Manuscript formatting

[priya g.]

Nathan,

I am scouring the forums, FAQ and blog for a question. I hope I haven't missed your answer to it.
I have a manuscript request and I am a bit perplexed about the contents of the submission (they want it to be mailed). I read your post on formatting manuscripts but I am not sure if:
1.) I need to have a table of contents? I didn't come up with names for the chapters ( its basically one, two, etc.) so it doesn't seem important to me.
2.) I should have acknowledgments?

Thanks

[cheekychook]

I'm not Nathan, but I'm happy to babble at you until he gets here.

Congratulations on getting a request!

Is your manuscript fiction or non-fiction?

For fiction, unless this agency/publisher has specific guidelines suggesting otherwise, you would just submit your book with the standard formatting (Times New Roman, 12pt, double spaced, one inch margins, auto-indented paras not tab indented, page numbers at bottom center of each page, Name/TITLE in header, printed on decent stock paper, one side of page only). People who want something other than that are usually pretty clear about specifying what it is they expect to receive instead of that common format. I've never seen anyone request a Table of Contents or acknowledgments for a novel.

If you're writing non-fiction try googling formatting for that (if the place that's made the request doesn't have submission guidelines on their site).

Best of luck to you!

[longknife]

There are lots of threads about mss formatting on AWWC.com.

[priya g.]

I'm not Nathan, but I'm happy to babble at you until he gets here.

Congratulations on getting a request!

Is your manuscript fiction or non-fiction?

For fiction, unless this agency/publisher has specific guidelines suggesting otherwise, you would just submit your book with the standard formatting (Times New Roman, 12pt, double spaced, one inch margins, auto-indented paras not tab indented, page numbers at bottom center of each page, Name/TITLE in header, printed on decent stock paper, one side of page only). People who want something other than that are usually pretty clear about specifying what it is they expect to receive instead of that common format. I've never seen anyone request a Table of Contents or acknowledgments for a novel.

If you're writing non-fiction try googling formatting for that (if the place that's made the request doesn't have submission guidelines on their site).

Best of luck to you!

Thank you! i just have one more concern: after printing 220 pages (yes, i am feeling horrible about all the trees that had to be cut), do i need to include a watermark? never anything on that. i am a bit worried, just want to be on the safe side.
Thanks a tonnnneeee!

[cheekychook]

No, you don't need a watermark. When they request a paper copy it is usually just a matter of personal preference for reading and they don't want the expense of printing your document themselves, plus it shows commitment on your part to take the effort/expense to send it the old fashioned way. Nothing fancy needed.

[Nathan Bransford]

For fiction, no table of contents and no acknowledgements necessary.