The Writers Digest Guide to Manuscript Formats pdf epub mobi txt 电子书 下载 2025

We, the authors of this book, have worked in the

media for many years. During our long writing

and editing experience (including books, articles,

scripts and columns), we have learned (some-

times the hard way) that the presentation of a

professional-looking manuscript or letter to an

editor or an agent is the first important step to-

ward publication. We ve also worked with other

writers and editors and frequently noted their

complete confusion or frustration in regard to

manuscript format and submission. Indeed edi-

tors say many writers haven t the least idea where

to begin in preparing their written submissions.

Writers need a guide, we said. And that s how

The Writer s Digest Guide to Manuscript Formats

came to be.

At first we planned to write a relatively simple

visual aids resource book to assist writers with

their format problems. But as we worked we be-

came more and more aware of the need to in-

clude information on the presentation and sub-

mission of all kinds of written material in this

sometimes tedious and complex process. So our

small book evolved into a complete guide.

And a guide is just what this book is. Through-

out we ve been quite specific with formatting de-

tails~how many spaces down, how wide the mar-

gins, where to slug or paginate, etc. Our dia-

grams, At-a-Glance guides, letters and sample

manuscript pages are the results of extensive re-

search and interviews with experts (agents, edi-

tors, publishers, producers) to find out what they

hope and expect to see in the submissions they

receive: good, clean, professional-looking copy

that is easy to read. Please understand, however,

that our directions are not graven in stone. An ed-

itor or publisher will not reject your script or short

story simply because you didn t tab in the sug-

gested number of spaces or drop a certain num-

ber of lines. But, in ~eneral, if your work is prop-

erly presented, it will have a greater chance for

acceptance or publication.

Of course, it s the content and style in your

work that ultimately count in determining a final