Question --

[mmerriam]

Hey writers, when you send out a manuscript (especially a novel) are you using word processor word count or the standard publishing formula (which usually yields 250 words a page in Courier 12pt)?

Comments

[mmerriam.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I've been using word processor count rounded up to the nearest reasonable number, but I had wondered if publishers, especially traditional print publishers, would prefer it the other way for typesetting purposes.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

By the time it gets to typesetting, the book will have gone through revisions and editing and proofreading -- and the number will change. Even without all that, the typesetter will be making his own count.

The count is just to give the editor an idea of how long the book is. Word processor count, rounded to the nearest thousand, is fine.

B

[mmerriam.livejournal.com]

You'd think as long as I've been doing this I wouldn't even need to ask. I've been using word processor count, but I was taught the other way back in the 1980s. I figured it was a good question to ask, just in case.

[timprov.livejournal.com]

They will do their own count if it matters to them. You can just make up a number if you like; it wouldn't make you particularly unusual.