Good afternoon.
I have been wondering about certain things for a while now, especially since the creative writing hobby has hit me hard. My three questions are:
1) What font style and size are best for a novel?
2) Can I continue with narrow margins or is there another preferred style for the layout that I should be using?
3) Will an agent or publisher prefer a certain word count for each page?
Many thanks, you've all been a great help so far.
This is really useful. Thank you. I will print out and put above my desk.
Brilliantly detailed response from Adrian, as ever - thanks for that.
I have finished my novel and it is longer than the average at 140k; but I'm self-publishing, so if I think it needs to be that length, it can be.
Some of the rules depend upon house style, so if you have a chosen target, check that out before you send anything. Kindle has its own guidelines about layout and font.
One final thought, David: the most important thing is that you write your novel in a font and page size that is comfortable for you to work in; everything can be changed to suit a publisher's demands later. It's like choosing where to put your desk or what kind of chair to use: do what works for you, until you need to change it for someone else. That kind of change, done before you finally send it off, will allow you to see it differently - a great way to spot faults your eye would otherwise miss.
Good luck!
Lorraine
Good morning Adrian;
This is a brilliant answer combined with very good advice, thank you for taking the time to reply. Every would be novice taking on the hobby needs to be looking to you for intuition.
Thank you