As a self-published author, I like to pass on what I’ve learned. There are two video series on this channel giving tutorials in Open Office for self-publishing on Amazon.
I'm having trouble with adding a new chapter to my book. I'm not using number like, Chapter 1. I'm using graphics for chapter headers. I was successful with my first chapter but not with trying to add my next chapter. I hope this gets to you. Thank you.
Using graphics shouldn’t affect the process. Did you try the “add manual break” feature? Keep watching the next videos on the playlist, and hopefully that will help.
Thank you for being the ONLY place on the internet I could find that actually showed me how to make my Open Office TOC clickable. Either Waaaaaaay too much info, or not correct. Blessings.
Hi! Im still here. Are you doing okay? I have a Q: is there a way to mark my chapters and then get something like tabs (to the left of the document) which are clickable so I can go between chapters quickly. A lot of times I think of something to quickly change in a previous chapter and this would spare me so much time. Btw if my book, its 60% done now, makes it big I come bring you a cheque for helping me to your doorstep <3
Hmmm, I can’t think of any feature of Open Office like you’re describing. One possible way to get to the chapter you want in a couple of steps would be to create an interactive table of contents (See my playlist on creating an ebook.) With that interactive table of contents, you could zip back to the beginning of your book and then, to get to the chapter of your choice, click on the hyperlink for that chapter in the table of contents. I think it’s control + right click (or something like that. The right command combination pops up if you move the mouse over the hyperlink.) I can’t think of another easy way to switch between chapters, sorry. I just do a lot of scrolling. Maybe a slightly quicker way is the “find and replace” tool under “edit.” Then you could type in “Chapter 8” (for example), and it will take you there. (In theory). I dunno. If you discover a way to tab between chapters, let me know. I’d be interested to learn that.
Thank you again for the past few chapters. Very thoughtfully written and clear about our mortality and immortality. At this point people should read all of 1 Corinthians Chapter 15.
Thank you for this chapter. A difficult subject that in my opinion you handled very gracefully. God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
Philippians 3:8-11 comes to mind when listening to this amazing Chapter. "8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith- 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead." Thank you!
This chapter is rather profound - God Is Love! It certainly, goes well with Chapter 10 in "HE IS!" entitled, "He Is Love." I encourage others to do a word search in an online Bible for the word love and simply let the many truths surrounding this word (concept) in the Bible sink into your mind and soul. Meditate on the word love in connection with God. There are many God is statements in the Bible and they all paint a picture for us who God truly is in His totality and the truth that God is love is foundational. Thanks Connie for this chapter, well, all the chapters. I am truly being blessed by your writing and reading!
I recently finished listening to the author read her book. I highly recommend this book for your listening or reading. Very thoughtful and encouraging for those who believe in God and for those who are still wondering if there is a God to whom we are accountable. Chapter 20 is a perfect listen before Good Friday. I hope you will give it a listen. Blessings!
Hey, how goes thing with you? how is the book selling? well, I hope. I sold my first couple of books so far. other than that its pretty quiet I think I need to advertise it. any suggestions?
Hello Mystical Unicorn: Congratulations! That's so exciting to see those sales pop up. Unfortunately, I'm not the right person to tell you anything about marketing as, no, I can't claim that my books are selling, either. ;-) However, one thing I did notice is that I couldn't find the Amazon link (or wherever you're selling your book) on your videos on your RU-vid. I tried looking for your book by title on Amazon, and I couldn't find that either because there were too many other books with the same or similar titles. So, just a suggestion: post the link to the book on Amazon wherever you can so interested people can find it. That's a start. What other social media sites do you use? Are you on Facebook? There are umpteen thousand writer's groups you could join as a way of networking and getting advice. (You don't have to join all umpteen thousand, of course. You could join ones specific to your genre. Just type some key words into the search bar.) I'm not up on all the socials. I'm not on Instagram, TikTok, even Twitter, as, well, to be honest, I just don't like them. But wherever you think you'd have success promoting, you could try joining. And of course, you can always pay for advertising and marketing if you choose to go that route. For me, writing is a wonderful hobby, and book sales are a nice bonus when they happen. But if you'd like to be more serious about it than I am, there's a lot of info online about how to market. Just let the buyer beware as scams abound as they do everywhere. Well, good luck. All the best!
Appreciate all the help maneuvering Apache Office as it doesn't really come with user-friendly instructions on how to use & they're online links seem pretty vague on it too. (Just finished my first, non-fiction of 600p. and hoping to find a literary agent soon for publication.] Btw, I'll listen to your audio book and go buy a copy for all your help. Ps.... I dislike how you've got to 'rent' Microsoft Office anymore. I can understand the downloading as most PCs don't come standard with CD R/Ws anymore but why have to keep paying for something of the same edition annually? The answer is, I'm not! Be well fellow author!!!
Thank you, Sir/Ma’am. 😀 I appreciate the views and comment. Always happy to hear anything I’ve put out has been at all helpful. I learned what I know about formatting from other helpful people on the internet, so I thought I’d pass along the favour and put it all into one place for any “fellow authors.” Good luck with your project. Would be exciting to find a good agent! All the best!
Nicely done, though I dislike the much less than flattering terms you use to refer to yourself, though I understand why you use them for the work in progress. I feel a strong need to come and take your car for an oil change. :-D Though I know, considering how long ago this was posted, it would be WAY too late for that to have any benefit as the engine either locked up or blew years ago. :-D BC's a long long way away, so I shan't be randomly appearing and asking for your car keys. Breathe that sigh of relief. :-D I have often told people that I found it comforting that everything I believed might be wrong. That got me odd looks, but I've always gotten those, so I wasn't phased. Truths are perhaps chimerical and likely to change as we go through life. I know many of mine have. But the search for truth and the hopefulness of belief are worthwhile.
😂thank you for the kind thoughts. The car’s doing fine. It did eventually get an oil change, and it’s still running, hmmm, at least ten years later since I wrote this book. I knew the oil companies were alarmists or opportunists or both. One thing you said made me curious: something like, you’re relieved to know that everything you think isn’t true? (Not verbatim. I don’t want to exit out of this comment to find that part again.) Had me wondering what you meant by that? 🤔
@@self-publishinghelp8596 Sounds bizarre, but yes. But, as someone who has fought depression and a very negative self-image for decades it'd be nice to be wrong about the things I believe about myself, right? 😀
@@self-publishinghelp8596 Grin. Glad the oil got changed and the car is still running along. 🙂 My dad was a mechanical engineer who got into that field after rebuilding his first car as a teen (he bought it with the engine disassembled and stored in peach baskets in the back seat. 😲 ) and he worked on cars as a hobby for most of his life, so I got to know the reasons behind the frequency of oil changes depending on car model, age, use, etc. He was my trusted source for that for sure. 🙂
Ah, I see. 😂 Right! Some things it’s nice to be wrong about. The negative self-image things usually turn out to be wrong, don’t they, though? I mean, don’t you find that when someone opens up their insecurities to you, you find yourself thinking, “You’re worried about THAT?” And it never would have occurred to you that the person would have issues in that area. Then, although insecurities are painful and it would be nice to find a happy medium, the truly dislikeable people are the ones who have none. Or are overcompensating for them. But no one ever seems to be insecure about being arrogant. 😂 Or at least not the people who truly should be. I don’t wish arrogance on you, but I hope you can find your happy medium. Being able to evaluate oneself honestly, maybe. With the goal being to evaluate oneself less and less. The depression thing is a kicker!
I really like your jigsaw analogy. It's a great summation of the way our nature seems to try to force rational sense on naturally irrational things, like people and life. And we do this even when we know, whether we admit it or not, how irrational we are. I agree that "experts" are not the most favored sources for me either, unless I know of them and their work. I do love science (teen me just quailed and then vomited at that statement) and the ways it tries to work with the myriad jigsaws of reality, but my knowledge of science is admittedly scattershot. Which, generally, I'm fine with. Side note: The main problem I have with "experts" is easily summed up by the old joke/truism on the definition of expert. X is a mathematical term signifying an unknown, and a spurt is a drip under pressure, so an expert is an unknown drip under pressure. That does make a lot of sense, doesn't it? My knowledge of Christianity is somewhat scattershot as well, being as I have been involved in Christianity all my life to varied levels and I try to follow the precepts of the faith that I have found most applicable to me (for example, I'm not a proselytizer. It's just not in my nature to approach others and ask their religious views with the intent of discussing mine. If it's a failing it's only one of countless failings I have, but I try my best anyway). But though I am familiar with the majority of ceremonies and thoughts of the denominations I have been to most, I'll never claim to be any kind of expert. Years ago I wanted to go to seminary, but I quickly realized I'd fail at that too. Let's be honest, even Christians who are strong in faith can learn from others, even those lesser in knowledge, experience, or faith. Sometimes we need to hear what we already know but may have forgotten momentarily. I've learned/been reminded of things I've momentarily forgotten about faith through conversations with small children who knew less than I did, but still showed me wisdom I had forgotten. That was part of why I liked working in the church nursery when I was younger. I enjoyed this first chapter very much! At some point I will listen to more of them, as time and the chaos of my current life allows. :-) Take care and God bless!
Thank you, Patrick (assuming that is your name). I appreciate you taking the time to listen to my thoughts and express yours in return. I’m happy if that double-edged sword of the internet and my contributions to it helped pass the time more pleasantly for you as you are in the “chaos of your current life.” I hope your circumstances “straighten out and fly right” soon.
Good question! With a complicated answer. I had to play around to get it to work as requested. Hope my instructions make sense. You may have to do some playing around to make it work how you want, as well. I clicked on the blank page before my chapter opener that I wanted to be numbered page one. From that blank page, I clicked on Format->Paragraph->Text Flow. Under Text Flow->Breaks, I made sure "Insert" was checked with Type: Page and Position: Before. Then, I checked the box for "With Page Style." From the drop down bar beside it, I scrolled up to "Chapter Opener" (what I have my chapter opener format page labelled) and chose it. Then I changed the page number drop down bar beside it to "1." I hit okay. This changed that blank page to the chapter opener format and numbered it as "1". All the consecutive pages were numbered accordingly. To get the actual chapter opener page numbered as "1", I simply clicked on the top of the Chapter 1 page. Then I hit backspace. "1" was now on the correct chapter opening page, but I was missing the blank page I wanted to come before it. This was an easy fix. I went to the last page before where I wanted the blank page inserted (the acknowledgement page in my book). Its formatting did not include a page number or footer. I hit "control" and "enter" at the same time to create a new page with the same formatting, and everything was how I wanted it. Hope this helps and you can follow along without getting too lost. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Nice! That’s fantastic. Exciting times! You’ll have to update your channel with a new video, showing us the finished product (I mean, you won’t HAVE to. Don’t mean to be bossy. 😆Just that it will be nice to see.)
Hello again. Yes, all those videos are old. I put out all the information I thought would be helpful and had nothing else to say. I never planned to continue. Not trying to be a RU-vidr or anything. 😂 How are you? How’s writing going?
Awesome! I hate MS Word and next time I will use Open Office. But the PDF format should match the chosen format on Amazon I guess. Do you have a video about that?
If you use PDF (just any PDF format, I think. I didn’t even know there were different PDF formats. I just use whatever Open Office provides automatically), it will be compatible with Amazon for paperback. MS Word (new versions at least) will also work for your paperback formatting. For ebooks, I believe PDF will work. But I think it’s more complicated and less reliable. I just save as HTML for my ebooks. Yup, I think it’s in my uploading to Amazon video. (See playlists.)
Oh haha! I just noticed you were leaving this comment on saving and uploading to Amazon. You can try whatever I suggest on this video and see if it works for you. I can’t quite remember exactly what I said in the video.
How much Page Size for the E - Book? How much Margin? Btw, you seem to teach nice. A short advice will be try to upload more videos and very attractive thumbnail. Well, you can do pretty good, thanks!
Thank you for the kind comment and encouraging words. With the e-book, the reading device formats page size and margins, so you don’t have to set them to anything special. I just take my paperback formatting and erase any special formatting and use that for my e-books. Hope that helps. All the best.
hello tho this may help you can change measurements by going tools options general you can change to Centimetres as yours was in inches I think? as you prefer them.
Yes, you can work in either one. Depending on your country as to which measuring system you're more familiar with. I'm Canadian, so bilingual in both. Or just confused in both. :)
It will work the same for an unlimited number of chapters. Whatever level of heading you choose for your chapter titles (ie: level one), everything that is set for level one will show up in your table of contents.
@@self-publishinghelp8596 Thank you very much. Another problem. I did an export test but I'm not sure if I did it right. I'm wondering if after I do an export pdf all I have to do is just upload the manuscript to KDP?
Sorry I didn't respond earlier. RU-vid is not highlighting new comments that are replies to my replies. Yes, PDF is a format that KDP accepts. Then you can see how it looks on kindle on the site. Hope you got it all figured out.
Hard to know. They really do have a mind of their own sometimes, don’t they? I’d just experiment till it goes away. Can you kill the bolding entirely? If so, what happens if you type the line you want bolded in another document and copy and paste into the right one? That kind of thing. I’d try a few different experiments till something works. Good luck. Hope you solve it. Programs can be very frustrating when they don’t do what they’re asked.
@@self-publishinghelp8596 I found the 'bold' control on the right side. Not sure why they duplicated the button on top. But the right side button works ! Someone also told me "Libre" is better and also free.
Not blaming you, it's just me. This is typical for when I look up how to do things. I love the way I can follow along click for click and find that my table of contents has a whole bunch of other entries in it. Oh, those must have a Heading 1 style, I thought. Nope, default style. So I just delete them from my table of content only to have them jump back in again as soon as I update the table. Also, why is there a grey background on the table when "No fill" is selected? F!#$K!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11
Hi there, did you manage to get your issues solved, ProfessorOzone? The only one I think I can help with is the grey background on the table of contents. For some reason, it will be highlighted grey in OpenOffice, but it's just bluffing. When you save as PDF, it will look like a normal white page as it will when it's uploaded to Amazon, too. The weird grey thing just seems to be a feature of the Open Office table of contents. As to "default" showing up in your table of contents, I have never run into that, so I don't know how to troubleshoot. A program just does its own thing sometimes, I find, for no rhyme or reason. You probably have already, but if you haven't, maybe right click on your table of contents and choose "edit table" from the drop down. Then check "entries" and make sure that only level 1 is chosen. Regardless, "default" shouldn't be showing up in the table, so it's probably just glitching. Whatever extra is showing up, I'd maybe try highlighting it, changing it to heading 1 and then back again to default to see if that makes it "forget." Hopefully, you find a solution. Good luck with your project. Thanks for watching and commenting.
@@self-publishinghelp8596 At first NOTHING was working. But . . . I was using my own custom heading and it didn't like that. So instead I just changed Heading 1 style to look like my custom heading and then it worked with the mentioned problems. What I did was find those extra entries in the body of the document and highlighted them and selected default style. I had pasted that stuff in from a website and apparently only part of it was default. Strangely NONE of it was Heading 1 so I don't know why it showed up in the TOC in the first place. This worked for one of the entries, but not the other. So I wound up highlighting well before the offending text and selected default and voila! It worked. The grey background still bothers me since this document is never intended to be printed. Guess it's a first world problem. Anyway, the grey background is nowhere near as bad as the underline it put under each entry when I made them links. It left the little dots joining the chapters to the page numbers so now I have a redundant line under them as well. I'm sure I could get rid of that by changing the style of links, but I'd rather keep that style for the rest of the document. At least I can now click on the appropriate section in the TOC and jump to where I want to be. It's a living document and will be quite large when I'm done. Thanks for the video!
Hi miss Cook, is everything going well? Here in Holland everthing is well. I'm making progress with my book. I saved enough money so I'm spending a month now to finish it. Hey, I have a question for you. I was wondering if you know the answer. Remember how you learned me how to fix some spacebars (?) before the start of each paragraph. Well in real books that actually only starts after the first paragraph. A paragraph that starts after a white line seems to start 'normally'. Do you know how I can fix that? *edit* nvm I just found how to to it. (just change the setting for the first alinea only by right clicking while your cursor is on it.)
I'm just about to launch my first paperback/ebook and have been finding your videos so incredibly helpful. Thanks so much for uploading them. There are other open office tutorials out there but yours are by far the most concise. 👍
Your tutorials are excellent, thank you. I have formatted my book but find I have a number of blank pages at the end that I would like to delete. Can you explain how I should go about that please. I'm sure there must be an easy solution but what it is I do not know.
Christine, if it’s not saved in PDF yet, it should just be a matter of highlighting everything you want deleted and hitting backspace or choosing “cut.” If it’s in PDF, there is no way to edit in PDF that I know of (if you made it non-editable). It would just be a matter of going back into your original manuscript, making the changes, and re-saving as PDF. Or maybe I’m not understanding the issue?
@@self-publishinghelp8596 Thanks for your reply. My problem is that the pages at the end of the original manuscript are blank, so nothing to highlight. When I convert the manuscript to a pdf, the blank pages all copy as well. The sample book that has come back from the printer therefore has the eight blank pages after the final page of the manuscript.
Confused about something. How do I get the chapter headers to change automatically on every chapter? My chapters are short, like 2-3 pages. I don't want the same chapter header on every left page. Any ideas? Or did I miss that part of the video?
Nicholas No problem. It wasn’t explained very clearly in this vid. Sorry about that. Just make sure you go through every one of your chapter titles at the beginning of each chapter and repeat the process of highlighting the chapter title (or whatever you want to appear in the header and table of contents) and then change the drop down bar at the top from “default” to “heading.” (Heading 1 if chapter titles are the only headings you need.) Then, if you have the header at the top of the page (say, all left hand pages) set to display “heading>level 1,” the program will automatically choose the most recent “heading 1” to display. Which will be the chapter title of its current chapter. Hope that makes sense. Good luck.
Problem. I add a footer and it adds a footer to every page as only (Default) shows up. Second when I punch in a number on the first page it puts the same number on every page no matter what page. I don’t want 300 pages numbered 1. What am I doing wrong. I just did this last year. Something is not too user friendly here.
@Redtailedhawk99 thanks for watching and commenting. You’ll need some page differentiation to separate the pages you want footers on from the pages you don’t want them on. It’s a little complicated. Too complicated to explain here. Watch my video on page differentiation in the same playlist (link in description of this video). To fix your page number problem, don’t manually type in a page number. Let the program count them for you. On a page style where you do want a footer, choose “Insert->Footer,” click on the footer so your cursor is in the footer, then go back to “Insert.” Then, “Field->Page Number.” Now the program will automatically number your pages for you correctly in the footer. Hope this helps! Good luck with your manuscript.
You’re using so much software I use lol btw, if OBS screen record is too slowly, simply press ‘windows button, alt and R’ all together on your keyboard and your screen will start recording automatically in top quality without jitters.
