Lars Eighner's Homepage Writers' Workshop FAQ: Q. I know an editor who likes Barnum and Bailey. Why shouldn't I use it?

Q. I know an editor who likes Barnum and Bailey. Why shouldn't I use it?

A. If you know who you are going to sell a piece to, and you know that editor's preferences differ from the norm, of course you prepare the the piece the way the editor wants it. (Are you nuts, or what?)

The object of a standard manuscript form is to make the piece as widely acceptable as possible. The standard manuscript form will not be exactly the way every editor would want it, but it is devised so that virtually every editor can work with it if he or she wants to.

Some editors, albeit fewer everyday, have serious problems working with proportional fonts like Times Roman. Proportional fonts screw up formulas that some editors use to estimate the space a work will require once it is set in type. Editors who use these formulas need manuscripts that are prepared in Courier 10 (or another nonproportional font like Pica).

Editors who don't use the formulas might be just as happy to see manuscripts in Times Roman. But will have no great difficulty in working with manuscripts done in Courier.

When you don't know who might buy the manuscript, or when you don't know the system used by the editor most likely to buy the work, you should try to make it as widely acceptable as possible. That is what standard manuscript format is all about.

If you have an assignment, you may be given a style sheet. Naturally you should prepare the assignment according to the style sheet. Other times editors will want you to handle certain fine points in ways that differ from standard style. That does not mean standard style is wrong. It means the style sheet or the specific points mentioned by an editor is more right for the particular publication. Return to standard style when you are writing for other publications or you do not know the preferences of the editor to whom you will submit the piece.

If you know proportional fonts are acceptable where you are sending your manuscript, but you don't know which one to use, it is said that Times Roman 14-point sets up nearly the same as Courier 12-point. However, places that accept proportional fonts do not usually require them, so if you want to avoid having two versions of the manuscript, which you might get mixed up, use the nonproportional font.