In this stepbystep video guide, we walk you through formatting a paperback manuscript in microsoft word. For an ebook, though, youll want to indent your paragraphs and remove the space between them. 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. Some of the most popular downloadable book word templates are discussed here. In this article, we will see how to do different formatting for. When youre done, share your writing in the comments. Its recommended that you adjust these setting before writing the content of your book to prevent formatting issues late on. These styles are applied from the multilevel list menu, instead of the styles gallery. Formatting a book in microsoft word book formatting made. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets.
Office 365 issues formatting page numbers for book. How to write a book using microsoft word microsoft word is great for editing your book. Our free book formatting templates have this stuff built in. Free book design templates and tutorials for formatting in ms. But for nonfiction in particular, there are a few specific considerations. How to format your book for amazon kindle using microsoft. The information we give is specific to the 2016 version of word, but the steps are similar in most versions. To reserve space on the inside fold for binding, increase the width of the gutter. Plus, that makes it really easy to update your manuscripts. Formatting a book in microsoft word book formatting made easy. Click size more paper sizes and set the document to 6x9 or your book size.
If you have copied and pasted your manuscript from a different place or a program. 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. Depending on your version of microsoft word, this may be a popup or a sidebar. There are lots of ways to make this work, but i recommend formatting in ms word or indesign. This step removes all the stray formatting, and itll end up with your manuscript looking like this. As you can see in the image below, there are a number of builtin styles in use in my example document. What you want to do is use ms words styles feature. If you have a long document, you might want to split it into multiple booklets, which you can then bind into one book. Getting rid of the junk code requires a solid knowledge in xhtml programming and bundling in epub and mobi formats. Click custom margins to change the widths of the margins. Apr 23, 2014 click the page layout tab on the menu bar, then click and open the size option. Free book design templates and tutorials for formatting in. Make sure youre familiar with standard manuscript format. How to format a book in microsoft word with pictures getting started.
Formatting your print book interior in ms word for kdp print the first thing you will need to do is determine what trim size you want for your print book. Change the setting for multiple pages to book fold. Book formatting for selfpublishers, a comprehensive how. Free book formatting templates in ms word and indesign. Check out our complete book formatting howto guide for word templates video to see how a template is populated. Microsoft word is universally recognized, and youre probably already familiar with it. Find a book on your bookshelf that you want your book to be like. As you can see in the image below, there are a number of built in styles in use in my example document. Formatting your print book in ms word for kdp print spread.
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. General tips for book formatting in word all stand. On the dropdown menu, click more paper sizes at the bottom of the menu. How to format your ebook for kindle using microsoft word kindle publishing bible 2. 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 optional back matter. How to format your book for kindle using microsoft word in. To display paragraph marks along with other nonprinting. In the page setup group, click the small arrow at the bottomright. Place the cursor at the beginning of the third page of the front matter 2. Formatting your print book in ms word for kdp print. See daiya mitchells so you want to write a book with ms word. Make sure to apply to the whole document instead of this section. Aug 19, 2017 office 365 issues formatting page numbers for book dear microsoft, ive used ms office from day one, so im fairly advanced at most functions. This free video workshop is a 10step series on book formatting in microsoft word.
When writing your book you should separate the writing from the formatting. You need to see the formatting marks, so turn them on. If you want to write a book, you need word processing software thats up to the task. You can also use the styles gallery to make a quick style change. 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. Format your book microsoft word on a mac bookbaby blog. The book fold layout sets you up for printing your masterpiece automatically in the correct order, ready for folding and binding. 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. Formatting a book in microsoft word doesnt have to be confusing.
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. Click the page layout tab on the menu bar, then click and open the size option. Next time i will explain how to format an index and nonfiction footnotes. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the kindle formatting bible. Simple ebook formatting using ms word i hear lots of chat about the difficulties of ebook formatting. The information is specific to the 2016 version of word, but the steps are similar in most versions. Tips for formatting your book correctly in microsoft word. If you are designing a hard copy book its essential to design your pages for doublesided printing. Book outline template a book outline template word doc helps you with main arrangement of the book right from the cover page till the conclusion. Book formatting for selfpublishers, a comprehensive howto. Measure it and set your page size in word to be just that. Formatting page numbers in microsoft word 2007, 2010, 20 open your ms word document remove any previously created section breaks, headersfooters and page numberings begin by creating the two section breaks you will need. Simple ebook formatting using ms word molly greene.
Now i wont say doing your own is a cinch, but im here to tell authors, aspiring authors, and everybody standing on the sidelines because they think the ebook formatting process is too hard or too expensive that you can do it yourself. Well go through everything you need to do to format a book from scratch for printready pdfs you can use with print on demand publishing services like createspace or lightning source. They saved my book and can certainly do it for yours as well highly recommended. 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. A quick guide to formatting your microsoft word manuscript. 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. Here are some tutorials on formatting your book for print, and then converting your file to ebook. The thicker the book, the wider these margin need to be so that the text doesnt get eaten up by the spine. Open up word or get out a pen and paper if youd like. Complete book formatting howto guide for word templates.
How to format your book for kindle using microsoft word in 6. Start by doubleclicking on the ruler at the top of your document and bring up the document formatting window. 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. Dec 09, 2019 there are two custom styles for formatting both bullet points and numbered lists in the template, formatted to match the layout of the book. Book formatting for selfpublishers, a comprehensive howto guide. We often get customers come to us asking for advice on how to setup the page size, margins and other typesetting questions so we thought we would put all this information in a simple and easy to read document. But if you have to insert them manually, it would be a book writing nightmare. You can find the list of available trim sizes here. With a few customizations, it can make writing your book easy.
The issue with these three sections is that only the story part should have the title and page numbers in the header andor footer. The problem with this is that ms words gutter option wont work when it comes to book formatting. You can bring up the paragraph options under the layout tab and clicking the little arrow underneath. 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. Weve got a guide here for you, with some in depth formatting too. Build your book format a paperback manuscript word for. The book word format templates could be many and varied as these look to address the various facets of the book. Nov 11, 2019 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. If you are using ms word 2007, page break option can be found in insert tab. I wont go over the basics of how to format a book for publishing, since i covered it all in a post from last year. Formatting a book in microsoft word is very similar to adobe indesign and other typesetting software. Nonfiction book formatting for microsoft word lulu blog. See our separate guides for formatting a paperback in microsoft word for mac and pages for mac.
If you delete a paragraph mark between two paragraphs, the paragraphs will merge and take on the formatting of the first. First things first, decide upon the size you want your book to be. But if you have to insert them manually, it would be a bookwriting nightmare. 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. 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. Special formatting for nonfiction books in microsoft word.
Rather, via the page setup dialog, select book fold from the multiple pages drop down under the pages. Sometimes, however, we need to use more than one style for these elements within the same book. Office 365 issues formatting page numbers for book dear microsoft, ive used ms office from day one, so im fairly advanced at most functions. 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.
Even with thinner books, though, it doesnt hurt to account for the fact that the binding will eat up some of the page. Common mistakes made when writing a book in microsoft word. Word2kindle was a integral part in getting my 2nd book framer into publication as its formatting was pretty problematic. This makes navigating and formatting your book a pain. Now that youve mastered microsoft word, go write your book. For simple layouts, word is surprisingly robust when it comes to nonfiction book needs.
For our novel we are going to use a basic style which is common in most fiction novels. The orientation automatically changes to landscape. Dont forget to comment on your fellow writers work. Enter the widths you want in the inside and outside boxes. In this article, we will see how to do different formatting for different parts of the book. Dont worry about page setup, formatting, or which program youre going to use.