Formatting Your Fiction Manuscript for Publication

July 31, 2013 0 Submitting Your Work , , , , Permalink 0
 

When the Moon Breaks DownA lot of you may not know this, but many moons ago, before I ever began teaching English, I dabbled in editing as a possible career.

I worked for three literary magazines: I was an intern for Swink, a fiction editor for Willow Springs, and the editor for Inroads.

From being on the other side of the publishing spectrum, I’ve compiled a list of tips to help give you the best possible chance of receiving a fair read.

How you format your manuscript is certainly one of these tips.

I want you to imagine that you are part of an editorial staff. Your job as a reader is to sift through the slush pile of submissions. (“Slush” refers to anything unsolicited.) You might have a specific quota per week–say fifty manuscripts. After reading manuscripts for some time, you eventually find yourself skimming them, searching for reasons to give a rejection, thereby allowing you to move on to the next submission in your ever-growing stack of slush.

My point is: Although formatting may not be an egregious error, it can give the editor a negative impression before she/he ever begins to read your first paragraph, and that negative impression will, more often that not, prove fatal.

Think of this process as selecting your outfit for a job interview. The way you present your manuscript can tell a lot about you as a writer, both good and bad. If you show little attention to detail while formatting, chances are, you’ll show little attention to detail with your story. And that signals danger to any reader.

Most magazines will have specific submission guidelines that the staff would like you to follow. However, these guidelines are relatively standard:

  1. Use Microsoft Word, or any similar word processing program, to create a .doc or .docx file.
  2. Use 1″ margins.
  3. Double-space the entire document.
  4. Use 12 pt. Times New Roman.
  5. Include your approximate word count on your first page.
  6. Include your contact information on the first page, too.
  7. Include your last name, title, and page number in the header of each following page.

(On a side note, some magazines only accept blind submissions. These magazines will instruct you to remove any identifiable personal information from the manuscript. This is usually to give the impression that the editorial staff is judging each submission purely off of its content, not your fame or network connections.)

I’ve provided a copy of my manuscript template for you to download below. Please feel free to use it when you submit your own work. I hope you find it helpful!

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That’s it for now. Write your heart out!

 

Photo credit: Robbert van der Steeg / Foter.com / CC BY-SA

El Camino, Here I Come!

July 30, 2013 14comments Announcements , , Permalink 0
 

ecccampus 004As some of you may know, last spring, I interviewed for a full-time teaching position at El Camino College in Torrance, California. And though I did not get that job, my interview presented another development.

I just finished signing paperwork with Human Resources at ECC; so in addition to teaching at Fullerton College this fall, I will also rejoin the English Department at El Camino College. (I originally taught at ECC in 2008, five years ago!)

 

It is with sadness that I will be leaving West Coast University, where I have been teaching English as an Assistant Professor for the past five-and-a-half years. It’s crazy how time flies! I will miss the many dedicated and hardworking students I’ve come to know through the years.

No matter where life may take you, remember to always write your heart out!

 

Photo credit: El Camino College

Choosing a Good Job to Sustain Your Writing Life

July 24, 2013 2comments General Advice , , , Permalink 0
 

The Casual VacancyWe’ve all heard of success stories like James Patterson’s rise to fame and fortune. The same can be said of other writers like Stephen King or E. L. James.

But unfortunately, for every J. K. Rowling, there are millions of working writers we’ve never even heard of.

I have a touchy topic to discuss with you today, so I apologize to you in advance if you take this the wrong way. I don’t want to discourage any of you to pursue your dreams. But I don’t think this will come as any great shock to you:

Realistically, most of us won’t be able to live strictly off of our own writing. As writers, if we’re going to be in it for the long haul, we need to find jobs that will allow us to make enough money for us to live.

So, to address this, there are two important aspects to consider when choosing a good job to sustain your writing life:

  1. A good job should allow you to create or maintain a writing routine.
  2. A good job should not drain your inspiration to write.

We all know people who work long hours and come home exhausted, too tired to do anything but watch TV, especially in this economy. I had a friend who worked as a copy editor, and when he was done with his day at the office, he didn’t want to work on his fiction. He spent all day working on other people’s manuscripts, and it sucked all the joy out of writing from him. The job wasn’t a good fit if he wanted a writing life.

I’ve heard of writers working as graveyard shift security guards, scribbling their thoughts on pads of paper, reaching for paperbacks from out of their back pockets. That could be a better fit.

From the outside looking in, my allergist has working hours that would be a great fit for the writing life. He never arrives to his office before 10:30 a.m. And he hardly ever stays past 5:30 p.m. He schedules no work on Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays. He never takes his work home with him. And he makes bank. You should see the invoices that he sends to my insurance!

The best work I’ve found for myself is in teaching college writing. The pay might not be as great as other professions, but I enjoy standing in front of a group of students and sharing what I’ve learned with them, while embracing and encouraging them to be the best writers and people that they can be. I can be passionate about it because I love writing. I can share tips and strategies I’ve gleaned from other writers, and my students appreciate my efforts because they are in the class to improve their abilities.

I particularly love teaching at the college level because my students don’t have to be there. Some high school students approach class as if they’re serving jail time. But in college, when a guy picks his desk in the back of one of my classrooms on the first day of the semester, you can’t tell me that he isn’t making sacrifices to be there. He is dedicating time and energy and resources. I’d be willing to bet that if he’s honest with himself, some part of him wants to be there, and that part of him wants to be a better writer! I love working with these students. It inspires me and energizes my writing when I am able to witness someone’s marked improvement, sometimes over the course of year or longer, if the student takes multiple courses with me.

My whole point is: Like college athletes, writers need a backup plan. You might never find work that you love in the same way that you love writing, but hopefully, you will be able to find work you love in a different way–not less–and it will afford you the lifestyle needed to write your heart out!

 

Photo credit: Little, Brown and Company

Former Student Has First Story Accepted for Publication!

July 18, 2013 2comments Announcements, Submitting Your Work , , Permalink 0
 

It's My Birthday! Party Wooo! (also TGIF)I have some very exciting news to share with you!

Edwin Vega-Roman, one of my past students and one of our fellow readers, just notified me that his short story, “Evol Nam,” has just been accepted by The Avalon Literary Review!

It’s scheduled to appear in the magazine’s Winter 2014 Edition in early February; and it will be his first published piece.

I asked him if he had any advice for us as writers, and this is what he had to say:

In all honesty, I wrote [“Evol Nam”] based off of a genre that a lot of literary magazines are looking for, which is Gay/Lesbian fiction. And the topic of homosexuality is very close to me because two of my best friends are gay. I had them read the piece and give me feedback. So, I guess write and submit stories tactically targeting publishers wants/needs, and like many others have told me, write what you know!

(You can read more from Mr. Vega-Roman on his blog, Edwin Vega-Roman: Aspiring Writer and Book Geek.)

I will have a cold one in your honor, Edwin! Congratulations!

 

Photo credit: Sam Ilić / Foter / CC BY-NC

Establish a Writing Routine

July 17, 2013 0 General Advice , , , , Permalink 0
 

72:365 - And Your Point Is?I can’t emphasize enough just how important it is to establish a writing routine, if you haven’t already!

Years ago, while I was still a student attending writing workshops, I wrote whenever the “inspiration” struck. I’d sit at my computer and churn out sentence after sentence whenever I felt like it. And since I was still a student–and I had ample free time to do what I liked–this habit worked well for me.

Well, fast forward a few years.

Now that I’m married, I teach at two colleges, and I desire to lead a somewhat healthy social life, my writing has, at times, been placed on the back burner.

(My on-again-off-again workout schedule also plays a role in this, too! Ha.)

I thought something like, “Oh, I can get back to writing whenever–during the summer and winter breaks.” But as life goes, something always came up–trips to Disneyland or Vegas, or last minute dinner reservations, etc. And another year would pass this way, and I’d have very little writing to show for it.

I don’t regret the way spent my time over these past few years. I just wish I had established a writing routine into my lifestyle.

I have one now, which I sort of alluded to at the close of an earlier post.

I write for at least two hours, six days a week on my living room sofa, whether I read for leisure or not. The time I used to watch TV, or surf the internet, or button-mash video game controllers has been replaced with writing and reading. (For the most part, at least!) For another way of thinking about this, check out the following brilliant YouTube clip from Darryl Cross:

As people, we need to make time for the things we prioritize in life. As writers, writing should be one of them. A daily writing routine will help with this. If you haven’t already implemented a writing routine in your life, start one today.

Stay focused. Stay disciplined. And, above all else, write your heart out!

 

Photo credit: Helga Weber / Foter.com / CC BY-ND

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