How to Format a Book Manuscript

When you’re writing the first paragraph of your new manuscript, it’s easy to ignore the formatting. After all, when your eyes are the only ones observing your work, worrying about things like proper page layout, mirror margins, section breaks, and whether or not your hyphens are in the right place can feel like obstacles to simply putting your ideas down on paper. However, once you’ve completed your manuscript and you’re ready to show it to other people, it’s important to make sure it follows certain formatting standards. A properly formatted manuscript is easier to read and tells your reader that your work is to be taken seriously, especially if they are reading your work for the first time.