Typesetting
Going to a typesetter can be quite expensive (anywhere from $500 to $1,500) and buying software specifically set up to typeset (Such as Quark or Pagemaker) can be quite pricey too, since they cost like $700-900 a pop!
As you know, we self-published writers have to try and cut costs wherever and whenever we can. I typeset my first novel, Satin Doll, and also Daaimah S. Poole's novel, "Yo Yo Love" using Microsoft Word. It was tedious, but not hard, and it saved me quite a bit of money. So, if you want to try it (and I hope you do!) here are the directions.
Go to Page Set-Up in
Microsoft Word. At the margin tab set:
Top 0.75
Bottom: 0.75
Inside: 1.0
Outside: 0.75
Gutter: 0
Your Orientation should be portrait.
Also, in the middle of the pate you'll see a pull-down box for "Multiple Pages."
Select "Mirror Images"
Got to Page tab and set:
Paper Size: Custom
Width: 5.5
Height: 8.5
Go to Layout tab and set:
Headers And Footers:
Different Odd and Even (Check this box)
Different Front Page (Check this box)
From Edge:
Header: 0.5
Footer: 0.5
That takes care of the page layout.
Setting the Header
Now . . . go to the "View" tab and go to header and footer, then choose header. For the odd header, put in the book title, for the even header, put in the author's name
Page Numbers
Go to the "Insert" tab and go to the page number option. Pick the "outside" option for placement of the page numbers.
Make sure you change your tab
settings!
Go to "Format" on your
tool bar. Choose the "paragraph" option. Click on the bottom of the page and
click "tabs." In the "Default tab stops" box, change "0.50" to "0.25."
Also, if you like the drop case on the first letter starting a chapter (I do),
highlight the first character, then to go the "Format" option on your tool bar.
Choose drop cap, and then choose the "drop" layout. I like the 3 lines dropped,
but if you prefer more or less, go to the lines dropped box and type what you'd
like.
Okay, now . . . you've got
to go to "select all" under the "edit" tab and once your manuscript is entirely
highlighted go to "format" and change your manuscript to single-space.
Then go to font and change it to "10.5" or "11," (11 is my preference).
For font type, I still like Times New Roman.
Okay....now did you know that books only have one space after a period, not
two like most written material? So you've got to delete all those extra
spaces throughout your manuscript. Okay. . . don't panic.
Okay, now . .. go back to edit, and do another select all. Once your manuscript
is highlighted, go ahead and justify your manuscript.
Once you've done that, you have to worry about leading. Even if you justify you
have to go through your manuscript, line-by-line, and make sure that your
justification didn't cause one of your lines to look like this"
"Th is is what could happen if there too few words to
look well spaced out."
Okay, if you find a line like that, highlight the line, and right click on it,
and then choose the "font" option. Then go to the "character spacing" tab.
You'll see your highlighted line in the preview section of the box.
Okay...here's where you start experimenting to make the line look right. You can
either condense it, or expand it. Expanding it may force to the next line, but
usually works better than condense it, in my view . .. UNLESS THE LINE IS THE
LAST LINE IN A PARAGRAPH. Then it's usually best to just condense it. But just
use your own judgment, okay?
Whew!
Never thought I'd actually have to give a lesson in typesetting!