Book manuscript format guidelines

Chad S. White on October 26, 2025

While I’ve written five previous books, I self-published all of them. So, I’d never needed to learn manuscript format guidelines before. But when I started working with my developmental editor, they wanted it properly formatted.

Here’s the manuscript formatting I followed:

Title page: single spaced with no running header. Contact details (Legal Name, Address, Phone Number, Email, Website) in top left corner. Manuscript word count to nearest 1,000 words in top right corner. Title centered halfway down page in ALL-CAPS. Your (pen) name 2 lines under title. Book category (i.e., Adult, Young Adult) centered at bottom in Title Case. Book genre (i.e., Science Fiction, Paranormal) centered below that in Title Case. 

Industry standard manuscript format for a title page

Font: 12-point Times New Roman in black  

Margins: 1 inch on all four sides

Alignment: align left (except where otherwise specified) 

Line spacing: double spaced with 0 pt “Before” and “After”

Spaces after periods: 1

Paragraph indentation: 0.5″ (except for opening paragraphs of chapters and after scene breaks), set in Paragraph menu, not with tab characters

New chapters: insert page break before each one

Chapter number: center and bold

Chapter subtitle: center under chapter number

Time gap since last chapter: center and italicize 2 lines above chapter number

Chapter breaks: center three asterisks (* * *)

End: type “The End” to reassure readers that no pages are missing

Running header: insert header aligned right with LASTNAME / TITLE / PAGENUMBER

Be aware that every editor, agent, and publisher may want something slightly different, so consult with them on the manuscript format they prefer. But in the absence of being able to get that information, if you follow the manuscript format above, you should be in good shape.

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7 questions you should be able to answer before working with a developmental editor

Chad S. White on October 19, 2025

When I was in talks to work with my developmental editor, they asked a bunch of required questions about me, including my writing experience, my goals, whether I’m a plotter or pantser, and why I wanted to work with them. They also asked me seven optional questions about my novel.

While I didn’t have to answer them, I couldn’t help but feel like it would signal a lack of commitment if I didn’t—or a lack of confidence in my novel if I couldn’t. So, I invested the time to answer these very reasonable questions:

  1. What is the inciting incident of your story?
  2. What is your main character’s goal?
  3. What or who gets in the way of their goal?
  4. Is there a villain or antagonist? Who?
  5. What’s the hero moment during your climax?
  6. How many point-of-view characters are there?
  7. How many subplots are there?

Honestly, it felt great to be able to easily answer these questions. And that was despite the fact that the answers were complicated by having more than one POV character and my book being the first in a trilogy. For instance, there’s not only an inciting incident for the book, but also one for the series. Also, the POV characters each have their own goals and hero moments.

Those questions really get at the basic building blocks of a story, such as having a clear beginning and end, and having character conflict. In hindsight, if I hadn’t been able to answer those questions, I hopefully would have delayed moving forward with my developmental editor. Thankfully, I didn’t have to do that. Full steam ahead!

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My sci-fi novel is now in the hands of a developmental editor

Chad S. White on October 17, 2025

After multiple rounds of edits, including feedback from my alpha reader and beta readers, I’ve handed book 1 of my dystopian sci-fi trilogy off to a developmental editor. The scope of what a developmental editor does varies, but here’s what mine will deliver:

  • An overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the novel’s plot, setting, and characters
  • An analysis of my writing, including areas for improvements and specific ways to strengthen the manuscript
  • An analysis of the target audience for my novel
  • A detailed analysis of the plot and structure of the story, including the beginning and end, identification of any plot holes, completeness of the worldbuilding, a discussion of story themes, effectiveness of plot twists, and more
I found my developmental editor on Reedsy

In addition to that feedback, which will add up to 20 pages or more, my developmental editor will share in-line suggestions related to the plot, setting, and characters. And once I’ve had time to ingest all of that, I’ll have some consultative time with them to talk out the less-clear changes and other things I’m wrestling with.

While I’m confident my novel is ready for this level of scrutiny, I’m still nervous about what I’ll hear back. Wish me luck!

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