e-mail submission question

[DSL]

Hello,
When submitting a short/partial manuscript that has been copied and pasted into an e-mail (not as an attachment), all formatting is lost. The text often looks far different from the original, depending on the recipient's system/settings. Without double spacing, indents, etc., I worry that the dialog, in particular, will be difficult to read. Yet the editor has requested it be sent this way. Any tips for formatting my e-mail submission so it looks professional instead of messy? I'm tempted to send it in the text, and as an attachment just in case.
Thanks!
Diane

[askmonkey]

You can make plain text look almost as professional as a formatted document. The idea of this is just so the agent/editor can scan through the email and get a sense of your writing. Make sure you still have enough white space between paragraphs and quotes for any dialogue, so that it doesn't come out as a giant block of text.

I definitely wouldn't include an attachment as your email may be marked as spam by their email filters and thus wouldn't be read at all.