Melissa Charles author

Okay. I know as authors we’re creative. We like to bend the rules upon occasion, be it blending genres, creating different rules of magic, that kind of thing. We’re allowed to make up whatever rules we want in our own sandbox, as long as they’re consistent and make sense. Like, you can’t have your vampire be incinerated to ash with the slightest ray of sunshine one day and then have him waltz out for a picnic at high noon the next without some serious explanation.

Publishing, as much as it’s based on creatives, has rules. So, in no particular order, here’s some I thought of. Feel free to leave some in the comments, and I’ll do another post again soon.

Formatting: Times New Roman. Double spaced. 12 pt. One inch margins. First page of any chapter starts about a third down the page. First paragraph should be indented 1.98cm. I personally add page numbers in the right hand corner of the header, as well as my title (in all caps) and my name. Underneath that, I add in my email and phone number. That way, my contact information is readily available.

Don’t mess with the standard formatting. Using a funky font will make you stand out, but not for a good reason.

Novel Content: Look at the word count of the genre. Stick to it. A debut novel wildly outside the word count expectations is going to have an extremely difficult time finding representation. Is it impossible? Maybe not, but why stack the deck against yourself? Querying is hard enough. Word counts tend to become more flexible as an author builds an audience, but it’s best for debuts to adhere to word count guidelines.

Genre Expectations: Certain genres have expectations written in stone. The one I personally know about is romance. ROMANCE ALWAYS HAS A HEA (Happily Ever After) OR HFN (Happily For Now). That’s what makes it a ROMANCE. This is not a debate. This is a requirement.

For the love of all that ever was or will be, do NOT argue with Romancelandia. That way lies madness. Romancelandia is filled with brilliant people. If they turn on you, it’ll be like the that scene from Indiana Jones. You know the one. And they will do it with a calm voice and a smile that freezes the soul. Don’t do it.

(All said with extreme respect)

ZERO AI: I find this horrifying to even need to include, yet here we are.

Hmm. What else do I need to include? Any suggestions? Let me know in the comments.