How to make it easier for readers to follow time setting changes

[Jacqueline]

I am finishing writing my first novel which switches from present to past and back frequently. I have used the year at the beginning of each scene to help establish where the the first person narrator is in time. But I also put all the past scenes in italics to distinguish past and present. Would entire scenes in italics present a problem in publishing? With either traditional publishers or in self publishing, which is probably what I will do.
Does anyone have suggestions for other ways to clarify where the narrator is that is less disruptive to the flow of the reading? Sometimes the past scene is less than one page long and it goes back and forth rapidly.

[Dwayne, Head of Lettuce]

EVERYTHING IN THE PRESENT MUST BE IN CAPITAL LETTERS AND BOLDED

Eeitvynrhg in the psat can be izaictelid, and you msut caghne the oderr of the lteerts in ecah wrod. And it all sohlud be ulerindned. Good lcuk.

What you're doing should be good enough. If you're indicating the year at the beginning of each section, the italics might be overkill.

[M.L.]

Readers have different preferences, but whole chapters in italics would not appeal to me. The year at the beginning of each scene would, I think, be enough. You can put it in bold to be more obvious.

[Xanxa]

I think putting the year should be sufficient for most readers. I have seen traditionally published novels with whole scenes or chapters in italics, so I'd imagine it would depend on the specific preferences of the publishing houses. That's probably something you'd have to check if you get into querying agents and submitting manuscripts.

In self-publishing, it should be fine. You've got far more control over formatting techniques.

I'm not a huge fan of using italics for whole scenes or chapters. I only use it for things like letters, emails or newspaper articles within the context of a story. Also I use it for emphasis on particular words in a sentence.

[M.L.]

You can also add epigraphs at the start of each chapter or news headlines. The only thing about it is that if you have lots of chapters it means a lot of epigraphs or headlines. :)

[Tomas, Wandering dreamer]

I'd say it depends on how those shifts are done. If they are memories, time travel, or visions, then the sequence for moving between those times might be enough. I think that italics work the best if it's a few paragraphs at most.
If the shift is always at a chapter start, it'd be the easiest - by just adding the time into the chapter title (or as sub-title).
If not, maybe you can use some special mini-image/symbol (as opposed to the usual symbols or just the three stars) as a scene-breaker?

[[deleted user]]

My book jumps between time/memories and the present. I used double space then 5 ***** then another double space to separate the sections. Those that have read it said they easily understood the transition.

[Frank]

Check out The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood. She places the year at the top of each chapter and which character is narrating; she does not use italics to show time shift. Good luck!

[Dwayne, Head of Lettuce]

Slaughterhouse Five uses spaces and asterisks, like Tracey suggested. No italics.

[Anna]

I've read books with long sections in italics and it puts me off.

I have a time travel book which jumps from one time to the other and although I have put the dates at the top of the chapters where it changes, some readers say they were confused as to what time they were reading in... How that can happen between the nineteenth century and the twenty-first, I don't know - but beware of not flagging it very clearly.