For a 6x9 book, shoot for an average of 350 words per page for a 5x8, around 300. The stepbystep guide to formatting your print book for kdp. Feb 28, 2017 when writing your book you should separate the writing from the formatting. Make a bigger impact with your documents and master the writing, formatting, and collaboration tools in word 2019 and word online jun 26, 2019 by angela rose. Our free book formatting templates have this stuff built in. Calculate book page count using word count for book design. Formatting a book in microsoft word doesnt have to be confusing. First of all, find your word count in word by opening your document and looking at the bottom left of your screen. See how to format your amazon kindle manuscript with ms word, kindle book format template, how to format an ebook in word, how to format, edit, proof read, spell check and convert your book interior with ms word 2007, 2010, 20, 2016 and later versions, how to edit and update your book content character styles in ms word, createspace formatting guide, createspace word templates, 6x9 book. Free book formatting templates in ms word and indesign. Write a book manuscript that you can submit to an editor with this template for word. 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. Word is fine for writing your manuscript and applying elementary formatting.
How to format a novel in microsoft word selfpublishing. Common mistakes made when writing a book in microsoft word. Build your book format a paperback manuscript word for. You should find this tab under the available templates screen. It took me a few months of practice, but i discovered that, contrary to popular belief, you can make a pretty incredible book cover yourself using ms word 2010. Well walk you through the steps to format your word document for printing a book that is a 5. When writing your book you should separate the writing from the formatting. How to format your book for amazon kindle using microsoft. 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. Yes, youve guessed it this time, hes explaining how to use word to format print books. Make sure to apply to the whole document instead of this section. Attention to proper formatting will help your submission stand out. So, later on, you can select the best practices and which tools to use in your book design.
All of these steps are useful for anyone publishing an amazon kdp paperback, and i recommend reading each step in order to save you time and aspirin. These can be used in virtually any word processor like microsoft word, open office, pages, word perfect, etc. All of these notes are specific to microsoft word as of 20192020. How to format your book for kindle using microsoft word in 6. You might think of microsoft word as a mere word processor, but it can function efficiently as a book cover creator. As a publisher who has laid out dozens of books for printinga 50,000 word manuscript should end up somewhere between 180 and 220 pages.
Ive discovered there are a number of things that authors are struggling with when it comes to formatting, so i thought i. 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. I finally decided to try designing covers in microsoft word. Jan 15, 2020 the site also provides some helpful tutorial videos on how to format your book in microsoft word, if you want to skip the template and do it all yourself. Check out our special offer for new subscribers to microsoft 365 business basic. You will also need to modify the general page setup of your book like the. In todays post, ian andrew, former microsoft trainer turned selfpublished author, provides a simple beginners guide to using word to format ebooks. This book is not for those who are experienced or advanced users of word, as there are a number of bigger and better referencestyle books available for word.
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. Oct 30, 2018 microsoft word in 30 minutes second edition. I solved amazon paperback page numbering with microsoft word by using custom field codes in the footer. Create e books and kindle books using microsoft word format an ebook in word for kindle. How to format a paperback book in ms word for amazon kdp. Calculate the number of pages using your current word count and the appropriate formula below, calculate the number of pages you can expect in your finished book. Zip file that contains our microsoft word book layout templates in multiple design programs. If playback doesnt begin shortly, try restarting your device.
It features styles for keeping the fonts and spacing formatted properly, a title page, and the starting chapter. Jul 04, 2017 word is fine for writing your manuscript and applying elementary formatting. To give your book a stellar cover, we are going to show you how to design a book cover template in microsoft word in 7 simple steps. Depending on your book, some steps may be unnecessary for example, your book doesnt have images. Estimate your page count book designer linda parke. Microsoft word for the macintosh by michael fischer 1988. These steps include including setting up the correct trim size, setting up the correct margins, formatting the text, and numbering the pages. Select this option to format the selected paragraph as the subtitle of your book. If you know how to click buttons and highlight text, then youre perfect for this job. Once you have your manuscript in a microsoft word format, everything else is a breeze. The directions below are for ms word 7 and 10 the most. At the end of 20 i put out a package of diy book cover templates in microsoft word and revolutionized publishing with a howto guide to designing amazing book covers in an easy to use program youre already familiar with. How to format your word document for book printing on mac. How to format a book in microsoft word with pictures getting started.
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. I am writing a 6x9 us paperback book in which i have downloaded a random 6x9 template. Your book template file will open and appear on the. This should be used in conjunction with the book title. Self publishing, book printing free book templates. In this stepbystep video guide, we walk you through formatting a paperback manuscript in microsoft word. Before we discuss each section of the book, we need. How i solved amazon kdp paperback book template page. Below you will find our free microsoft word book templates for the inside pages. 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 a flop on amazon kindle is the formatting. You will need a template for the inside pages of the book, and a template for the outside cover of your book.
Is microsoft word online suitable to format paperback. Roughly how many pages would 50,000 words produce in a. Here are the basics steps on formatting your manuscript in microsoft word for self publication. Crossplatform and commonlyavailable fonts used throughout the book. We have free book template layouts for inside pages as well as cover templates. But for those who need a foundation of the features and using them, this is a great start to get comfortable with the various features word 20 provides.
Taylor covers details such as starting a set of styles, fonts and typefaces, how to insert images, widows and orphans, and drop caps, all new to me until i came upon this book. 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. If you have a completed manuscript with botched book formatting on your hands, this article will teach you how to fix it using microsoft word. Formatting a book in microsoft word book formatting made. But, there are certain sizes, layouts, formats, and spacings you should be aware of to make your paperback book look. Jul 20, 2017 but while vellum, for example, is a favorite among mac users, a very common starting point is microsoft word. A few of my friends have seen the books ive published on amazon kindle direct publishing and they were wondering how to get started writing and publishing books. Here are the steps to write a book in microsoft word. The problem with this is that ms word s gutter option wont work when it comes to book formatting. The typical books wordsperpage count tends to range between 225 and 275an average of 250.
Jul 15, 2017 well walk you through the steps to format your word document for printing a book that is a 5. 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. Jan 08, 2018 calculate book page count using your word count. The information is specific to the 2016 version of word, but the steps are similar in most versions. The thicker the book, the wider these margin need to be so that the text doesnt get eaten up by the spine. To help you format your manuscript, we created templates in microsoft word into which you can insert your content.
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. Free amazon kindle microsoft word template download. Choose one of the above sizes, even for your large format book, just as a starting point. But it took me a while longer to figure out how to customize your front cover into a full print cover for createspace or other pod providers. 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 for a real expert, trying to lay out a book cover in word can be a challenge. Free book design templates and tutorials for formatting in ms. Youll use the word count in your word document to calculate book page count.
Create a cover page for your book manuscript with this accessible simple black and white template. This tutorial uses settings and options from the latest version of microsoft word, for mac or a pc. How to format your book for self publication bookstand. Free book design templates and tutorials for formatting in. To get this to my editor, i have to find a way to keep all the chapter titles at the top of a new page and the end of the chapter to always end on a page that doesnt have a title. May 16, 2016 how to format a picture book manuscript for publishers. The problem with this is that ms words gutter option wont work when it comes to book formatting. The default paper size and type of a microsoft word page is 8. Book manuscript create a cover page for your book manuscript with this accessible simple black and white template. Here, you will setup your book page or paper size which should be the same as your book cover. 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.
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. Open up microsoft word and double click on the books file. Our book templates can save you time and money by automating some of the setup and formatting tasks. Click size more paper sizes and set the document to 6x9 or your book size. Microsoft word is super easy to use, has features that allow you to have creative freedom, and chances are you already have it on your pc or laptop. A comprehensive guide to the language used to customize microsoft office visual basic for applications vba is the language used for writing macros, automating office applications, and creating custom applications in word, excel, powerpoint, outlook, and access. Open microsoft word on your computer and click file then navigate to open. Is microsoft word online suitable to format paperback books. This is a complete and free book template with everything perfectly setup. However on paperback, you want to ensure that you do add page numbers to your books and to do that it is very simple.
You dont need any special skills to format your book. But, there are certain sizes, layouts, formats, and spacings you should be aware of to make your paperback book look great and be consistent for all printings. And you will have the ability to transform your manuscript into a beautiful book which is ready to be published. Paste your manuscript into this template or simply start typing. Microsoft word is really not designed for page layout and design.
For the best results, follow the five steps in this guide. A modern, clean and professionallooking book template for word. 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. How to make a full print book cover in microsoft word for. Amazon makes it very simple to format a paperback book for publication, and the process is absolutely free.
If youre using microsoft word to design your book cover, design the front cover as one page and the back cover as a second page. But as i mentioned, i firmly believe making the book a little weighty goes a long way in increasing customer satisfaction, so if your print book is under 100 pages for example, id increase the line height and margins to push it up closer to 200 pages. Before sending your book to print, you will need to layout the book. For professional results, the pages of your book should be designed by a book designer and composed by an experienced book typesetter. How to format your word document for book printing on mac or pc. Book template free book templates book layout template. At diggypod, we offer free book templates for the author wanting to publish a book. I highly recommend format your print book with createspace and lulu, using microsoft word.
Kindle addin for microsoft word user guideversion 0. Plus, that makes it really easy to update your manuscripts. How to format your book for kindle using microsoft word in. As a former microsoft trainer turned selfpublished author, he is able to speak from considerable relevant. Please save this to your computer, and then unzip to get access to the microsoft word templates. See our separate guides for formatting a paperback in microsoft word for mac and pages for mac. Tips for formatting your book correctly in microsoft word. The book fold layout sets you up for printing your masterpiece automatically in the correct order, ready for folding and binding. For starters, well load your manuscript back into microsoft word and format it properly. Getting rid of the junk code requires a solid knowledge in xhtml programming and bundling in epub and mobi formats. Professionallooking book template for word, free used.
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