This week! Books!

Sally Rooney Says Her Novels Will No Longer Be Sold in U.K. (gift link) – Stephen Castle, New York Times – In a truly preposterous and chilling turn of events, Sally Rooney’s books will no longer be for sale in the UK because of her support for Palestine Action, an organization proscribed as a terrorist organization after they vandalized some RDF planes.

Print Sales Stay Flat Through September – Jim Milliot, Publishers Weekly – Print sales are flat year of year, with adult fiction buttressing flagging nonfiction and flat children’s book sales.

Book Publishers Are Quietly Using More AI. Staff Are Revolting – Adam Morgan, Wired – Even as traditional publishers pursue lawsuits against the major AI companies for plagiarism, they’re pushing staff to incorporate AI into their workflows and many employees are bristling. An aside in the article, which will loom large over the next few links: ““Every single imprint has a story of someone very esteemed who had a book canceled because of blatant AI use” without ever making the news, one editor says.”

Acclaimed Author Denies Using A.I. but Admits Plagiarism (gift link) – Ségolène Le Stradic, New York Times – The latest “Did they use AI to write their novel” scandal involves Haitian-Canadian writer Thélyson Orélien, with plagiarism accusations to boot. He admits to the plagiarism, but not to the AI.

When Black Writers Are Guilty Until Proved Human (gift link) – Doyle D. Calhoun, New York Times – It’s hardly coincidental that nearly every scandal over AI authorship has involved a Black author. Groups with nefarious agendas are amplifying these claims, seeking to reclaim a literary fortress that has only barely started to open its doors.

The Lucrative World of Literary Scams – Snigdha Poonam, The Dial – To be an author these days is to be drowned in scams pouring in from every corner of the internet. Snigdha Poonam goes deep down the rabbit hole.

The Plucky Publishing House That Keeps Winning Nobels (gift link) – Ronda Kaysen, New York Times – Fourteen New Directions authors have now received the Nobel Prize in Literature. Quite a track record.

The Quilting Novel That Stormed the Best-Seller List (gift link) – Elisabeth Egan, New York Times – How Eli McCann’s novel about a quilting circle in Utah, published by a small nonprofit press, became a bestseller. McCann had to resist pushes to change the setting, the age of the characters, and adding romance along the way.

In Which Winnie-the-Pooh Turns 100 – Ron Charles – Winnie-the-Pooh and friends are 100, thanks for noticing.

What Can You Control in Trad Publishing? – Kate McKean, Agents + Books – Going down the traditional publishing route certainly has its upsides, but one downside is a loss of control. Agent and author Kate McKean delves into what authors can and can’t approve throughout the process.

This week in bestsellers

Here are the top five NY Times bestsellers in a few key categories. (All links are affiliate links):

Adult print and e-book fiction:

1. The Witch by Freida McFadden
2. Threshing Day by Rebecca Yarros
3. Other Worlds Than These by Stephen King and Peter Straub
4. Partita by Barbara Kingsolver
5. The French Illusion by John Grisham

Adult print and e-book nonfiction:

1. One Helluva Ride by Michael Douglas
2. Blockers by Michael Lewis
3. The Steps by Sylvester Stallone
4. Swan Song by Charles Spencer
5. Devil on My Shoulder by Alice Cooper

Young adult hardcover:

1. The Sixth Faction by Veronica Roth
2. Trust Fall by Lynn Painter
3. Devoured by Jordan Stephanie Gray
4. Wondrous by Heather Fawcett
5. Our Strange Duet by Erin A. Craig

Middle grade hardcover:

1. The Wild Zone by Rick Riordan and Annabelle Oh
2. Wonder by R.J. Palacio
3. Building 903 by Lois Lowry
4. The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs by America’s Test Kitchen Kids
5. Kiki’s Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono

This week on the blog

In case you missed them, here are this week’s posts:

• How to format a book manuscript

And keep up with the discussion in all the places!

• Follow me on Threads, Facebook, Bluesky, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter

And finally:

Choose Your Overlord (gift link) – Josh Tyrangiel, The Atlantic – Two men with galactic egos increasingly influence events not just on this planet, but beyond. A deep dive into the interplanetary ambitions of Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.

Have a great weekend!

Need help with your book? I’m available for manuscript edits, query critiques, and coaching!

For my best advice, check out my online classes, my guide to writing a novel, and my guide to publishing a book.

And if you like this post: subscribe to my newsletter!

Photo: Colusa Wildlife Refuge, Colusa, CA

If you’re pursuing traditional publishing, or even if you’re self-publishing or hybrid publishing and planning to share your work with editors and designers, proper formatting is by far the easiest thing you can do to make your project appear as professional as possible.

Literary agents and the various professionals you will work with throughout the process will absolutely view your manuscript as a proxy for your overall digital fluency. Being bad with computers is not necessarily a total dealbreaker, but there are more demands on authors than ever, and it could hurt your chances.

There isn’t an ironclad industry standard format for manuscripts that’s as exacting as, say, a Chicago Manual of Style. Instead, there are a mix of “must haves” and “some people do these things.”

What I’ll cover in this post:

• Why you shouldn’t mimic the formatting of a finished book
• Manuscript formatting must-haves
• Optional manuscript formatting
• A sample manuscript with proper formatting

Why you shouldn’t mimic the formatting of a finished book

Above all: Do not mimic the formatting of a finished book.

It’s not a book yet. It’s a manuscript. It needs manuscript formatting, not book formatting.

This also means you don’t need a copyright page, and it’s premature to include add-ons like acknowledgments.

Here’s why this matters: agents, editors, and other publishing professionals are very used to reading manuscripts with industry standard formatting. Read enough manuscripts this way, and you’ll quickly internalize the “rhythm” that this formatting confers. It starts to feel very weird to read and/or edit a manuscript in any other way.

I’ve been reading manuscripts for over twenty years now. If I ever receive a manuscript that’s not set to industry standard formatting, the absolute first thing I do is to fix the formatting.

Don’t waste a publishing professional’s time. Get the formatting right the first time.

Manuscript formatting must-haves

A cover page

If you’re submitting to literary agents, it’s helpful to start with a cover page that includes:

• Your book’s title.
• Your name.
• Your contact information. Phone number and email suffices these days, but fine to include your physical address if you want to.
• Your book’s genre.
• The word count.

There aren’t hard and fast rules about what goes where, just make it legible. I would strongly recommend against including cover art.

Font

There’s only one way with the font: Times New Roman, 12 point.

Back when I started in publishing, Courier was also an acceptable font choice, but Courier has gone the way of three martini lunches.

Yes, different word processing applications have different default fonts. Doesn’t matter. Change it to Times New Roman.

Double-spacing

Manuscripts should be double-spaced. This means, very simply, double spacing without any changes. Do not add extra spacing before or after paragraphs.

Do not get crazy with facing pages or anything else that makes your manuscript look like a book, which, as previously referenced, it is not yet.

Margins, justification, and indents

One inch margins all around. Top, bottom, and sides all one inch. Double-check this, because some programs default to 1.25″ or 1.5″.

Your manuscript should be left justified. Not full. All words should be spaced evenly.

Every new paragraph needs a 0.5″ indent. How to do it:

• Best: Set an automatic indent for new paragraphs, which will save your future interior designer a step.
• Fine: Use tabs for new paragraphs
• Red flag: Spaces for idents. Don’t. Do. This.

Number your pages

Make sure you number your pages, either in the header or footer.

There aren’t rules here, but I tend to think it’s a good idea to include your last name with the page number in case your prospective agent prints your manuscript and gets trapped in a windstorm.

Page breaks after the end of chapters

New chapters should start on a new page.

And use the page break function in your processing programs–not returns–or else editing will swiftly turn your manuscript into an absolute mess.

Also, even if you use chapter titles, number your chapters so the various people giving you feedback can easily reference the chapter number, which is easier than referencing a chapter title.

Section breaks

If you have section breaks within your chapters, in addition to using extra spaces, include three asterisks or some other symbol to denote the break so it’s clear it’s not a mistake or missable in situations where the section break falls near the end of the page.

Give your manuscript to the publishing professional in the exact format they request

If a literary agent has their own criteria for formatting a manuscript, follow that. An agent’s submission requirements trump everything.

And if an agent asks to see your manuscript in a Microsoft Word file, send them a Microsoft Word file (.docx). Do not send them a PDF. Or a link to Google Docs or anything else.

If they ask to see a PDF, send them a PDF. Do not send them a Microsoft Word file.

Every major word processing program can export into different formats. Follow the agent’s preferences.

Optional manuscript formatting

Chapter break spacing

Some writers don’t include extra spacing for chapter breaks and just get straight to Chapter X. Some writers include quite a lot of extra padding.

The only rule for chapter breaks is that they need to start on a new page. Apart from that, you do you. (Within reason).

Personally, I include one extra space before the chapter title and one extra space after.

Changing the font for ephemera

Unless you’re going for something very experimental, I’d recommend sticking to Times New Roman throughout the manuscript, even for ephemera like diary entries, newspaper clippings, and text messages that may be formatted differently in the final book.

Did I mention your format is not a book yet? It’s not a book. So stick to Times New Roman, and err on the side of setting your ephemera apart with extra spaces or italics.

But above all, focus on making your manuscript readable. There are times when it might make sense to change the font for some kinds of ephemera (such as recurring robot messages), but only do it because it makes the reading experience clearer. Therefore, choose a readable second font.

Cursive fonts to denote handwriting, for instance, will probably make someone’s eyes bleed.

Italicizing a character’s inner monologue in a third person narrative

It’s become a convention but it’s not a standard to italicize a character’s first person thoughts within a third person narrative, such as: “Why do I find this all so complicated, he thought.”

There is perennial social media beef about this, but there are no rules. There’s room for author discretion here.

A sample manuscript with proper formatting

I’m going to give you a sample manuscript with proper formatting that you can download and modify to use as your own.

Before I give you the link, some housekeeping: please do not ask me for edit access to this Google Doc. I want to keep it as-is for others to enjoy.

To download it and start using it, go through the File menu within the doc, and download it to a Word file. Or click “Make a copy” if you want to use it in Google Docs:

Now then…

• Here’s a properly formatted manuscript.

See anything I missed? Have any questions? Take to the comments!

Need help with your book? I’m available for manuscript edits, query critiques, and coaching!

For my best advice, check out my online classes, my guide to writing a novel, and my guide to publishing a book.

And if you like this post: subscribe to my newsletter!

Art: Fabrique de cartes à jouer dans une maison de la place Dauphine, à Paris by Anonymous

This week! Books!

I’m on the road this weekend, so links only without commentary, but there are lots of good ones!

Canadian Poet Anne Carson Is Awarded Nobel Prize in Literature (gift link) – Alex Marshall, New York Times

Here Are the Finalists for the 2026 National Book Awards (gift link) – Ash Wu, New York Times

No, the National Book Awards are not ‘the literary world’s D.E.I. checklist.’ – Kate Tuttle, Boston Globe

The NHL Is Releasing Its Own ‘Hot’ Fanfic. Romance Lovers Hate It – Kate Taylor, Wired

From the ‘Halo’ Mastermind, an A.I. Apocalypse – Alexandra Alter, New York Times

MacKenzie Scott Can’t Escape the Amazon Juggernaut – Rhoda Feng, The New Yorker

Who Does Pangram Really Benefit? – Kathleen Schmidt, Publishing Confidential

Cheikh Hamidou Kane, Author of Seminal Anticolonial Novel, Dies at 98 (gift link) – Adam Nossiter, New York Times

Dispelling the Myth of Cormac McCarthy as Cowboy-Artist (gift link) – Wyatt Mason, New York Times

Leigh Bardugo on 50 Years of Interview with the Vampire and the Immortality of Anne Rice’s Lestat – Leigh Bardugo, Lit Hub

Are You Doing It for the ‘Gram? – Kate McKean, Agents + Books

The Transition to the Middle – Donald Maass, Writer Unboxed

This week in bestsellers

Here are the top five NY Times bestsellers in a few key categories. (All links are affiliate links):

Adult print and e-book fiction:

1. Threshing Day by Rebecca Yarros
2. The French Illusion by John Grisham
3. Verity by Colleen Hoover
4. Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
5. The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett

Adult print and e-book nonfiction:

1. The Steps by Sylvester Stallone
2. Swan Song by Charles Spencer
3. The American Way of Killing by Malcolm Gladwell
4. The Cauldron by Simon Sebag Montefiore
5. What Could Possibly Go Right? by Danny Meyer

Young adult hardcover:

1. Trust Fall by Lynn Painter
2. Barbie: Dreamscape by Alex Aster
3. The Siren by Tomi Adeyemi
4. Our Strange Duet by Erin A. Craig
5. Wings of Reverie by Anna Bright

Middle grade hardcover:

1. The Wild Zone by Rick Riordan and Annabelle Oh
2. Building 903 by Lois Lowry
3. Wonder by R.J. Palacio
4. Game of Pets: The Boy Who Knew Too Much by Aaron Blabey
5. We Really Like Cooking Slop! by Mo Willems and Cher Willems

This week on the blog

In case you missed them, here are this week’s posts:

• How to find editing when you can’t afford editing

And keep up with the discussion in all the places!

• Follow me on Threads, Facebook, Bluesky, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter

And finally:

‘Take These Pictures and Run’ – Why Deana Lawson, one of photography’s greatest contemporary portraitists, suddenly found herself drawn to the “wall of shame.” (gift link) – Susan Dominus, New York Times Style Magazine

Have a great weekend!

Need help with your book? I’m available for manuscript edits, query critiques, and coaching!

For my best advice, check out my online classes, my guide to writing a novel, and my guide to publishing a book.

And if you like this post: subscribe to my newsletter!

Photo: The Huntington, San Marino, CA

Every writer needs editing prior to seeking publication. Full stop.

It’s difficult to avoid projecting things onto the page, and these days it pays for a project to be as polished as possible before you send your first query. You can’t count on an agent or a publisher to polish your diamond in the rough. Yes, some agents engage in pre-submission editing, but these edits are usually final polishes, not rehabilitation.

If you can swing the funds, a paid edit from an experienced former publishing professional can do wonders to elevate your craft. The problem? Most editors with previous bona fide experience are in high demand and very expensive, stretching well into five figures or more for a full manuscript edit.

If you can’t swing those funds? You still need editing, but you may need to be a little creative.

First, here’s what not to do…

DON’T use AI as your editor

AI may someday be good at editing.

Right now? It’s not good.

Yes, AI can currently point out some low-hanging fruit, but AI feedback is generic, impossible to contextualize, will push you away from elements that make your voice and story unique, and is bereft of genuine human insight.

And if you think the AI is giving you good feedback, you need to back even further away from AI than those who are more skeptical. Above all, absolutely do not listen to its praise. The models are designed to be people pleasers and are likely telling you your project is in better shape than it really is.

Still don’t believe me? Well, publishers are increasingly using AI detectors prior to making offers on book projects. If you use AI as an editor and incorporate its feedback, you may well run afoul of an AI detector and jeopardize a potential book deal.

Do not use AI to edit your book. Don’t do it.

DON’T pay for a bargain-basement edit

There are countless editors out there on Reedsy and Fiverr who will offer you a bargain-basement edit for less than a thousand dollars. As with most things in life, you usually get what you pay for.

Scams abound, and I’ve heard of quite a few authors who either got little more than a cursory read or the “editor” simply ran their book through a chatbot, which the author could have just done on their own (though, again, don’t).

Unless you can verify an editor’s credentials, it’s better to save your money for a writers conference or marketing down the line, rather than wasting $500 on a poor edit.

DO connect with local writers

The company of writers is golden, and not just for feedback.

If there are stranger industries than publishing and more quixotic pursuits than finding successful publication in this day and age, I’m unfamiliar with them. Your fellow travelers on the road to publishing will understand and commiserate with your travails along the way because they’ve been there too.

Find the local writers in your community for friendship and also for help with your manuscript. Many communities have programs through libraries and arts councils, and check to see if you have a chapter of local writing groups like SCBWI, Shut Up & Write, Mystery Writers of America, and more.

This may entail a “give/get” situation, where you need to invest time in giving feedback before you get feedback, but the whole experience will be meaningful. And giving feedback is a tremendous way to train your eye and improve your own self-editing.

DO attend a writers conference

If you live in the middle of nowhere, or even if you’re in a big city, investing in attending a writers conference can be a fantastic way to meet fellow writers. I have made some lifelong friends at writers conferences.

I personally think writers conferences are overrated when it comes to meeting publishing professionals. Even if the writing conference you’re hoping to attend has pitch sessions with literary agents, you’re not very likely to find an agent that way. Don’t let meeting agents be your whole reason for going.

But! Writers conferences are wildly underrated as a way of meeting people and connecting with fellow writers. And they’re usually a blast.

DO look for organizations that award mentorships

There are some organizations that recognize the uphill battle for authors who can’t afford editing, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds who may be dealing with separate challenges.

I work with one of these, We Need Diverse Books, which offers grants and a mentorship program for children’s book authors and illustrators, and even connects finalists who don’t win the full mentorship with editing and art professionals to help the creators elevate their craft.

AWP also offers a Writer to Writer mentorship program, GrubStreet has an Ask a Writer mentorship program, and SCBWI has all sorts of grants and programs.

Lots of great stuff happening here.

DO invest in fellow writers online

Even if your mobility is limited and you need to connect with other writers from home, well, thank goodness for the internet.

There are fantastic writing communities out there, whether on Reddit, in the comments section of your favorite writing and publishing blogs, on social media, and more. You can also search for platforms that connect critique partners and/or beta readers.

It may take some trial and error reaching out and connecting with people, but if you invest the time and energy, particularly in a positive direction, chances are you’ll find it reflected back.

DO rely on friends and family in a pinch

An edit doesn’t have to come from a publishing professional, and even non-writing “civilians” can give astute feedback.

The only danger here is 1) they may want to spare your feelings, and 2) people who aren’t used to giving creative feedback may struggle to put a finger on why something isn’t working for them, and you may wind up with a few harebrained suggestions.

Still, even inexperienced readers can reflect helpful ideas back to you. You may just need to do a bit more work sorting out what it is that they’re really picking up on.

How have you gotten inexpensive, quality feedback in the past? Let me know in the comments!

Need help with your book? I’m available for manuscript edits, query critiques, and coaching!

For my best advice, check out my online classes, my guide to writing a novel, and my guide to publishing a book.

And if you like this post: subscribe to my newsletter!

Art: Still Life with Dutch Jar and Bust of Dante by William Harnett

This week! Books!

As Supply Chain Problems Increase, Some Books Miss On-Sale Dates – Katy Hershberger, Publishers Lunch – Tariffs, higher fuel prices, and the closure of a major printing facility in New York is throwing publishing calendars out of whack. Easy to forget publishers are logistical marvels (most of the time) as much as they’re literary gatekeepers.

AALA Resignation Statement – Dystel, Goderich & Bourret – In the wake of canon of ethics changes by the American Association of Literary Agents (AALA) that blur the lines around the services agents can charge authors for, major literary agency Dystel, Goderich & Bourret announced that they are withdrawing from the organization.

Literature Is Becoming More Like a Video Game (gift link) – Sophia Nguyen, The Atlantic – Sophia Nguyen profiles the rise of LitRPG, and especially the wildly popular Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman.

Librarians on Libraries (gift link) – Elisabeth Egan and John Maher, New York Times – Quotes from librarians around the country, who could scarcely have imagined they would be manning the front lines of the culture wars.

Do You Need to Meet an Agent in Person to Get Published? – Kate McKean, Agents + Books – Is it actually helpful to meet with agents in person? Yes! But getting representation from them isn’t always the point.

Author John Grisham on “The French Illusion” – CBS Mornings – A fun interview with author John Grisham, who now has fifty consecutive #1 NY Times bestsellers to his name.

The More Specific Your Characters, The More Universal They Become – Tiffany Yates Martin, Jane Friedman – A great reminder that so much of good storytelling flows from specificity.

This week in bestsellers

Here are the top five NY Times bestsellers in a few key categories. (All links are affiliate links):

Adult print and e-book fiction:

1. Hollywood, Ending by John Green
2. Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
3. Vince Flynn: Double Tap by Don Bentley
4. Hollow Bones by Jodi Picoult
5. The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett

Adult print and e-book nonfiction:

1. Swan Song by Charles Spencer
2. Roll the Calls by Ari Emanuel
3. Actually, Nevermind by Taylor Tomlinson
4. An Unexpected Life by Gloria Steinem
5. Pay Attention by David Pakman

Young adult hardcover:

1. Empire by Sabaa Tahir
2. Barbie: Dreamscape by Alex Aster
3. Our Strange Duet by Erin A. Craig
4. Wings of Reverie by Anna Bright
5. Styx by Nikita Gill

Middle grade hardcover:

1. Wonder by R.J. Palacio
2. The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs by America’s Test Kitchen Kids
3. Kiki’s Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono
4. Match Day Mayhem by Dude Perfect with Allan Woodrow
5. Kiki and the New Magic by Eiko Kadono

This week on the blog

In case you missed them, here are this week’s posts:

• How to interpret rejection letters

And keep up with the discussion in all the places!

• Follow me on Threads, Facebook, Bluesky, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter

And finally:

Why are AI agents lying, cheating and coordinating? – Yoshua Bengio – A clear explanation of why AI agents have been very bizarrely lying, cheating, and coordinating amongst themselves, leading to the major AI companies tapping the brakes on releases (supposedly anyway).

Have a great weekend!

Need help with your book? I’m available for manuscript edits, query critiques, and coaching!

For my best advice, check out my online classes, my guide to writing a novel, and my guide to publishing a book.

And if you like this post: subscribe to my newsletter!

Photo: The Huntington, San Marino, CA. 中秋节快乐！ Follow me on Instagram!