No matter what your opinion is of used bookstores (and there are good arguments for and against them) their existence can be a great backhanded compliment to writers. What weird backhanded compliment would that be? When you can't find them in the stores.

Okay, here's what I mean by that. A lot of us in this economy - or career choices - don't have a lot of money. The only way we can buy books are used - regardless of your opinion of them in terms of being an author. They serve a purpose.  But why would not being able to find your favorite author be considered a Good Thing?

·         Good Thing Reason #1 - Selling out - and not in the "I'd write anything for money" way. Not finding an author in any bookstore is a good thing when you sell so many books they're not staying on the shelf. This applies to regular retail outlets as well as used bookstores.

·         Good Thing Reason #2 - For used bookstores not having an author - or specific books/series - means that when people buy them new, they keep them. They don't turn around and sell them again.

·         Good Thing Reason #3 - No Remainders. For many publishers one way of getting rid of returns without having to destroy books and maybe making a wee bit of money is to sell them to used bookstores. If you don't see an author's new books in a used bookstore, then they're not being remaindered. This is, indeed, a good thing.

Does this really happen? Oh, yeah. Example - at least in the Dallas/Fort Worth area - is Rachel Caine. Granted she's local - and an all around lovely person - I like her, and I like her work. It's almost impossible to find some of her work in any bookstore. You can find some of the Weather Warden books - generally not the one you go looking for but those you can find. The Morganville Vampire series? Not so much. The people who buy her Young Adult series don't give them up. They buy them and keep them.  Which is a huge compliment to any author.

So if you like an author, buy what you can where you can. Because you never know when you're not going to be able to find them.

One of the fundamental tenets of professional writing is to put every manuscript into "Standard Manuscript Format". What few people tell new writers is that there's no longer a set standard, kind of like the Pirate's Code, they're more...guidelines. There are still things new writers need to do in order to be taken seriously, but as far as standard goes, 21st Century Publishing is a changing beast. But for those who make the effort, here are some things that are still fairly consistent.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Paper - As long as there are paper submissions anywhere, I doubt serious this one will change. Always use white paper for both submissions and cover letters. Never, ever use colored paper. You will stand out, and it won't be in a good way.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Margins - Traditionally margins have been one inch all the way around the page, and probably still should be. However, this has relaxed somewhat when Microsoft Word became the industry standard word processing program and it defaults to 1.25" right and left. I still reset my defaults to 1" all around.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Spacing  - I'm referring to Line Spacing. 8 times out of 10 you're going to double space your pages with no extra "return/enter" line between paragraphs with a 5 space/.5" indention for paragraphs. The other 2 times out of 10, you'll single space your manuscripts with a blank line between paragraphs, but these are generally for online publications so they can see the space. The double spacing may seem "environmentally unfriendly", but that space allows editors to make notes and is easier on eyes that need to read a ton of stories in a short amount of time. You don't want to strain the eyes of your editor/publisher. Really you don't.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Fonts and Styles - Here's where the greatest debate still lies. Style refers to bold, underline, and italics - first of all, new writers should use special styles sparingly and with great thought. Traditionally, this is still indicated not with the word processing styling, but with the old style of text marking: underline = italics, _word_ = underline (don't know why), and *word* is bold face.  This is a fall back from typesetting days when typewriters didn't do styles and everything was done manually. Does it make sense? Probably not, but it's how it's done.

FONTS are the hot  button topic right now, still. Traditionally, you'll still use Courier or Courier New. It's the old fall back to typewriter days where the publisher could judge page counts and word counts by the look of the page. Then Microsoft Word started defaulting to Times New Roman. Now it's Calibri. Though I do this column in Calibri, I would never send a manuscript in it. Some say it's okay - to use an Arial/Calibri type font - they look good on a screen, but are harder to read on paper to some. Times New Roman is hard to read on screen, but traditionally a print (paper) font. Courier annoys some but for the most part, it's still a safe font to use in submissions. ALWAYS USE A 12 POINT FONT. It doesn't strain eyes.

Now, however, what is most important is to read the publication's guidelines. If they say "SMF" or Standard Manuscript Format, I would go with Courier New, 1" margins, double space, and underline your italics. Sometimes a publication will ask for specific things within their guidelines. Follow their rules, some call it a "weeding out process" to see who's reading the guidelines and who isn't - at that point, I stop and ask myself how much I want to submit to that market versus getting back to writing.  It's a crazy thing, but welcome to the publishing industry. Have fun.