Is there a standard set rule for the layout of a novel?

I don't mean obvious things like double spacing, paragraph indents etc, but do the page numbers have to be in a certain place, do you have to have your name and book title on each page in a specific place and so on?

So is there a specific format, which must be adhered to?

Kat x

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OMG, writing the book was the easy bit! I've just been Googling 'how to format a novel' and reading the different blurb that's come up has put me in a real panic.

It is an absolute to have your margins set so that you have 25 lines of text per page and an average of 10 words per line? Apparently this is for the word count because I'm not to use Words wordcount.

Blimey I don't worry about this when I write short stories. I just write the blooming thing and send it off!

Is there a sample layout I can see anywhere?

Panic panic panic - I hope I now don't have to change everything!

Oh, rubbish, don't believe them - that's only to keep the typesetters happy, and I'll bet it's for US paper sizes too. These days once you're past the initial submission it's all electronic and they can rejig how they want.

It's mostly common sense:

at least 1" margins all round. Preferably more to right and left.

Number the pages (consecutively straight through, not as I prefer it in chapters) somewhere as header or footer, and it's worth putting the novel's title and/or your name in the footer.

FWIW, I have everything in a footer because for some reason I don't like headers:

Filename (which is book title.doc) on the left, perhaps with my name below it
automatic date in the middle (so I can see what hard copy I'm handling)
page number on the right.

and I've never had any complaints.

Emma

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I do put the page number like this:

- 2 -

or -357 -

so that it stands out a bit more.

Thanks Em!

I've got myself in a real tiz now that i'm actually at this stage - like I said writing and editing the book was the easy bit!

Re numbering, do you start numbering with the first chapter or do you count the other pages before that too, without numbering them?

So, is chapter one, page 1, or if you have, say, 3 pages before that with acknowledgements etc, will chapter one be page 4?

Also - see this is stuff I should know, but my mind's fuzzled - when indenting paragraphs, what about on the next page - that first line isn't indented on a new page is it?

Kat x

Re numbers, I don't think it matters. I think I start from the first page, but do 'different first page' and then delete the number so the title page looks tidier.

Emma

when indenting paragraphs, what about on the next page - that first line isn't indented on a new page is it?

Not sure quite what the situation is.

If the paragraph starts at the top of the page it's indented in the usual way.

If it started on the page before then it just runs on, and doesn't show an indent on the first line at the top of the page because it's the middle of the paragraph.

Emma

Someone should compile a book or list of all these things, so that when we have a brain dead moment, we can look it up. Yes, I know it's stuff we should all know, and it's things we usually do automatically, but it's when you sit and think 'hang on, I know this is how I write it, but is this actually correct, that you start worrying about it!

That thing about how publishers don't use the Word wordcount (i.e,. the actual number of words) but work in 'pages' based on average words per page, is one you find a lot on the web. But I have to say that my agent and my publisher both just use a count of actual words (i.e. the Word wordcount) and so does every single non-fiction publisher of books and periodicals I have ever worked with, in the UK, USA and Europe.

Weird.

R x

Yeah it is weird Rosy, so I'm not going to worry about it anymore

It's laid out how I think it should be, and if there's anything not right, I'm sure the powers that be will soon let me know!

Kat