You can be a self-publisher with the knowledge and skills I can provide. Yes, and if you still need help that's what I am here for. You can email me direct for support here: info@selfpublisher.net.au

All you really need is a desire to see your dream of becoming a published author a reality!

Book Formatting GUIDE for Authors and First-Time Self Publishers

Formatting Text

1. Open your book document on your MS Word program.

2. Go to File > Page Setup > Margins, Paper and Layout: To select your Margins, Page size, Header and Footer formats.

Download Margins in Word picture here.

Download Printing Guidelines here.

3. Margins format: Best at 25mm from spine to main body text, and at least 15mm from main body text to edge of page, 20mm is nice. For top and bottom margins ensure at least 15mm. I prefer 20mm.

Check some other books you have and select what you prefer. Remember you will always need 25 mm more for that bound edge margin on the left hand side for thick books.  I select 20mm on the left and 1.5cm on the right for thin books OR 2.5cm on the left and 20mm on the right for thick books.
This is done as mirror margins under File-page setup- multiple pages click mirror margins. This will also have the text centre in the middle of the book/page.

4. Page Setup: Choose your preferred size you want your book to be in. A4, A5 is standard for Australia. Children’s books are popular as square 21x21.

5. Layout format: Tick the 2 boxes to ensure you can format your page Headers and Footers properly for the odd and even pages. Tick Header and Footer options.

From “Spine to Text” and from “Text to Edge to Page” 2cm is nice remember it will be trimmed a little so lower than 1.5 is too low.

1. The 1st page of your document is reserved for your Title Page use a nice font! Look at other books to gain ideas.

2. The 2nd page of your document looks nice as your Copyright Page will be on the left, the back of our title page. Download Copyright Page here.

3. The 3rd Page onwards is flexible: You can insert your Introduction or Dedication or Acknowledgements Page here. If you don’t have any you can insert your Table of Contents page here.

4. If you have an Introduction Page (or Dedication Page..etc), you can insert The Table of Contents page after these pages.

5. It is recommended that you start a new book section on ‘odd’ pages so that the layout of every new section in the book will be formatted on the right hand side of your book.

6. When setting your page numbering: i. Formatting the Header and Footers of the Even pages and the Odd pages respectively. Go to View > Header and Footer. ii. If you find this tedious to do, you can format the Header and Footers to sit in the centre of the pages, so you wont have to worry about the layout for Odd and Even pages respectively.

Chapters: Ensure that the beginning of all your Chapters have a distinct look to set it apart from the Chapter before.

Good Chapter layout: This breaks the sequence of monotonous text in the book. You can distinctly tell that a new Chapter has begun.

7. Choosing a Text Font: iii. Typical: Times New Roman: 10pt or 12pt, justified iv. OR You can choose other fonts, but please ensure that you have at min 1.5 lines spacing to enable easy reading v. Note that some authors like to use “fun” looking or less serious looking fonts like Comic San MS, or Arial. I prefer normal line spacing at 1. Don’t like to waste paper and add to the cost of my book.

8. Once you have finished your manuscript, convert file as PDF format.

9. You can use a FREE PDF driver, download it from www.pdf995.com  Simply download this software and it saves itself as a ‘print driver’ on your computer. You press “Print,” your document is converted to PDF. Ensure to set the driver to the correct book size (A5 or A4) or it wont work out right.
Chapter Layout tip: Set page number on the centre of all the pages.

1. People do judge books by their covers!

2. Typically to be designed using professional programs such as Adobe in Design so that bleed and crop marks are available for the book printers to use for book trimming purposes.

3. For colour format, please ensure it is saved as CMYK mode.

4. If you have special fonts on your book cover, please ensure that the fonts are “embedded or flattened” before you send your PDF file to the book printer.

5. Have all your fonts are embedded into your file when saving into PDF. If you are unsure about this, include your font files when you send your files to the book printers.

6. Have bleed space and crop marks around your image. Bleed is 2mm around edge.

7. If you are inserting scanned images into your book cover, or if you are paying for an illustrator to draw up the cover for you, ensure that your pictures are scanned in high resolution 300 dpi and converted into PDF.

If you are unable to provide your book covers as the above format we can provide these services.

Read More: Self-publisher Book Formatting Guide 2

As the Self Publisher, you will need to apply for an ISBN. For an ISBN to be organized, the following information is required:

� Publishers Name: (your name or your company name)
� Publishers ABN (Optional)
� Postal address:
� Street address:
� Contact Ph:
� Contact Fax:
� Email:
� Have you applied for an ISBN before? (Y/N):
     Book Details
� Book Title:
� Define subject:
� Is the work is part of a series, what is the series title?
� Month and Year of publication: (e.g.: Jan 08)
� Recommended Retail Price (RRP):
For Self Publishers: Note your RRP must allow for 30% - 35% commission to be allocated to the bookstores. This is common contract arrangement with Bookstores if you want to go retail with them.

Your book price will need allow you enough to profit from, after paying a bookstore commission and the cost of printing the book. You can get an estimate for your book by browsing your local bookstore.

Once you have received the ISBN, you can then apply for the “Cataloguing in Publication” or CiP details to be inserted into your Copyright Page.
It is not a legal obligation, but some authors would like to include it in their book.
Log in at: http://www.nla.gov.au/services/cip_form.html It is a FREE service.

Is there a legal requirement to include a Cataloguing in Publication (CiP) record in a book?

CiP is a free service offered by the National Library of Australia. There is no legal obligation to include a CiP record in any publication.

How does the Cataloguing in Publication program (CiP) relate to Copyright?

There is no relationship between the CiP program and Copyright.

How can I get a catalogue record for a book that is already published?

CiP data is only available for works that are not yet published. Cataloguing data is included in the Australian National Bibliographic Database (ANBD) available at: http://www.nla.gov.au/librariesaustralia/index.html. Australia’s Library Network, for all books received by the National Library on Legal Deposit.
Ref: http://www.nla.gov.au/services/faq.html

Read more: Book Formatting Guide 2