COFFIN HOP STYLE GUIDE

When submitting your manuscripts to Coffin Hop Press, please adhere to the following formatting guidelines:

• .doc, .docx or .rtf file formats only
• 8.5″×11″ paper size. Portrait Orientation.
• 1 inch (2.54cm) margins (Normal) on all sides
• Courier or a similar standard font.
• 12-point font size.
• Single-spaced lines of text
• Paragraph indentation of First Line Only set at 0.5 inches (1.27cm). Please do not use manual tab indents, or type spaces at the beginning of paragraphs.

 

In Microsoft Word, your Paragraph settings should look like this:

 

• On the first page of the document, the author’s name and contact information should appear in the top left corner.  Please add the word count in the top right corner of the first page.

 

• Subsequent pages should only have text in the header. This text includes: the author’s name, a slash, an abbreviated title, and the page number.

 

IN YOUR ACCOMPANYING EMAIL:

• Please include your name, address, and contact information (email, phone, etc.). If we offer you a contract, we will need this information.
• Please don’t try to sell us on your manuscript as if it was a product on the Home Shopping Network, and avoid describing it as a mashup of X meets Y. Let your work speak for itself.
• Give us a one paragraph synopsis of the plot of the story, and two or three sentences about your intent (What kind of story is it meant to be, what themes were you exploring, what emotions do you hope to elicit from a reader…)
• Please do list any previous publication history, if you have any, but know that we will judge your submission entirely on the story you’ve written, not on how many times you’ve been featured in XYZ Monthly. If you have never published a short story, but you have relevant experience – copy writing, technical editor, blog, etc. – don’t be shy about mentioning it.
• Finally – be sure that what you are submitting to us meets the requested submission. If it’s a call for noir crime stories, don’t send us a hardboiled cat detective; If we ask for weird westerns, don’t send us steampunk procedurals. We have very clear brands of fiction here: DARK CRIME and WEIRD FICTION (meaning monsters, mayhem and Twilight Zone weird. B-Movie weird. John Carpenter and Ed Wood weird…) please don’t send us your YA magical sleuth story, or a childrens book about cats and friendly trolls… unless that’s what we’re asking for.