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Send to an agent or publisher

Agents and editors ask for a plain typescript, not a typeset book. The Agent or publisher tab makes exactly that: Standard Manuscript Format, double-spaced, with your contact details and the word count on the first page.

Make the manuscript​

  1. Make sure your author profile has your Name (your legal name; Pen name / byline is what readers see), postal address, email and phone. The first page needs them, and the tab tells you which are missing (Open the author profile takes you there).
  2. Open the project's Export page and choose Agent or publisher.
  3. Choose the Manuscript typeface, Times New Roman or Courier, and the Paper, Letter or A4.
  4. Press Export Word, or Export PDF for agents who ask for one.

Check each agent's own guidelines before you send: most want Word, a few want PDF, and some ask for only the first chapters.

What the manuscript looks like​

  • First page: your name and contact details at the top left, the word count (rounded, as agents expect) at the top right, then the title and your byline halfway down the page.
  • The other pages: 12 pt, double-spaced, one-inch margins, paragraphs indented half an inch, and "Surname / KEYWORD / page" at the top right. The keyword is the title's first main word, in capitals ("The Salt Road" gives SALT).
  • Chapters start on a new page, a third of the way down.
  • Scene breaks are a centred #, and the manuscript closes with END.
  • Italics stay italics. The old rule of underlining them comes from typewriters; editors today read italics.
  • No cover, no title page of its own, and no front matter. None of the book's design, either: a manuscript is meant to be marked up.

See also​