Formatting Epistolary SciFi novel

[Cairo Amani]

Hello, I'll try to be brief and organized.

TLDR: How do you navigate writing text that references an image if the image is not allowed in the manuscript?

I am writing a sci fi novel told through mixed media clippings. Types of media:

• First hand written account from MC
• Transcribed audio from interviews and voice notes
• emails
• text messages
• scientific papers
• scientific journals + other texts
• newspaper clippings and reports

The scientific journals and newspapers have images and captions which is the problem.

1. I know we are not supposed to submit manuscripts with images in them.
2. The story itself will make sense without them but the contribute to the mood and tone of the book.

Would this type of novel be an exception? I am guessing no so if not:

• Do I write the MS and leave all spaces for images blank with maybe a reference number for a separate file with the images in them?
• Do I let agents requesting a full know there is a version in a diff format and let them decide which they want to see?

Appreciate any advice, especially from experience.

 

[shortstorymachinist]

I don't have any experience with this, but if they request a full then I don't see anything wrong with asking if they would like a version with images, since they seem to contribute a bit more than normal illustrations.

 

[Maryn]

I think you're really wanting to do the job of the book designer, when your job is the author. (And your job is way, way more important!)

What I'd do is follow standard format for all quoted materials--an extra double-spaced blank line (for a total of three blank lines) before and after the quoted material, and the quoted material indented an additional half-inch from both the left and right margins. The quoted material is in the same font as the rest of the manuscript.

When you sell your book, or your agent does, that's when you talk about what those materials look like in print or ebook form, from varying fonts to images that look like newspaper clippings, emails, or scientific papers to illustrations.

Maryn, solid on this

 

[Cairo Amani]

I think you're really wanting to do the job of the book designer, when your job is the author. (And your job is way, way more important!)

What I'd do is follow standard format for all quoted materials--an extra double-spaced blank line (for a total of three blank lines) before and after the quoted material, and the quoted material indented an additional half-inch from both the left and right margins. The quoted material is in the same font as the rest of the manuscript.

When you sell your book, or your agent does, that's when you talk about what those materials look like in print or ebook form, from varying fonts to images that look like newspaper clippings, emails, or scientific papers to illustrations.

Maryn, solid on this

Thank you,

I was trying to be clear that I am not looking to design. But don't know how to work around say a blurb that references an image if the image isn't there? Does that make sense, maybe I should've done a TLDR lol

 

[Cairo Amani]

I don't have any experience with this, but if they request a full then I don't see anything wrong with asking if they would like a version with images, since they seem to contribute a bit more than normal illustrations.

thank you!

 

[starrystorm]

Totally agree with shortstorymachinist. Also, this sounds like a really cool idea.

 

[Cairo Amani]

Totally agree with shortstorymachinist. Also, this sounds like a really cool idea.

thank you so much <3

 

[frimble3]

How much of your story is actual narrative text? Maybe a graphic novel publisher would be a better choice?

 

[gtanders]

I feel your pain here. It sounds like you're saying the images are actually part of the story, rather than just adornment. Yet the traditional manuscript submission process only allows for text to be story-essential.

A couple ideas come to mind... maybe helpful, maybe not!

1) It might be an interesting exercise to challenge yourself to support the story without images. What impression is each image creating? Can you strengthen the accompanying quotation to sell that "story moment" on its own? If so, that might help the MS to go down easier with agents who expect the traditional text-only submission.

2) You could describe the image as the POV character sees it. Of course, this only works if the quoted documents appear in a concrete scene that's narrated in close POV. But I know that's not the norm in an epistolary novel, where the quoted texts may be dropped in as their own sections rather than encountered by a POV character in a concrete scene. So this may not work.

3) Maybe ask an agent? I know there's a board on here called Ask The Agent. I've seen agents do AMAs on Twitter and Reddit (no idea if that's going on right now). There's also Manuscript Academy, where you can schedule an agent evaluation of a query letter or 10 pages. They always ask if you have questions, and they're very approachable.

Hope that's helpful! Cheers!

 

[writer316]

A couple of non-standard books come to mind:

1. The Invention of Hugo Cabret -- virtually all illustrations (beautifully done, btw)
2. The Illuminae Files -- mixed media clippings, YA SF

I'm not very experienced about these matters, but based on the manuscript formatting articles I've read in the past, I'd keep the images in tact for any full submissions. For the rest of the mixed media portions, maybe treat them like quotes? (i.e., pull in the margins to 1" left and right, add an extra space on top and below, maybe italicize?) You can also find articles like this one that go over specialty manuscript formatting tips.

 

[Cairo Amani]

How much of your story is actual narrative text? Maybe a graphic novel publisher would be a better choice?

97% I'd say!

 

[Cairo Amani]

I feel your pain here. It sounds like you're saying the images are actually part of the story, rather than just adornment. Yet the traditional manuscript submission process only allows for text to be story-essential.

A couple ideas come to mind... maybe helpful, maybe not!

1) It might be an interesting exercise to challenge yourself to support the story without images. What impression is each image creating? Can you strengthen the accompanying quotation to sell that "story moment" on its own? If so, that might help the MS to go down easier with agents who expect the traditional text-only submission.

2) You could describe the image as the POV character sees it. Of course, this only works if the quoted documents appear in a concrete scene that's narrated in close POV. But I know that's not the norm in an epistolary novel, where the quoted texts may be dropped in as their own sections rather than encountered by a POV character in a concrete scene. So this may not work.

3) Maybe ask an agent? I know there's a board on here called Ask The Agent. I've seen agents do AMAs on Twitter and Reddit (no idea if that's going on right now). There's also Manuscript Academy, where you can schedule an agent evaluation of a query letter or 10 pages. They always ask if you have questions, and they're very approachable.

Hope that's helpful! Cheers!

Thank you!
These are all good suggestions with 1&3 being the best fit. I didn't even know about Manuscript academy!

 

[Cairo Amani]

A couple of non-standard books come to mind:

1. The Invention of Hugo Cabret -- virtually all illustrations (beautifully done, btw)
2. The Illuminae Files -- mixed media clippings, YA SF

I'm not very experienced about these matters, but based on the manuscript formatting articles I've read in the past, I'd keep the images in tact for any full submissions. For the rest of the mixed media portions, maybe treat them like quotes? (i.e., pull in the margins to 1" left and right, add an extra space on top and below, maybe italicize?) You can also find articles like this one that go over specialty manuscript formatting tips.

Thank you so much!!!