Hey, What is the common spacing for published novels? My brother said it is double-spaced, but I can't believe that...that's like 250 words per page :S
Are you talking about the spacing on an actual novel or on a manuscript that you submit? If it's the former, then it's almost always single spaced. I believe most agents/publishers like double spaced when it comes to submitting a manuscript.
well both now that I know they are spaced different I thought I've read a few novels that are at least 1.5 would single be a little bit too difficult to read in large doses?
I think reading single spaced novels is just fine. There were a few books that had microscopic print, but I didn't mind that much. But you may be right. The spacing may not be exactly 1x but could be something like 1.2x or even 1.5x as you mentioned. I guess it depends on the publisher.
For manuscripts you want to double space, yeilding about 250 words per page. However, for spacing, I set it to exactly 25 points, or 24, depending on whether 25 or 27 lines per page gives me an average of 250 words per page.
I prefer reading single spaced or 1.5 spaced, but it is much easier to edit a double spaced manuscript. I think that is why editors demanded double spacing in the first place. It gives them room to write their editing suggestions above the lines.
It is important to distinguish between a published piece of writing and a manuscript. A manuscript is what you submit to a publisher. The publisher is responsible for all typesetting and layout considerations, not you. This is a template post, based of what I have seen of posted submission guidelines. There are variations between publishers, so always give precedence to any guidelines posted by each publisher you plan to submit to:
alright guys, thanks. So I guess there is so set rule for the spacing of a published work? It can be either 1.5 or single?
it can be anything!... whatever the publisher wants it to be... you shouldn't be concerned with spacing in the book itself, unless you intend to publish your own book and have to format it for the printer...
