Oh Great Rejecter,
Can you please settle this argument for us bumbling masses. Do agents and publishers not take you seriously if you submit your manuscript in Times New Roman as opposed to Courier?
So, funny story. I always used to use Courier New for just about everything - my papers, things I submitted, stuff I published on the web. I loved to write in it. Then I started reading other people's full manuscripts in Courier New and discovered how irritating on the eyes it was in comparison to Times New Roman, Garamound, or even Arial. I won't judge your manuscript by your font (unless it's in Wingdings), but seriously, Times New Roman. 12 point.
Thank you, future authors.
15 comments:
Haha - I've been submitting stuff in "even Arial." (I simply like that font best.) What a hack I am! :-P
Will you really pass over a good piece of writing because the author chose Courier New over Times New Roman? I'd think you'd have other things more pressing, namely, does the query hook me, is the writing any good, and will my boss be interested in this?
What if some other agent out there prefers Courier? Too many people, too many preferences. I have to stick with one or drive myself nuts.
I don't hink it's a matter of passing something over. It's just more comfortable to read TNR. My impression was that it was the print people who preferred courier for layout purposes or something. Now that it's so easy to change the font of an entire novel with the click of a mouse, you can pretty much forget about that. Whatever you use, I think proportional fonts are easier on the eyes. If they weren't, books would be published in NP courier, which, IMHO, is an ugly, ugly font.
Anonymous 2:36 - No, I would not pass on something based on the font. But I'm just saying, it's polite to not make my eyes bleed.
"Unless it was in wingdings." A line worth immortalizing. Says Kim, drying off her keyboard.
Kim - Can you come over and dry mine?
BTW my agent has me send in TNR but she loved my book so much she would have read it in orange crayon!
Gad. LOL, if there were only a consensus, we'd all know what font to use! Well, being as I'm still new at it all, and at least 75% of websites still advocate Courier, I'll stick with that for now.
Though I hate it and would much rather use TNR. Not to mention it lets me fit more words into a hook than Courier! *G*
Cheers ~
G. Atwater
*gad, the longiest word verification ever: anbmxujf*
Bookman Old Style is my favorite. I'm glad to hear the Courier is not the beloved font of at least one slush pile reader. I find it is difficult to read, too.
G. Atwater
UI'm with atwater. I much prefer TNR but switched to VCourier New because "everyone said" it's the right font.
I found represetnation using Courier New but in future I'll go wiht my gut feeling - if there's no consensus, what's the point .
I used to hate Courier but when I started writing in it, I got used to it. I find it relatively easy on the eye, and now in TNR all the letters look way too close together.
Dark Courier is easier to read than Courier New.
Yeah, but all you gotta do is write in what you like, then alter it per specific guidelines when sending to sepecific pubs or agents. If they don't state a preference, go with TNR. Propertional fonts are easier to read. There's no reason to kill your own eyes writing in courier when it's so easy to change the font after everything's written.
Times New Roman 13 point. It's a good thing.
Word verification is "sqzgzgbz": looks like a hybrid of Polish and Serbian.
I'm not crazy about the new courier. It's thinner and lighter. So I write in regular old courier because it's a bit bigger and I can see it without having to use my middle-aged reading glasses.
But I have to say that bad writing will be bad regardless of the font. So best everyone concentrates on craft and accept the standard 12-point either TNR or C... whichever one floats your boat.
Any opinion on 10-12-point Palatino or Palatino Linotype?
(I started writing for a small-press fanzine that preferred 10-pt Palatino, and still use it as my default font setting.)
Eleven point Lucida Bright. Looks lovely, easy on the eyes. And it's not an aesthetic trainwreck like Courier or worn-out TNR, which everyone uses only because the Great and Powerful Microsoft chose it as the default for Word. Don't even get me started on Word. ;-)
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