Indie Life: Formatting Tip - I Got Styles

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Formatting Tip - I Got Styles

I've been formatting ebooks since January 2012 when I took the plunge into self-publishing and have recently started offering ebook formatting services. It seems like every time I format a book I learn something new, but the most recent thing I learned was it's all about Styles, Word Document Styles (2007 and 2010). Using Styles instead of the Enter key to create line spaces makes a pretty flawless ebook, whether you're creating an epub, mobi, or uploading a Smashwords .doc.

So I thought I would share today how to create Styles for yourself.

1. On the Home Tab, find the section on the ribbon where it says "Styles."

 

2. The sections of the Styles, you see the Quick Styles. Most Word documents have some Styles already created such as Normal, Heading 1, Heading 2, etc.

 

3. You can modify these styles for your document. First click the little box with the arrow at the lower right corner of the Styles section. Then select which Style you want to modify by clicking the drop-down arrow. A box will pop up, and you'll click "modify." You can also create a new Style by clicking the first box on the lower left of the pop up.

 

4.  Another box will pop up when you modify or create a Style. Name your Style. I typically pick something I'll remember what it does, such as "Title Page," "Center," "First line paragraph," etc. You can select your Style type, or a Style it is based on. Then, you select your font, font size, justification (left, center, right, justified), line spacing, etc. You can also click the "Format" button to change Font, Paragraph, etc. You can also select if the Style is only for this document or all other documents based on this template.

5. When you're finished, click "OK" to save your style. What I've done recently is create an Ebook Template where I have all my Styles and then I save it as a Word Template. That way when I'm ready to format or start a new book, I can open the template, save it as a new document, and use the Styles I have saved to format the ebook.

A good way to learn more about Styles is to click on the ones already in your Quick Styles and see how they are created and what modifying does to your text.

Any questions?

By the way, I'm sorry I've been so slow in responding to things lately. The last two weeks of September were so busy, and then on October 2, I slipped backwards in the shower, through the shower doors (they're the kind that open outwards), and hit my left hip/lower back on the toilet (moved the toilet an inch) before landing on the floor. The fall took a lot of out of me, and I'm still in quite a bit of pain and not sleeping well. I'm trying to catch up on things, but it may take awhile. (Edited: I forgot to mention nothing was broken, but it could still take eight to ten weeks to completely recover from this type of fall. *sighs*)

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