Editors, Agents, Authors: Does so-called "bond paper" have to be cotton?

Question

DO PUBLISHERS insist on cotton-fiber paper for manuscript submissions--or is wood-pulp (normal classy, office printing paper) okay?
I still am not getting a clear enough answer to this question. Everyone says you need to print your manuscript for a prospective publisher on 20lb BOND PAPER, NOT COPY PAPER OR OTHER ERASABLE PAPER. Does this mean I have to spend 25$ for a box of cotton-based, contract/resume type paper to print my 500 page manuscript on? Some people say "20lb bond paper" is the paper you buy at Office Depot for printing things, while other people say, "just don't get the cheap stuff like at Office Depot." Please tell me EXACTLY what kind of paper I should use--LOOK on the PACKAGE, please, before telling me what it says, and the price per box (and how many sheets that is). I still can't find a box or pachage of 8 1/2 by 11 paper ANYWHERE that actually SAYS "BOND PAPER", even though lots of professional people are telling me they think it will say so.

Answer 1

I can't believe you are still obsessing over this.


You walk into Office Depot and head over to the printer paper section. You'll notice different brands (Office Depot's store brand. HP, Epson, etc.) Within each brand, there are varying levels of quality of paper. From cheap, flimsy dull white to high quality, higher pound, thick, bright white paper. As the quality improves, the price increases. For purposes of sending a manuscript to a publisher, you need only buy the middle range quality paper and up, depending upon what you can comfortably afford.

If you spend $25 for a ream of cotton fiber, silk fiber, gold fiber, I don't care what kind of fiber, just because you are freaking out over some publisher guidelines, then perhaps you aren't ready to send out your manuscript or writing.

If you just pick out the nicest paper you can afford, shrug, buy it, go home and print out your manuscript without further obsessing over this, then you're ready to submit, my friend.

Edited to add:
Links below to online "cotton bond" paper.
But I still think nice bright white paper you can afford is perfectly suitable.

Answer 2

The real question is - how does your manuscript look when you print it out? Obviously the quality of your printer is as important as the paper - a good laser printer from HP, for example. Basic black and white.

Unless you are brilliant and can sell a manuscript hand-written on a yellow legal pad, remember that a poorly-printed, hard-to-read manuscript is easier for the acquiring editor to throw away.
Just as you would not wear tattered clothes to an interview for a job, so your manuscript should not be scruffy and make a poor impression!