Author manuscript publication today can be a daunting task for many yet there are ways to minimize the frustrations often associated with the self-publishing process. There are a number of content publishing options available, most often at cost to the author but why go to a lot of expense and all the time and energy it takes to learn how to use new software applications when one of your best content development tools is right on your own desktop at no extra cost.
Microsoft Word provides all of the essential basics for manuscript content development with effective tools to help ensure product quality and professional results for an optimum reader experience and compliance with publisher/distributor formatting guidelines. Simplify your manuscript development process by sticking with a software that you have most likely been using for years and are already most familiar with. It will be much easier to review various elements of Word settings and styles available, including those you may not have used before, than going to a new software package that could serve to alienate and distress, especially when time is not a luxury.
Remember that if you run into difficulties understanding how to use the various formatting settings in MS Word, you can quickly search for 'Microsoft article about....' i.e. 'how to ....in MS Word'. At the end of the search query add the year of your own version of MS Word to get the most relevant search results applicable to your particular Word software.
Online Author Resources
There are two critical steps that every author must take before beginning the manuscript writing and development process:
- Research how to format a MS Word document for print and/or eBook publishing
- Review, understand and adhere to the chosen publisher/distributor's Content & Formatting Guidelines
Regardless of what professional services you, as an author, will employ, make sure that your Word document for your manuscript has been fully formatted, in advance, in accordance with publisher guidelines before a single word is typed into your Word document. Save yourself the stress and frustration of discovering upon uploading/submission of your manuscript file to the publisher that your content is riddled with formatting errors, which, by the way, are not evident when viewing your content in the Word document.
Formatting errors typically result in what would be a most undesirable reading experience for the purchasing customer; displaced content, inconsistent line spacing, improper or erratic indentations, skewed text alignment, irregular heading orientation and excessive white space just to name a few of the potential and most common formatting issues that arise.
Were purchasing customers exposed to that kind of poor visual and readability experience you can be sure that they will never even contemplate buying your product again and on that note negative word of mouth comments and online reviews can be damaging to your book marketing efforts and reputation.
Content Simplicity for Professional Results
Key Formatting Practices:
- maintain overall content design and layout in a clean and simple presentation for best reader experience.
- Be consistent with your style applications. Minimize any use of 'forced' font elements that are not automatic/default i.e. font face bold and italics options.
- Font Face: Choose from only those fonts that are acceptable to the publisher as stated in their Formatting Guidelines. The most commonly acceptable fonts include Times New Roman, Arial and Courier in 12pt. Do not use a font size smaller than 12pt because readability is compromised for the average reader. Times New Roman is the most broadly recommended font face selection for publishing purposes. These select few font face choices are critical as they are the most compatible when your file content is uploaded into the publisher's conversion software. Where a file format is not fully compatible with the publisher's software, those undesirable readability issues arise. The publisher will likely reject such conflicting formatting and return the file to you for formatting correction; the last thing a publisher/distributor wants or will allow is a poor product to go out to the purchasing customer with poor readability.
- Word Document Formats: For optimum readability, your manuscript Word document should be saved as a DOC or DOCX file.
- High Contrast Font: Use 'Automatic' black font on a white page background for best contrast. Never use forced font color alternatives that contrast poorly with the background page color. If the font color is not a high contrast to the page background (as with the body text of this article) the reader will struggle to comfortably read the content. Eye fatigue, distraction, and a general sense of detachment from the reading material are typical when this issue occurs; a real turnoff for the reader.
- Publisher Formatting Requirements: Always format according to your chosen publisher/distributor formatting guidelines. Ignore such essential requirements at risk of publisher rejection of your manuscript. File content is mechanically scanned by publisher software compliance and there is an element of further scrutiny by human review where issues become evident during the submission process. Regardless of your desire to get artistic with interior content design, simple is the governing rule when it comes to publishing today, especially when it comes to eBook formatting. Also be aware that there a number of common formatting requirements between the various publishers/distributors however there are exceptions as well. Check publisher Content and Formatting Guidelines in advance of commencing the writing process for each new novel/book manuscript publication. Such guidelines are periodically updated by the publishers as well and you will want the most current version to follow.
- Formatting Differences; Print vs eBook Formats: Be aware that there are a number of distinct formatting requirement differences between the more traditional print format and electronic media (eBook) formats. Know these differences through careful advance review of the publisher's formatting guidelines. Failure to do so could result in a file rejection that means frustrating, time-consuming effort to resolve such issues.
- Indentation: To choose desired indentation i.e. first line indents, open the 'paragraph' settings at the top of your Word document window and preset the desired 'Indentations' field by opening 'Special' and clicking on 'First line', followed by choosing the desired degree of first line indentation via the adjacent 'By' field options.
- Paragraph Spacing: I cannot stress strongly enough this element of content development. Know that there are various functional keys on your computer keyboard which have specific, predetermined applications in their use. Never use the 'Tab' key or repeated striking of the space bar on your keyboard to create spacing between paragraphs or advancing to the next page for a new chapter. When the first line indentation setting has been selected, simply hit the 'Enter' key only once and the cursor will advance to the first line of the next paragraph at the selected first line indent position. In the case of eBook formatting, there is no spacing between paragraphs, only first line indentation which differentiates the start of a new paragraph by that chosen indentation.
- Advancing To New Chapter: In the case of eBook publishing, when you arrive at the end of a chapter, stop your cursor immediately adjacent to the period that closes the last word on the page. Then go to the top of your Word document page, click on 'Insert' and from the pull-down menu click on 'Page Break. The cursor will be moved forward immediately to the top of the next page. By following this simple procedure you will avoid creating excess 'white space' at the end of each chapter which, in the case of an eBook format, adds to required scrolling needed to advance to the next page.
- MS Word Formatting: By choosing MS Word for your manuscript document file, you will be using a document format that converts well with publisher/distributor software to the formats that they use i.e. EPUB, mobi, LRF (Sony Reader), PDB (Palm Doc), HTLM and PDF.
Maintain consistent character font face and color selections, line spacing, text alignment (left align body text and NOT justify aligned for eBook content), 'normal' and 'heading' styles throughout. Publishers/distributors want their reading customers to be able to choose their own preferences and settings for their individual preferred reading experience on their own electronic media platform.
There is much more to publishing formatting than can be adequately covered in this article. The foregoing are representative of primary formatting practices that will help to ensure a clean, highly readable publication product.
Smashwords Style Guide
For a free style guide that will help you produce a quality eBook publication, click Smashwords Style Guide for creation, formatting and publishing essentials. Once on the page, click on your desired download format.
Always refer to your chosen publisher/distributor's 'Content and Formatting Guidelines' before starting your next publishing project. Knowing the basics and fundamental formatting requirements in advance for each respective chosen publisher will save a lot of wasted time, stress and frustration! When all is said and done, the bottom line is to 'know when it is more prudent to outsource the formatting process by hiring a services professional who will efficiently and accurately facilitate advance manuscript file formatting in advance for a clean, professional product that both the publisher and purchasing customer will welcome with open arms!