Sometimes
it’s necessary to print a copy
of your manuscript to send to reviewers
or readers (even some contests now accept
this format) and this look is meant to
approximate a printed book. It also takes
up less pages of paper, which is always
a bonus! (NB: my instructions are for
MS Word.)
Set your paper (letter or A4 size) to
print landscape (under file, page setup)
If your ms is currently in separate
chapter files, collate them all into
one document. Make sure you have the
latest copy of your ms, preferably with
changes made at line-editing, copy-editing
and author alteration (or galleys) stage.
Then select all your text (Edit, select
all) and apply the following, step by
step:
- single space
- reduce first indent (I make it about
half what it is in ms format)
- font – TNR 12pt (my choice,
you may even choose an 11pt serif font)
- move page # to bottom, center
- header – book title on odds/author
name on evens, centered
- justify (as opposed to LH alignment)
- 2 columns, so you have the look of
2 pages, side by side (under Format,
columns)
- set margins (I reduce mine to only
a cm or so all around – choose
whatever you think looks good on the
page, but beware setting them outside
your printer’s printable area!)
I design and print a cover sheet with
the book title, author, line, release
month, ISBN etc. and a little notice
saying this is an Advance Reading Copy,
for review purposes only. If it’s
not the final version (e.g. you haven’t
received galleys or input changes made
at copy-editing) you might make a note
of that, too. |
