How to Prepare a Manuscript for Graduate School.

Learn how to decide what to send when applying to grad schools!

Most graduate schools require you to submit at least 7-20 pages of poems. I will help you decide how to choose.

  • First narrow it down to 25 poems (if you only need 20) or 15 poems (if you only need 10.)
  • Make sure you have enough ink to print each poem.
  • Decide if you want to send the same poems to each school or if you want to pick and choose.
  • Take the poems to a mentor, poetry friend, or professor, and beg for help. Well, you probably don’t need to beg– asking politely should work too!
  • Once you have your 7-20 pages, make sure you format them appropriately (some schools require you to number them on the top left of the page, other schools require you to put your name and address on the top left corner, and some require you to put a table of contents stapled to the manuscript.) Make sure you do everything correctly.
  • Edit, edit, edit. Don’t let a few typos screw you over. Make sure you edit for punctuation, grammar, and edit the poem appropriately. Cut where you need to cut, add where you need to add. Make sure the poems are the way you want them.
  • After you’ve edited your poems take them to your mentor, poetry friend, or professor and make sure they are cohesive.
  • Check and double check.
  • Make sure everything is perfect.
  • Check to make sure the font is 12 point Times New Roman
  • Make sure the Titles are the way you want them.
  • Send them out!

If you need help editing your poems, or getting your manuscript, hire an editor

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