Writing | Sandra Ann Miller

Learning Curves

Posted on January 14, 2018 by Ms. Miller

There’s no feeling quite like finishing your book/screenplay/project. It must be something like the high from childbirth; you forget all the pain and just love what you have created.

And then the hard work starts:

FORMATTING

and

UPLOADING

Last week, I finally finished my second novel, TEMPORARY, which I was hoping to have done by the end of November. (Best laid plans and all that.) This was the first full book I’ve done writing in Scrivener and the first time I’ve used Vellum to format. Both platforms have learning curves and quirks. Here’s what I stumbled upon:

Scrivener Autocorrect Formatting Goofs

There are oodles of YouTubes on how to set up Scrivener before you compile and export to Word. What I think they don’t mention (honestly, I’ve never watched one all the way through because they tend to be looooooooong) is that all your special little autocorrects will be obliterated. Your smart quotes will be no more. Your double-hyphen-to-emdashes will disappear. Your three periods to condensed ellipsis will also be jacked. I didn’t use any superscripts, but I would assume those would be trashed, too. It was an un-fun discovery to make when you are just this side of a 300-page book.

Solution: Simply Find/Replace All

Take the cruddy version of the quote/dashes/ellipsis and copy/paste it into the Find field, then correct it in the doc and copy/paste that into the Replace field. Hit that handy “Replace All” button and Bob’s your uncle.

Vellum vs. The Super Picky Formatter

I went ahead and purchased the full Vellum for both ebook and print. I have to say that I LOVE the ebook formatting, how easy and elegant and super smart it is, and how quickly and effortlessly the multiple formats for your selected vendors are created. This was the FIRST time I got my upload onto iBooks accepted on the FIRST try. Worth the price of admission just for that. However…

When it comes to print, I want/need more options. If I want to move a line lower and change the font size for that section (specifically, the front and back matter), I need to be able to do it. And maybe this is my ignorance to the product. To be very honest, I didn’t do a whole lot of research on it because I just wanted to get the book done. Perhaps the solution would be to have one version for ebook and a second for print and configure as needed (you can have both versions in a single Vellum file and choose what is used for each, and that’s pretty genius). But, as the frustration mounted, I figured it would be faster to go with what I know rather than spend time researching a solution with Vellum that I feared did not exist (yet).

Solution: Pick Your Battles

After a bit of profanity, I decided to simply format the ebook in Vellum and do the print version in Word.

Word, I Wish I Know How to Quit You

Word is not something we love; it’s something we’re stuck with and forced to use because it is ubiquitous…and no one’s really come up with anything better that can be used on both Mac and PC (which is super important when you write on Mac and your proofreader is totally PC).

Probably one of the smarter things I’ve done is create a template for a 5×8 book with the layout just how I like it. Yes, I had to copy/paste each chapter/section into it, and that wasn’t exactly a blast, but it went quickly and it was easy. The next step setting the Drop Cap and then hyphenating in lieu of kerning to rid a paragraph of awkward gaps. While Word purports to offer this feature, it is far from perfect. Doing it by hand is far from perfect either, but it’s pretty easy to eyeball.

Final Semi-Pro Tips

Clean Copy Keep a “clean” copy of your book for future changes. By “clean”, I mean formatted only to paper-size and chapter/section breaks. No hyphenation breaks. No Drop Caps. This is your safety net. This is the copy you will use to re-import to Vellum (though you can make changes in Vellum itself) if you’ve done a major overhaul. This copy can also serve as a template for your next book.

Lists Keep a record of your ISBNs and store codes for each of your books for easy entry into Vellum because one of the more stellar offerings of the platform is entering store info for your other books. So, if your reader is viewing your book on Kindle and they want to buy another tome of yours, when they touch that hyperlink, it will take them to Amazon. On a Nook, it will take them to B&N, etc., etc. Pretty sweet, yes? Therefore, put all this information in one place to make life easier. Same for ISBN entry in each vendor/platform setup. And, while you don’t always need an ISBN, you should seriously consider getting your own and not relying on freebies.

ISBNs If you are going to continue as a professional, independent author/publisher, you should have proper ISBNs that link your books to your imprint and not that of the vendor giving you one for free. Are they pricey? Yep. But you can get a bundle from Bowker that makes it less painful in the long run. I opted for a 10-pack that came with 5 barcodes. That should cover 5 books — one ISBN per version (paperback and ebook), one barcode per book. Sign up with Bowker/MyIdentifiers to receive sale information to save even more. There’s a 100-bundle offer that I missed that really was a sweet deal; maybe next time. The ISBNs are not transferable, so keep that in mind before you purchase.

There are always going to be frustrations and learning curves as software changes and new platforms are offered. I’ve come to find that when you find something that works, keep it. Writing is hard enough; getting your book to market should be as easy as possible. That being said, don’t be afraid to try something new. And don’t be shy about investing in yourself. I wince when I think of the “investment” I made into SAME ink in 2017, but I do feel like it’s paying off already. Not a bad way to start off 2018.

Now, on to writing novel #3.

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The Write Way – How to Format

Posted on April 2, 2017 by Ms. Miller

After writing a novel, you are faced with formatting a couple hundred pages for various outlets (Kindle, iTunes, CreateSpace, etc.). It is at that time when you are formally introduced to each and every mistake you made along the way.

Typeface When you are writing, all you want to do is focus on the writing. That’s how it should be. Once you’re done with that hard work, having survived the editing and proofing process, and polished your work to a point you feel it’s ready for the world, you are put through the special torture of formatting. During that horrible process, you find that certain things don’t line up as you’d like. Certain things you quite like don’t work at all, or throw your format off catastrophically (hello, Drop Cap). It is then that you see all the steps you could have taken at the start to avoid much of toil of tweaking little silly things so your book doesn’t look like the poster child for Amateur Hour.

From that personal experience, I devised a guide of sorts. Because, when I was searching for answers, I couldn’t find many that were clear, especially for those of us who write contemporary women’s lit that will go into multiple formats. However, if your write Romance, Sci-Fi or How-To guides, there is plenty of information about those genres’ formats.

{Please note, this is a living, breathing guide, and I would be honored if you would contribute your findings or argue as to what I’ve suggested is wrong and why. (Not that I want to pick fights, just please elaborate as to why your method works/is more proper so that other authors can get the logic and help further the discussion). Any changes made through your wisdom will be added here with a link to your preferred site or social media.}

WRITING IN WORD

Book/Manuscript Page Set Up

Set your Word doc to the proper page size (5.5 x 8.5). Your editor or proofreader will likely be doing their work in Word rather than on printed pages, so size shouldn’t matter here. I like doing it this way so I can see how it will look on the page (if I need to add or delete words if I don’t like where/how the hyphen break is happening, etc.).
Set Margins to Mirror. For me, that’s Top 0.6 Bottom 0.6 Inside 0.75 Outside 0.4 Header 0.5
Set Tools to Hyphenate automatically. Click here if you need help with that.
Set Section Breaks for Headers (book’s title and your name) and Footers (page numbers). You can find advice on how here and here.
Include Different First Page (so won’t have a header or footer on your first chapter’s first page).
Insert Page Numbers where you want them to begin (after you set your Section Break for your Foreword or Chapter)
Set Fonts. I like Baskerville 11.5.
Set Paragraph spacing for After 0.2
Make sure that Widow and Orphan control is off so that you don’t have awkward gaps at the bottom of your pages.

Now, clearly this is for a book book (paperback or hardcover), easily modified for e-book formatting. I also do all of my front matter first. I like seeing the book come to life like that, and it’s just easy to get it done at the start, and change anything you need as you go. Having this established will help you keep in mind your page count/spine width in case you are setting your book up with a print house and want to save a few bucks by cutting a few pages.

Miscellaneous Advice:

Forget the Drop Cap. It looks nice but will get screwed up in the transfer to Mobi and iBooks Author.
Once you finish a book, do yourself a HUGE favor, and use it as a template. Yep, take the time to delete your text and leave the chapter headings and section breaks and all the things that drove you utterly nuts when you had to format and re-format it repeatedly. (I’m regretting not doing that right now. I did everything but leave the chapters. I know. You’re sitting there going, “Duh.” I’m sitting here going, “Doh!”)

I would love it if you would contribute your advice or let me know what you think is missing or would work better. Thank you!

SCRIVENER and PRESSBOOKS

Now, having said all that, I have made the switch over to Scrivener and am flirting with Pressbooks for my next novel. Not gonna lie, I am fretting over what will happen when it’s time to send my manuscript out for proofreading. Yes, you can export to Word then import it back. Sort of not the point. {In case you were wondering why I went to Scrivener, it was to be able to work on my book from my phone when I had a moment or two, or an idea struck. Really, it’s that simple. Why not just write on Pressbooks, you ask? Well, that’s a little too bloggy for me. I don’t like the idea of my work living on a website, but, somehow, I don’t mind the manuscript being up on Dropbox. I’m full of those kinds of contradictory quirks.}

So, back to my worries about Scrivener and proofing, I have thought of two solutions:

Buy my proofreader Scrivener ($40-45, depending on if they are PC or Mac).
Encourage my proofreader to do Scrivener’s generous 30-day (really 30 days’ use) trial.

I’ll likely go with Option 1. It’s a small investment that says, “I want to continue working with you.” If my proofers balk, then I’ll suck up the Word export/import and invest in a nice whiskey to help me through it.

Since I’m only eight chapters into my novel, I can’t really talk about the formatting process of Scrivener, or if/how Pressbooks will make life easier for what it costs. That will be updated here when those bridges get crossed. Pressbooks does have “sales” quite frequently, so if you are considering this, sign up (free) and keep your eye out for a deal that tickles your fancy.

I’ll keep you posted on what I discover. In the meantime, I would love to hear your thoughts on formatting so we can all end the struggle. It is real. Very, very real. xo