Formatting Your Book-Length Manuscript for Submission

When I was working in the acquisitions department of a publishing house several years ago, I was constantly amazed by the ways in which new authors would submit their manuscripts. Too often, writers will forget that the submission of a manuscript to a publisher is a professional undertaking, and should be treated as such. If you don't know how to submit your book-length manuscript, do your research and find out!

Among other things, I saw the following mistakes that automatically peg a writer as an amateur:

-- Printing the manuscript on colored paper
-- Manuscript pages stapled together
-- Copyright notices at the top or bottom of each page
-- Single-spaced pages with almost no margin
-- Failure to include author's contact information
-- Offering certain rights to the manuscript

The problem is that editors and agents will only represent or publish authors who know what they're doing. Of course, if you've never published a book before, how on earth are you supposed to know what's acceptable? Do your research. Read articles like this one and check out submission guidelines on websites. Never submit a book-length manuscript without knowing for certain that you are doing it correctly.

Front Matter
Everything in your submission before the actual book starts is called "front matter", and should consist of a title page, a table of contents (if appropriate), a preface (if you've written one) and anything else that is pertinent to your submission. If you are including a query letter, an outline or a synopsis, these are also considered part of the front matter.