For those new to self-publishing, the formatting process can be awful confusing. Here are some great tips to help make it more clear (click the linked title for the full article):
• Is your book ready to be self-published?
Before making coffee in the morning, you’ve got to have grounds to put in the pot. Before grilling a steak for dinner, you need to have a thawed T-bone. Before self-publishing, you’ve got to have a completed manuscript.
• Wait to format text until editing is done
Formatting when writing to a small degree makes some sense. Many authors want to get a feel for what their book will look like in print. Or perhaps to get a “head start” while waiting for a proofreading to be completed, they start formatting. Almost invariably, though, this actually will create more work.
• How to determine your book’s trim size
As going through the self-publishing process, you’ll certainly be asked to set the book’s trim size. This is the final size of a printed page (or the actual size of a book’s page). If you took a ruler and measured the page’s bottom (or top) edge and either its left or right side, you’d have its trim size or the book’s dimensions.
• How to determine your book’s margins
Once you decide the size of your book (or the trim size), the next step in self-publishing is to set your margins. This is the white frame that runs between the page’s text and the page’s edge.
• Select best typeface for your book
You’ve probably spent some time thinking about or even looking at some potential typefaces for your book. Once you’re ready to format your book, the time has come to commit to one.
• Use consistent quotation mark, apostrophe style
A common problem that can sneak into your manuscript when self-publishing is a mix of quotation mark and apostrophe styles. That’s because some software programs use smart quotes, or those that are curved (e.g. “”), while others use dumb quotes, or those that are straight (e.g. “”).
• How to handle page numbers, running headers
How many times have you read a book then later as trying to find some statement or paragraph in it said under your breath, “What page was that on?” Eventually you probably just give in and look up the page number in the index or table of contents. Good thing the author included page numbers!
• How to line up page numbers in table of contents
One of the most annoying problems self-publishing authors encounter when formatting their book in Microsoft Word is lining up the table of contents. Fortunately, it’s actually quite easy to do, an after you’ve done it a couple of times, you’ll have it memorized.
• Avoid introducing wrong styles into your text
Among the most common yet avoidable errors when formatting a book to be self-published is inserting the wrong font, font size and or other style into the manuscript. Not fixing the problem results in an unprofessional-looking paperback and can get your ebook rejected from print of demand houses.
• Consider adding artwork to interior of your book
Especially if writing nonfiction, you’ll likely want to include artwork inside your book. Such artwork will help better illustrate your points (pun intended). Novelists, as well, might wish to use artwork such as illustrations if creating books for teens or young adults.
• Don’t commit these five book design sins
You’ve probably spent years mastering the craft of writing and have authored an excellent book. Hurried, mistake-ridden formatting can nullify all of your good work, though. As an editor, I often see these five cardinal sins of book design.
• Ask at end of your book for a review
You always want to encourage people who’ve read your read to write and post a few positive words. After all, if someone has made it all the way through your book, they probably enjoyed it. So a good spot to make such a request is after the last page of your book.
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My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 400 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the Storytelling 101 writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.
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