Formatting your book in word

How to format your book for self publication bookstand. Click size more paper sizes and set the document to 6x9 or your book size. Tips for formatting your book correctly in microsoft word. The directions below are for ms word 7 and 10 the most. Common mistakes made when writing a book in microsoft word. How to format a book in microsoft word with pictures getting started. Our unique approach gives you all the tools, help and information you need to create outstanding books and enable you to keep every penny of your book royalties. A wellformatted and designed book is critical to your success as an author. The information is specific to the 2016 version of. Plus, that makes it really easy to update your manuscripts. Do not use tab or spaces to indentthis will be invisible on the page, but will drive your typesetter crazy. Create your book in five steps with our easytouse online tools. To do this, click on the table of contents in your word document so that you select the table, go to the references tab, and choose update table in the bar this will open a dialog box with additional options page numbers only if you only edited, added, and.

Open kindle create and click new project from file. Here are the basics steps on formatting your manuscript in microsoft word for self publication. To insert the page number go to insert header and page number, page number and then choose the second option on the top right. In word, do this either by using the ruler bar at the top of the page, or by setting first line by 0. Heres how to use the styles function in microsoft word to ensure the various. To display paragraph marks along with other nonprinting. Our staff of professional book designers will work. Using the styles function in word can help you ensure your books font and spacing is consistent.

Depending on your ebook, some steps may be unnecessary e. Build your book format a paperback manuscript word for windows. How to format a book in word a stepbystep tutorial youtube. How to format your word document for book printing on mac. Word is better at converting to a pdf than it used to bebut its still not awesome, and its especially bad if your book contains images. Our free book formatting templates have this stuff built in. On word s home page, there are already standard headings listed. Please select one of the page sizes available, according to the nature of your book. Every time you publish a new book, all you have to do is open the word file and add the new title to your backlist section. In the page setup group, click the small arrow at the bottomright.

You can use the preset styles in microsoft word or modify them for a custom look. Publish beautiful books and keep 100% royalties at completelynovel, we like to do things a little differently. The first line of each paragraph should be indented by half an inch 0. Word doesnt divide your book into chapters for you like some other programs. Formatting print books with word selfpublishing advice. Here are some tips that would ensure that you book looks professional and is printed well with. Are you spending too much time on your novels text design. On the margins tab, change the setting for multiple pages to book fold. If you have copied and pasted your manuscript from a different place or a program. Free book design templates and tutorials for formatting in. How to format your book for amazon kindle using microsoft. Adobe acrobat takes your word document and displays it as is in a pdf file.

In this stepbystep video guide, we walk you through formatting a paperback manuscript in microsoft word. And even if you dont plan to do your own book formatting, there is a wealth of knowledge to be had by reading this book. How to format a picture book manuscript for publishers. Enter the widths you want in the inside and outside boxes. You need to see the formatting marks, so turn them on.

There will be no easy way to click and drag to rearrange chapters. How to format a novel in microsoft word selfpublishing. On the home toolbar, click the showhide button it looks like a paragraph mark. Choose header and then enter your name and the title of your manuscript on the left and the page number on the right. Examples of these are page size, margins, headline styles, etc.

No doubt about it, word has hundreds of features and tools, but you dont need all of them when formatting a book. Its filled with stepbystep instructions, pictures, and a hyperdetailed process for. For the layout, a professional book designer would take your word document and format it in adobe indesign, but the book should not be written in indesign, which is a page layout program. Paragraph formatting instructions are not stored in a code at the beginning of a paragraph, but are stored in the paragraph mark at the end of each paragraph. Word is the best word processor to write your book in. Type it clean use the default settings in microsoft word.

Open up word or get out a pen and paper if youd like. Whether you want to create a booklet for an event or print out an ambitious book project, consider using the prebuilt page settings for booklets that comes with word. If your changes are to be on the same page, choose the continuous section break. Build your book format a paperback manuscript word for. How to format your book for self publication bookstand publishing. Sometimes, however, we need to use more than one style for these elements within the same book. Sign up for our free book templates in word and indesign, so you can quickly format your book without the amateur mistakes and hairpulling frustration. This step removes all the stray formatting, and itll end up with your manuscript looking like this. Are your formatting your book in ms word or other word processors. Using styles also saves you time because you dont have to format the font and spacing for each part of your book. In how to format your book in word, you are taken from book formatting basics through the steps to format your ebooks and paper book, all the way to upload your book files online. This tutorial uses settings and options from the latest version of microsoft word, for mac or a pc. If you use microsoft word, heres how your paragraph settings should look.

These steps include including setting up the correct trim size, setting up the correct margins, formatting the text, and numbering the pages. Dont forget to comment on your fellow writers work. In a few clicks, it can help you format your title page, table of contents, and individual paragraphs and change your books look and feel by applying themes. Its recommended that you adjust these setting before writing the content of your book to prevent formatting issues late on. Depending on the type of book you have, these settings may be the only settings you need. This book is a goldmine for anyone trying to learn how to format their own books.

Global settings are the formatting elements that you set once, at the start of formatting your book. Use section breaks to change the layout or formatting in. Dont worry about page setup, formatting, or which program youre going to use. Its also a good place to include advertisements for any other books that you are selling. Well walk you through the steps to format your word document for printing a book that is a 5. There are certain elements in a book that are controlled by a master setting in ms word, for example page number style, page headerfooters etc.

When youre done, share your writing in the comments. If your document already has content, the text is formatted automatically, but you might need to adjust objects like images and tables manually. Word automatically compresses images when converting to pdf so, if you have a nonfiction book with images and complicated formatting, consider using a thirdparty service or plugin to convert your. How to format your book for kindle using microsoft word in.

Understanding microsoft word formatting of long documents. How to format your word document for book printing on mac or pc. And because any style can be tweaked, you get to change your mind as often as you like. Even if you dont use a book template, you can still write a book using microsoft word just be aware that you may have to spend more time formatting your book when its time to publish it. Choose the type of book youre making and click choose file. The stepbystep guide to formatting your print book for kdp. Set up the formatting change just past the new section break. How to format your book for self publication be sure your book is in one electronic file. First things first, decide upon the size you want your book to be. However if your ebook does not contain these formatting issues, here are 6 easy steps to turn your microsoft word document into a kindle book.

Because word is a flexible word processing system, you can simply use a book template within word, and start typing your book directly onto the page. Then change the style of the first chapter heading. Start with the word document i developed while filming this video and tweak to your liking. To change formatting in a document, insert a section break at the beginning of where you want the change. The goal when youre selfpublishing is to always make your book look as traditionally published as possible, so im giving you a stepby0step guide on formatting your. Applying a style to an element of your book file takes a fraction of the time required for manual formatting. Attention to proper formatting will help your submission stand out. To better work with styles, it helps to be able to see your document the way word sees it. Bookbaby will help you provide the best possible reading experience for your book s audience. In this article, we will see how to do different formatting for. For the many indie authors who still favor microsoft word for formatting their books, heres a companion piece to ian andrews recent post. If you make any changes in the book later on, youll have to manually update the table of contents though. The most common and most economical trim sizes is 5.

Go to layout and select the page setup dialog launch icon at the bottomright corner. Your link is now embedded into the document red arrow below, and when you click it, youll be taken to the desired web page. The orientation automatically changes to landscape. Click the insert tab, then click the bookmark button. Typesetting and formatting your book completelynovel. Make sure to apply to the whole document instead of this section. Do the same for any credit text you have at the beginning of the book by selecting the text and then clicking the centred style. Come back to your document and paste it into the address box. Click custom margins to change the widths of the margins. The list of supported page sizes is available here. If you choose to publish your book on completelynovel you will be reminded how to set up your document to ensure that your book will be completely printready at the end of the process.

The book fold layout sets you up for printing your masterpiece automatically in the correct order, ready for folding and binding. You want to ensure they see your every last word, so give your words room to breathe on the page. Even though you worked hard on your manuscript, it may not get the attention it deserves without professional formatting. Your book will be divided into three main formatting sections the main one is the story itself, and then there are the mandatory front matter and. Go to the link you want your book on amazon, your website, etc.

How to format your book in word is complete with examples, many screenshots, and example files. Now, select an area of text, such as the title in the image above, and then click on the style and your text will be changed to the new format. On the bookmark window, type toc in the bookmark name field see below. Keep in mind that even though your book may be formatted in one page size, you can easily include 8.

Chapter 1 offers the basic structure of paper books. Here are some tips that would ensure that you book looks professional and is printed well. Within ebooks, hyperlinks, with a touch of a finger or the click of the mouse, will take your readers to where you want them to be. Any word processor like word will have the same issues shown in the article. If you want to change formatting again, put in another section break. After you format your manuscript in word, add finishing touches with kindle create.