How to Format a Book

Thank me!

I decided to bless your face and share how to properly format a book in Microsoft Word 2013. Prepare to be enlightened and not get so horribly stressed out because you don't know what you're doing like I was!!! So be happy I know how to do it so I can teach you.

1.     Know the dimensions of your book. Word automatically makes its page sizes 8.5x11, which is not a standard book's size. Go under Page Layout, Size, and select the size you want. There is an option to custom size your page, and the tab for that is at the bottom of the Page Size list.

2.     Know the bleed and gutter requirements, of your book. What is bleed? During the printing purposes, the book’s pages are cut to create the books size. Because it is trimmed, and you don't want anything important to be cut off, bleed is needed. A 1/8 of an inch (0.125) is added to the pages’ perimeter to give the printers wiggle room when they trim. A book's gutter is where the two pages come together. Because you don't want text going down into the gutter, and become unreadable, know how deep your gutter will be. This is determined by how many pages you will have. The more pages you have, the more room for a gutter you will need. To create the proper bleed and gutter, move the margins at the top of the page. The margin's controls are on the ruler and adjust it by sliding its pointers back and forth.

3.     At the very beginning of most books, there is a title page, Table of Contents, Acknowledgment page, and dedication page. There can be other pages too, but these are the standards. These pages do not have page numbers or Headers whereas the rest of the book, the Chapter Pages and chapters themselves, consist of both Headers and page numbers. So how do you tell the computer which pages to number and Header and which ones not to? Make a page brake. Go to the Page Layout icon and click Breaks. A number of options will pop down. I'd just used the Continuous option under the Section Break selection. The other ones made problems when I tried to use them so I just stuck with the Continuous button. When you hit the Continuous option, or any option, make sure your curser is placed where you want your page to Break. What this does is tells the computer that the section before the Break is different than the section after. Therefore, if you put Headers and page numbers in the book, it will not affect the specific pages you Break. 

4.     Next comes the Headers and page numbers. Most books have Headers which say the book's title on the even pages and the author's name on the odd pages. (or the other way around, whatever you want) To do this, go to Insert, the Header tab, and several different ways to write Headers will drop down. Select the one you want. The very first one, Blank, works well. Click it and write whatever Header you want. It will appear on all the pages on the left side. The computer doesn't know yet you want two separate Headers. Then go to Header and Footer Design. Look under the tab that says Options and check the square that says Different Odd & Even Pages. The odd page will instantly erase what you wrote so type in what you want the odd pages to say. Now, every even page will say _______ and every odd page will say _______. Every odd page is linked to each other as well as every even. They will all change automatically.      

5.     Then! There is the Chapter Pages (when I say Chapter Pages, I mean the first page of a chapter). These pages should not have a Header. "Ah," you scream! "What do I do now?!" It's ok, don't freak. I'll tell you what worked for me. Remember how to Break a page? Break the page right before the Chapter Page and the following page (Page Layout - Break - Continuous). This tells the computer the Chapter Page is its own separate thing. Because you put Headers throughout the book, the Chapter Page will show a Header even after you Break the page. To erase it, without messing with anything else, follow these steps. If the Chapter Page is an even page, go to the next even page (and if it’s odd then go to the next odd page). Go to Header and Footer Design and the Navigate option. Uncheck the box beside Link to Previous. This tells the program not erase the standard even pages when you erase the even Chapter Page. When the pages are no longer linked, go back to the Chapter Page, highlight the unwanted Header, and erase it. Because nothing it linked to it, the Chapter Page's Header is the only Header that will change.

6.     End the book with an Epilogue, Bibliography, synapses for the next book, and or your contact info. Remember if your Chapter Pages does not have Headers, neither should your Epilogue, Bibliography, synapses, and so forth. Continuity please.

Below are bullet point directions for formatting a book:

1.     Page Size = Page Layout - Size/More Paper Sizes

2.     Margins (to create required bleed and gutter) = Ruler - Margin Pointer

3.     Page Breaks = Page Layout - Breaks - Section Break: Continuous (or whatever you want)

4.     Headers = Insert - Header - Blank (Or the one that works for you) - Header and Footer Design - Options: Different Odd & Even     

5.     Chapter Pages = Break - go to next odd/even page - Header and Footer Design - Navigate - unclick Link to Previous - go back to Chapter Page - erase Header

6.     Elements After Story Text = Break - remove Headers

And there you have it! Don't you feel enlightened! Don't you feel so full of smarts and wisdom! I hope I’ve helped because when I tried to format my own book, there was no help for me. Google did not know, my computer teacher from high school did not know, and my computer geek friend did not know. No one knows. But now you do. 

So go out and conquer.