Formatting a nonfiction book

If your book is nonfiction, generally speaking, you want to use block paragraphs rather than indents, unless your book is a memoir or historical fiction. We follow strict formatting guidelines to ensure your book looks, reads and feels as professional as any on a retailers book shelf. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. All you need is to study the steps and implement them with the next book you publish. The fast fingers book formatting service nonfiction books. Formatting nonfiction books for amazon kindle every book has standard parts, from the front matter and table of contents to the core matter and the back matter.

For one, if youve never formatted a book before, how do you even know what it should look like. Nonfiction authors know the importance of citing sources in their work. Footnotes can be a valuable way to reference material in your book project. Love your clear instructions on manuscript preparation and am wondering if the formatting is the same for memoir. Put the whole manuscript, including all front matter and back matter in chronological order in one ms word document. Your book outline is the structure of your book, and thus incredibly important. This ultimate guide shows you how to format your book stepbystep. Heres how to format your books chapter titles for kdp using word. Nonfiction books often require, or can be greatly enhanced by, specialist and technical illustrations. We can make your book look how you want it to look. In order to make your book appealing to your readers, there are a number of formatting elements that your designer will play with, as follows. A nonfiction book projects the authors reputation, credibility and trustworthiness you wouldnt trust a law firm where the attorney greets you wearing ripped jeans. Simply because the range of what a nonfiction book encompasses ishuge. This outline will serve as a map so make sure to construct the structure of your book.

Like any book formatting job, start by finalizing the content. This is where you plan your content in order to keep your writing on topic. Subheads subheads are utilized in nonfiction books for a variety of reasons including breaking a complex chapter into organized sections and to start or highlight a new idea. The following formatting recommendations hold true for both fiction and nonfiction manuscripts in the u.

And books that are largely text meant to be read are either. Nov 15, 2019 and because were not above a bit of blatant promotion, it should be mentioned that the reedsy book editor is an excellent first option. As a hybrid author, she also has published 17 books independently. If your kindle book has bullet points, graphics, tables, block quotes or any other special formatting issues, this tutorial may not work for you.

How to finally write your nonfiction book the new york times. Click any of the boxes below to see options for our book formatting services. Created by hugo and nebula award nominated author william shunn. Build your book format a paperback manuscript word for. How to format your book for kindle using microsoft word in. Add a section break between the front matter and book body to distinguish these parts of the book. There is more to a nonfiction book than a catchy cover and table of contents much more. How to format a manuscript like a pro a nonfiction guide.

Oct 24, 2014 all the while, you want to write a nonfiction book in a month not a novel. Heres everything you need to know when formatting your manuscript and chapter titles according to the. Your outline format is almost like a gameplan for your book. How to format a book the free and easy way ebook formatting. This package formats your manuscript and delivers it 100% ready for print. Find the best book formatting services you need to help you successfully meet your project planning goals and deadline.

The stepbystep guide to formatting your print book for kdp. How to set page size, margins and gutter book formatting. Some common formatting issues include wacky spacing, entire sections or chapters bolded and italicized, paragraphs split up, text flowing behind pictures and more. They saved my book and can certainly do it for yours as well highly recommended. Typesetting and formatting your book completelynovel. So please expect hyperlinks to be affiliate links in many cases, when i receive a small percentage of sales if you wish to purchase. How to format your manuscript even if you hate computers. Write a nonfiction book using this accessible template. Book a written work or composition that has been published typically printed on pages bound together book citations in mla 7 style generally contain the author name, book title, publication city, publisher, year published, and the medium of the work i. Mar 05, 2020 adding chapter titles are crucial for not only formatting your book for kdp, but also for organizing your books content into bitesized sections for your readers experience.

This is a service for formatting books and novels, ready for selfpublishing in print, as a paperback book, and or as a kindle ebook. Illustrations, diagrams and photos can really make a book come to life. Cite the book as you normally would, but add the number of the edition after the title. Yes, times new roman is boring, but its essentially on every computer ever made. From fiction powerhouses like stephen king, suzanne collins, and gabriel garcia marquez to successful nonfiction authors like langston hughes and nelson mandela, 48 hour books can reformat the inside of your book to look like the pros. How to outline a nonfiction book with free template. Using styles also saves you time because you dont have to format the font and spacing for each part of your book. Using the styles function in word can help you ensure your books font and spacing is consistent.

Special formatting for nonfiction books in microsoft word the. How to format a nonfiction manuscript book editing services. Word2kindle was a integral part in getting my 2nd book framer into publication as its formatting was pretty problematic. Complete book formatting howto guide for word templates duration. Finding simple book formatting for your nonfiction book can be tricky. There are many different ways to construct this outline.

Worse, having no outline often leads to not finishing your book at all. How to format a nonfiction manuscript betterscribe. How to format a book in word a stepbystep tutorial youtube. Because we are formatting everything by hand, and not just using templates or some software to control the appearance, you are not restricted with how your book can look. You can sell your print books wherever you like while using kdp print on demand pod publishing. Solve your nonfiction ebook formatting problems how to format your book for kindle at. Formatting nonfiction proper manuscript format william shunn. How to format your book for kindle using microsoft word in 6. Nov 17, 20 the hierarchy of information in nonfiction book formatting. Formatting nonfiction proper manuscript format william. Solve your nonfiction ebook formatting problems how to format your book for kindle. One of the first challenges a writer faces is how to format a manuscript. What font size should your titles be in your nonfiction book. How to format your book for amazon kindle using microsoft.

And how do you make certain parts of your book stand out, like chapter headings, quotes. Never use columns as this may alter the layout of the rest of your document. The 8 brilliant fonts you need to use in your book layout. I hesitate to make a long list of formatting dos and donts or other arbitrary best practices for creating a nonfiction book. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading kindle nonfiction formatting guide. This is the first video in my book formatting series. To ensure that your content begins on the correct page, use section breaks. If you start writing without a good outline template, the process will take forever and your book will be haphazard and incomplete.

You should format a personal essay the same as a short story, and book length memoir the same as a novel. Click mark entry, found on the references tab in the index area. What are the guidelines for formatting a manuscript. In a nonfiction book, you may also wish to include a table of illustrations or figures. The first thing your designer will choose is your trim size or book size. You dont have to do it as a nanorebel or as part of an event created for novelists. Next, insert your acknowledgements dedication page, if you want one, then your foreword if any, your introduction, and finally, chapter one. Nov 12, 20 your checklist for the components of a nonfiction book, from the front cover to the back and everything in between. Most of the information on this site is free for you to read, watch or listen to, but the creative penn is also a business and my livelihood. Also, while we can describe the format here, it is always best to purchase a book with detailed sample pages from manuscripts. Dec 30, 2015 what font size should your titles be in your nonfiction book. Mar 06, 2020 other considerations for nonfiction book formatting.

Other considerations for nonfiction book formatting. Youll write, edit, proofread and format the book before uploading it for approval. Today, i would like to show you how to deal with special formatting concerns specific to nonfiction books including subheads, quotations, bullet points and numbered lists. Section breaks allow you to change the formatting of a specific section without affecting other sections. I have been blessed to have twice 2012 and 2014 utilized the services of the fast fingers book formatting service for both cover art and interior formatting for paperback and epublish outlets. Adjust entry text to your preference and add crossreferences if needed. For nonfiction books, there are three common trim sizes that the vast majority of books are printed on.

Shortly after the new hd appeared, i received an email from amazon stating there was a. Nov 03, 2012 valuable list of all of the steps that go into building a book manuscript. The notation functionality in word allows you to create a virtually endless number of references that automatically update at the page bottom. Short quotes should be enclosed within single quotation marks.

Book formatting for ebook and print books the creative penn. Were saying that not only because its easytouse and powerful, but its also completely free. In this video ill show you how to set page size, margins and gutter as well as the right sizes for novels and nonfiction books. If you need to use tables in your nonfiction manuscript, you can but do this by using insert table rather than creating a table manually using the tab key. How to format nonfiction concerns such as subheads, quotations, bullet points and numbered lists when using a book design template. I was so happy with their work that i had them format my next book, light for the burning soul, for print, kindle, and nook. Its the online formatting guide more editors point to than any other. When it comes to citing sources in your manuscript, there are some general style guidelines to follow. Its crucial that every part of the book appear in the right order with the right content. To send in for a critique by the wd staff they will request that you use 1 12 in margins, which is different than the standard formatting of 1 in. From the point of view of a book designer, books readily fall into a couple of general categories. Most writers just want to write and not worry about formatting, etc. Prepare, publish, promote prepare your book format your manuscript ebook manuscript resources ebook manuscript formatting guide ebook manuscript formatting guide this stepbystep guide shows you how to turn a manuscript written in microsoft word into a file ready to be uploaded to kdp. The 8 brilliant fonts you need to use in your book layout with type combinations and samples if you were formatting a book just the inside youd have to choose a strong, perfect body font for the main paragraphs and a complimentary and interesting font for titles, subtitles and chapter headings.

Book formatting services reformat like the bestsellers. Every book has standard parts, from the front matter and table of contents to the core matter and the back matter. Here are some nonfiction book outline templates to help you know what to. You can write your nonfiction book in 30 days during an event for writers just like younonfiction writers. Below are steps that will take you through how to format a nonfiction manuscript and make it industry standard. How to format a nonfiction index highlight the text you wish to add to the book s index. Manuscript format for fiction writers, the way the professionals do it.

Childrens books will benefit from some good illustrations to make them stand out and be memorable to the reader. The hierarchy of information in nonfiction book formatting. Do not include your front and back cover copy in this document. Plenty of authors and publishers were left with towering piles of unsold books that they had invested considerable sums of money in. She is the author of how to blog a book, the author training manual, and creative visualization for writers, all published by writers digest books. Dec 09, 2019 today, i would like to show you how to deal with special formatting concerns specific to nonfiction books including subheads, quotations, bullet points and numbered lists.

A quality nonfiction book has three main components. There are two types of editions in book publishing. We can undertake this service for any type of book, be it fiction or nonfiction. A manuscript is your work of fiction or nonfiction that you submit to a publisher or agent in.

Nonfiction book formatting for microsoft word lulu blog. Instead, create another ms word document for the front cover, back cover, and. In the meantime as a guide, we outline how the price for design depends on book genre, length, how well the manuscript is prepared and any special work. You can use the preset styles in microsoft word or modify them for a custom look. Crazy simple book formatting template for nonfiction. Special formatting for nonfiction books in microsoft word.

Highlight the text that you wish to reference in the footnote. If your book is fiction, it probably ends on the last page. If your intentions are to submit your manuscript to a publisher or an agent, please check their guidelines first as they may vary. However, as a book editor, i take care of most of these things as part of my overhaul service, especially the proper formatting for ebooks and printed books. You should write your outline with the end in mind.

Includes formatting, a sample bibliography, and helpful tips to get you started. Selfpublishing means you have to do all of the work, like. She is a nonfiction book editor and doctor, proposal consultant. If there is a particular layout you have seen in another book that you quite liked, we can easily match it. With fiction book formatting, you want to have just a small indent at the start of each paragraph. How to format your nonfiction manuscript barbara mcnichol.