Perfect Pages: Self Publishing with Microsoft Word, or How to Use MS Word for Book Design, Typesetting, and Page Layout in Formatting Your Books for Desktop Publishing and Print on Demand

by Aaron Shepard

FOR AN UPDATE ARTICLE ON WORD 2007, READERS OF THIS BOOK SHOULD VISIT THE AUTHOR'S WEB SITE

Nowadays, new technologies and services have made it easier than ever to publish your book, but there's one question you may still face: Do I need an expensive page layout program, or can I just use a word processor like Microsoft Word? With this book as guide, you'll soon be producing pages from Word that no reviewer will scoff at.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////

Aaron Shepard is a foremost proponent of the new business of profitable self publishing through print on demand, which he has practiced and helped develop since 1998. Unlike most authorities on self publishing, he makes the bulk of his living from his self-published books -- not from consulting, speaking, freelance writing, or selling publishing services. In a parallel life, Aaron is an award-winning children's author with numerous books from publishers large and small.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////

"On target . . . . Concisely addresses a lot of topics that Word users need to know about." -- James Felici, author, The Complete Manual of Typography

"Excellent not only as a guide to using Word to design books, but also as a concise guide to book design." -- Morris Rosenthal, author, Print-on-Demand Book Publishing

"If you are a self-publisher, the biggest favour you can possibly do for yourself is to learn how to present your work to its best possible advantage. And in that regard, Aaron Shepard is an invaluable aid." -- Michael Allen, Grumpy Old Bookman, Apr. 17, 2007

"If you want to use MS Word for typesetting, you really, really should own a copy of Aaron Shepard's book Perfect Pages. Nobody knows more about making Word produce acceptably typeset books." -- Walt Shiel, From the Publisher's Desk, Aug. 27, 2007

"If you want to make your layout and formatting as unproblematic as possible and you don't want to shell out $1-$2k for someone else to do it for you, then add this book to your library. . . . Using this book, I've found page layout pretty fun and now look forward to that part of the process." -- Zoe Winter, Indie Books Journal (blog of IndieReader.com), Apr. 12, 2010

Genres: Writing

140 pages, Paperback

First published January 24, 2006

About the author

Aaron Shepard is the author of many books, stories, and scripts for young people, as well as professional books and resources for writers and educators. He has also worked professionally in both storytelling and reader's theater, as a performer, director, and teacher trainer. Aaron's lively and meticulous retellings of folktales and other traditional literature have found homes with more than a dozen children's book publishers, large and small, and with the world's top children's literary magazines, winning him honors from the American Library Association, the New York Public Library, the Bank Street College of Education, the National Council for the Social Studies, and the American Folklore Society. His extensive Web site, visited by thousands of teachers and librarians each week, is known internationally as a prime resource for folktales, storytelling, and reader's theater, while his stories and scripts have been featured in textbooks from publishers worldwide, including Scholastic, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, SRA, The College Board, Pearson Education, National Geographic, Oxford University Press, Barron's, Hodder Education, and McGraw-Hill.

Reviews

[Cate Rowan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful book with a lot of good tips. My only quibble, and it's a relatively minor one, is that I wish it had been a bit better organized to match the actual process of formatting. I ended up putting stickies on a lot of pages so I could get back to them later when working on the relevant process. Oh, I forgot--it also needs to be updated for the current versions of Word (Mac/Win), though it's still quite usable as is. I'll definitely hang on to it for the future.

[Herb · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book that started my publishing career. I read it and decided that I could publish the draft I had been working on. After a lot of editing, and formatting my book came out. A few months later a second book came out.

The book does not load one down with lots of unneeded information, just a clear road map to publiation.

[David Griffiths · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title says it all. The author believes an older version of MS Word is better for book layout than the modern versions, so you will have to do a little translating.

Still loaded with valuable information.

[L.M. Elm · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is some very helpful information on how to format your book using Word 2007. If you don't have Word 2007, it's going to take you some time to play around with the settings to follow Shepard's instructions exactly.

[Cheryl Brostrom · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very clear and concise book about how to format Word manuscripts into a book. Aaron Shepard knows the field and shares his knowledge with humor and grace, and I love his books.

[Ilib4kids]

For Windows Word 97-2003, Mac Word 2004 , recommend by APE