Word: Complete book manuscript for the publisher
If you plan to send a book manuscript to a publisher, Microsoft Word can help you. With this practical tip we will show you how to correctly format the manuscript with Word.
Book manuscript must correspond to a standard page
So that you can submit a book manuscript to a publisher, you must submit the individual pages as standard pages. The term comes from the time when pages were made for typewriter printing.
- For a standard page, one line corresponds to exactly 60 characters and one page to 30 lines, so that an entire page comes to 1, 800 characters. This is determined, even if the text can actually deviate from this number, for example through insertions or unfinished lines. By the way, spaces are counted.
- However, the "VG Wort" is an exception. A standard page there only corresponds to 1, 500 characters. Therefore, make sure in advance whether and if so what information the publisher does.
How to set up your book manuscript with Word
Unless otherwise specified by the publisher, you should submit your book manuscript as a standard page with 1, 800 characters per page. We show you which settings you have to make in Word 2007. The settings may differ slightly under other versions of Word.
- Set up your page. To do this, click on the "Page layout" item and then on "Page setup". First switch to the "Layout" tab. Click "Line Numbers" below. Then place a checkmark in front of "Add line numbers" and make sure that "Start over every page" is clicked. Then press "OK" and switch to the "Margins" tab. Enter the following numbers: 3.75 cm (top), 3.9 cm (bottom), 2 cm (left) and 3.7 cm (right). Compare the screenshot.
- Set the paragraph. Click "Page Layout" again and then "Paragraph". Select a special feed at the item "Indentation" by specifying the dimension 0.7 cm at "Around". Then go to "Line spacing" and select "1.5 lines". Then click on the "Line and page break" tab above and deactivate the "Paragraph control" item here. Confirm your entries with "Ok".
- Set the font. To do this, click on "Start" and look for the name "Courier New" in the Font field, then set the font size to "12". Depending on the publisher's request, you must select the "Arial" font here.
- Include information. Next, you should set the page numbers. To do this, click on the "Insert" menu item and then on "Page number" in the "Header and footer" area. Select a suitable format with one click. Then select the header area by double-clicking. Set the correct font and size here and enter your name and book title. Then double-click on the footer and enter your contact information. This includes your full name, postal address, telephone and mobile number and email address.
Book manuscript: Create the standard page as a Word template
If you do not want to create a standard page yourself every time, you can also save it as a template and, if desired, call it up at any time and then save it under a different name. We show you how it works.
- Press the Microsoft Word menu button and select "Save As". Then click on "Word template" as you can see in the screenshot.
- Enter an individual name, such as "Book manuscript template" and save it in the desired directory.
- If you want to call up the file again, start Microsoft Word, click on "New" in the menu and then select "New from existing" on the left side. Then select your template.
Tip: Once you have published your book, it should ideally sell well. With our five best tips for increasing sales, you can achieve this in no time at all.