Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Build A Manuscript Shell - Set Up Front Matter

Bottom Line It For Me, Baby Version (200 Words Or Less):
The series based on content from my how-to reference book on self-publishing, The IndieAuthor Guide, marches on. In the series, I present topics from the book to the extent of detail possible in a blog post. Note that I'm not covering editing, designing your own book cover, creating your brand or publishing to the Kindle here, since those topics are already presented on my website in the form of free pdf guides. I’ll include links to previous posts in the series here in the Bottom Line It section. So far, I've posted topics on Publishing Options, Rights, Royalties and Advances, What's the Deal With ISBNs And Bookstores, Choosing A Publisher , Getting Organized, parts one and two of DIY Formatting For POD, A Word About Industry Standards and Build A Manuscript Shell - Page Setup. Today's post is Build A Manuscript Shell - Front Matter.

Go On An' Run Yo Mouth, I Ain't Got Nuthin' But Time Version (Can't Promise It Won't Go On Forever):
Your book should have all the same front matter as a mainstream-published book. That means a copyright page, dedication page, title page, and table of contents. The page facing the reader when he opens the front cover should be blank. Set a placeholder on the first page of your word processing document for this page, followed by some carriage returns and a page break.


Note that you may find this blog entry easier to follow if you actually open your word processor to a blank document and follow along with the directions, switching between this window and your word processing window as needed.

To insert a page break in MS Word™, under the Insert menu on the toolbar, select ‘Break’. In the Insert Break dialog, select ‘Page break’ and click OK. To insert a page break using the keyboard shortcut, hold down the Ctrl key while pressing the Enter key.

This brings you to page two of your word processing file, which is actually the reverse of that blank page the reader sees when he opens the cover of the book. This is where you will put your copyright information, in the basic format shown
here. The print in the image may be a bit small to read, but it’s essentially the same format as any mainstream-published book.

You will notice that the left-hand margin on this page is much narrower than the left-hand margin on the previous page. This is because the left-hand margin on the first page consisted of a Gutter plus a margin, since on that page the left-hand side is where the page will be glued or sewn into the book’s spine. On this page, which will be the reverse of the first page in the printed book, the Gutter is on the right-hand side.

The effect can be jarring when
viewed onscreen. Remember that each page of the finished book will consist of two pages from your word processing document: one will be the ‘front’ of a printed page and the other will be the ‘back’.

The blank page directly beneath the front cover is page one of the book, an odd-numbered page. Its reverse is page two of the book, an even-numbered page. When the book is open, pages on the left will always be even-numbered (because they are always the backs of odd-numbered pages) and pages on the right will always be odd.
Recall the facing-pages preview in the Page Setup dialog box. If these were two facing pages bound into a book, the one on the left side would be even-numbered and the one on the right would be odd-numbered. The Gutter will always appear on the left on odd-numbered pages, and on the right on even-numbered pages.


If you do not have all of the information needed for your copyright page (i.e., ISBN, EAN, etc.), leave placeholders as necessary. Just don’t forget to go back and update your copyright page when all the needed information is available. If your book mentions brand names of products or services, add copyright and trademark information about those items to your copyright page, following the format shown on the
copyright page of The IndieAuthor Guide. Finally, select all the text on the page and apply your custom copyright Style to it. Insert a few carriage returns and another page break.

Now you’re on page three of your word processing file, which is the front of the second page in the book. This will be your title page. Enter your title, subtitle (if applicable), and author byline as desired, then apply the correct custom Style to each item. Enter a few carriage returns and a page break.


This brings you to page four of your file, which will be the reverse of the title page in your book. It may be blank or display titles of your other published books in an Also By [author name] list, according to your preference. Enter a placeholder, carriage returns and page break as shown here.

Now you’re on page five of your word processing file, or the front of the third page in your eventual book. This is your dedication page. Enter your dedication message about 1/3 of the way down from the top of the page, then select all of its text and apply your custom dedication Style to it. Enter a few carriage returns and a page break.
Page six of your word processing file is the back of the dedication page in your book. Enter a placeholder, carriage returns and a page break, following the prior examples of blank pages.

The next page, page seven of your word processing file, is where the table of contents goes. Enter a ‘Table of Contents’ header and apply your custom formatting Style to it, then the usual carriage returns and page break. The actual table of contents will be inserted much later, when the book is being prepared for print.

Now you’ve reached page eight, the reverse of your table of contents page. This page may or may not have text on it in the printed book, depending on the length of your table of contents. For now, set it up like the other blank placeholder pages, but instead of inserting a page break after the carriage returns, insert a Next Page Section Break.

This is done via the Break menu, as described previously. You’re inserting a section break instead of a page break to create a new ‘section’ for chapter one of your book. This is necessary because headers, footers and page numbers aren’t typically displayed on ‘front matter’ pages (copyright page, title page, dedication page, table of contents) but are displayed on the pages making up the main body of the book. Since headers and footers are applied on a per-section basis, if you want headers and footers on some pages but not others, you must set up separate document sections for each instance of changed formatting. Going forward, each chapter will be set up as a new section in the document.

Your front matter is set.

Up Next: A Word About Copyright, and Setting Up Headers and Footers

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Build A Manuscript Shell - Page Setup

Bottom Line It For Me, Baby Version (200 Words Or Less):
The series based on content from my how-to reference book on self-publishing, The IndieAuthor Guide, marches on. In the series, I present topics from the book to the extent of detail possible in a blog post. Note that I'm not covering editing, designing your own book cover, creating your brand or publishing to the Kindle here, since those topics are already presented on my website in the form of free pdf guides. I’ll include links to previous posts in the series here in the Bottom Line It section. So far, I've posted topics on Publishing Options, Rights, Royalties and Advances, What's the Deal With ISBNs And Bookstores, Choosing A Publisher , Getting Organized, parts one and two of DIY Formatting For POD, and A Word About Industry Standards. Today's post is part one of how to set up a Manuscript Shell - Page Setup.

Go On An' Run Yo Mouth, I Ain't Got Nuthin' But Time Version (Can't Promise It Won't Go On Forever):
A manuscript shell is to your manuscript what framing is to a house: it provides a consistent structure to the overall project. The shell is where you set up all the necessary formatting options for text and the manuscript in general. It’s a lengthy pain setting up the manuscript shell, but you only have to do it once and manuscripts created in the shell will automatically be properly formatted for POD as you work. After the shell is created, save it for use as a template: each time you begin a manuscript, open the shell and “Save As” under a new filename.
Begin by opening a new, blank document and doing a “Save As” with your desired filename. Save frequently as you work on setting up the shell.

Create Custom Styles
Make a list of the Styles you will need, select a name for each one, and create them as described in my previous post, DIY Formatting For POD, Pt. 2. If you need a refresher course on Styles, refer to Part One of DIY Formatting for POD.

Modify Page Setup
In MS Word™ go to File > Page Setup to access the Page Setup dialog. If you are using a different word processor and don’t know where to set options like margins, paper orientation (i.e. landscape vs. portrait), search your program’s help files for “page setup”. Instructions here continue with MS Word™, but you should be able to set all the same options in your program. If you are using MS Word™, you may find it helpful to open the program to a blank document and follow along with these instructions as you read, since I was unable to get properly-formatted screen shots to display on this blog.

The Page Setup dialog has three tabs: Margins, Paper and Layout. When setting your top and bottom margins, bear headers and footers in mind. If you will have headers and footers—and most books do, even if only for page numbering—be sure to make headers and footers wide enough to allow for spacing between the header/footer and adjacent text. Your text should not butt right up against your headers or footers.

Before changing anything else, in the Pages section select “Mirror margins”. This will make the margins on facing pages mirror images of one another, and alters some options in the dialog. Left and Right margin names are changed to Inside and Outside respectively, the Gutter position drop-down is locked, and instead of one page, the dialog displays two facing pages at the bottom.

Now you can set your inside and outside margins. Take a book of the same dimensions and type as your intended book (i.e., trade paperback novel, training manual, etc.) off your shelf and measure its margins. Note that margins are sized up or down incrementally for different page sizes. The IndieAuthor Guide has 1” margins, but that would be much too wide for a mass-market paperback-sized book. In trade paperbacks, I set margins of ½”.
Inside and outside margins are generally set to the same width. Don’t worry about making the inside margin wider to account for the binding, because the Gutter setting will handle that.

Because hardcover and paperback books do not lie flat when they’re opened, a certain amount of empty space is needed between the book’s spine and the text on each page, to account for the part of the page that’s hidden by the binding. The Gutter setting allows you to specify how much empty space you want in that area of each page, between the spine and the inside margin.

The dimensions, page count and purpose of your book will determine the appropriate Gutter width. A large-format book will open a little bit wider than a small-format book, exposing more of the Gutter area to the reader. A thin book will open wider than a thick one as well, also exposing more of the Gutter.

Get a book of the same approximate size and thickness as your intended book and open it to a page somewhere near the middle, as if to read. Tilt the top of the book down so you can see the top edge of the spine, and measure the distance between the spine and visible inner edge of the printed pages—in other words, measure how much of each page is invisible because it’s curved inward, toward the spine. That distance is the width of the Gutter, and in mainstream books with glued bindings, it’s often too narrow.

If you’ve ever had to forcibly flatten an open book in order to more easily see the text closest to the spine, you know how annoying it is to the reader when Gutters are too narrow. Moreover, flattening a book in such a way can crack a glued binding, resulting in loose or even lost pages. If you want to make the reader comfortable and increase the chance your book will survive its first reading, be generous with your Gutters.

The purpose of your book comes into play when you imagine how the book is most likely to be positioned when the buyer is reading it. Books that are read for pleasure will be held in the reader’s hands, but in a how-to book like The IndieAuthor Guide, the reader will frequently need to lay the book open on a desk or table and refer to it as she follows a step-by-step procedure. Knowing this, I set the Gutter for this book to 1”. This, together with my 1” inner margin, makes the distance from the spine to the inner edge of my text a whopping 2”. The book still won’t lay perfectly flat on a desk or table, but the reader should have no difficulty reading right up to the inner margin when she glances up from her computer to look at it.

Try setting your Gutter to .5, or ½”. Notice that the facing-pages image at the bottom of the dialog now displays the gutter as shaded margins along the inner edge of each page.

In the Preview section at the bottom of the dialog, leave the ‘Apply to’ dialog box set to its default value of ‘Whole document’. Click the ‘Paper’ tab to open the Paper options dialog.

All you need to set on this tab is ‘Paper size’, at the top of the dialog, by manually entering your desired page height and width. If your book will be a ‘perfect bound’ paperback, in which the pages of the book are flush with the edges of the cover, set the paper size to your intended book’s dimensions (i.e., 6x9” for trade paperback).
If your book will be a hardcover, you will need to consult your publisher/printer to learn the correct paper size for your book’s dimensions.

The facing-pages preview at the bottom of the dialog will display a rough approximation of how your margin and gutter options will be applied to pages of the size you’ve specified, so if something looks screwy in that little picture you may need to go back to the Margins tab and make adjustments. When you’re satisfied with the preview image, click the Layout tab.

For most books, the only settings to be altered here are in the Headers and Footers section. Click on the checkboxes next to ‘Different odd and even’ and ‘Different first page’ to select them.

If yours is a poetry book, cartoon collection or other type of book with ‘alternative’ page layout, you may want to set ‘Vertical alignment’ in the Page section to Center instead of its default value of Top.

Click the OK button, and you’re done with the Page Setup dialog.

Up Next: Building a Manuscript Shell – Set Up Front Section

Sunday, October 5, 2008

A Word About Industry Standards

Bottom Line It For Me, Baby Version (200 Words Or Less):
The series based on content from my how-to reference book on self-publishing, The IndieAuthor Guide, marches on. In the series, I present topics from the book to the extent of detail possible in a blog post. Note that I'm not covering editing, designing your own book cover, creating your brand or publishing to the Kindle here, since those topics are already presented on my website in the form of
free pdf guides. I’ll include links to previous posts in the series here in the Bottom Line It section. So far, I've posted topics on Publishing Options, Rights, Royalties and Advances, What's the Deal With ISBNs And Bookstores, Choosing A Publisher , Getting Organized and parts one and two of DIY Formatting For POD. Today's post is A Word About Industry Standards.


Go On An' Run Yo Mouth, I Ain't Got Nuthin' But Time Version (Can't Promise It Won't Go On Forever):
You may have noticed that a lot of published books look alike in terms of layout and the Styles they employ, and this is due to ‘industry standard’ formatting. Each different “imprint”, or subsidiary, of a big, mainstream publisher will have its standard font, layout and sometimes even cover design. Rules and guidelines dictate everything from line spacing to header and footer height. About the only place you see much variety in the look of published books anymore is children’s books, in which more creative layouts and unusual fonts are still acceptable.

There are plenty of how-to books and articles out there admonishing indie authors to school themselves on industry standards, and strictly apply those standards to their self-published books in order to avoid an “amateurish” look. Not surprisingly, I do not share this viewpoint.

First of all, nobody but publishing professionals know the industry standards for book formatting. The general public may be aware that books from a given imprint all look sort of the same, but they don’t know or care why. The general public judges the professionalism of a book by the quality of its binding and cover, and the readability of its content. The average reader will not discard a book in disgust, exclaiming, “Verdana isn’t an industry standard font!”


Secondly, industry standards were established around mechanical typesetting, before the digital age began. In those days, each letter and character of text was carved into a tiny metal or wooden block, and the blocks were all laid out in a frame to create a massive stamp of each page of text to be printed. The entire frame could be inked and then stamped onto a page. Publishers and typesetters didn’t think of fonts as design elements, or experiment with different fonts, because the process of creating a whole new set of those tiny blocks was very expensive and time-consuming. Similarly, in the old days line spacing was built into the frames used to hold the tiny character blocks. Access to a variety of line-spacing options required a variety of different frames, and this was another expense to be avoided. When digital design came along a whole plethora of fonts and page layout options followed, yet the moldy oldies still dominate in mainstream publishing—not because of any inherent superiority but because mainstream publishers are used to them, and loathe to change.

Finally, as any graphic designer will tell you, fonts and layout can be used to convey something about their content. Anyone who’s ever chosen a font for a sign, greeting card, banner or scrapbook knows this is true. Not all fonts are appropriate for use in a book, because not all fonts are designed with easy legibility uppermost in mind. However, if you want to use Euphemia for your futuristic sci-fi book, Garamond for your romance, or Goudy Old Style for your circa 1880’s mystery, why shouldn’t you? If you want to use Bauhaus 93 just for the chapter headings of your 1970’s era chick-lit, why not?

Where your mainstream-published peers are stuck with boring Times New Roman and the like, as an indie author you can utilize fonts to enhance the reader’s overall experience. As long as the font is easy to read and not so busy or design-heavy that it will fatigue the eyes when laid out in paragraphs, there’s no reason not to choose a font that evokes the mood you’re after.

Similarly, your chosen font may be too small in a standard, 10-point size, or easier to read with line spacing slightly greater than industry standards dictate. Many readers find the usual 10-point, narrowly-spaced lines of the typical mass-market paperback hard on the eyes, but don’t really need a large-print edition. I generally work with non-standard fonts in a size larger than industry standard with 1.5 line spacing, and readers have specifically complimented the superior readability of my books. If you are publishing to an eBook format other than pdf however, you should only use HTML-compliant fonts.

Up Next: Build A Manuscript Shell