I came across this article today when clearing out some old bookmarks. I can’t take credit for writing it, but I do want to share it with you. The post is by Kimberly Martin, Jera Publishing, Feb 28, 2017.
Her list of common issues really are common. Every manuscript I have worked on originated in Word®. It’s virtually universal.
Now, there isn’t a problem with what version you use … it’s that you need to follow a protocol. And here’s where this list comes in.
Obviously, first WRITE the darn book, then worry about formatting of the Word document. I have worked with authors who have actually submitted their manuscripts with every one of these examples. I have also had authors who were more than happy to pay the extra cost for me to go through the manuscript and correct these. I don’t mind doing it, but if you are on a tight budget, you might want to do this step yourself because:
They have to be corrected.
In working with you to provide copy editing, formatting and building your book for print-on-demand (POD) and this includes eBooks, of course, I cannot get to the next step in publishing the book if these errors are still in the manuscript. The publishing software program doesn’t play nice when these formatting errors are in your book. Amazon, Lulu, Smashbooks, Ingramspark, and ePub Draft2Digital, all need clean manuscripts that follow these procedures.
And if you are doing both an eBook and POD (which I highly recommend), importing the finished Word.docx into the ePub software program first actually makes creating the print version much easier. And with the eBook we can add color images at no additional charge (you’re not printing it, remember?). And those images can be redone into b/w and resized for the print version.
I’ve included the link which shares the ways to fix the errors. Here’s the list:
- Extra spaces or tabs used to create an indent for the first line of each paragraph
- Two or more paragraph breaks between paragraphs
- Two spaces between sentences instead of one
- Manual line breaks at the end of each line of text in a paragraph
- Two line breaks inserted at the end of a paragraph instead of a paragraph break
- Using tabs at the end of a paragraph to create a new paragraph
- Creating complex tables, charts, graphs at a page size larger than your book size
- Using only a paragraph break to create a scene break between paragraphs
- A series of paragraph breaks (created by hitting the enter key) to force text onto the next page
https://www.self-pub.net/blog/common-mistakes-made-when-writing-a-book-in-microsoft-word/
happy writing!
