LYRIC FORMATTING GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION

TO A

PUBLISHER
OR

WHY YOUR LYRIC SHEET LOOKS LIKE AN AMATEURS

Shane Adams
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The lyric sheet you just handed to me looks horrible. =) It has so much potential, make it look like a million bucks, this is how:

FONT TYPES:

Your font type is an important choice Use Book Antiqua as the font for your lyric sheet, it looks great and is easier for us to read (Times New Roman is okay, but Book Antiqua looks bettertrust me!).

FONT SIZE:

Set Your Title, writers, body & contact info using font sizing

Make the title line 20 in size. Make the writer line 14 in size. Make the verses, choruses, and bridge 12 in size. (If your song doesnt fit on one page, keep shrinking the font by .5, if your song still doesnt fit on one page after it is down to size 10, your song is WAY TOO LONG!). Make your contact line 10in size.

THE TITLE LINE:

This most important part of your lyric sheet should stand out As mentioned before, the Title Line should be 20 in size. Make the Title Line bold (this is the only line that is bold). Uncapitalize the small linking words, articles or prepositions (unless they are the first or last word of the title). For example: the, as, a, an, for, of, and, but or, nor & to.

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THE TITLE LINE - ADVANCED:

Using Small Caps to make your title look even cooler! Change your title to small caps. This is in the format drop down menu of your word processing program. You highlight the title, select Format from the drop down menu at the top of the window, click Font, and select the small caps button. This is what it looks like (the first example is without small caps selected, the second one is with small caps selected):

Im Gonna Miss Her IM GONNA MISS HER Its Five OClock Somewhere ITS FIVE OCLOCK SOMEWHERE It Doesnt Mean I Dont Love You IT DOESNT MEAN I DONT LOVE YOU Cant Hold a Halo to You CANT HOLD A HALO TO YOU

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THE WRITERS LINE:

The second most important line of the lyric sheet

Use the name you would use to be introduced. (So if a publisher calls you, or forgets your name in a meeting it happens, he (or she!) will not embarrassingly call you by the name only your mother and the phone company uses.) Do not use an initial (for the same reasons just stated). Do not use just the last name. Do not use the phrase words and music by. Publishers are not idiots (well most of us!, they will figure it out that the names under the title wrote the song. (The only thing you want us to see is your name. Anything other than the names of those who wrote the song are distracting.) Co-writers separate their names with a forward slash mark. (the one beneath the question mark on your computer keyboard that looks like this: / Dont use a comma or the word and to separate the co-writers. Having the word and between the names is distracting. Do not put the writer(s) in parenthesis Do not put the writer(s) in italics

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THE BODY OF THE SONG:

Prepare it so it is easy to read Start your lyrics three lines below the writers line (so that there is two lines of space between the writers and the body of the song). Never submit a lyric typed in ALL CAPS. They are hard to read and it looks like shouting. This is the single worst thing you can do. (This way of writing lyric sheets started because songwriters are notoriously bad typists, so they would hold down the shift -lock key on their typewriters to avoid making mistakes while typing. Some publishers still do it out of habit, especially the old ones. It still looks horrible. If you have a computer you have absolutely no excuse.) No need to indicate a musical solo on a lyric sheet by using the word SOLO. If you are listening to a song and there is an instrument playing when nobody is singing, its pretty obvious that its a solo. Even if the person cant quite put a name on whats happening. Never use quotation marks on a lyric sheet. If your song has someone saying something, do this: She said, (comma) Im not using quotation marks around what Im saying. There is some debate whether to type the entire song or leave out the second and third choruses by writing: CHORUS or REPEAT CHORUS. I prefer the entire song completely written out. That way if your song does not fit on a single page, 99% of the time its too long anyway. Do not use punctuation (i.e.: periods, question marks, commas, exclamation marks, etc.) at the end of the lines of the song. Do not CAPITALIZE the title of the song when it appears in the body of the lyric sheet. That goes for bolding the title or italicizing it. For heavens sake dont do all three. ITS DISTRACTING TO THE REST OF YOUR SONG. Use a comma, to separate a phrase it sounds like two lines but is really one line. Here is an example from Nineteen Somethin by Chris DuBois and David Lee notice the first phrase is separated by a comma, the second one isnt (also notice there is no punctuation at the end of the lines): I saw Star Wars at least eight times, had the Pac Man pattern memorized And Ive seen the stuff they put inside Stretch Armstrong Did I mention: NEVER type your lyrics in ALL CAPS?

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THE BODY OF THE SONG II THE TAB BUTTON IS YOUR BEST FRIEND:
Use tabs to set your song sections apart Leave the verses where they are. Tab each line of the chorus over once using the tab button (not the space bar). Tab each line of the bridge over twice using the tab button (not the space bar). You are using tabs instead of the following words (or their initials) which should never appear on your lyric sheet: VERSE, CHORUS, BRIDGE, CHANNEL, PRE-CHORUS, VS 1, CH 1, SOLO, REPEAT CHORUS, TAG, WORDS AND/& MUSIC BY, PHONE, EMAIL, ADDRESS

THE CONTACT LINE:

Keep it simple Center the contact information on the last line of the lyric sheet, use this: Contact: Your Name, 555-555-1234, yourname@yourprovider.com Do not put your address or fax number on a lyric sheet, publishers will never in a million years write or fax you. One phone number is preferred, if you absolutely have to have two phone numbers, still only use one number. Do not put a copyright symbol and year. Dont use parentheses around your area code, two dashes are fine, if its a local call for the publisher, an area code is not really necessary). Do not use the word phone before the phone number. It is obvious that the three numbers followed by a dash, followed by three more numbers, a dash and four numbers is the phone number. =) Do not use the word email before your email address. Its obvious that the words connected with the @ symbol is an email address. =)

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VERSE CHORUS BRIDGE

First Name/Second Name
Verse regular (12 points) Verse regular (12 points) Verse regular (12 points) Verse regular (12 points) Chorus (12pts indented one tab) Chorus (12pts indented one tab) Chorus (12pts indented one tab) Chorus (12pts indented one tab) Verse regular (12 points) Verse regular (12 points) Verse regular (12 points) Verse regular (12 points) Chorus (12pts indented one tab) Chorus (12pts indented one tab) Chorus (12pts indented one tab) Chorus (12pts indented one tab) Bridge (12pts indented two tabs) Bridge (12pts indented two tabs) Chorus (12pts indented one tab) Chorus (12pts indented one tab) Chorus (12pts indented one tab) Chorus (12pts indented one tab) Tag line same tab as chorus Tag line same tab as chorus

Contact: Shane Adams, 615-259-9460, shane@seagayle.com

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VERSE WITH PRE-CHORUS

First Name/Second Name
Verse regular (12 points) Verse regular (12 points) Verse regular (12 points) Verse regular (12 points) Prechorus line one Prechorus line two Chorus (12pts indented one tab) Chorus (12pts indented one tab) Chorus (12pts indented one tab) Chorus (12pts indented one tab) Verse regular (12 points) Verse regular (12 points) Verse regular (12 points) Verse regular (12 points) Prechorus line one Prechorus line two Chorus (12pts indented one tab) Chorus (12pts indented one tab) Chorus (12pts indented one tab) Chorus (12pts indented one tab) Bridge (12pts indented two tabs) Bridge (12pts indented two tabs) Chorus (12pts indented one tab) Chorus (12pts indented one tab) Chorus (12pts indented one tab) Chorus (12pts indented one tab) Tag line same tab as chorus Tag line same tab as chorus

Contact: Shane Adams, 615-259-9460, shane@seagayle.com

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NINETEEN SOMETHIN
Chris Dubois /David Lee
I saw Star Wars at least eight times, had the Pac Man pattern memorized
And Ive seen the stuff they put inside Stretch Armstrong I was Roger Staubach in my back yard, had a shoe box full of baseball cards And a couple of Evil Kenevil scars on my right arm I was a kid when Elvis died and my momma cried It was nineteen seventy somethin in the world that I grew up in Farrah Fawcett hairdo days, bell bottoms and eight track tapes Lookin back now I can see me and oh, man, did I look cheesy But I wouldnt trade those days for nothin It was nineteen seventy somethin It was the dawning of a new decade when we got our first microwave And dad broke down and finally shaved them old sideburns off I peeled the stickers off of my Rubiks cube, watched MTV all afternoon And my first love was Daisy Duke in them cut-off jeans A space shuttle fell out of the sky and the whole world cried It was nineteen eighty somethin in the world that I grew up in Skatin rinks and black Trans Ams, big hair and parachute pants Lookin back now I can see me and oh, man, did I look cheesy But I wouldnt trade those days for nothin It was nineteen eighty somethin Now Ive got a mortgage and an SUV And all this responsibility makes me wish sometimes It was nineteen eighty somethin in the world that I grew up in Skatin rinks and black Trans Ams, big hair and parachute pants Lookin back now I can see me and oh, man, did I look cheesy But I wouldnt trade those days for nothin It was nineteen eighty somethin

Contact: Shane Adams, 615-259-9460, shane@seagayle.com

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