How To Submit A Manuscript For Publication

How to Prepare Your Manuscript For Publication

Author: Amanda Clark

The best way to prepare your manuscript for publication is to keep it extremely organized throughout the entire writing and editing process.  This will make all of the other necessary steps go quickly and smoothly and will provide you with a polished final product.

As you write, keep your work and any notes you may take pertaining to it organized and easily accessible.  Having all of your ideas within reach will help you be more efficient with what you are trying to say.  Keeping a clean, well arranged workspace will help keep your mind clear, which will in turn make the writing process easier and more productive.

After you have finished writing the manuscript and are ready to enter into the editing stage, it is highly suggest that you hire a professional editor.  This is important because a fresh set of eyes can pick up on a lot of things that you may miss.  Because you are used to reading your work and you know what you mean by what you have written, another person’s perspective may pick up on things you didn’t notice.  These things may need to be taken out, or may offer an exciting new spin on what you have written.  Professional editors are also very knowledgeable about grammar and will fix any grammatical errors in your manuscript.    

Another advantage of a professional editor is that he or she will not be emotionally attached to the manuscript.  This detachment will allow them to see the story as it is, rather than as you have envisioned it to be.  The help of an emotionally detached, well trained, professional eye is an invaluable resource to every writer.

After your editor has gone through your manuscript, read over his or her comments.  While you do not have to make the changes to the story that are suggested, you should take them into consideration.  After the first edit and first rewrite, the manuscript should be grammatically correct and the storyline should be fully developed.  You will want to have your editor go over the manuscript again, to check the rewritten segments.  This process should be repeated until the story is complete and ready for print.

When you send your query letters out to all of the different publishing houses, you should include in them that you have a professionally edited manuscript and are prepared to send them a sample.  This will show that you are serious about your attempt to get your work into print. 

So remember, when preparing your manuscript for publication, always remain organized and hire a good editor.  These two things will not get you a golden ticket into the world of publishing, but without them you won’t get anywhere. 

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/publishing-articles/how-to-prepare-your-manuscript-for-publication-2652596.html

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