Saturday, June 13, 2015

7 Things I Learned About Book Formatting


           



Why I Learned Book Formatting





The first ebook I published on Amazon.com I formatted myself with the help of a friend. I had no clue what we were doing! I muddled through using the Smashwords directions and published the book. A year later, I paid a service to reformat the same book in order to make it look professional.
            Since then, I’ve published three more books and paid to have to of them formatted for me. I finally formatted the fourth by myself.
            The first service that formatted for me did a nice job. But I quickly learned that if I had to go back into the document for any reason, especially to fix that “one more typo” a reader discovered, the process involved getting in touch with the formatter, filling out a form, possibly paying a fee (most services allow a few fixes before charging), and then checking it over after republishing to be sure it was properly fixed. I hated having to use a middleman to make corrections.
For book two, I used a different formatter. I paid a rather large amount this time, nearly $300. When the returned my document, he suggested I go over it before publishing. It didn’t take many pages to discover that there were a lot of things that needed correcting! He had totally ignored a note I’d sent with the request for a few things I wanted done, and missed many others. It took hours to find everything that needed fixing. Then I had to put each and every item on a request form for him to edit, along with a page number and what the correction should be. More time spent. After it came back I had to check over everything once more, and again found many he had missed. He had ignored a separate note I sent with something I needed done that didn’t fit on the form. This process continued until it was finally right. This back and forth resulted in two days work for me.
 I’ve always hated the thought of doing my own formatting, but determined to avoid any future agony (that I’d PAID for), I had a friend show me how he formatted. He uses the html method, which, while considered the “best” way to do it, for me, was way too detailed and painstaking. I gave up after a while and hired the job out once more.
            I went back to the original service, since they had not put the burden of checking the work totally on me. But, apparently, since the first time I used them, they had changed their procedures and I went through the very same pain-in-the-butt process as the one before! I spent hours again trying to fix someone else’s mistakes after paying a few hundred dollars for the service. After that I vowed to do my own formatting.
           Another friend volunteered to help me. It wasn’t easy, as she uses a Windows program and I have a Mac. But we did it, and my newest book, Iced Malice, was formatted by yours truly.

                        Things I learned the hard way:

                       
1.      Find a friend to help you, one who formats regularly and thinks it is easy. One with patience!

2.     No matter who teaches you, or whose directions you use, formatting is a challenge. I'm not sure that any set of directions will be exact for your system.

3.     Be prepared to experiment to find what works for you. A lot of trial, error, and patience is required.

4.     Take notes for future use when you do find what works.

5.     Formatting the print version of a book is a lot more difficult than an eBook. All the above apply. Createspace has user forums that are very helpful.

6.     When asking a question online, be sure to add which  program you are using and detail your issue as much as possible.

7.     About books on the subject. They are helpful in acquainting you with how formatting works, but don’t expect any book to have exact directions for you. If anyone knows of one, tell us about it! I use an iMac with Word 2008 for Mac and found most of my answers online. And not all in the same place.

Dear Readers,
The most important thing I’ve learned is how good it feels to be able to do the nasty job of formatting by myself. I'm fortunate in that I have a friend who is on standby for me to answer questions. I’m still learning. Formatting is something that the more you use it, the easier it gets, so don’t give up. I haven’t tried using templates (available for a fee online) but do know even those require some formatting knowledge. There are just so many times you need to make changes, even to add your latest book to your list, that being able to do this yourself makes things a lot easier.
Good luck, hope you find something that makes your writing life easier,
Marla


20 comments:

  1. Very useful thank you for sharing it on your blog.

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    1. Hi Ropey,
      Glad you found it helpful. I'm sure there are many formatters out there who are more reliable than the two I ran into. But even if you find one, that means you still have a middleman. If the "rhyme" in your name means you are a poet, I imagine formatting poetry is a real challenge.
      Best to you and your writing,
      Marla

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  2. I write with Lotus Word Pro (rather be whipped with a wet rope than use Word) and format as I go. I mean I set up the proper page size, line spacing, justification, headers, chapters, mirror ( right and left pages) and paginate on the fly. This way I can see exactly how my book is going to look in print and if there are any widows or orphans. It's so much easier than doing it after it's written. I then edit in the same, so when I finish...it's ready to print. I have the correct total page count so I can create the spine according to the thickness using 60# paper.

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    1. Hi Ken,
      Wow, that sounds great! I'll have to look into it, but use a Mac so not sure it would be compatible. Nice to know there are easy ways to do it out there.
      Good to hear from you. Have a super weekend,
      Marla

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  3. I feel your pain Marla. My husband and I stumbled through the process of formatting my first book for a good two weeks, if not longer. There was so much trial and error involved that I lost count. In the end my book came out looking traditionally published, and I'm glad we know the process now and won't repeat the same mistakes for book 2. But what an ordeal!

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    1. It is painful, but what a great feeling to do it yourself! It seems to always be tricky even the second and third time I do it. Congratulations on your mastery!
      Have a great week,
      Marla

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  4. Marla, all five of my paperback books were published through FeedaRead.com using the template they provide. The main thing I had to remember to do was to use the pagebreak feature at the end of each chapter. The book quality is excellent.
    I used Amazon Kindle to upload all five novels as ebooks, and found it a very simple process. I used the same document, holding on to the page breaks again.
    i work on a MacBook Pro and found I had to export my document to a Word document, using the advance option to choose the older Word version before uploading it to FeedaRead or Amazon.
    Hope that helps.

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    1. Hi,
      don't you use Word for Mac? I do and I found that I couldn't use a template, at least not one from the site I was going to purchase one from. Did you use it for your print book too? Never heard of Feedaread, will have to take a look.
      Thanks for your input,
      Marla

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    2. No, I don't use Word for Mac, but I find it simple enough to export to Word when necessary, and I use the FeedaRead template before I export.
      I use FeedaRead only for my paperbacks.
      Amazon Kindle for my ebooks.
      Worth a look.

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  5. I would say that formatting is a very difficult pursuit, however, I don't know if every self-published author would be interested in doing it. As an author myself, I think that sometimes, had I not learned how to do it and now do it on a weekly basis, I probably would have given up after doing three books (by learned, I mean learned three different computer languages). It's trying and very difficult the first time, but then doing it again and again when you already have a ton of other stuff to do like blog, and tweet, and possibly get a pro editor and get reviews and etc. that I would have gladly given it over to someone after a while. However, always check their credentials and work first. I was thinking about starting a formatting side business this fall for very cheap as I have my formatting now down to a science. Most ebooks unfortunately don't list the person who formatted, but everyone should unless they did it themselves.

    Michael Stephenson author of the Weekly Episodic Novel/Novella series The Writer currently here on Amazon: http://amzn.to/1ebdpjT

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've learned to do it. Can't say it's fun, but compared to the formatters I've used and paid good money for, the process takes no longer to do myself than keep going back and forth with someone else.
      And, it is so often an author needs to get back into the book and make changes. Add a new title, the chapter of the next book, or fix that one (last?) typo that someone found. Pain in the butt to have to contact someone else to make a fix of a change.
      An annoying process!
      Unfortunately, doing it myself is no fun either but at least it's annoyance that I don't have to pay for!
      Nice to hear from you Michael, have a nice weekend. Stay cool!
      Marla

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  6. Hey, Ms. Madison (is it OK to call you that? I never know when to be formal or not),
    Just checked out your Kindle book on Amazon and was wondering why you didn't have a table of contents. Not trying to be snarky or rude but just wanted to know as some authors don't include them and others do. Or is your TOC only in the side-scroll of the Kindle? I only read stuff on my computer and my version works a little differently.

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    1. No formality here, call me Marla!
      Personally, I've always wondered why writer of fiction (ebooks) include a toc. Print books don't. When I read an ebook, they always seen like unnecessary clutter to me. I read ebooks on a Kindle Paperwhite which allows you to easlily navigate from chapter to chapter without one. Are you saying that there are devices which make them necessary?
      Now that you bring it up, I'm not even sure if the titles I've had other people format have them. I'll have to look!
      ICED MALICE, my latest, is the only one I formatted myself and didn't think it was necessary, especially since doing it looked complicated. I have read pdf ebooks on my iMac, and I don't recall having a problem without a toc. I highlighted where I wanted to start and found my place easily that way.
      Marla

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    2. Sorry, Michael, for a few typos in these responses! Too early in the morning, need my coffee.
      MM

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  7. Thanks for writing and sharing this. I've been delegating the formatting of my books after struggling for awhile with a paperback.

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    1. HI Cory,
      The print book is the hardest to format! What put me over the edge and determined to do it myself was how much work I had to do even when i paid someone $300 to do it for me. Or more!
      I can't say doing it myself isn't frustrating. It is. But I'm not spending any more time than I did when someone else did it, and now I can make small changes myself.
      You might want to think about trying it again sometime when you have extra time. And it sure helps if you have a friend that can give you tips!
      Nice to hear from you,
      Marla

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  8. Hi Marla. Sorry to hear you had such bad experiences with those formatting services. As a graphic designer who has spent a lot of time laying out books and magazines, and knows the ins and outs of formatting for both print and web, I hate when other services give all of us a bad name! I've formatted all four of my books, but unlike a lot of people, it comes very easily and naturally to me because, well, that's what I do for a living. I'm very happy to hear that you've taken the time to learn the process yourself, and that it's working for you! Sometimes it is just better to do it yourself (which is what the self-publishing word is all about to begin, isn't it)!

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    1. HI Bryan,
      I had bad luck with two formatting services. I think what's happening is as they get busier, more services use templates. I don't know a lot about them, but do know the manuscript has to be readied for the process, and I think they try to cut corners. It is a lot of work doing it myself, but not much more than all the corrections I had to do when I was paying someone else! Glad to hear there are some out there that don't do things that way. Do you do formatting for others? Feel free to mention your website here if you do.
      Marla

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    2. Yeah, and it's a shame when companies like that forget about their customer and try to maximize profits. My goal is and will always be quality over quantity, and I absolutely despise using templates. It's an easy way out and makes things feel inauthentic. Thanks for the opportunity to promote my website. I do do formatting for others, as well as cover design, layouts, editing and book trailers. You can check out www.phoenixmoirai.com to learn more about me and my company, Phoenix Moirai. You can also check out my portfolio at http://bryancaron.prosite.com.

      Thanks again, Marla and good luck with your books!

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    3. Do you have a website that shows samples of your covers and your prices for them?
      Marla

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