Estimate your page count book designer fiona raven. Whether you hire someone to help you or format the book on your own, here are some helpful guidelines. You can follow the question or vote as helpful, but you cannot reply to this thread. The other formatting of the text you apply it to is also controlled by the style. A good, basic page layout is to leave 34inch margins on the outside edges and allow a 1inch margin on the inside, spine edge. Book template free book templates book layout template. Tips for formatting your book correctly in microsoft word. How to set the margins in word for your book printing project.
In my last video i talked about how much i hated formatting and in todays video im showing you how to format your novel. You need to know the final word count of your formatted book, so if you havent formatted your book for print yet, you need to do it before you start your full print cover. I just received a 6x9 trim wout bleed book proof from amazon and find. Formatting your print book in ms word for kdp print april 11, 2017 october 6, 2018 leila if you are familiar with ms word, then it is not too difficult to format your print book interior for selfpublishing with createspace now kdp print using the formatted templates and this stepbystep guide. Free templates and tutorials on formatting your book in word or indesign. Before sending your book to print, you will need to layout the book. If you want help formatting the other parts, see our stepbystep guides for preparing your manuscript in word for windows and mac.
Apr 23, 2014 with our page size set, we continue with the global settings, and in this post we cover page layout and margins. As a former microsoft trainer turned selfpublished author, he is able to speak from considerable relevant. If you have microsoft word loaded on your system, the template will open a document within the microsoft word plugin in your browser. 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. When i was still in school i remember they had some outline for formatting books for our print department. Yes, youve guessed it this time, hes explaining how to use word to format print books. Below you will find our free microsoft word book templates for the inside pages. I suggest you save your word document as well be adding formatting features, and itll. Bookbaby will calculate your books spine width based on the specifications you select when configuring your book along with the number of pages in the uploaded textbody file. The default paper size and type of a microsoft word page is 8.
With our page size set, we continue with the global settings, and in this post we cover page layout and margins. How to make a full print book cover in microsoft word for. For body font size, use 1012 points depends on your typefaces. Nov 01, 2017 the thicker the book, the wider these margin need to be so that the text doesnt get eaten up by the spine.
This article is the first in a series to address formatting for print books. To help ensure that your book meets kdps basic specifications, follow all the steps in this guide except those marked advanced. I would either have to shrink the margins and font quite a bit or have it be so thick as to be unrealistically expensive. Literally any formatting attributes can be included, as word is a stylesbased program.
Jan 15, 2020 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. Another useful touch is to add a header with your surname, the books title, and page numbers. This is going to be a smaller amount, because a portion of each page is being used to hold the book together. How to format your book for amazon kindle using microsoft. For the many indie authors who still favor microsoft word for formatting their books, heres a companion piece to ian andrews recent post about using word to create ebook interiors. May 16, 2016 how to format a picture book manuscript for publishers. In this post i explain formatting your word file for. But as i mentioned, 6x9 can feel a bit big and flimsy and i like the smaller, more compact size of the 5. To send in for a critique by the wd staff they will request that you use 1 12 in margins, which is different than the standard formatting of 1 in. Feel free to use any fonts you wish in your document, when publishing your book.
Well walk you through the steps to format your word document for printing a book that is a 5. Free book template microsoft word book templates diggypod. Insider secrets to professional book formatting for print in ms word. How to format a novel in microsoft word selfpublishing. Formatting your print book in ms word for kdp print spread. 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. Free book formatting templates in ms word and indesign. Authors have enough costs and publishing challenges to deal with already, so ive built an amazing package of book formatting templates in ms word and indesign you can download for free. Try measuring the amount of the page that you can see, to read from.
Setting a gutter margin getting your book published. Insider secrets to professional book formatting for print in. How to format your word document for book printing on mac or pc. Many writers indicate a title or subtitle by simply changing the font size and changing the font from the default font ah, times new roman, how we miss you and thinking their job is done. Free word template 6x9 format ready for createspace. If youre using word, go into the format menu and choose document. This book design tutorial will teach you how to format your own book before publishing. How to pick the size of your book as soon as you get serious about selfpublishing a book, you are confronted with the choice of what size your book ought to be. Im totally new at all this, but would like my first book to look really good from a page formatting standpoint. As you can see, a smaller trim size will produce more pages for the same word count, and a larger trim size will produce less.
Each book is 6x9 inches and looks like a book you might find in a bookstore. Apr 11, 2017 formatting your print book in ms word for kdp print april 11, 2017 october 6, 2018 leila if you are familiar with ms word, then it is not too difficult to format your print book interior for selfpublishing with createspace now kdp print using the formatted templates and this stepbystep guide. Diy formatting and layout guidelines harvard book store. The blank templates have the page size and margins set.
Book manuscript format templates interior book design. That includes font, font size, line spacing, spacing between paragraphs, paragraph borders, etc. I suggest you save your word document as well be adding formatting features, and itll be useful to do them all in the one document. If you are using a desktop publishing program like quark or pagemaker, set. If you were to send us a document that youd formatted to mimic.
The font is size 10 and no special formatting is available, but you can include photos if you so choose. The templates with sample content include formatted front matter e. How to format your book for kdp print 6x9 in less than 5 minutes. You will need a template for the inside pages of the book, and a template for the outside cover of your book. I set up some free templates and guides to book formatting here to help you out. We provide all guidelines for the printing process including book cover templates and layout. It does involve jumping a few hurdles, though, and those hurdles are the reason that so many selfpublished. The client has told me that the book should be formatted to be 6x9, but ive looked around different forums and it seems that everyone has their own preferred marginsis there no industry standard. Be sure to insert blank pages in your word file where you want the photo pages to go by using the page break option, so that your book will still be paginated correctly after you insert the photo pages. Even with thinner books, though, it doesnt hurt to account for the fact that the binding will eat up some of the page. How to format your book for amazon kindle using microsoft word in only 30 minutes 0 comments one of the factors that decides whether your book will be successful or.
The book fold layout sets you up for printing your masterpiece automatically in the correct order, ready for folding and binding. Here are the basics steps on formatting your manuscript in microsoft word for self publication. This word template has proper margins, bleeds, gutter and just everything is predefined with easytouse layout. The directions below are for ms word 7 and 10 the most. Im also making some guides and video tutorials that will help you design a professional, balanced, aesthetically pleasing, wellspaced and flawless book. Formatting a print book for kdp can be learned quite quickly, and you can do everything in microsoft word, or indesign if you want to make it extra professional. How to format your book for createspace 6x9 in less than 2. Ill show you how to change the margins for a 5 by 8 book and then well put the margin specifications for the other book sizes on screen. When writing your book you should separate the writing from the formatting. Using the styles function in word can help you ensure your book s font and spacing is consistent. There are so many tiny details and decisions that go into formatting a book that you pretty much have to be someone who enjoys working on that scale to appreciate book design. Youve written, edited and proofread your book, and youve formatted it to look the way you want.
It does involve jumping a few hurdles, though, and those hurdles are the reason that so many selfpublished authors dont have print versions of their books. Oct 26, 2018 if you want to experiment with book sizes and the way they might impact your typesetting choices, the reedsy book editor allows you to do so for free. In your word document, type any text 1 or 2 words is fine. Formatting a 6x9 book i am trying to set up a 6x9 template for a self published book. Professionallooking book template for word, free used.
How to format your book for self publication bookstand. The problem with this is that ms words gutter option wont work when it comes to book formatting. The inside margin is based on page count, and i dont know how to be sure of my page count. Have you had lots of questions over the years about words mirrored margins. Apr, 2016 tips for formatting your book correctly in microsoft word. Dust is exactly 400 pages, the extra margin spacing and larger size 6x9 makes it. Having some reallife examples at your side, you should get a better sense of. Aug 14, 20 understanding book layouts and page margins joel, thanks a ton for all of your info. Formatting a print book for kdp can be learned quite quickly, and you can do everything in microsoft word, or indesign if you want to make it.
Are there standard margin sizes for specific book page sizes. A useful option is to provide on your manuscripts cover page your contact information and a word count, like this. Printondemand charges per page, not per square inch of paper, so a 200 page book at 5 x 8 is about twice as expensive as a 100 page book at 8 x 10, even though they have the same amount of actual paper. Attention to proper formatting will help your submission stand out. If you intend to selfpublish print books i can recommend the experience as a positive one, then having a few tips and insights about the process before you begin will be helpful because theres a lot to cover, this topic is going to require several articles. Select this text, then click the arrow at the bottom right of the change styles button top right of the home menu bar. Click the page layout tab on the menu bar, then click and open the size option. If you re using word, go into the format menu and choose document. Using styles also saves you time because you dont have to format the font and spacing for each part of your book. The fonts used in the samples are for illustrative purposes only.
Publishing has become so easy in recent years that the biggest challenge for selfpublished authors is putting the effort and expertise into publishing books at the same level as the big. With that said, if you decide to format your novel. You can use the preset styles in microsoft word or modify them for a custom look. The thicker the book, the wider these margin need to be so that the text doesnt get eaten up by the spine. How to format a word document for amazons kdp publishing. How to write bestselling book descriptions in less than an hour. The trouble is that the given dimension for the inside margin changes at 400 pages. We have free book template layouts for inside pages as well as cover templates.
If you use microsoft word, heres how your paragraph settings should look. Build your book format a paperback manuscript word for windows. How to format a word document for amazons kdp publishing program one of the best explanations of how to format your word document in preparation for publishing is in zoe winters book smart selfpublishing. Build your book format a paperback manuscript word for. What are the guidelines for formatting a manuscript. Here, you will setup your book page or paper size which should be the same as your book cover.
Sp 014 rev how do i format my word document for book printing for. For microsoft word users, go to file and page setup. At diggypod, we offer free book templates for the author wanting to publish a book. Check out our free guide on how to find a book cover designer. You can help protect yourself from scammers by verifying that the contact is a microsoft agent or microsoft employee and that the phone number is an official microsoft global customer service number. See our separate guides for formatting a paperback in microsoft word for mac and pages for mac. The standard size for most trade paperback books is 6x9. These steps include including setting up the correct trim size, setting up the correct margins, formatting the text, and numbering the pages. Zip file that contains our microsoft word book layout templates in multiple design programs. These can be used in virtually any word processor like microsoft word, open office, pages, word perfect, etc. Our book templates can save you time and money by automating some of the setup and formatting tasks.
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 novel. This makes navigating and formatting your book a pain. The template downloaded from lulu for a 6x9 book seems really simplistic. Formatting print books with word selfpublishing advice. Tech support scams are an industrywide issue where scammers trick you into paying for unnecessary technical support services. The stepbystep guide to formatting your print book for kdp. 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. While designing the interior of your book is relatively simple, designing an eyecatching cover may not be.
Our specialty is book formatting and interior layout, and wed love to help you get your book into professional condition. For instance, if you want to get a price on how much a book will cost to print, the first thing you need to know is the size. All that being said, if youre writing your book in word, we recommend just leaving the page size set to standard 8. These book templates are only for the body of your book and do not include the book cover template. How to format a book in word a stepbystep tutorial youtube. On the dropdown menu, click more paper sizes at the bottom of the menu. Insider secrets to professional book formatting for print. I am writing a 6x9 us paperback book in which i have downloaded a random 6x9 template. Basic manuscript formatting and word styles duration.
There are 5 templates, and each template has 5 different chapter page styles, so you can mix and match to find something perfect for your book. Diy book formatting what you need to know the main purpose of this site is to give you some templates and help you use them to format your book for free or very cheaply. If you are designing a hard copy book its essential to design your pages for doublesided printing. If you want to experiment with book sizes and the way they might impact your typesetting choices, the reedsy book editor allows you to do so for free.
Aug 07, 2016 insider secrets to professional book formatting for print in ms word. This tutorial uses settings and options from the latest version of microsoft word, for mac or a pc. Understanding book layouts and page margins describes typical margins for a standard 6 inch by 9 inch trade paperback, including createspace book layout specifications. In todays self publishing world, its a good idea to have your book available in as many formats as you can. Formatting for the kindle is really plain formatting just like typing on a typewriter, if youre old enough to remember those days. The editor also provides four popular trim sizes for formatting 4. While words standard oneinch margins are great for many writing applications, they are not usually the best choice for book printing. You will be issued a book cover template after saving a quote and uploading your text file. First steps in formatting for print the editors blog. Diy formatting and layout guidelines printready means that you give us your book pdfs once theyre final. In a word document, however, the margin sizes must be adjusted accordingly for even and odd pages to achieve the mirrored look in the final book layout. Using the styles function in word can help you ensure your books font and spacing is consistent. You look at it on your desk and you can measure it, that its 5.
However, there are some steps you can make when writing your book in microsoft word that will make the job of formatting your book easier and help prevent errors in the book formatting process. Self publishing, book printing free book templates. If you want your book to meet the standards many designers follow, complete all the steps. Becoming an indie author, but if you dont have it, this video by connie neal has some great tips. Standard margins for 6x9 size book writing stack exchange. Hi and welcome to, where manuscripts are transformed into beautiful books. I remember they had some outline for formatting books for our print department. How to format your word document for book printing on mac. A badly formatted book can draw a reader out of the story, which is definitely. Formatting your book for lulu or createspace by moira allen. Formatting your print book in ms word for kdp print.
You will also need to modify the general page setup of your book like the page margins and. I think, from what ive read, is that my book would be about 400 pages. When i try to choose a page size in page set up, 6x9 is not available. Fortunately, all versions of word allow you to easily set mirrored margins. Common mistakes made when writing a book in microsoft word.
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