Blog

Authors are all keen to reach the same goal – publishing a book that is the very best it can be so they can attract the widest audience possible. To achieve this outcome their message must be clear and the book design must be appealing so that readers are engaged from beginning to end.

Once you’ve written you manuscript – drafting and redrafted it until you think that can’t make it any better yourself – it’s time to consult a professional. But paying for all the services you need to self publish your book can be an expensive exercise. Editing, proofreading, cover design, page layout/typesetting, printing, ebook conversion and the cost of uploading your book to online retailers such as Amazon, can all add up. But while it’s a wise investment to pay publishing professionals to help you produce your book, there are certain things you can do at the outset to help you save money. If you make sure your manuscript is properly prepared, your editor or designer won’t need to spend time on tasks that you could have completed yourself. The well-known saying ‘Time is money’ is absolutely correct!

So what are some ways in which you can prepare your Word manuscript for self publishing that will help you to save on publishing professionals’ time (and hence be good for your wallet)? Following these tips is a great place to start:

Draft and redraft your manuscript

Never send the first draft of your manuscript to your editor. After you’ve finished working on your manuscript, put it away for a week or two, and then get it out again to reread it. It’s amazing how putting a little distance between you and your writing can give you a different perspective. Keep redrafting until you’re certain that you can’t improve it any further. If you’re brave enough and not overly sensitive to feedback, ask others to read your manuscript and give you their opinion. For fiction writers in particular, there’s a tribe of people called beta readers who will read your work for free and give you their opinion regarding what they think works or doesn’t work in your story. If you can find someone who is well versed in your book’s particular genre, it can be a match made in heaven. However, beware of those who only give you positive feedback. You also need to hear constructive criticism at the macro level – Does the story make sense? Are the characters believable? Do any parts of the story drag? At this stage don’t be too concerned about micro-level problems, such as spelling or punctuation.

Don’t get fancy with page formatting

When you type up your manuscript in MS Word or some other word formatting software program, it is not necessary to go to a lot of effort to make the page layout look ‘pretty’. That’s the book designer’s job. Varying fonts or adding colour just makes more work for the designer as they will need to delete all of that extra formatting in order to apply the font styles that work best for your particular publishing project. It is important to note that a lot of text formatting doesn’t transfer correctly from Microsoft Word to Adobe InDesign (common graphic design software used for formatting/typesetting books). The best approach is to keep it simple – use a standard font such as Times New Roman or Arial in 12 point and single spacing between lines. By all means, use italics and bolding where your writing needs emphasis but steer clear of that underline button.

One space or two?

In the world of publishing today, using two spaces after the concluding punctuation mark in a sentence is a no-go. One space is all that’s required. Consider the designer’s frustration (and the extra work that is involved) when even before importing your Word document into InDesign, they need to spend time fixing this common error. And for your own sake, keep in mind that they unusually charge by the hour.

Number the pages in your manuscript

To keep your editor happy, always number the pages of your book manuscript. If they need to discuss a certain point in your manuscript, it is far quicker for them to direct you to a particular page number and line number. And if for some reason your editor is marking up your manuscript in hard copy and a rogue breeze causes the pages to flutter to the ground, they’ll be more likely to look kindly upon you if you’ve numbered your manuscript’s pages.

Indenting paragraphs

The best way to show your editor where a new paragraph starts in your manuscript is to indent it. If they have to guess … then you know what comes next … time equals money. A much worse transgression is when authors use the space bar in order to move to a new paragraph. This action will also irritate your designer. They may swear just a little bit and will definitely add minutes to their time sheet. Microsoft Word has a variety of ways in which you can set up your page so that you need to do as little extra work as possible when typing in text.

Supply your images in the correct format

If you have written a non-fiction manuscript, you may wish to include photographs, illustrations, diagram, charts or tables in your book. With your designer’s welfare in mind (and your wallet’s!), create a image folder separate from your manuscript where you assemble of the graphics you want to include in your book. A good practise is to use placeholder text to advise the designer where you would like your images to appear in the book (i.e. type in the relevant position in your manuscript: ‘Insert photo 12 here’). Where possible be sure to supply your images in high resolution format to ensure that they will not appear blurry when printed.  If your images are too large to send as email attachments, you can use a file sharing platform such as Dropbox or WeTransfer or even copy your images to a USB and post it via snail mail.

Using Track Changes in Microsoft Word

Most editors these days mark up written text in MS Word using the Track Changes function. It’s the easiest and most efficient way for editors to communicate their professional opinion with their clients. If you are not already aware of this feature in Word, it is worthwhile to make the effort to becoming familiar with it. If you are able to accept or reject your editor’s suggested edits yourself, it will save them a lot of time and of course, benefit you financially. Using Track Changes may seem daunting at first but if you can master it, you’ll be glad you did.

To ensure you have a smooth ride on your self-publishing journey, everyone involved needs to work together as a team. Investing time in applying these tips to your manuscript and learning how to use all the technology tools that are available to you is a worthwhile practice. Not only will your publishing partners appreciate your efforts, but your budget will be healthier as a result.

These days, there is a lot confusion surrounding the genres of memoir and autobiography, with many authors unsure of the actual purpose of these writing styles. People will often say that they are writing their autobiography when they really mean they are writing a memoir. Despite sharing some similar features, there are fundamental differences between a publication that is defined as a memoir and one that is considered to be an autobiography.

According to well-known American author Gore Vidal: ‘Memoir is how one remembers one’s own life while an autobiography is history, requiring research, dates, facts double-checked’. So before you decide to embark on writing your life story, it is important to have an understanding of the key similarities and differences between memoirs and autobiographies.

Similarities between Memoirs and Autobiographies

Both memoirs and autobiographies are written in the first person and they are true accounts of the author’s life. The author shares personal information with readers, in this way giving their audience genuine insight into the author’s thoughts, motivations and feelings.

Differences between Memoirs and Autobiographies

Memoirs usually focus on one or two central themes and explore one particular area or timeframe of the author’s life in depth. This might include sharing their experiences of overcoming an illness, a near-death experience or some other life-altering event. Memoirs usually cover a brief period of the author’s life, focusing on stories that relate to the main theme. The author may hop back and forth between different timeframes or they may start their memoir at a random point in time, objectively revisiting an extraordinary life event.

Autobiographies, on the other hand, are usually structured chronologically; they are the story of the author’s life from birth until the time of writing. They cover a much broader time span and no one incident is considered to be more important than any other.

Memoirs are more personal than autobiographies. Memoir authors reflect on what they have learned from their experiences and share their innermost thoughts with their readers. The author may offer opinions and question their own beliefs throughout the memoir without ever reaching a definitive answer. The story in a memoir relies on the author’s memories and may not be entirely true – for example, it is not possible to recount conversations exactly as they were spoken at the time.

In contrast, autobiographies include factual material that can be verified by readers. They are often written by celebrities whose fans are interested in the details of their lives and how they became famous. In contrast, anyone who has an interesting message they wish to share with others can write a memoir.

Memoir Writing Tips

Regardless of which genre you decide on, it is important to remember that your writer’s voice must engage the reader from the very first sentence. Your personality should be conveyed through your unique author voice. In memoir writing, using a conversational style helps readers to feel you are speaking to them personally – almost as though you are confiding in them.

On the whole, memoirs have an overarching theme such as triumph over adversity where the author has experienced terrible hardship but through courage and persistence has been able to prevail and succeed. When writing a memoir it is important to convey your character flaws as well as those strengths that helped you through your ordeal to demonstrate that you are a well-rounded human being who people can relate to.

Memoirs give readers the impression that what they are reading is true as opposed to imaginary (as in fiction). Therefore, your writing must be candid or readers will disengage with the narrative. Readers can usually detect when a writer is being dishonest. This is due to the fact that there is something uneasy about the writing style which makes them wonder why they don’t believe what they are reading.

Memoir readers want to be simultaneously entertained and enlightened by the subject matter. Always keep your audience in mind and avoid meaningless details or wallowing in self-pity. Long-winded, self-indulgent narrative will cause your readers to lose interest and feel unsympathetic towards you.

There are many reasons why people want to record their personal history. Maybe it’s because they learned an important life lesson that they want to share with others. Or perhaps they want to publish a record of their life for future generations of family to enjoy. Many authors decide to write down their memories as a form of therapy. Whatever the reason, by honing your understanding of the different styles associated with memoirs and autobiographies, you will be well prepared to tell your story.