Good formatting and a great cover design bring it all together and theyre the goto guys for all your book formatting. Using the steps in this video you should be able to format for. Many aspects of the selfpublishing process can be intimidating and confusing, especially the first time you do them. How to format a novel in microsoft word selfpublishing.
Free book design templates and tutorials for formatting in ms. You might want to bookmark this page for future reference if you plan to publish with createspace. To prepare your book for publishing you need a well designed cover and impeccable book formatting. Ebooks have come a long way since they were first introduced. And yet, the way a book looks on the inside is usually one of the clearest indicators of the level of professionalism the author has put into producing it. How to format a book for createspace and kdp print w ms. When writing your book you should separate the writing from the formatting.
Recently 2014 ive noticed that createspace book spines are much more gluedtogether, so the gutter may need to be a little bigger. In this article, youre going to learn what the most common book formatting errors and how to avoid them. Make sure to apply to the whole document instead of this. Createspace, one of the premier printondemand pod services for selfpublished authors, merged with amazons kdp print in late 2018. Now, we can do everything for paperback book printing through our same login with kindle direct publishing kdp as we can for kindle books.
Login to get started with kindle direct publishing, manufacturing on demand, or print on demand for publishers. Enter your books trim size, including bleed, into the width and height. Enter your books trim size, including bleed, into the. How to format your book for self publication bookstand. How to format your book for createspace in under 5 mins. If you want a professionally formatted work, youve come to the right place. Formatting your print book in ms word for kdp print spread. This video will walk you through the process of formatting a books manuscript for createspace using microsoft word. Dont just have your ebook on kindle, make sure you get a paperback copy on createspace asap. They saved my book and can certainly do it for yours as well highly recommended. As all writers know, the process of selfpublishing a book is everfluctuating and evolving. Shows you how to format a word document for publishing with createspace.
Ensure the image indentation is set to the neutral point in the ruler. Convenient and readily accessible, they have to take the industry by storm and gone some way to replacing paperback books. Our team of expert book formatters will make your book shine. Top 10 selfpublishing companies for firsttime authors editage. Kdp print and ingramspark have specific requirements that need to be met to be accepted. These steps include including setting up the correct trim size, setting up the correct margins, formatting the text, and numbering the pages.
Book layout book format design a book cover bookbaby. Quotes may vary depending on the amount of work included. Also, i found the price to be very reasonable, especially. 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. But recently they ended their author services, which included marketing, book editing, cover design, and book formatting, most likely because customized services were not worth the time and investment for a company of amazons size. Enter your books trim size, including bleed, into the width and height fields.
The templates with sample content include formatted front matter e. Book designer ryan scheife specializes in all aspects of book design, including cover design, page design, typesetting, and ebook formatting for your digital books. Click size more paper sizes and set the document to 6x9 or your book size. We now offer specialized options for your different publishing needs. Books published with createspace retail exclusively on amazon, unless the author has opted into their.
A clear hierarchy and readable typeface help create a layout that is inviting to your reader. If you didnt know, is an ondemand printing service owned by. Every section you include in your manuscript foreword, dedication, chapters, etc. I went back to the pdf i uploaded and paged through it. Createspace is a webbased service that provides selfpublishing services to authors. Createspace specializes in enabling authors to move their unformatted manuscripts to a final format that is ready to be printed as a published book. Nov 10, 2014 if youre planning to selfpublish a manuscript and youre struggling to format the book for createspace, this cheat sheet should make your life easier. Please note that if your book contains images, charts, graphs, or tables it may increase the price slightly. Once thats all done, you can download a print template thats specific for your book. Understanding book layouts and page margins describes typical margins for a standard 6 inch by 9 inch trade paperback, including createspace book layout specifications. Format your book for createspace, kdp, ingram spark. Design and format your book interior for createspace, kindle.
If you plan to do this yourself, here are the requirements for a book of 24 to 150 pages, 6x9. Heres how to format your book for createspace in under 5 mins. Ever think about selfpublishing a book using createspace. This reasonably priced little book is a virtual goldmine of information for a person trying to figure out the how of developing a book for createspace. Createspace is a platform for authors to publish books to amazon, a role it seems to be continuing this service for now.
Up until april 2018, it was also a platform where authors could hire the selfpublishing services needed to produce a book. But if you have ever tried formatting a picture book for createspace, you know that it can be a frustrating process. How to selfpublish a paperback book with createspace huffpost. How to switch from createspace to kdp print david gaughran. If your sales are within the last 90 days, go to the sales dashboard tab. Includes page numbering, headers, drop caps, widows, and more. By avoiding these mistakes, not only will you have a professional looking manuscript, but youll make the process of designing your book to publish on amazons kindle or in print via createspace a lot easier. In addition to, allen hosts, a growing archive of articles from victorian periodicals. Formatting your print book in ms word for kdp print. Dont just have your ebook on kindle, make sure you get a paperback copy on createspace.
Ebook formatting and createspace paperback formatting. Printondemand book design for kdp print createspace and. You can also access your historical createspace report data in your kdp reports after the move is complete. How do i access my historical createspace reports on kdp. Createspace book formatting services print ready pdf formatting. The isbn can be assigned directly by amazon when uploading the book on createspace. A professional book designer shows you exactly how to layout and format a. The stepbystep to formatting your print book for createspace is the only comprehensive guide youll ever need for doityourself book formatting. Book formatting for ebook and print books the creative penn. The fast fingers book formatting service design of pod and.
Your book deserves a title page, which should include the book s title and subtitle if any, the author name, and the name and logo of your publishing house if you have one. I used to spend hours and hours of swearing at my computer whenever i tried to get a picture book published on createspace. Rates may change over time, so please check the formatters site for uptodate pricing. First, i cover designing your readers experience choosing the fonts. How to format a book for createspace and kdp print w ms word. Printondemand book design for kdp print createspace. After your createspace books move to kdp, your sales will be tracked in your kdp reports. The stepbystep guide to formatting your print book for kdp.
Get my free book for a limited time the self publishing blueprint. Apr 11, 2017 if you are familiar with ms word, then it is not too difficult to format your print book interior for selfpublishing with createspace now kdp print using the formatted templates and this stepbystep guide. Youll need to book formatting in advance as professionals are always busy. Mar 14, 2017 heres how to format your book for createspace in under 5 mins. Format your book for createspace by roxanne smolen writing. Formatting experts are more than what their name implies. If you want help formatting the other parts, see our stepbystep guides for preparing your manuscript in word for windows and mac. How to use reedsys book editor to format ebooks and print. The fast fingers is a book formatting service that will prepare or format your manuscript according to the formatting guidelines set by ingramspark, lulu, kindle direct publishing, smashwords or your own local printer. More information on cover templates can be found in our formatting guide. 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. A stepbystep guide to book publishing with createspace. At one point, i was so frustrated with formatting issues that i was tempted to take the advice of one of my friends who said that paying someone to format. Book formatting for createspace, ingramspark, lightningsource.
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. Maybe you have hesitated because you were nervous about the expertise needed. Copy and paste your text into the document or, if youve already been writing in word, save the document as a new file to be safe and then start formatting. Im a professional book designer and ive formatted over a thousand books. I highly recommend format your print book with createspace.
On the home tab, rightclick the normal style and choose modify. Under indentation special, set first line indent to 0. Outsource your createspace book or ebook formatting project and get it quickly delivered remotely online. If that wasnt enough, all formats for the same novel after the fourth are free.
Others i publish on kindle only because its cheap, cheerful and the size of book. For interior files, we have standardized settings that you can apply to your existing document that will ensure proper pdf creation. Click the format list the dropdown at the bottom of the dialog box and choose paragraph. May 14, 2018 sharing some quick tips and tricks to make your publishing business progress.
Free book design templates and tutorials for formatting in. We are open and staying safe during the covid19 crisis to make sure your book. The directions below are for ms word 7 and 10 the most. Aug 03, 2017 after all, formatting wont change the essence of your book like revising or editing can, and it doesnt influence readers purchases like a good cover will. This is the second step youll explore in our free howto guide for self publishing books. Ebook formatting is the preparation of a digital file, to ensure that it meets the publishers requirements and is an enjoyable reading. W2k was great for converting two of my books from print to kindle format.
Al macys new book, createspace formatting sampler, offers a muchneeded so often as were formatting our new book, we check out the cover appearance, the author bioblurb, etc. Basically, the toughest part is to format the cover and to set the correct margins and bleeds for the interior pages. Interior book design manuscript formatting professionally formatted text is an important part of book design. If you want to experiment with book sizes and the way they might impact your typesetting choices, the reedsy book editor allows you to do so for free. And now, without further ado, here is how i format a book for createspace. For 18 years, createspace was a great selfpublishing resource for independent authors. Lo and behold, when i had converted my word document to pdf, some paragraphs became centered even though they were justified correctly in word. Do kdp book formatting and createspace book formatting by. With kdp print formerly createspace, you get fast distribution to amazon. To get the ball rolling, contact me to get a custom quote for your manuscript, or book my createspace formatting gig on fiverr. Moving to the cover, the bleeds will be identical to those used for the pages. Turnarounds for design and revisions can take 710 days. Here are the basics steps on formatting your manuscript in microsoft word for self publication. I highly recommend format your print book with createspace and lulu, using microsoft word.
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. Also, make sure your book has a properly formatted title page, with the book s title and authors name on it. In the page setup section of the layout tab, click size. I set up some free templates and guides to book formatting here to help you out. How to get your selfpublished book edited and formatted. Word2kindle was a integral part in getting my 2nd book framer into publication as its formatting was pretty problematic. Instructions on how to use the templates can be found within the downloadable template. You can now manage your createspace content on amazons improved publishing services.
Remember, to change any fonts or font sizes, use the styles menu. How to format a book for amazon selfpublishing copy that pops. Ebookifi offers excellent and most professional createspace book formatting services for authors and multiple publishers. Ebook formatting is the preparation of a digital file, to ensure that it meets the publishers requirements and is an enjoyable reading experience. Insert your book title, subtitle and author name on the first page known as the title page. Either way, it is time to get your idea in final print. Good formatting and a great cover design bring it all together and theyre the goto guys for all your book formatting and cover design needs. Formatting your book for lulu or createspace by moira allen. The blank templates have the page size and margins set. Common mistakes made when writing a book in microsoft word.
Good formatting and a great cover design bring it all together and theyre the goto guys for all your book formatting and cover. Some books i publish on createspace only because i simply dont want to publish them in an ebook format. Try to keep these in the center of the page vertically. Theyre also cover design experts, customer service expertsand the list goes on. Aug 15, 2016 a stepbystep guide to formatting your books interior has the idea for a novel recently hijacked your subconscious, or have you been drafting your dream on sticky notes since they were invented. Since i like to keep the number of blank pages in my selfpublished books to a minimum, i make this the very first page of my book, and use the reverse for my. Print book formatting is the preparation of a pdf file, to ensure that it meets the publishers requirements and is an enjoyable reading experience.
How to get your selfpublished book edited and formatted and. This article, written by lyn horner, guides us stepbystep through the process of publishing a book with createspace. Discusses many formatting details, like tips for better justification and how to prepare a file with bleed. Dec 11, 2016 how to format your book for createspace updated 121016 i get a lot of formatting questions, so i thought id put it all down in one place. I filmed this video before createspace made the merge with kindle direct publishing kdp. The editor also provides four popular trim sizes for formatting. If youre planning to selfpublish a manuscript but youre struggling to format the book for createspace, this cheat sheet should make your life.
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