Book Formatting – Can I Do It Myself?

Formatting your own book for publishing on WWAOW is incredibly easy. Just follow these three steps:

1. Set the Document Dimensions and Margins
2. Set up your Styles and Apply Them
3. Add Sections and Breaks to your Book

Now, we’ll explain each of these points in detail:

Set the Document Dimensions and Margins

The first thing you do is go to File => Page Setup. This will bring up your Page Setup screen. Like this:

You set up your Paper size (6x9 is the most popular), then your Margins and Layout tabs. Make sure to apply your changes to the “whole document”, not “Selected Text”.

Set up Your Styles and Apply Them

Now, go to Format => Styles and Formatting. This will bring up your list of Styles. Like this:

By Clicking on the drop arrow next to each format, you can modify the Font face, size and other attributes. Keep in mind that it is usually best for your Normal text to be a Serif font like Times, whereas Headings and Sub Heads usually use a Sans Serif Font like Arial.

If you are publishing on WWAOW then the fonts supported are:

• Arial
• Courier new
• Georgia
• Times new roman
• Trebuchet
• Verdana

Once you have your styles set up, all you have to do is select the text you want to apply a style to and then click on the appropriate style (as shown above).

The biggest reason to do this is that if you decide later on you want to change the look of your book, all you have to do is change the setting in your Style’s, and your entire book will be instantly updated!

Add Sections and Breaks to Your Book

If you have been working with long texts in Word before, then you know it’s virtually impossible to use the “Enter” key to get all your Chapters to start on their own pages. That’s because if you make any changes at the front of the document, then all the other pages will shift, and then you have to go back through the entire book to fix them.

That’s why you should add Section Breaks for each Chapter of your book. This keeps everything flowing correctly. Here’s how to do it:

1. Place your curser at the end of each Chapter.
2. Go to Insert => Break (The Break Screen will display as above).
3. Select “Continuous”, then Click “Ok”
4. Now, Go to Insert => Break again
5. This time select “Page Break” and click “Ok”

This will insert a section break, and then a page break in your document; allowing you to edit content anywhere in your Word document without worrying about how the Chapters will flow.

By creating the Section Break using the “Continuous” option, you give yourself the ability to create custom headers and footers for each Chapter.

So, you see. With a little finesse, you can make great-looking books without paying an expensive designer to typeset your book for you.