Kid's Book Revisions:
Format Rules

How should you set up manuscripts for the Kid's Book Revision class, our editorial services, or, for that matter, submission to publishers?

Here's the short list:

* Name, address, other contact info (email, phone) in top left-hand corner of the first page of your manuscript.
* Genre and word count in top right-hand corner of the first page of your manuscript.
* Title should be about 1/4 of a page down from the last line of the info at the top of your manuscript.
* At least two lines between the title and the beginning of the story.
* Acceptable fonts are Times and Times New Roman, Palatino, and Georgia. (You always want to use a clear serif font, not a font like Arial, which is sans serif. Serif fonts are not glaring and the eyes move more quickly from one letter to the next as the "curly-cues" on the tips of each letter serve as connectors.) Please, no Courier - see how bad that looks? We are not in the age of typewriters.
* Fonts should be 12 point. In some cases where fonts might come a little smaller in 12 point than the traditional Times New Roman, you can venture to 14 point.
* Manuscripts should not look like presentations for near-sighted board members! Don't send anything in landscape and in 24-point font.
* ... and no colored fonts or highlighted lines. Yes, it's eye-catching, but not in an attractive way.
* Manuscripts should be double-spaced.
* Manuscripts should have one-inch margins on all sides.
* Page numbers preferably bottom center. As long as they are identifiable but out of the way (although I would not place them on the left-hand top or bottom of the page), you can choose.
* If you have headers and footers, don't have them appear too close to the story text on each page. It is distracting.
* Insert a page break at the end of each chapter so that the next chapter will start on a new page.

That's all that is needed for a professional appearance.

Kid's Book Revisions
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