What software do you use to format your books?

[Andrew]

Hi Jo,
Your program choice will usually depend on the format you want to output your book.

Photoshop (for images) and Indesign (print, POD and eBook possibly) is a great choice. It's used by 95% of designers so if you need help at any point, you can just pass over the file which will save you a time and money.

The other posts have given you great ideas for if you want a DIY solution but I prefer to use a professional service to give me both .mobi and .epub versions at the quality I want. For a couple hundred bucks, it's cheaper for me to use to use a professional than spend the time doing it myself - and get a better outcome too.

Alternately, you can always use services like smashwords.

A word doc is always best to work from of course.

[JW]

Lea wrote: "As usual, I'm late to the party, but at least I think it's the right party. I've been googling book formatting programs and I'm not sure google knows what I mean. Perhaps one of you knows of a pr..."

I am assuming you're talking about print on demand, such as Createspace or Lightning Source. Word is NOT the best program to use. It's clunky and the font rendering isn't the best. Lightning Source rejects the pdf files it produces. But that said, with some care and careful attention to details, you can produce something really good (though not great). One low cost solution for DIY is to use templates. Createspace offers them for free. Joel Friedlander (the book designer) sells them for under $50 (google bookdesigner pod templates).

For the best results (and to use Lightning Source) you'll need a program such as InDesign. It is not a load and go program, though. The book will still have to be designed and laid out properly, and ID has a fairly steep learning curve.

I know of no programs that are load and go--but do be wary of services who claim they will convert your Word file for you. Garbage in, garbage out.

My best advice (if you're determined to do it yourself) is to get a free template from Createspace and play with it until you can see what's going on. Once you see how it's supposed to work, you'll know how to do it yourself.

[Lea]

Andrew wrote: "Hi, I'm not sure why you're doing that but I think you want to see what your book will look like when it's properly printed.

As long as have set up your document as single pages (not spreads), de..."

I'm hoping you were addressing my comment. I guess I should've specified that I'm my own publisher and my printer, Lightning Source, actually only takes ready-to-print files. That's why I arrange it in Word that way.
:-D You don't know of a program that'll arrange it for me, do you? (hoping)

[Andrew]

Hi Lea, I think you you will need something like InDesign to output print ready artwork for LS to get the best quality.

You can always download a free trial to play with for 30 days and see how you go.

[Lea]

Thanks for the suggestion! However, I don't have pictures in my books. Would InDesign permit me to (or does it come with a template for) pasting a manuscript in and rearranging it into a print ready status? (Remembering that I have to fold pieces of paper and number them, etc., to get Word to do what I want.) Thanks!

[Andrew]

Just drop the text in, format it and save. Should be enough to do what you want it to do.

[Lea]

Yes, but it drives me crazy to have to do it page by page.

[Andrew]

That's becuse you're trying to replicate what a computer program does.+

I think yur easisest solution is to just lay it out as I suggest and get your local printer to print out a copy for you. We charge token $20 to our authors to help them 'checj' their book and I think it's a really dirt cheap price as we check the artwork, provide feedback and they get a properly printed copy to hold as well. I'm sure you can find a digital printer near you that can help you out.

[Lea]

Thank you for the offer. :-) I'll keep hunting for that program.

[Andrew]

Good luck and sorry I couldn't help :-)

[Lea]

Thanks for trying. Hopefully someone out there has invented a program to make formatting 4 page signature printing easier.

[Andrew]

Hi Lea, Check your printer settings. You may have an option to output as a booklet which may help you in what you're trying to do. Check your printer settings. Good luck

[Lea]

Thanks, Andrew! It occurs to me that I never once explained I want to print a signature-bound book. I found a program that someone in the UK designed for themselves that I think I can figure out, but I'll have to play with it a little. :-)

[Andrew]

Oh OK, good luck with it

[Snappars]

We provide service from writing, editing, publishing, formatting, printing and even promote.

You can contact us at

AskUs@SnapparsPublishing.com

or Check out our website for more info
SnapparsPublishing.com

[Siva]

Microsoft Word and In-design. I personally recommend using In-design to create print ready books.