twelve characters per inch. This is too small. (Point size refers to the height of the characters in a font; pitch refers to the width.) Courier is a monospaced font, which means that every character is exactly as wide as every other. Never submit a manuscript that uses a proportional font, which is one in which an "i" takes up less space than an "m" does. It is far easier for an editor to detect spelling errors in a monospaced font than in a proportional font, and your primary goal should be to make things as easy for the editor as possible. With a monospaced font, there will also be fewer characters on each line, which makes your lines easier for the editor to scan. Next, you should leave nice wide margins all around the page. There should be at least an inch on each side--top, bottom, left, and right. Under no circumstances should there be any printing closer to any edge of the paper than one inch. Always double-space between lines. Never submit a single-spaced manuscript. Never submit a 1½-spaced manuscript. Never submit a triple-spaced manuscript. The editor needs room to make corrections between lines, but not too much room. The guidelines I've listed above will mean that you can't fit very many words on a page--250 to 300 at the most. This means your manuscript will require more pages, but don't fret about that. The increased mailing costs are worth it, because you'll be sending out a manuscript that reads quickly. Psychologically, it's easier to read a lot of pages with fewer