You have finished the novel. That is the hard part. Now the manuscript needs to look as though you know what you are doing before anyone reads a single sentence of it. Most UK independent presses read their own submissions, and often the editor who acquires your book is the editor who will work on it with you. A clean, predictable file earns goodwill long before your first paragraph does any work. Formatting is not creativity. It is manners, and it is easy to get right.

Page setup: the non-negotiables

Set your document up before you write chapter one, not after. Retrofitting formatting into a 90,000-word file is a miserable afternoon involving a lot of shouting at Word.

• Paper size: A4, one side only. UK presses assume A4 (210 × 297mm), not US Letter.
• Margins: 2.5cm all round, or 2cm if you need a little more room.
• Font: 12pt serif — Times New Roman, Garamond, Georgia or Courier. One font for the whole manuscript.
• Line spacing: double throughout, including the title page. Some editors accept 1.5, but double is the safe default.
• Alignment: left-aligned, ragged right. Justified text creates uneven word spacing; that is a typesetter's problem, not yours.
• Colour: black text only. No highlighting, because editors use it for their own notes.
• Spacing after a full stop: one space, not two. Two is a typewriter habit and leaves visible gaps in a flowing file.

Use your word processor's paragraph tools to set indents. Never space-bar or tab your way across a page: those gaps behave differently in every program that opens the file, and some of them turn into spectacular messes. If you are starting from a blank document, set these options in the styles menu and save the file as a template. It takes ten minutes once and saves you from repeating the same corrections on every new chapter.

The title page and running header

Your title page carries practical information, not design flourishes. Put the title about a third of the way down, then:

• Your name, and "a novel by" if you like the phrase
• Genre or category — literary fiction, crime, historical romance
• Word count, rounded to the nearest thousand
• Your contact details: email first, then phone, address and website if you have one
• Your agent's name and details, if you have one

A sample title page might look like this:

The Salt House

a novel by Eleanor Whitfield

Literary fiction / 92,000 words

[email protected]

+44 7700 900000

12 Harbour Lane, Bristol BS1 4XX

That is all the editor needs. On every page after that, run a header: your surname and a short version of the title in the top left, page number in the top right. Something like Whitfield / The Salt House / 47. Keep it plain, and avoid "Page 1 of 412" — nobody needs reminding how long the book is.

Set the header to appear on all pages except the title page, and check that page numbering begins at 1 on your first chapter, not on the title page. Most word processors call this "different first page". It is a small detail, but it makes your manuscript feel professionally assembled.

Be honest about the word count. Rounding 68,400 up to 70,000 is fine; claiming 90,000 is not. As a rough guide, literary and commercial adult fiction usually sits somewhere between 70,000 and 100,000 words, and young adult novels are often shorter. If your book falls well outside the usual range for its shelf, say so in your covering email rather than hoping nobody counts.

Chapters, scene breaks and dialogue

Start every chapter on a fresh page. "Chapter One" or "Chapter 1" — choose one and use it consistently, and do not dress the heading in bold, underline or a bigger font. Plain text at body size, set a few lines down the page, is what editors expect. If you use "Chapter One", do not switch to "1" halfway through. If you use Part One, make sure the parts are balanced and clearly signposted.

For a scene break inside a chapter, use a single centred hash (#) or three spaced asterisks. Use the same marker every time, and use a marker rather than an extra blank line. Blank lines can vanish at the top or bottom of a page, leaving two scenes bleeding into one another.

Dialogue follows a few simple conventions:

• New paragraph for each new speaker, even when the speech is three words long.
• Punctuation sits inside the closing inverted commas: "Sit down," she said.
• British house style generally uses single inverted commas, with double for a quotation inside speech. If a press wants double throughout, they will say so.
• Indent the first line of every paragraph by about 1.25cm, except the first of a chapter and the first after a scene break.

Long speeches can be broken by action beats, but keep the paragraph breaks logical. If a character continues speaking after an action beat, no new quotation marks are needed until they stop. For example: "I told you," she said, "that the door was locked." The punctuation stays inside the speech, and the reader always knows who is talking.

Typography, punctuation and the small stuff

Use italics for emphasis, for titles of other works, and for a character's unspoken thought if that is your convention — never underline, never block capitals. If every other sentence is italicised, the emphasis stops meaning anything. Use it sparingly, and let the words do the work.

Use curly quotation marks and apostrophes if your word processor does it automatically, but do not mix straight and curly marks in the same file. Choose en dashes or em dashes and be consistent: an en dash with spaces – like this – is common in UK publishing, while a closed em dash—like this—is more American. Neither is wrong, but switching between them looks careless.

Numbers can trip you up, too. Most UK publishers spell out numbers from one to ten in prose and use numerals for 11 and above, unless the number begins a sentence. Dates are usually written as 12 March 2024, not March 12, 2024. Measurements follow the metric system in UK non-fiction, though fiction can use whatever fits the setting as long as it is consistent.

UK style, spelling and consistency

If you are submitting to a UK independent press, assume UK spelling unless the publisher tells you otherwise. That means colour, favour, realise, organise, travelled, centre, defence. If your narrator is American or the novel is set in the US, you may have a reason to use US spelling, but the choice should be deliberate and consistent. Do not let a spellchecker change half the book and leave the other half alone.

Consistency matters more than any single rule. Decide early whether you are using the Oxford comma, whether you write "towards" or "toward", and how you format text messages, letters and newspaper headlines. Then apply those decisions throughout. An editor would rather see a consistent house style of your own than a random mix of British and American conventions.

File format and delivery: what to send

Most UK independent presses ask for a Word document (.doc or .docx) or an RTF file. Send exactly what they ask for. Do not send a PDF unless the guidelines specifically request one, because editors often need to add comments and track changes. Do not send a Google Docs link that requires permission, and do not send a Pages file that only opens on a Mac.

Name your file clearly: Surname_Title_Full Manuscript.docx is a common and safe format. Avoid final_final_v3_actual.docx. If the press asks for a synopsis and covering letter, send them as separate files with equally clear names, or paste them into the body of your email if that is what the guidelines say.

Before you attach anything, open the file on another device if you can. Check that the font, margins, indents, headers and page numbers have survived. Word documents are usually reliable, but any file can shift between versions. A quick look on a phone or a different computer can catch a disaster before an editor does.

Common mistakes that make editors sigh

• Manual tabs and spaces: use paragraph indents, not the tab key or space bar.
• Double spaces after full stops: one space is standard.
• Blank lines between paragraphs: use indents, not empty lines, unless the press asks for block paragraphs.
• Creative fonts and colours: keep it black, 12pt and boring.
• Inconsistent chapter headings: pick a style and repeat it exactly.
• Missing word count: put it on the title page and mention it in your email.
• Tracked changes or comments left in: accept or reject all changes, and delete stray comments before sending.
• Wrong file type: follow the submission guidelines to the letter.

A final checklist before you send

1. Is the manuscript A4, double-spaced, 12pt serif and left-aligned?
2. Does the title page include title, name, genre, word count and contact details?
3. Does every page after the title page carry a header with surname, title and page number?
4. Does each chapter start on a new page?
5. Are scene breaks marked consistently?
6. Is dialogue punctuated correctly and indented consistently?
7. Are italics used sparingly and correctly?
8. Have you removed tracked changes, comments and highlighting?
9. Is the file named clearly and saved in the requested format?
10. Have you read the press's submission guidelines one last time?

Formatting will not make a weak novel publishable. But it will make a strong novel easier to read, easier to edit and easier to say yes to. Get the mechanics right, then forget them. The only thing that should surprise an editor is your prose.

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