I'm not gonna lie. Atticus is much better. It does all of the work formatting the books. To format a 100k+ fantasy would take longer than writing it in Word. I recommend Atticus instead.
@@Kindlepreneur Atticus looks great. Except, at least for me personally, I don't want to venture into a writing hobby having to invest $150 first. I already have Word, and if I didn't, what was beautifully taught in this video can be easily applied to Google Docs. Thanks for the video!
Thank you for sharing, 🙏 you're a good teacher! 👏 As someone just starting on this journey, I need to learn as much as possible until I can raise the funds to hire professionals. Your video has been one of the easiest videos, on formatting, to follow. I have been so frustrated with word, so I'm watching all I can on using it.
This and the previous video are excellent introductions for using Word to format a POD book. I use Word to format my own and my client's books, but I'm an advanced user, so I have other tips and tricks I use. For anyone wanting to use Word to format their book, I would highly recommend learning more about how to use styles, and to create a full style for each type of book you want to format (things like never hitting "enter" between lines, but setting line heights for each paragraph). It's a process that takes some time to master and set up, but it is worth it. That said, it might be too much for those who want to get their book formatted and don't want to add the learning curve for how to use Word. I'm considering Atticus myself because I do like what I'm seeing from the examples. I have to admit that I'm pretty picky, so I'll keep looking to see if it would include the little nuances I would want. Overall, though, great job
I think a tutorial on how to launch a book effectively would be ideal. Many know how to write and publish a book, but they haven't a clue about what to do next.
My Word version is 15.36 aka "old" and I'm having a helluva time applying what you've taught regarding setting up margins, etc. As time is money here, and I have another book waiting to come out after this one, I think Atticus might be a smart decision. I've been at this almost all day and my left & right brain hemispheres are sizzling on overwhelm. Writing is not just a hobby for me. Then of course there's the marketing aspect, etc. So I don't want to spend a fortune of time/energy trying to figure out margins "the hard way on an old version of Word" if I can zip through it on Atticus. I really like your style of teaching, I actually can understand what you're saying!!! Thank you!
I’m nearly a minute in and, judging by the bullet points and my own experience, I now know you’re formatting a paperback. A beginner wouldn’t know that there are differences between formatting for pb and ebook (SO much easier!! 😂) so perhaps mention in the intro that you’re doing a paperback.
I'm using Atticus as well, although if I weren't, this video would be a tremendous help. One thing I didn't see addressed (apologies if I missed it), after formatting, I assume you would save as a PDF for uploading into KDP. Otherwise, this is a great overview of Word formatting in general, no matter what you're working on -- book, research paper, etc.
This is a detailed video, and you explain it well. If all a person is doing is writing one book and wants to spend their time involved with it, you're giving them a great video. But for doing the actual formatting, forget Word. Atticus gits 'er done.
Dave, thank you SO much. I'm new to the KDP world, and you just gave my manuscript a total "glow-up"! It looks SO much better. You're amazing, thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Like most everyone else, I thought the video was great--very helpful and clear, as usual. Also, like most everyone else, I'm happier to just use Atticus now. My one critique on the video is that the sound quality of Dave's voice is not on a par with the sound effects. I had to crank my volume way up to hear Dave well, but then the effects were super loud. I am continually grateful for all you guys do to help indie authors sparkle!
I did not realize that. Thank you ! I'll make sure we have the sound better - because you're right...the sound effects are way 'louder' than my voice. Thanks!
Hi Dave, Great job ... and very generous of you, like always. You do a great job of building confidence and explaining WHY. But since you asked, I did find a few minor glitches. 1. Even though PAGE BREAK is a simple concept, it feels rushed, thrown in at the end of that segment. 2. When you are discussing margins, you arrived at .375 as the best inside margin, and yet the video shows .38 3. When you're discussing line spacing, you illustrate using EXACTLY and 15. But the 15 doesn't mean much. I suggest you add the word POINT, as in 15 POINT. 4. There is an abrupt break in the video between CHAPTER HEADING and SETTING PAGE NUMBERS. 5. Seems to me the headers--BOOK TITLE and AUTHOR NAME--should be centered. Like I said, all minor. You're the best--so kind and generous.
I think your teaching points are great. I believe this video targets the more unseasoned Word user who has not created a book in Word or at a minimum doesn't know all of the tricks of the trade. Assuming that, my one constructive comment is that I believe it is fast paced for that audience. I would have to keep pausing and backing up to catch digest all of the great info. Perhaps you can provide an outline with the steps to be used as a reference. I think that would be a helpful teaching tool. You make great information videos for us. They are always well done and engaging. We appreciate you, Dave!
Hi Dave, good stuff. Maybe include fact that Word file should be virgin, so strip out all formatting before starting? Also, how to set up a TOC s/b a tutorial all in itself (if you haven't already done one already). Best, Loretta
This is a great quick tutorial! I use MS Word for my books and I learned a few shortcuts from you. A couple things you might want to add - make sure you center justify your header and add spacing before every chapter title so it's not at the top of the page.
I trying to format my first book on word while watching this in a split screen! I can't tell you how much I appreciate your efficient instruction! Thank you so much. I was going to buy atticus, but this is a low content book for starters.
Thank you so much for posting this video. You did an excellent job of covering a lot of ground in a video that is comprehensive, yet succinct. And your presentation style balances rigour with accessibility to people of all walks of life.
Thanks Dave. Very helpful. Since many of us have books available in both electronic and pirnt versions, I suggest you discuss the difference in formatting that might require.
Looks good. I have always used Word but did purchase Atticus a while back (though I haven't been writing recently). I will probably try it to redo some of my past books and also for new ones. I'm not a fan of the extra space you have between all of the paragraphs, especially if you're going to indent, too. The whole idea of the extra space is to show it's a new paragraph. Personally, it makes it easier for me to put a book down when the paragraphs are spaced like that. Anyway, enjoyed the video and always appreciate your guidance.
I too noticed the extra line after the paragraphs. The rule of thumb I was taught is to leave a line when there is no indenting on the paragraph (block formatting), and remove the line when the paragraphs are indented.
Hey Dave, this is perfect timing. I still write in Word, but I upload everything to Atticus for my formatting, so getting stuff right before I do is pretty important. I bought Atticus last year when it first came out, and published one book, and so much has changed while I'm writing my other ones. Thank you for the videos and thank you, and Jenna and everyone at Atticus. You guys rock.
Great work. I recommend adding bookmark features to the video, so if someone wants to come back, go back to the beginning of a feature explanation, or is only stuck on a certain aspect, they can simply click the bookmark and jump to that section.
This is a great video, clear and concise with loads of information. I tried Atticus and I must admit I got confused. But I think I'll give it another try now. I see there's quite a bit I need to do to make my books look truly professional. Thank you for the video.
Thank you for making these tutorial videos, Dave. Even if we aren't using Word, the concepts carry over nicely. Needs more sci-fi references, though. I'm still all warm inside from the Logan's Run reference in a previous video.
This is the most comprehensive but easy video I have found on this subject. I've already used all this stuff. There is no way you can remember it all. I usuually fill out an index card with the high points. This is a most excellent video for that.
Maybe a video on children’s book covers (different requirements for kdp and ingramspark, difference between sofcover and hardcover, etc) A video on choosing pricing would be helpful (only instruction I’ve really found online is price comparable to competitors- which is a good starting point but I’d love to learn more) I’d love a vid with advice On softcovers on both ingramspark and kdp. Ingram takes 30% min and 55% max, kdp does 40%, can you just have softcover on both platforms and use their free isbns associates with each platform? It would be epic to have some instruction on Spanish versions of books- is it profitable, how does uploading differ, can it be linked to the English version, can kdp rocket search Spanish market in addition to English and German, etc. Just throwing out some ideas :)
Hi Dave: Good job. Amazon has written and video instructions for formatting using MS Word. You repeat much of that basic material which is okay - your presentation is good. You add some things that MS doesn't talk about like handling widows and orphans (at least they didn't last time I looked). You also rely on the user to make decisions about font, line spacing, chapter designation and so on based on how the page looks/readability. It might be better to tell users to look at comparable authors in their genre and do what they do. If I were doing this which I'm not, but you asked for feedback, I'd do one section on a review of what Amazon tells you. Another section on what Amazon doesn't tell you. And a third on how to decide the best formatting for your book based on genre and whether you're doing fiction or nonfiction. This would include what to pay attention to like font, chapter heading position, interior blank pages, graphics, self-advertising, and so on. A new session that might be useful is one that breaks down the key formatting decisions for main genre like mystery, thriller, romance, sci-fi etc. based on what the best sellers do. Glad for a chance to offer some feedback - hope it helps, as your videos have helped me through the years.
This was spot on. Great review. Also fonts to use per genre. How to download new fonts could be a video tutorial too. Word may not have the font desired. I know Dave's articles on formatting are comprehensive. He could link to those in his videos too so the viewer can learn more of the formatting rules.
That's true. I found it hard to prepare the content for this and have it work for all - but not be too long. But perhaps I could make more videos that are specific to genre or nonfiction.
Superb! So many times have I burned the midnight oil trying to get my books just right only to find KDP saying 'NOPE!' As you can imagine there were words used that cannot be written on here. Dave, you're awesome! Thanks so much for this very insightful video on how to for mat properly in Word. As soon as my wife will allow, I will get Atticus and be able to produce books of a far more professional quality. Keep up the great work.
Hi Dave and oldest daughter, great info regarding book formatting. I'd also suggest a short discussion about templates from KDP. They can be a bit tricky to setup for full formatting as suggested, especially the title and author name in the header and where to start them...
It was a little too fast for me, but I've always hired my formatting out since I prefer writing over the tedious task of formatting. But maybe it wouldn't be so tedious if I took the time to learn. I've been tempted to purchase Atticus and would love to hear if it's easier to learn than formatting with Word.
I can absolutely say it's easier to learn than formatting with Word. As for the speed, I will definitely keep that in mind in the next tutorial. Thank you!
I'll just echo that you should note this particular tutorial for for pbk only, not for ebook. But, I use Atticus now. I write in Word and then upload to Atticus. Can you do an Atticus tutorial about making changes to the manuscript once it's all formatted? I am finding that a bit difficult.
Awesome video. Like someone else said in the comments I would also recommend including bookmarks in the video. It helps to go back and find quickly a particular segment. Congrats on your oldest daughter graduating from college. 😊 Pierce
I use Pages in Mac and I find it works very well. Maybe some tutorials for Mac Pages as there are some complications in the structure that beg for instruction by a guru, such as formatted numbering of pages, changing numbering type from roman to arabic, etc. I do download templates from Amazon for each book and work in Pages. Also, Pages sizing are in mm and not inches, which is always a conumdrum. They do not have a standard 6"x9" template, which I use often for many of my titles being prepared. Thanks for everything you do. You are a good and honest man and I respect your views enormously. Born tutor.
This is helpful. For page set up the word gutter appears and that is the inner margin. Creating styles makes formatting easier in Word. I would encourage or suggest you showing how to create normal paragraph styles first, then chapter styles. Styles is key to formatting in word. Discuss more on type of book being formatted and the parts of the book, how to separate front matter from the body or chapters especially for non-fiction books. Also show how you can change the headers to have each chapter title. This is missing. Yes, Atticus is easier but it does not handle non-fiction books well that have special formatting needs and different fonts, images, graphs etc. for some types of non-fiction books.
I can't wait to use Atticus myself for the beautiful formatting and for the ebook format and export! I use Word now; this video was great, and its tips significantly improve the formatting quality!
Thanks for asking my opinion, Dave. I have learned a lot from all your videos. This one tells me things about formatting a manuscript that I could never figure out on my own. I spent many frustrating hours with MSWord on my first book before deciding to hire a professional, who described MSWord as "too brittle" to be used. I think you might want to advise subscribers that certain book review services will not accept books that aren't professionally formatted, and that if they can afford it, to spend the money on a good professional service like those recommended by the Alliance of Independent Authors.
Great, easy to follow video. As someone who has formatted in Word before, I am now a VERY happy Atticus user. I really like the clear text on screen to highlight content. It does often fall behind the closed captions (which I usually use). Perhaps keep in mind that the bottom of the screen should be treated as clear space.
@@Kindlepreneur it's just the text that needs to move. Having the bottom section of your t-shirt or the Word screen obscured isn't an issue. No offense to your t-shirt, of course :)
@@susiedinneen147 Well, the text for CC is always in the same spot on RU-vid (they are the ones that put it there). SO I can't adjust where the closed captioning shows. But if I move the camera a bit, that will create a clearer spot for the CC words. As for timing, I'll see if I can better time up YT's CC system. They do have an editing system. Thanks!
Dave, great summary. Technically hits all the point (loved the hint about managing widows and orphans. My only cautionary comments are the delivery is machinegun fast, and I had to keep zipping back a few seconds when something wasn't clear. The other thing is your voice is very quiet, so when there's a sound effect, or-worse-youtube throws another ad in, they kind of bellow. Otherwise, a great tutorial
Hi, Dave. Very clearly explained, as usual. I have a Mac, so I now format using Pages. (I used to just let Reedsy do it all but I prefer to be able to tweak it myself) Most of the information here can be applied to Pages and I actually think it's easier to use.
Your video is excellent. You are very clear in your delivery and your visuals are outstanding. My only concern is that you said nothing about gutters that I recall. While I understand what gutters are in formatting, I do not understand how you determine the size you assign to the gutter. Please tell me how I choose a number that can work for me in terms of gutter or do I just leave it blank? Please. Sup with a great videos.
I am asking you this because I find you to be an expert on formatting for manuscripts. Is there ever a way that one can make corrections and modifications to one’s manuscript while it’s in PDF form on the KDP website and being viewed there as an upload? That would make things so easy. Just a question…
Very nice video 🌎 Thanks. Me learning and figuring out how to publish...I need to overcome Formatting first... Greetings from Colombia. The Venezuelan immigrant writer 🇻🇪
Very, very helpful - thank you! Kind of glossed by the margin discussion on the importance of gutter settings. It makes setting the inside margin so much "safer" and eliminates the trial-and-error approach since the value is number-dependent and predefined. No? I find it so easy to use KDPs page-number-related gutter setting to give my books a very nice result no matter the number of pages. Just sayin' . 🙂 Thanks again.
Great video Dave that was well presented. I use MS Word 2007 and as I am on a budget I am unable to buy the latest MS Word. However saying this there are free versions of MS Word that I am considering. It is because my laptop is now dying away and I will need to purchase a new one; I will definitely consider buying a Chromebook instead of a Windows one.
Hello Dave. Thank you for the wonderful products that you have created. Could you please do a video on what should be the added to the front matter and back matter of print books. I have been doing e-books for several years now but I am yet to make the jump to print books. Thank You.
Hi Dave. Great content, the only two comments per your request are 1) The all caps and large fonts seemed a bit too big 2) For those subscribers that want to use CC, the on-the-screen text is positioned exactly where the text is, maybe consider moving it to another place on the screen.
Thanks - yeah, I agree on the font size and call caps. I'm going to work on that. As for the CC, I'll have to move the text with that in mind since we can't control YT's CC. Great observation.
You did a great job explaining the process, but there was so much information, I got a little lost. Granted, I get others to format my books because I don't have the patience for all the ins and outs involved. I also want to make sure it's done right. Thanks for all your videos, they are very informative and have helped me in the past.
I publish a quarterly (genealogy) journal that requires footnotes and index. I know how to create footnotes but now that I am using Mac, can you recommend a video that shows how to do section breaks so that there is not continuous footnote numbering from one article to the next? Also an indexing video would be great.
I format my books in Word using styles. The video shows how to create a chapter heading. All styles are created in the same way. Ideally, styles should be created for 1) chapter heading, 2) chapter title (if applicable), 3) the first paragraph of a chapter, 4) the first paragraph of a scene if it's different from the first paragraph of a chapter, and 5) the remaining paragraphs of the story. I use slightly different styles for the front and back matter. But first, for the header to behave properly (title on odd pages, author on even pages + page number), a section break-next page must be used (Layout > Breaks > Section Breaks > Next page in Word 2016). Using section breaks allows the page number and title/author to be dropped on the first page of a chapter (which all professional books do). Even though styles scare many, at the very least, the Normal style should be defined to cover the most commonly used text, which in a book is the body of the text (all paragraphs except the first one in each scene). This ensures that text across all chapters is formatted the same way. Inside margins depend on the number of pages. The greater the number, the greater the margin so that when the book is open, the text is visible between the right/left pages. The outside margin can be picked based on preference (as long as it's >= the KDP minimum). A book should be right/left justified and either use 1) indentation for the first line of a paragraph without a blank line between paragraphs, OR 2) a blank line without first-line paragraph indentation. Never both. The easiest way to ensure that the first scene paragraphs are the same is to create a style for it, and set Format > Paragraph > Indentation > Special = None. For Normal story text, Special = First line, with By = value (I use 0.2"). I would never recommend adjusting line spacing to force a line back on a previous page to control orphans. The way to deal with this is to force text from the previous page to remain with the orphan text (but only as a last resort). Select the start of the paragraph that should fall on the next page with the orphan text and use the option Format > Paragraph > Line and page breaks > Keep lines together". If the line spacing of a page is decreased, even by just a tiny bit, the line spacing has now become inconsistent with the rest of the book. Some readers (I would be one), would notice right away. I would actually reread the text and see if I can edit it down before I would override Word's orphan control. And should some text be added to the chapter in the future, the line spacing might end up changing partway through a page, which would be even more noticeable. The negative of Word is setting up drop capitals at the start of a chapter (or each scene). These have to be done individually and yes, they are quite a pain (at least they are in Word 2016). You might want to add the missing i in the "Style of writing" @ 3:32 min.
Great tips. A few comments: I never created a new style so I wonder how that would work with the automated table of contents feature; using the Amazon page template seems a lot easier than figuring the correct margins; does Amazon actually accept a Word doc as I thought it had to be a PDF.
Aloha Dave, I'm replying to your email. The video is very helpful and clear, as per your usual style. I guess you are specifically addressing the formatting for a paperback and that were assuming it would be obvious to upload the finished product as a PDF rather than a Word file. That said, the final mention to Atticus made Word look like a revisitation of Jurassic Park. Just one more comment: the audio level was rather low, even if pushed to the max, but this could only be my MacBook Pro. (Worth mentioning?) Regarding your request for suggestions re future videos. there is one I'd love to see... A clear step by step guide (your style, you are the best) on how to build an email list from scratch, or several ways. All I have seen around the internet seem to focus on how to increase on what already there, but nothing on how to start from zero potential addresses. (I have family and friends both very disinterested in my writing, and replacing them would take too long and be quite painful). Thank you, ciao. PS: congratulation to your daughter for her outstanding results! What a champion!
Thank you for that. Yeah, I had someone else say that my voice was lower than the sound effects which caused problems. I'll have to adjust for that. As for the Email List, I've really be toying with this idea. I am a HUGE fan of email lists, and guide like that should include how to get them, and then how keep them engaged. Plus there are so many things you can do with the list. This subject is dear to my heard :) And thank you - she's pretty awesome, just like her momma :)
Excellent, all the info you need. A little too fast-paced for me, could slow down just a little. Overall yet another highly informative and useful tutorial. Nice one!
When I uploaded with kindle create. The preview looked fine but when I published it and ordered it much of my ebook has large chunks of text randomly highlighted. What happened and better yet how can I fix it. Thanks. Love your work
Very helpful video. Thanks so much for this information. One suggestion: please work on your miking setup. Your volume is very low. I had to crank my MacBook's volume nearly to maximum to hear you, and then, of course, the next video that played boomed. A lapel mike would work, or even a boom mike would be great. Thanks again. Keep up the good work.
Hello, great video. Is there line spacing requirements for paperback and ebook on KDP. Spend some time researching no definite answer like margins or page size.
Hello. I'm a new author and I was wondering if I've formatted a part of my book by pressing the TAP, do i have to deleted all of them in order to do the indentation correctly?
Got your email asking for feedback (under my real name, not this pen name). 1. Drop the transcript (if you have the option.) 2. Provide timed subject headings in the main video that pop up below. I’ve seen this done elsewhere. 3. Slow down. 4. Offer common wrinkles folks have along the way; they are plentiful. Word is a standard. I appreciate it. I hate it sometimes. I hope to make Atticus my new standard. For Atticus, please provide a detailed reference in text/pdf, not video. Thanks. Good luck to your talented daughter.
I like to use word for the printing format so I don't have to juggle files. if I need to fix something in word, its already formatted to print. very useful tut. thanks!
Very useful video as usual, Dave, thank you. Lots of detailed instructions about setup, like the alternative to the tab button for tabbing, and fixing widows and orphans manually. Your windows setup was sufficiently different from mine that I found it a bit difficult. I can only find paper choices in cms! It seemed a bit odd to navigate to paper sizes via margin sizes. Is it possible to do paper sizes first? Lovely explanation of why inner margins are larger than outer ones. One thing that might be helpful is to have time stamps along the way so people can go directly to something they want to check on a re-watch. I can see why people are using Atticus!
You totally can...although placement will depend on version. As for time stamps - absolutely. I'm going to get those chapters added to the video asap. Great suggestion.
Nice intro to formatting with Word. Styles are definitely one of the most useful things in Word that so many people don't seem to know how to use. It's such a shame Amazon didn't keep up with the Kindle Create plugin for Word. It has the formatting options of Kindle Create and more, but with the versatility of being able to edit the document with additional styles, as well as not ending up with a Kindle only format document. I still have it and use it all the time, even if it does have a couple of bugs.
Yeah, I think Amazon isn't updating Kindle Create as a whole and just letting it fall further behind as they make changes to their own formatting requirements. But the good news is that I'm working directly with their Head of Kindle software and my organization and theirs are working on something that will help authors. :)
I’m trying to create a song listing book for karaoke. I want two columns on left and two columns on right side of each page, and would flow from page to page.
Overall, the video is a very helpful and detailed review of using Word for formatting. I agree with other comments that Dave's audio could be louder, and the sound effects are too loud and jarring. I also much prefer Atticus for formatting.
good video. is step one determining what size paper to use? I normally write in normal sized paper but for my kindle book i want 6x9 format. do i start with 6x9 pages, convert to pdf and upload the pdf?
Thank you. This was very helpful. If you can add how to enter pictures or drawings. I have a family tree in one of my stories and would like to know the best method to do it.
What can we do when the manus;creiptwas already formated in the progrm different from the AmazonKDP? How can we corredt it to fit into the Amazon KDP to ;get it properlu uploaded for publishing?
This is awesome. I've been using story rocket for years, and am just now subscribing...sorry. THank you for this. I am sending you an email about sponsorship etc. Hope to hear from you.
Thank you for such an informative video. I'll have to replay the part about adding book title and auhor's name. And for some reason, some of my pages leave bigger spaces at the bottom. So much to do, so much to learn. I'm definitely going to check on Atticus. But I wonder whether it's functional for nonfiction. I don't need the artwork. and stylish fonts.
When it comes to this, there are actually a lot of rules of thumb. I'd say the best way is to look at what books in your genre or subject are doing, that you like, and do that. I know that's not an official thing, but I think emulating what works and what you like is a great approach.
Hi, If anyone can help??? I am writing a reference book with checklists. Each list needs to stay on one page. How do I keep the list from going onto another page. For example, a list of ten needs to stay on one page instead of breaking up with three items on one page and seven items on the next. The reason I need them one page is so they are not accidentally missed. Is there a way I can do this? No matter what I have tried the lists keep bleeding over to the other pages and it's a total mess.
Excellent explanations, as usual, Dave. But a little too fast as others noted. And you jumped too quickly to the margins chart so I missed how to get to it.
