The Word Cloud

Hi everyone Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere - I'm certain I've read about it somewhere but my mind is buzzing with excitement and I can't think where that "somewhere" might be. An agent has just asked to see the full draft of my manuscript, and I want to send it out as quickly as humanly possible. Is there a standard format? I'm assuming unbound, single-sided, double spaced? Anything else I should consider? This is the first time I've got past a "thanks, but no thanks" letter and I'm absolutely ecstatic!

What great news! Best of luck. Here's some tips:

Double spaced
Left aligned (don't justify)
Wide side margins (40mm)
Simple fonts (Times New Roman / Helvetica / Arial is good, but only for a novel, never for a script)
Font point 12
Print in black
Underline emphasised words
Indent each paragraph
Number pages - right top corner
Name and book title in the header
Good quality white printing paper

Underline emphasised words? I always thought you were meant to italicise or, if shouting, perhaps capitalise.

Am I missing something?

"Underline emphasised words" come from the days of typewriters - and it's still the standard typesetter's symbol for italics as a result. So you could, but we've all got into the way of italics and it does no harm.

Also, since I very occasionally might want to have a letter, say, in my novel that did actually have underlinings or crossings-out reproduced, I would keep underlining for that. And the same for caps.

Good list from Barb although I would add:

No extra space between paragraphs, since you're indenting the first line. Keep the extra space for a jump in time or place.

I wouldn't, myself, use Helvetica or Arial or any other sans-serif typeface (serifs are the little feet and ticky-bits, like the font while I'm posting this comment, but not when it's posted on the thread): they're buggers to read at length: the function of serifs is to lead the eye along the line. My heart always sinks when I receive a manuscript for report and it's in Arial, though I quite like it as a face. Stick to TNR, which has the advantage of using the least possible paper of all the normal fonts. Courier is absolutely compulsory for scripts.

Oh - and ideally, don't indent the first line of a paragraph at the beginning of the chapter, or after one of those double-line breaks.