Manuscript Preparation -- Cowart Style

A few years ago I found a sheath of old letters stuffed in the back of a wooden file drawer I bought at a yard sale somewhere in Riverside. After a glance I put them aside as something interesting to be looked at later.

A few months ago I came across them again and I found them so fascinating that I've decided to publish them on Bluefish… They ought to be preserved both for their charming style and for their historic content.

Slight problem: some had been crumpled and all had been folded and refolded so many times that my scanner will not pick up the full text.

So, first I spent a few hours removing rusty staples being careful to keep the pages in order because they are not numbered.

Then, I spent hours and hours flat ironing dozens and dozens and dozens of these letters one page at a time.

Does Stephen King prepare his manuscripts this way?

Anyhow, if my career as a writer ever goes belly up, I have a trade to fall back on – I can take in ironing.