I've been writing a long time...?

Question:

I've been writing a long time...?

17 years this year, and I'll only be 21 in November.

My question isn't necessarily about how to get published. I'm aware I'd need to find an agent to promote me to publishers because the majority of them will NOT take people off the streets (though if you guys know of good companies that will, hey, those answers are more than welcome).

My question is simply this:

What program is best for formatting a manuscript? And how many pages (printed) should said manuscript be? Some of these characters I've had since I was 4 years old. I could write something the size of a dictionary just about -them-. Of course, I'm trying to avoid something that long for a first book... but any answers are helpful. =)

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Not every legitimate sale requires an agent. Many small publishers still deal directly with the author. Once you have a completed, polished manuscript, you can figure out if you should seek a big "name brand" publisher, in which case you need an agent, or if a small publisher will do just fine.

Remember, reputable agents charge the author NOTHING up-front. Some agents may deduct the costs of doing business (copies, mail, phone) from your first check, but nobody legitimate needs that in order to get started. No publisher needs money from the author. Anyone who does is cause to run the other way.

http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/dec9... is a good guide to fiction manuscript format--necessary when you submit your work. If it's not in normal format, count on rejection and possibly not one word being read, since that indicates unprofessionalism. (Ow, huh?) You can achieve this format using any word processing software, or your great grandmothers manual typewriter.

A properly formatted page contains 25 lines of 60 characters each--producing a "magic" 250 words per page, regardless of MS Word's literal word count.

How many words you aim for depends on your genre. Very short novels may be as little as 45,000 or 50,000 words. Huge epics may top 400,000. Use Amazon's text stats to get the word count for a half dozen novels in your genre *by unknown writers* (since writers with a following may bend the rules), average that, and round it down to the closest 5,000 words as the count you'll aim for.

Best of luck.