Using Microsoft Word
I have been using Microsoft Word, Excel, and Access for years. Not that I’m a Word Expert by any means, just that I was already familiar and comfortable with it, so I decided to use it to write my first book. I have seen other writers suggest OpenOffice because it’s free, and Scrivener because it has features like being able to corkboard index cards of information and collect research notes, and it’s good for scriptwriting. Scrivener is available for $40 at https://www.literatureandlatte.com/sc....
How to use Microsoft Word 2016
When I first started my book, I knew I wanted to write it for Kindle and paperback. I did some research to see if I could decide on what size paperback to use so that I could set the page size in Word. Turns out, it really doesn’t matter because you can easily change it at any time. I ended up going with 5” by 8”. That is one of CreateSpace’s “Industry Standard” sizes for black and white paperbacks.
But, I knew I was going to have internet hyperlinks in my e-book, so I wanted to concentrate on the e-book format first and then convert that to paperback at the end. I knew I wanted to add page numbering and footers with the book title and author name for the paperback edition, but I don’t know if that stuff is ignored when you download to KDP. I do know that KDP does not want page numbers in your Table Of Contents in your e-book. So, I wrote the whole book in e-book format and at the end I saved it as “Title Name – Kindle.docx” and when I changed the TOC to include page numbers, I saved the new file as “Title Name – Paperback.docx”.
When you are writing in e-book format you can just use the Web Layout View and not worry about how your “pages” look because there are no “pages” when you are reading on a Kindle reader. That’s because you are allowed to choose any size font you are comfortable with. But, if you are writing a book with titled chapters that you want to always start at the top of a new page, that looks a little disconcerting in the Web Layout View because each new chapter is shown just a couple lines down from the previous words. So I like to use the Print Layout View because it shows that each chapter really is at the top of a new page.
How to use Microsoft Word 2016
When I first started my book, I knew I wanted to write it for Kindle and paperback. I did some research to see if I could decide on what size paperback to use so that I could set the page size in Word. Turns out, it really doesn’t matter because you can easily change it at any time. I ended up going with 5” by 8”. That is one of CreateSpace’s “Industry Standard” sizes for black and white paperbacks.
But, I knew I was going to have internet hyperlinks in my e-book, so I wanted to concentrate on the e-book format first and then convert that to paperback at the end. I knew I wanted to add page numbering and footers with the book title and author name for the paperback edition, but I don’t know if that stuff is ignored when you download to KDP. I do know that KDP does not want page numbers in your Table Of Contents in your e-book. So, I wrote the whole book in e-book format and at the end I saved it as “Title Name – Kindle.docx” and when I changed the TOC to include page numbers, I saved the new file as “Title Name – Paperback.docx”.
When you are writing in e-book format you can just use the Web Layout View and not worry about how your “pages” look because there are no “pages” when you are reading on a Kindle reader. That’s because you are allowed to choose any size font you are comfortable with. But, if you are writing a book with titled chapters that you want to always start at the top of a new page, that looks a little disconcerting in the Web Layout View because each new chapter is shown just a couple lines down from the previous words. So I like to use the Print Layout View because it shows that each chapter really is at the top of a new page.
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