Tips and Timesavers
When I was starting out, I leapt straight in to the fun bit, the writing. It wasn't until my manuscript (MS) was nearly finished that I took the time to start looking around for some of the conventions, requirements and timesavers that go with putting together a professional piece of work. WRONG MOVE HANNAH! I regret not researching the industry and the etiquette first. Here's a summary of some of the most useful info I found in my travels.
Formatting and layout
Do yourself a massive favour and set your manuscript up to industry standard before you start writing. Following are some key 'best practice' layout requirements:
Grammar, punctuation and craft
It goes without saying that your submitted manuscript, competition entry or query letter should be completely checked for spelling, grammar and punctuation as well as 'craft' issues such as POV and tenses.
Legalities & Technicalities
Disclaimer: This advice is provided as a personal opinion only and should not be construed as legal or business advice. As is always the case with this sort of thing nothing is a substituted for thorough, personal research and professional counsel.