A few weeks ago I won a free 10-page edit from editor and writer September C. Fawkes. She had offered the giveaway in honor of her 5th blog birthday.
I couldn’t wait to see what she had to offer. In my eagerness to submit the 10 pages, however, I committed a rookie mistake.
Editors often ask you to submit your manuscript in a particular format. In this case she asked for the manuscript in 12 point Courier font, double-spaced (you can see her instructions here).
I usually write in Scrivener, so my work is in 14 point Cochin font. When I transfer to Microsoft Word, my default font is 12 point Times New Roman. In my haste, I forgot to change it to Courier before I hit “send.” Like I said, a beginner-level error.
Why Format Matters
Why Courier? The most important reason is that it is a monospaced font, which means the letters are consistently aligned. Because an editor charges by the page, using a monospaced font helps make sure the page counts are uniform and everyone is charged the same rate.
In this case she was willing to convert the format and complete the edit. If I had submitted to a busy editor who was considering whether or not to publish my work, however, I might have ended up in the reject pile because of my lack of attention to detail.
Anyway, I appreciated the editing opportunity. If you need an editor, you might want to consider Fawkes Editing. Just be sure your manuscript is in Courier 12 point, and is double-spaced!
