Manuscript

I will be the first one to admit that I should of created a blog the minute I had the idea.   That way I could record all the brainstorming and back and forth that I have done – and there has been a lot.  I have already done a bit of work with the book so I am going to backtrack a bit.  As previously noted, I am not a writer or an editor – you have been warned!

So my book is about marketing tips from authors (hence real answers from real authors).  I have collected what I feel is the best 60 tips to compile into one manuscript.  The very first thing you want to do is size your word document to the intended trim size of the book.  Trim size = height and width of finished book.  If you don’t have any idea, first Google most common trim sizes.  Or you can go to your bookshelf with a ruler.  Either way, you should come up with your answer.

So in word, go to page setup/paper/size and there you can put in the height and width and adjust margins.  Margins are good at about .5-.75″.  Okay so after that little step, I start to copy and paste each tip onto its own page (don’t worry – each author will get credit for their tip).  Since my page is already sized to my trim size, I know exactly the space I need to work within.

One thing you don’t want to do in word is be space bar happy.  This can screw with a lot of things – especially if you have someone helping you with formatting or editing.  I would suggest a simple tab if needed.

FONTS.  So many fonts, so little time.  What I did is take a paragraph, copy and paste multiple times into one separate document and then start changing each paragraph to a different font.  Always, always pick a serif font for easy reading.  Serif fonts have the little tails.  This is why everyone and their dog likes Times New Roman – although there are others out there that bear just as much as TNR but are a bit of the underdog in the font world.  I like Garamond and Palatino personally.  Anyway, sans serif fonts are good for titles because they are straight and more bold – this is more like Arial or Century Gothic.  So pick a font that gives you the warm and fuzzies and move on.  2 fonts total, 3 tops.  You don’t want to get font crazy – it’s confusing.

Font size – every font is a bit different in size even at the same point size.  I don’t know why everything has to be so complicated, but you will need to play with that too.  10-12pt is good.  14pt maybe for our older folk.

One thing that is a real PITA with word is adding page numbers to a document.  This I had to look up.  Instead of me re-typing all of this, here is a nice link: http://www.mirasmart.com/printing/publishing/how-to/how-to-insert-page-numbers-in-microsoft-word/

I realize that this blog is getting long so I will end on that note.  Will have more coming on manuscript and next up…cover design.