First up I am using Word 2007 so if you are using an earlier
or later edition the location of the tool categories may differ.
Now many people think that you need a specialised writing
program to format book correctly, however with a little effort and know how you
can prepare your book using Microsoft Word.
So let’s get started.
First things first open a fresh word document. First of all
we want to check several things before we get started. So you want to want to
click the main Word button and in the lower right hand corner of the drop menu
select word options. This will open a popup menu which holds commands for the
whole word document. Here we need to check the proofing so click proofing along
the left hand side of the menu. Here I only select, flag repeated words, check
spelling as you type, use contextual spelling, and mark grammar errors as you
type. Then you want to click on autocorrect options, which you will find in the
top right hand corner. This will open another popup menu where you need to edit
several things.
Under the autocorrect tab you can select all and under the autoformat
tab and under replace you can select all and remember to select styles under preserve.
Here is where it gets a bit different under the autoformat as you type tab
deselect all because this can cause problems when you upload your file, however
I leave straight quotes with smart quotes selected as I prefer the look.
Next you want to go to click advanced on the left hand side
of the word options menu. Here you want to make sure that under editing
options, keep track of formatting is selected and mark formatting inconsistencies
below it. Then in case you decide to copy and paste work into the document
from another make sure under the cut, copy, and paste section you select match destination
formatting for all.
Now if you are like me and are using a lot of vocabulary
from various languages fictional or not you may want to set up additional
dictionaries to help the document cope with spell checking. How you do this is
head back to the proofing section and under when correcting spelling in
Microsoft Office programs click on custom dictionaries. This will open a popup
menu, here you simply need to click new on the right hand side then it will ask
you to save the new dictionary so give it a name and click save.
Next you want to fill it with words and you can do it one of
two ways, you can select the dictionary and click edit word list, which will
open a popup menu in which to enter the new words or if you select the
dictionary of choice and click change default then all you need do is start a
spell check and when a word is called up you simple click the add to dictionary
button.
After this we head over to the page layout tab and the page setup
section, to open a popup menu click the small icon in the lower right hand
corner of the section. Now what you want to do now is head over to CreateSpace
to choose a trim size because the size will determine how you should setup your
document.
Since I prefer small thick books I chose the trim size of 5
x 8 inches and according to their outline they recommend a margin of 0.5 inches
and for the inside margin, also known as the gutter margin, they recommend 0.75
inches for a book between 151 to 400 pages. Note that you will have to convert
everything into centimeters for Microsoft Word.
With this information you are able to get started. So in the
page setup popup menu you want to go to the margins tab and set all your
margins to 1.27 cm and the gutter to 1.9 cm. Then using the drop menu for multiple
pages select mirror margins, and at the bottom of the page where it says apply
to select whole document.
Next click on the paper tab and select custom size from the
drop menu and then you can enter the custom measurements, in this case 12.7 cm
width and 20.32 cm height. And finally click on the layout tab and make sure
the header and footer are set to 1.25 cm.
Now you will want to set some text styles as it is the
easiest way to ensure that the formatting of your text will remain constant
throughout your document. So head to the home tab and the styles section then
right clicking on the style called Normal and in the drop menu select modify.
Once you do this it will open a popup menu.
In this menu you can edit the font style and size and its
alignment. Now I typically use Times New Roman for the main text as most books
use this font because it is neat, easy to read and it looks professional. A
good font size is also 11 pts. Now that is done go to the lower left hand
corner and click format and in the drop menu select paragraph.
Here under the indents and spacing tab make sure that alignment
is set to justified and that the indentation is set to 0 cm for the right and
left and under special select first line and give it an indent of 0.5 cm. Then
under spacing make sure that before and after is set to 0 pts and select multiple
in line spacing and set it at 1.15. Now your Normal text is formatted.
Next up is your headings style. So select the style called
Heading 1, for headings it is good to choose a new font, personally I like
Garamond as it blends well with Times New Roman but looks a bit more formal, a
good size to set your headings at is 14 pts, and centered alignment of course.
Now you want to go into paragraph again and set it the same as your Normal
style with the exception of removing the first line indent.
You may also want to set another heading style using Heading
2 and this time selecting bold, giving your chapter headings the following
look.
If you are like me two or three text styles may not be
enough so you might want to create your own. To do this you need to click the
lower right hand icon under the styles section this will open a popup menu.
Here you click the lower left hand icon which has the yellow star and A in it.
This will open another popup where you are free to name your new format and
format it as you see fit.
As examples I will show you some of my custom styles.
Centered I use for the Title Page and for the Other Titles Page. Glossary, Copyright, and Table of Contents are pretty much self explanatory.
Now it’s best to start your writing by setting the first few
pages how you want them because doing so later can cause all sorts of issues.
So we will begin with the first page which people will see when they open your
book. It’s recommended that to start you have a page featuring the text used in
the title so this will typically be an image.
So head to the insert tab and click on picture you then need
to locate your picture and insert it, once done you want to click on the picture
tools format tab and under the adjust section click on compress pictures. A
popup will appear and you want to click the options button, another menu will
open and you want to deselect automatically perform basic compression on save.
This will stop Word from altering the DPI of your image, for optimal printing
you need a DPI of at least 300.
After this you want to go to the page layout tab and under page
setup click on breaks and under page breaks select page and then repeat but
this time add in a section break, so under breaks find section breaks and click
on next page. What you will end up with is a blank page between your title and
your dedication page.
Now you don’t necessarily need a dedication page but you'll
want the blank page none the less. I feature a quote from the book rather than
a dedication and when I do I set the page slightly different than the one
previous. Head to the page layout tab and open the page setup popup menu then
under the layout tab and under page select center from the drop menu, and very
importantly at the bottom switch make sure apply to is set to this section. And
like before follow it with a page and section break. This section uses the
Centered style.
Then you will want to add another blank page via a page
break before you get to your second title page. At this stage you may be
wondering why all the blank pages, well you must remember that the first page
appears on the right hand side of the book and so the blank pages make sure
subsequent title pages begin as the first on the right hand side, all you need
to do is to go to your bookshelf and check through a book to see this in
action.
Anyway on your second title page you will simply type the
title, the authors name, the publishers name, and that it is printed by
CreateSpace. Follow with a page and section break. This section uses the
Centered style but with the title font size increased for emphasis.
This time you don't need a blank page you just go straight
to your copyright page. Here you might want to change the layout again so head
to the page setup popup menu and change page alignment to bottom and once again
make sure its applied to this section. Now on your copyright page you will want
to have the copyright and who ever created the cover art.
It is also good to put a disclosure in if it is fiction.
All characters in this publication are fictitious and any
resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Now the copyright law may differ from country to country to
make sure you know whether or not you are covered under the law of your country
and included the rights listed in your copyright act. You may need to apply and
pay a small fee for copyright protection. Then comes your ISBN, now some places
where you can upload your book will supply you with an ISBN while others
require you to have your own. There are several ways you can acquire an ISBN,
you can purchase one or if your country permits it you can contact your National
Library for free ones, if they provide that service. But if so you must adhere
to their terms and conditions.
And to close it is good to add something like this: All
rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission
of the publishers, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover
other than that in which it is published.
And of course end with a page and section break, this
section uses the Copy Right style.
Next up is your contents page now I always like to have a
table of contents in my books because as a reader the titles of chapters often
help me decided whether or not it sounds like a good book. You can set out the
table of contents in anyway which ever best suits your book. Note that here it
is fine to use tab if you wish to list the chapter number and the name. And
although you use the Table of Contents style you may also want to put certain
sections in italics and give them a Special indent of 0.5 cm. Now unlike with
an eBook there is no fancy hyperlinks needed all you have to do is set it out
and once the story is finished run through your document several times and jot
down the page numbers of chapters and add them to your table of contents. At
the end page break and then another blank page with page and section break.
You're almost ready to write now. But if you have a prologue
you will want to have a page and section break after it, you will see why in a
moment. After each chapter however you simply only need to add a page break
until the last chapter then add a page and section break. To keep it neat I add
two line spaces before and after the chapter title.
At the end of the document you may want to put a Glossary
Page especially if you are using a lot of uncommon terms or foreign words. Here
you will use the Glossary style and then for added emphasis make each entry
bold. You may also want to add supplementary information such as a page about
the author or a preview of your next book.
But wait it’s not over yet, now that your document is in its
entirety it’s time to sort out the pagination, which can be a bit of a
nightmare. We will start with the easier one, find the beginning of your writing
either the prologue or the first chapter and head to the insert tab and under header
and footer click on header and select blank. Now it will take you to a new tab header
and footer tools design.
Here under the options section select different odd and even
pages. To make pagination easier it’s a good time to switch your view so that
you can see two pages on screen at once. Now be sure to click on the right hand
side and then under the position section click on insert alignment tab which
will open a popup, you want to set the alignment to center.
Now comes the tricky part you need to go through your
document making sure that the header will only show between the prologue and
the main text. To do this click in where you have just entered the title and
you will see under the navigation section that link to previous is highlighted, deselect this and then hit previous section, and continue to do the same up to
your first title page. Then as you work your way back delete the title. When
you are back to the prologue click in and then hit next section and keep going
till you reach your glossary then you want to unclick link previous again and
delete the title. Note that if you have an epilogue include the header in it as
you did the prologue. If done correctly you should only see the title header on
the right hand side of your screen from the prologue till the end page of the
main text.
Now the page numbers can be a little trickier and can do
weird and wonderful things to your document. Begin at the first page of chapter
one and click on page number under the header and footer section of the insert
tab. In the drop down select bottom of page and then Plain Number 3, you then
want to do as you did for the header but this time keeping the page numbers
within the main text only. Once done you want to start on the opposite page,
the one on the right hand side and this time select Plain Number 1 and repeat
the previous process of removing unwanted page numbers.
Now you should have page numbers which are next door to one
another. In theory you should now be able to change the page numbers, which is
optional as some books count the pages from the first title, however I prefer a
clean look as some other books and set the page number at one in the first
chapter. To set the page numbers to one you head to the header and footer
section and click page number and then click on format page numbers and in the
popup menu under page numbering set it to start at 1. If all the steps
previously are done correctly the pagination should now run smoothly.
One thing to note is that sometimes your book might do
something odd like suddenly change the gutter alignment half way through, so it
is always a good idea to run through the whole document displaying to pages on
the screen so you can notice it. If this has occurred you may need to add in an
extra blank page, I’ve had this happen just before epilogues or between the
prologue and the first chapter and it usually happens because it wants the new
section to display on the right hand side when printed, which is the left hand
side of your screen, so although you might think I will have a random blank
page facing people it turns out okay in the end and when you view your work in
the CreateSpace interior reviewer you will see clearly so don't panic.
Last few things to do is go through with a fine tooth comb
and check that it is all working correctly, do your final spell check, check
all of your grammar and then save. When saving click save as and in the bottom
left corner click on tools and in the drop down click compress pictures. A
popup will appear and you want to click the options button, another menu will
open and you want to deselect automatically perform basic compression on save.
This will stop Word from altering the DPI of your image, for optimal printing you
need a DPI of at least 300.
A thing to note however is that if you go back into your
document again and again before upload it might reduce the image size again
even if you did deselect automatically perform basic compression on save so a
good thing to do is delete the image and insert again and save a fresh document
file, labeled book 2.
And so you are done! Now all you have to do is head over to
CreateSpace to upload your files and you can learn about how to do that here.
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