Support for Indie Authors discussion

You should include your page numbers.

You will know the number of pages. You need to format the doc you upload into the size you will publish. I recommend ,pdf format. I also recommend using the provided MSWord template.

I use the formatted Word templates provided by CreateSpace. They have them for each of their book sizes. They already have the headers and footers, with page numbers inserted. You just need to switch the example text for your own.

Make sure you have an even number of pages.

Morris wrote: "Make sure you have an even number of pages."

Ok must be too early and I haven't had coffee, but what does it matter?

G.G. wrote: "Morris wrote: "Make sure you have an even number of pages."

Ok must be too early and I haven't had coffee, but what does it matter?"

Yes, please explain Morris =) I had my coffee, but it didn't help . . .

a physical page has two sides, so you have to have an even number of pages. Another thing I like to do is put blank pages where needed to get the table of contents and the first page of the first chapter on odd numbered pages, so it is on the first side of a given printed page. Don't worry, if you have a book signing, ya gotta have a blank page to sign it.

But the absolute last thing you do before hitting send is to double check the TOC pages numbers because if you've fiddled around with them, they will change the page numbers and the TOC will not match! My first run of my first book had this error. I felt like such a noob!

Yes I understand the skip a page with a blank page so all the chapters start on the right, but nowadays, books are not bound as they used to be with strings that tucked a couple of double pages together to the binding. Weather the number of pages is odd or even shouldn't really matter anymore especially that Createspace adds blank pages in the end to make it fit.

What I mean is don't try to add words (or cut them out) just so the number is even. It doesn't make much sense.

You need to add your page numbers as CS will not do this for you. Found this out the hard way

You definitely need to make sure your print book is formatted differently from the e-book. It's not the same process and not the same final look. I don't know for sure that every chapter must start on the right side, however, page one should always be on the right. Page one is typically the first page of the first chapter.

Just from what I've taken away from my experience.

ETA: Why are you including a TOC in a fiction? That's not necessary in print formats.

I ran into this problem too. I'm a relatively new Indie Author doing all of this on my own, so if there's an easier way, please ignore my post!

I uploaded my word doc to Createspace. My first proof came back with no page numbers because the word doc I uploaded was my ebook copy and I never added page numbers to the doc in the first place. I was hoping CS added page numbers, but they didn't. The only thing I did for the ebook document to use as my paperback document was take out the clickable links to check out my Twitter/Facebook/Amazon pages and all that.

So I added page numbers into the word document (footer section), updated the table of contents to show the page numbers, and then uploaded the document to Createspace. The page numbers in the Createspace copy didn't match. As in, what page number I had in my link-able TOC didn't match the page number for the chapter page in the CS copy of the paperback. Chapter 7 said page 80 in the TOC but it was page 90 when you go to the actual chapter 7 page. Something like that.

I just tried a quick temp fix that seemed to work.

I wrote down the page number of each start of a chapter page in the CS paperback online view copy. Then I went back to the word doc, and left the page numbers alone in the footer of the document. I took out the linkable TOC and just typed a TOC with the page numbers I got from the CS paperback view doc online. I also went back and took the header styling out from each chapter in the book. It brought it back to the normal font size and style, so I just changed the size and made the chapter bold.

Then I uploaded the word document again and viewed it. The page numbers in the manually typed TOC matched the chapter page number in the book. I ordered the proof, and they match.

There are probably ten easier ways to add page numbers to your CS paperback document, but this is the way I did it. Some people don't add a TOC, some people don't use a prologue or epilogue. It's all up to how you want your paperback to look like when it's available for the readers.

Oh and for page numbering, I had to add a section break, not a page break after the dedication page so page numbering started on page one of my prologue and did a section break not page break at the end of my last epilogue paragraph so my "About the Author" page didn't have a page number on it. I had to click on don't follow above or whatever the button was in word to make sure the page numbering only applied to the prologue, chapters, and epilogue.

Include the page numbers. If your book is formatted correctly, it will not change.

I use PressBooks to format for eBooks and CreateSpace and they have come out perfect.

Morris wrote: "Make sure you have an even number of pages."

I was curious.

I just submitted a book with an odd amount, they automatically insert an extra blank at the end if you do that!

One thing that drove me nuts when I published my first book was formatting it so the page count started on the first page of the story instead of on the title page. I figured it out eventually, but it took HOURS.

Jens wrote: "One thing that drove me nuts when I published my first book was formatting it so the page count started on the first page of the story instead of on the title page. I figured it out eventually, but..."

Hi Jens, I haven't published yet, but do we number pages in the MS Word or other software document, or in Createspace? Thank you. Hugs

Everything should go on your document as you want it to be printed before you upload to Createspace (including, but not limited to, page numbers, chapter heading, and scene breaks). Once uploaded, Createspace will create a digital preview you can flip through and look for errors. Any changes have to be made to your document in your software of choice and re-uploaded to Createspace. Once you're happy with the digital review, make sure you order a paper proof before publishing.

Thank you, J. Daniel. That's what I thought. I absolutely plan to order a proof before publishing. Thanks. Hugs