers available in today’s word processing programs. And although you have this wonderful technology available at your fingertips, you should always have your final manuscript proofread by a professional or a colleague to double-check your work — even spell check can mess up your manuscript!

NOTE: 2Leaf Press follows The Chicago Manual of Style, because it provides two basic documentation systems, the humanities style (notes and bibliography) and the author-date system. The humanities style is preferred by many in literature, history, and the arts. This style presents bibliographic information in notes and, often, a bibliography. It accommodates a variety of sources, including esoteric ones less appropriate to the author-date system.

Having said that, your manuscript is subject to proofreading and editing. Besides double-checking for consistency, format, style, punctuation, and basic grammar, if we do edit (not all manuscripts require editing) our intention is to clarify meaning and improve style without distorting the author’s meaning in any way.

If there is artwork contained in your manuscript (e.g., artwork, photographs, graphs, tables, or cover artwork), please submit them in a separate PDF file, indicating where they will appear in the manuscript.  You should keep in mind that if your manuscript is accepted for publication, you’re responsible for getting copyright clearance for works that do not belong to you,and providing high resolution material for inclusion in your book.

Once you’ve prepared your manuscript, check out our submission guidelines on how to send your work. Good luck on your submission and happy writing!