Perfect Pages: Self Publishing with Microsoft Word, or How to Design Your Own Book for Desktop Publishing and Print on Demand (Word 97-2003 for Windows, Word 2004 for Mac) [Paperback]

Aaron Shepard (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0938497332 | ISBN-13: 978-0938497332 | Publication Date: January 24, 2006

 

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.

 

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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 picture books from publishers both large and small. He lives in Friday Harbor, Washington, in the San Juan Islands, with his wife and fellow author, Anne L. Watson.

 

Editorial Reviews

Review

Excellent both as a guide to using Word to design books and as a concise guide to book design. -- Morris Rosenthal, author, Print-on-Demand Book Publishing

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

To learn how to present your work to its best possible advantage . . . , Aaron Shepard is an invaluable aid. --Michael Allen, Grumpy Old Bookman (blog)

From the Author

 

"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

 

"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 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

 

"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

 

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

 

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CONTENTS

 

About This Book

 

Working with Word #1: Choosing a Version

 

1 ~ MANAGING WORD

Managing Updates

Managing Options or Preferences

Managing the Workspace

Managing Automatic Changes

Managing Features

Managing Old Files

Managing Safety

Managing Memory

 

Working with Word #2: Using Views

 

2 ~ FORMATTING YOUR DOCUMENT

Setting Up Your File

Setting Your Page Size

Setting Your Page Margins

Setting Up Sections

Setting Up Headers and Footers

Setting Up Columns

 

Working with Word #3: Using Templates

 

3 ~ TYPESETTING YOUR TEXT

Using Print Punctuation

Using Print Symbols

Using Print Emphasis

Using Print Spaces

Using Print Paragraphs

Using Print Vertical Spacing

 

4 ~ FORMATTING YOUR TEXT

Choosing Your Fonts

Choosing Your Font Size

Choosing Your Vertical Spacing

Controlling Horizontal Spacing

Controlling Justification

Controlling Hyphenation

Controlling Page Endings

 

Working with Word #4: Using Styles

 

5 ~ PERFECTING YOUR TEXT

Fixing Letterspacing

Fixing Line Endings

Fixing Paragraphs

Fixing Page Endings

 

6 ~ HANDLING SPECIAL TEXT

Handling Headers and Footers

Handling Page Numbering

Handling Footnotes and Endnotes

Handling Automated Text

Handling Lists

 

7 ~ HANDLING GRAPHICS

Preparing Graphics

Placing Graphics

 

8 ~ ENHANCING YOUR LAYOUT

Adding Tables

Adding Text Boxes and Frames

Adding Borders and Backgrounds

Adding Ornaments

 

Working with Word #5: Using Alignment Aids

 

9 ~ PRODUCING AN INDEX

Choosing a Method

Listing Your Terms

Preparing Your Document

Marking Up Your Text

Generating Your Index

 

10 ~ PREPARING FOR PRINT

Choosing a Print Service

Centering Your Pages

Preparing Hard Copy

Preparing Word Files

Preparing PDF Files

Converting Your Colors

Placing Crop Marks

Checking Your Work

 

11 ~ CREATING A COVER

Designing a Simple Cover

Setting Your Cover Size

Setting Your Cover Margins

Handling Cover Text

Handling Cover Graphics

Adding a Bar Code

Preparing Your Cover for Print

 

RESOURCES

Books

Web Sites

Newsgroups

Email Discussion Lists

Newsletters

 

INDEX

 

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 158 pages
• Publisher: Shepard Publications (January 24, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0938497332
• ISBN-13: 978-0938497332
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #159,990 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #65 in Books > Computers & Technology > Graphic Design > Printing
  • #67 in Books > Computers & Technology > Microsoft > Applications > Word

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

87 of 88 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Makes self-publishing affordable for everyone, March 4, 2006

By 

Brian Bischof (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Perfect Pages: Self Publishing with Microsoft Word, or How to Design Your Own Book for Desktop Publishing and Print on Demand (Word 97-2003 for Windows, Word 2004 for Mac) (Paperback)

When I decided to self-publish my first book, I was intimidated by how expensive it was going to cost to buy Page Maker and I also didn't want to spend a month learning how to use it properly. Luckily, I found Aaron's ebook on Amazon and it made it possible for me to use Word and create a professional book that was accepted by the bookstores (they have a very high standard for quality print work). Now that I'm working on my second self-published book, I'm happy to see that Aaron's ebook has been updated in a paperback format. Just like the ebook, this book is essential for learning how to use Word to professionally produce your book.

The biggest benefit of Aaron's book is his experience with using both the MS and Mac versions of Word for self-publishing. He doesn't just tell you how to set the necessary properties and list the steps to perform, he also tells you the "gotchas" that can catch you off guard. His advice can save you many hours of headaches. For example, when I wrote my last book, I didn't take the advice of "Don't use Master pages. Buy more memory if necessary to store the entire book in one file." Stupid me, I used Master pages instead and literally lost most of my hair as I watched Word continuously corrupt my documents and lose my hard work. Even some of my backups were corrupted! What I do now is that as I write the book I keep each chapter in a separate file and store it in its own folder on my harddrive (with all supporting documents). When I'm ready to print the final version I copy and paste everything into one HUGE file (over 500 pages) and print that. That works much better and I haven't lost anymore hair since. ;-)

Another benefit is that he points out the differences between using Print On Demand services versus a commercial printing press. There are important layout decisions you need to know about.

A couple things I thought were missing is that at the end of the book he lists great resources to check out, but in my opinion he doesn't empahsize James Filici's book on typography enough. I feel that this book should be read first because is has so much great informatin about typography in it. Secondly, I didn't see any mention of where to get Postscript fonts. If you check Adobe's website, they have an introductory set of fonts that give you everything you need and its much cheaper than buying individual fonts. Search for "Adobe Type Basics".

Overall, this book is just what you need to print professional quality books without using PageMaker or Quark Express. It will save money as well as future headaches.

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Self-publishing with Microsoft Word, February 5, 2006

By 

Mike Wickham (Rogers, AR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Perfect Pages: Self Publishing with Microsoft Word, or How to Design Your Own Book for Desktop Publishing and Print on Demand (Word 97-2003 for Windows, Word 2004 for Mac) (Paperback)

I just received my copy of Aaron Shepard's new book, _Perfect Pages, Self Publishing with Microsoft Word_. It's an update of his former e-book, _Books, Typography, and Microsoft Word_.

I don't normally recommend Word for page layout. I prefer to use Word for writing, and then pump the manuscript into a proper page layout program for final book production. But then, I create heavily illustrated books, something Word just can't handle. Still, Word is perfectly capable of producing a simple, text-only book, if one knows what he is doing-- but not using the default Word settings! Luckily, Aaron Shepard knows what he is doing.

In _Perfect Pages_, Aaron does a great job of showing the user how to alter Word's defaults so that it produces professional looking text. He shows them how to use the program to format pages and how to avoid the typical typographic blunders that identify a publisher as an amateur. He explains styles and templates, and even shows how to create a simple book cover. I also like that he's not afraid to point out Word's limitations, even noting differences between versions and OS platforms. The information on preparing for press is indispensable for any newby publisher.

All in all, it's a great book for any self-publisher who is on a tight budget and can't justify the purchase of expensive page layout software. Even those who recommend true page layout software for book design can find useful tips in here for improving the performance of Word, or the typography of their own publications. Heck, I even learned that straight quotes were not the best choice to represent inches and feet. There are actually prime and double prime symbols available.

I highly recommend _Perfect Pages_.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The perfect gift for a small press or self-publisher, March 27, 2007

By 

Lupa (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Perfect Pages: Self Publishing with Microsoft Word, or How to Design Your Own Book for Desktop Publishing and Print on Demand (Word 97-2003 for Windows, Word 2004 for Mac) (Paperback)

I picked this up along with the author's "Aiming At Amazon" since the small press I work with is POD and works with Word and Lightning Source (as does Shepherd) so I figured this would be an excellent educational tool for the basics of layout.

This really is an excellent introduction to the basics laying out a book in Microsoft Word (2003 and older--the 2007 update hasn't appeared yet, but it's on my want list!). Everything from properly sizing pages to tweaking text to make it look nicer is covered. The author's writing style is clear without being loaded with jargon, and he manages to describe visuals without pictures quite effectively.

There are a few things missing that I would have like to have seen covered. For example, he doesn't explain how to deal with the invisible, nonembeddable fonts that can make Lightning Source send your manuscript back to you for reformatting, nor does he explain the various formatting marks that you may have to go through if something doesn't turn out right. Additionally, his main focus seems to be the bare-bones approach to layout, rather than covering the little details that can make POD look just as good, if not better, than traditionally printed books.

However, I have found this to be an absolutely invaluable guide to basic layout. Shepherd is an expert at POD, and this is a definite plus for any POD publisher or self-publisher's bookshelf.