The Final Layout Procedure
This is where I screwed up when publishing the anthology. Lulu requires your page count to be divisble by four. Not a problem, I thought. I’ll just add a couple of pages to the back and one to the front to get the right number.
I succeeded with that, but the layout wasn’t what I had [...]
Planning the Layout of Your Body Text
For novels, this is very simple and straightforward. You’ll want to justify the paragraphs with the last line aligned left. Set the first line indent a .3. In typing class and on the job, I was taught to set the indents at .5, but with novels that’s too wide of an indent.
For this main [...]
Planning the Layout of Your Chapter Pages
Like the headers, there are no set rules on what format to use. However, readability and design consistency are critical for preparing your book for publication. Your chapter headings must start at the same position on each page, usually between 1.5 to 3 inches below the top margin. The same goes with any quotes or [...]
Practice Publishing with an Old Manuscript
Karen has been asking some good questions about the publishing process with Lulu. The other day, she asked me if I thought it was a good idea to use an old manuscript as a testing ground for learning how to publish with Lulu. By all means, yes. I think that’s an excellent idea because you [...]
Is There a Standard Format for Headers and Footers?
After looking through several books on my shelves, I came to the conclusion that there are no set rules regarding header formats for fiction and nonfiction books. Some authors choose not to bother with headers. For the purpose of this exercise, I’ll assume that you want to place headers in your book’s format. The screenshot [...]
The Best Fonts for Your Book
Open Type fonts are the best because they are cross-compatible with PCs and Macs. The internal coding (called unicode) allows a typeface file to have over 65,000 characters, a big improvement over the older typefaces that are limited to 256.
The second best are PostScript or Type 1 fonts. These are good for offset printing, especially [...]
Formatting Your Book Interior with Word
Do you set up your document’s style and margin formatting before you type a word? Or, do you use your word processor’s default settings like many of us are guilty of doing? Either way, you’ll have to reformat your manuscript to fit Lulu’s printing specifications.
If you’re publishing a paperback novel, you can copy your standard-sized [...]
Planning Your Book’s Format
The first step in publishing with Lulu is formatting the content of your book. This takes some planning and a bit of research. Get out a piece of paper, jot the following questions down, and answer them as best as you can. Then get a manila folder or a small binder to store the questionnaire. [...]
How Easy is It to Publish with Lulu?
Lulu prides itself on its 1-2-3 publishing system. If you have good computer and Internet skills, you should have minimal problems with publishing your book. I say minimal because not everyone has a DSL connection or uses industry standard software. You may encounter some conversion or browser problems, in addition to the learning curves of [...]
Some Basic Questions About Publishing with Lulu
Will Lulu claim exclusive rights to your work?
No. You will have sole ownership of anything you publish on the Lulu website. Read their membership agreement carefully, because they will reject manuscripts that violate their policies. For instance, they will not publish anything that contains excessive violence or child pornography.
If you decide, say halfway through the [...]
