Publishing: Formatting the Manuscript

(using Microsoft Word 2007/2010 - with page numbering for 2003/2007/2010)

To make life a whole lot easier when you publish, format the manuscript before you begin writing the story.  I repeat: format the manuscript before you write that first word.  It will save you so much grief later on.  So, if you know ahead of time what size book you want to produce, set it up at the start.  For example, my uncle publishes 6” X 9” hardbacks and paperbacks.  He likes to maximize the number of words per page to keep the final book price as low as possible, so his preferred margin settings are Left: .7”, Right: .5”, Top: .5”, and Bottom: .5”.  He also likes his page numbers on the right side at the bottom of the page.  Finally, he likes the Georgia font . . . well, I as his publisher like the Georgia font.  Yes, of course you can set all this up after you have written the book, but you will need some Advil because when you change the settings after you’ve written the story, all sorts of issues appear that must be dealt with at publishing time – and the issues take a lot more time to fix than setting up the manuscript from the beginning.  So I will attempt to give you an easy start for a pleasant end to getting the book out to the masses.

Page Size

The first step is to set the page size and margins to match whatever book format you'll be publishing.  I publish 6” X 9” hardbacks and paperbacks, so set the paper size to 6” X 9”.  To do this, simply choose the “Page Layout” tab from the top menu, then select the “Size” item. From the bottom of the drop down menu, choose “More Paper Sizes,” and enter the size in the “Custom Size” section, and click OK.

 

Next, enter the page size (e.g., I entered 6” and 9” in the Width and Height sections of the “Page Setup” screen, and click OK.

Margins

To adjust the margins, select the “Margins” item from the “Page Layout” tab, and choose “Custom Margins” at the bottom of the dropdown menu.  For optimal printing on 6” X 9” pages, I set the margins and orientation as follows (Top: .5, Bottom: .5, Left: .7, and Right: .5), and leave the default orientation setting to “Portrait.”

 

 

 

Styles

If you’ve never used “Styles” before, start now. They are one of Word’s best bits of magic, and will work together with the table of contents as you modify page numbers and/or add chapters to the book.  For instance, if all of the chapter titles are set as headings, whenever you need to update the table of contents for page numbers and/or for newly added chapters, the table of contents finds the chapter title automatically if you have a heading style attached to it – removing all pain from table of contents creation and updating.

The default style that shows on the Word toolbar may or may not be what you prefer, and is simple to change.  To the right of the style section, which is part of the “Home” tab section of Word, is a section referred to as “Change Styles.”  If you click the small arrow in the bottom right corner of that area, a menu will drop down with different options to choose. 

For this example, choose “Style Set,” which is the first choice in the drop down menu.  When you choose “Style Set,” another fly-out menu appears to choose a style.  For the book you are reading now, “Default (Black and White)” was chosen.  However, I wasn’t thrilled with the selected font or paragraph spacing, so made a few adjustments. 

For example, after you’ve chosen a style, re-open the “Change Styles” menu and choose a font.  For this book, “Georgia” was selected.

Below the “Fonts” option is Paragraph Spacing.”  For this example, “No Paragraph Space” was selected.

You’re now ready to start writing.  If you already know the title of the book, click the down arrow to the right of the Styles, and choose “Title.” Add the title.

To enter a chapter title, I use “Heading 2” from the “Styles” section.

After you have entered the chapter title, just press the return key on the keyboard, and the style automatically changes to “Normal” for typing the chapter content.

 Before you publish the manuscript, you’ll also want the paragraph formatting set to “Justify,” so you might as well do that now.  Highlight whatever normal text you have typed in the chapter, and choose “Justify” from the page menu.

Next, go back up to the title, and make sure it is on a page by itself, the first page, positioning it on the page where you’d like it to appear.  On the next page, add the copyright. 

Page Numbering

The very first typed page (the title page in this example) will appear on the right side of the book.  That is, if you are holding the book open, whatever you have typed on the first manuscript page will appear on the right side of the open book. So the title above, even though it seems like it would be on the left side, will actually be on the right side of the book as the reader holds it.  Tip: As you are reviewing the manuscript to ensure all of the titles begin on the right side, set the zoom low enough to show two pages at a time (as with the title/copyright pages view in the previous page). As you scroll through the story, be sure all chapter titles appear on the left side, as the title page on the previous page does – which will ensure they will begin on the right side of the book.  Left on manuscript equals Right in book if you are showing two pages at a time on the manuscript.  Why? Again, because the very first page of the manuscript will be positioned on the right side of the book.  I had to learn this the hard way, and due to a very nice technical support person at Amazon, I was finally able to commit this concept to memory.

I like my page numbering to begin on the first page of the first chapter – not on the title page.  So the next step is to format page numbering to begin where you want them to begin – e.g., the first page of the first chapter.  Although not a difficult step, the process can be a little tricky.  First, choose the “Insert” tab on the top menu.  Then, select the small arrow on the bottom right corner of the “Page Number” option, which opens a dropdown menu.  To place the page number at the bottom right of each page, choose the corresponding options (see screenshot on next page).

Doing this, places simple page numbering at the bottom right of the page.  However, it may not have the desired amount of space between the page number and the bottom of the page, but you can adjust that easily enough.  With the “Insert” tab still selected, choose the arrow below the “Footer” item, and choose “Edit Footer.”

Choose the amount of space desired between the page number and bottom of page (keeping in mind the page margin settings are already adding space between the text and the page bottom).  For instance, I set my bottom page margin for this book to .5”, so I set the footer .2” from the bottom, which results in the page number being .7” from the bottom.  You can adjust this however you like.  As you change this setting, you will see the page number move up or down on the page, depending on the setting.   When finished, click the red “Close Header and Footer” button to return to the document.  

Table of Contents

Before adjusting the page numbering to begin on Chapter One, add a table of contents.  Even if you have only one chapter, go ahead and add it - because as you add new chapters, you can update the table of contents.  This is a good way to keep an eye on the page numbering and make sure it is flowing correctly – and also a great way to keep an eye on whether or not the chapters are positioned to show on the right side of the book.  So, add a table of contents early on.

To do so, select the “References” tab at the top menu.  On the left side of the menu, choose the small arrow at the bottom right corner of the “Table of Contents” menu item, and choose a preferred style.

As you can see, the “Automatic” style has been selected, which I suggest you do, as well, so you can automatically update it as you add chapters.  Be sure to position the cursor on the page you want the table of contents to be created.  You may be wondering which page to start it on.  If you want the table of contents to begin on the left side of the book, make sure there is one blank page between the copyright page and the table of contents page.  If you want it to begin on the right side of the book, start it on the page immediately following the copyright page.  This can also be adjusted later if, for example, you have a huge table of contents that spans more than 2 pages.  For a typical 2-page table of contents, I like to start it on the left side of the book so you can see the entire table of contents without turning the page.  In this case, make sure you have one blank page between the copyright page (which will be on the left side of the book) to ensure the table of contents begins on the left side of the book.  Without the blank page, it would begin opposite the copyright page, or on the right side of the book.

 As you can see from the screenshot above, my table of contents is beginning on page 4, the same page as my first chapter.  No problem.  Simply click the “Table of Contents” “Update Table” menu item, and select “Update page numbers only,” and the table of contents will straighten itself out.

 We’re getting closer, but not finished yet.  The updated table of contents now shows the first chapter beginning on page 5, which is the page below the table of contents.  This is better, but we’re not finished yet.  I want the first chapter to begin on page 1, not page 5.  That is, I want page numbering to begin on the first page of the first chapter.  So let’s move on, or “profluence,” as my uncle would say.

Updating The Table of Contents

There are two ways to update the table of contents.  You can update only the page numbers, or the entire table.  Update only the page numbers if the chapter titles, subtitles, or section titles have moved from one page to the next due to the addition or removal of new text inside the manuscript.  Alternatively, update the entire table if you have added new chapter titles, subtitles, or other section headings that did not exist before updating the table.  Think about it this way: if you add titles or headings, update the table; if you simply modify document text, update only the page numbers.

Begin page numbering at first chapter for Word 2007/2010

If working in Word 2007 or 2010, as I am, do the following to get the page numbering to begin on the first page of the first chapter.

1)     Place the cursor, or click, somewhere on the first page of the first chapter.  Select the “Page Layout” tab, and click “Breaks” and then click “Next Page” in the “Selection Breaks.”

2)     Next, select the “Insert” tab on the top menu, and choose “Header” or “Footer” (“Footer” for this example) from the “Header and Footer” section, and choose “Edit Footer” from the dropdown menu.  The footer section will now show, and the cursor will be active in it.

3)     Choose the “Design” tab and select the “Link to Previous” button (which will deselect it).  This will break the link from the previous section and allow the numbering to begin there.

a.      Click “Page Number” in the “Header and Footer” section of the “Design” tab, and click “Format Page Number.” The “Format Page Number” dialog box will open.

b.     Select “Start At” and type the number “1” in the box, and click “OK.”

At this point, you will still see page numbers on the pages preceding the first chapter, and will need to remove them.  To accomplish this, click somewhere on the title page, and then choose the  “Insert” tab at the top menu.  Next choose “Footer,” and then “Remove Footer,” which removes the page numbers that appear before chapter one.  The table of contents will need to be readjusted – so from the “References” menu, choose “Update Table” in the “Table of Contents” section, and choose to “update page numbers only.”  This should straighten out the table of contents.  If the blank page before chapter one has a page number still on it, simply click on that page, choose the “Insert” tab again, and then “Footer,” and then “Remove Footer,” as you did above. 

 Be sure to SAVE. Also, go back and see what side of the screen the first chapter begins on (set zoom level at around 70% to show two pages at a time).  If the first chapter is showing on the right side of the screen, and there is a blank page before it, simply backspace the chapter one page until it appears on the left side of the screen, ensuring its page number continues to show “1,” then update the table of contents again, as shown above, and save.

Begin page numbering at first chapter for Word 2003

If working in Word 2003, do the following to get the page numbering to begin on the first page of the first chapter.

Click on the page you want to begin numbering, and choose the “Insert” tab on the top menu, and then select “Break.”  Next, select “Page Break” in the “Insert Break” dialog box, and click “OK.”

Next, select the “View” menu and click on “Header and Footer,” then click inside the header or footer where you want the page numbering to begin.  Click the “Link to Previous” button on the toolbar, which deselects it, and breaks the link to the previous section so the numbering will begin here.

Select the “Insert” menu, and click “Page Numbers.”  Then, click the “Format” button, and type a “1” in the “Start At” box, then click “OK.”

Up to now, I’ve illustrated how to update the table of contents when there is a change in the page numbering.  However, when you add chapters, you need to update the entire table.  That is, rather than merely updating the page numbering, you need to ensure the table takes any new chapters into account, by selecting to “update entire table.”  All text items that are styled as a heading (e.g., Heading 1, Heading 2, etc.) will be included in the table of contents each time you  update its table.  If you find things in the table of contents that should not belong there, simply go to that section in the manuscript (by clicking it in the table of contents) and then highlight it to see if it is showing a heading in the Styles menu.  If it is, simply click the “Normal” style, which removes the heading style, then update the table (entire table, not just page numbering) to reflect the change. 

Perhaps you might like to include sub-headings within you chapters, which is really quite simple.  Highlight the sub-heading, and choose “Heading 3” in the “Styles” menu.  Then be sure to update the table of contents – entire table.

If you like this post, and would like to read more publishing tips (e.g., publishing for Kindle, publishing for Amazon, keeping things organized, cover creation - dust cover and paperback, using PhotoShop, editing tips - reading for clarity, character development, using review comments, etc.), please leave a comment below.