MICHAEL G'FRANCISCO Chicago's-Mystery-Author

Before you write your first query letter to an agent or editor (how to write a "knock out" query letter will be covered next) trying to get them to read your manuscript it must follow certain guidelines and look professional.

The publishing business is a very, very subjective. So, it's most important not to made certain mistakes. This may sound like you have to take baby steps---well, you do.

Why risk having your manuscript rejected after spending so many hours working on it. Follow these tips to prepare a neat, professional-looking submission that will at least give you a chance at being accepted by an agent or editor.

Begin with quality paper. Use a 16 to 25 pound, 100% cotton bond paper. Reason, it will hold-up under a lot of handling and remain looking like it was just typed.

A way to check to see if your paper is the right quality, hold hold two sheet up to a light, if you can read the typing on the underneath sheet it is too thin. And, please don't use colored paper, plain white will do just fine.

Many good stories are tossed on the "slush pile" because the manuscript was formatted poorly. Give the editor's tired eyes a break and maybe, just maybe yours will get read.

For ease of reading use TIMES NEW ROMAN 12, this will print out the proper amount of characters per inch. It is important to have the right point and pitch to the height and width of the typed characters. That way each letter is equal in the space it takes. It actual helps the editor to detect spelling errors (which you shouldn't have).

Next, you should leave a wide margin all around the page. There must be at least one inch on each side--top, bottom, left and right. This gives the agent or editor room to write comments or corrections.

Also, to help in that area, the manuscript must be double spaced. This also will restrict the amount of words typed on a single page, approximately 250 to 300 and will allow for a quick read.

This has a two-fold purpose: the person reads faster and turns the pages more rapidly thusly, not taking up too much of the readers time. This will tend to work in your favor.

Place your name, address, telephone number and Email address in the upper-left hand corner of the first page of the manucsript.

In the upper-right hand corner type the manuscript's word count. Round it out too the nearest 100 words ( example: a 73,650 word ms should be 75,000 words). Don't forget the comma. Your computer's stats will give you the word count.

If you don't know how to find the stats, calculate the wordage by counting the words per average line, multiply the amount by the number of lines to give you a rough page word count. Then multiply that amount by the total pages in your manuscript. This will give you a word count. Round it out from there.

Next, go to the middle of the page, not a quarter of the way down, but the middle and center your title between the two margins. Use bold and capital letters. Skip two single lines and centered beneath the title, type in the word "by". Skip two more lines and type in your name.

This may seem like redundant information, since your name is already appears in the upper-left corner, but isn't. The name in the corner gets paid for the manuscript and the byline name gets the credit in print for writing the story.

Avoid typing the word "copyright" anywhere. It isn't necessary, an author's work is automatically protected and needs not be stated on the manuscript. If you do use the word "copyright" it raised a red flag and shouts "I'm a novice."

The second page begins your story. This is page number one. At the top of the page in the upper-left hand corner place your name (It's really better to use your initials) a dash, the title (again, use a keyword or short versaion of the title) another dash and the page number. Example; mgf-Chgo Jack-1. Your computer can automatically set your header and footer.

The reason for this is quite obvious. If you have ever drop your manuscript and the pages scatter about, I sure you found it easy to put them back in order if they were numbered.

Drop down six double spaces and type in the chapter number and name using capitals. The center of the page is acceptable. Drop down another two double spaces and indent your first word five spaces from the left margin. I said five not six, keep it that way.

Now, when it comes to the right margin, leave it ragged. Don't justify your manuscript. It is a cardinal rule of manuscript formatting. It will annoy the editor and you never want to annoy the editor.

Also, don't hyphenate words at the end of the page line. Start them on the next line. Unless it is a phase such as; "Jack-in-the-box".

You should "always" leave two spaces after any punctuation used at the end of a sentence. Contrary, to anyone saying it's not required these days. It is also required after a colon and semicolons.

If you want something to appear in italics in the final print of your manuscript, then you should underline it in your manuscript.

Should you wish an em dash--the punctuation that sets off a phase like this one--to appear in your manuscript, use two hyphens to indicate it. Do not place spaces around the dash.

If you want a line break in your story, don't leave a blank line. Instead center the character "#" on a line of its own.

Last, but not least, don't use the words "The End" or anything such as; "#" to indicate your story is over. The story itself relates it's over or the obivious fact that there are no more words tells it has ended. Although, there is one exception. If the last line happens to fall at the bottom of the page, it is permissible to write the word "end" in the bottom margin of the last page.

Now, go back over every page carefully and check for typos and mistakes. You may miss a few, no one is perfect.

Remember, the person reading your material is also judging it, so, it professional look will certainly help. Try to give the person that you are submitting your manuscript too nothing to do, except represent you or buy your story.

Finally, when mailing your manuscript make sure it's properly packaged. If it's large use a manuscript box. If it's a group of pages, use a 9x12 envelope. Every correspondence you have with an agent or editor should contain a SASE (self-addressed, stamped envelope) and sufficient postage to return your manuscript.

When submitting to a foreign country, use International Reply Coupons (IRPs). They can be purchased at most post offices.