Support for Indie Authors discussion

I've been preparing the print version of my book on Createspace and have run into a few problems. Right now, it looks ready to go in the previewer with the exception of the paragraph spacing which isn't uniform (even though I used the template provided for my trim size). Does anyone know how to fix this (some have sideways arrows prior to the indentation when I revealed the formatting) others did not but were indented further.

Also, does anyone have a formatting professional that they have worked with that is reasonable? I hired a company to do my ebook version which turned out well, but then I realized that without the Word file (I have the mobi) I will not be able to make any changes on my own.

Thanks!

Nicole

Nicole wrote: "Does anyone know how to fix this (some have sideways arrows prior to the indentation when I revealed the formatting) others did not but were indented further...."

What sort of document are looking at? A Word document? That sideways arrow usually indicates a tab, and that a tab was used for indenting. Generally speaking, the default paragraph spacing and indenting is defined in the Normal style in Word, and tabs should not be used to indent a standard paragraph. However, this can sometimes be fixed fairly simply (not always).

If the document was not created in Word, that's a different story.

If you created this in word, and you intend to make a Create Space document, there are two things you never do while writing your MS. 1) Never hit the tab key. 2) Never hit enter twice on a row. (indents you define in styles, line spaced between paragraphs you make by inserting paragraph breaks.)

There is a little understood symbol that looks like a cross between pi and a marble column. It is called a pilcrow. It shows you all you formatting marks
Arrows are bad, delete them.

Thank you Owen & Morris. I did write it in Word and have learned many lessons at this point. A friend who edits nonfiction was able to help me fix it late last night by manually setting the indents and then I went through the entire document and deleted all of the arrows (sharing details in case this happens to anyone else :). I uploaded it Createspace and previewed the book and all looks good now.

Morris I will definitely keep you in mind for future formatting assistance! I've been looking for someone that is willing to format in Word and return the file so that in the future I can update the book with any changes myself.

Nicole wrote: "Thank you Owen & Morris. I did write it in Word and have learned many lessons at this point. A friend who edits nonfiction was able to help me fix it late last night by manually setting the indents..."

Glad you got it worked out. There are a few things in Word that, once mastered, take care of 90%+ of the formatting issues (mostly related to styles). It sounds like you're are getting handle on them.

Wishing you all the best with your book!

Glad I could help. Let me know if I can help in the future. I should have a book on editing and formatting out in 2017, but it is on the backburner at the moment because I have editing jobs and another novel of my own coming out late this year.

Knock wood I've never had a problem formatting createspace. HOWEVER, kindle format is a constant pain in the ... lower back.

Nicole wrote: "I've been preparing the print version of my book on Createspace and have run into a few problems. Right now, it looks ready to go in the previewer with the exception of the paragraph spacing which ..."

Did you consistently use the same style for your text/paragraphs? The Amazon CreateSpace Word template has 2 styles for chapter text: One for the first paragraph (without indentation before the first letter) and one for the following paragraphs (with indentation before the first letter).

Helge wrote: "Nicole wrote: "I've been preparing the print version of my book on Createspace and have run into a few problems. Right now, it looks ready to go in the previewer with the exception of the paragraph..."

It looks like I was using the tab key (which I should not have been) for paragraph indentations. I was also to set the indentations and remove the many (this took a while) tab spaces from the book, but I need to recheck the first paragraphs on the print version now that you mention it. I had my ebook professionally formatted which turned out great. The only issue is now I don't have the word file (only an epub and mobi) so it doesn't look like I'll be able to update the file without using the company. I'm hoping to get the hang of it by the publication of my next book...lol

Nicole wrote: "Helge wrote: "Nicole wrote: "I've been preparing the print version of my book on Createspace and have run into a few problems. Right now, it looks ready to go in the previewer with the exception of..."

The process can be really straight forward if you're using the CreateSpace word template. Here are the steps I took:
1) Compile my book in Scrivener (To have a continuous version of my text. Just copy the whole text of your book)
2) Paste the text into the Word template
3) Select all text I just pasted and set it to the "CSP - Chapter Body Text" style
4) Go over each chapter and set the title to "CSP - Chapter Title" style and the first paragraph to "CSP - Chapter Body Text - First Paragraph" style

That's it. This also means that I don't care about the output format of the writing program, because I'm overriding it anyway in Word, to match the Amazon style.

Hope this helps next time. :)

Thank you so much! I am pasting your instructions into a word doc so I'll have them ready.

Nicole

Morris wrote: "If you created this in word, and you intend to make a Create Space document, there are two things you never do while writing your MS. 1) Never hit the tab key. 2) Never hit enter twice on a row. (i..."

Hi Morris. I'm using Word 2007 and will upload to CS. I've been entering twice when I went to separate a group of paragraphs to separate a scene, like I've seen in other fiction novels. What do I do, please? Thank you.

Helge wrote: "Nicole wrote: "Helge wrote: "Nicole wrote: "I've been preparing the print version of my book on Createspace and have run into a few problems. Right now, it looks ready to go in the previewer with t..."

This is so helpful. I also cut and paste from Scrivener to Word for my last novel, but it was my first time and a somewhat painful experience. I'm about to embark on this process again and was trying to remember what I needed to do! Thanks!

Sue, email me and I'll take the Tim to show you.

Bed regards, Morris

Sorry, I'm answering with a phone. Please email me [email protected]

Oh, Morris, I so appreciate your gracious offer, but I'm sure this is against the rules, and I don't want to be ejected from the group.
Thank you again. You are very kind. I wish you the best of success.

Sue wrote: "Oh, Morris, I so appreciate your gracious offer, but I'm sure this is against the rules, and I don't want to be ejected from the group..."

There are no rules against members emailing each other, Sue.

We do it all the time.