editing

Everything I need to know about Styling, I learned from LuLu

beccakinla editing, epublishing, format, how to write, lulu, manuscript, microsoft, preparing, style, submissions, submit, tools, word, writer, writing process Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Book

Picture credit: http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/18900/18980/book_18980.htm

Okay, okay, so my title is a bit of an exaggeration. Here’s the story:

I get lots of questions from new writers about how to format manuscripts for submission. My first piece of advice is always to follow the specs articulated by the periodical or book publisher you are submitting to. However, if you don’t know where you’re sending it to, I’ve always preferred to use a sans-serif font like Arial or Helvetica for titles and author info, followed by a double-spaced body written in a simple serif font like Times New Roman or Courier. (Serif fonts have those little crowns and tails, sans-serif do not.) You can always reformat later, thanks to the magic of Microsoft Word. And don’t forget to insert a footer with a page number and your email address on every page.

In the past, that magic formula has always worked. But now that I’m working on something longer–in fact, an entire book– things have gotten complicated. It’s simply harder to be consistent across more than a hundred pages. I can’t remember how I numbered the chapters (with numerals or the numbers as words), if I put in an extra line after each chapter heading, or what size and font I used for each. Sometimes I paste in pieces from other documents and the font and size may differ. My document was turning into a mess. And don’t even ask me what happened when I went back and started to rewrite!

That’s where LuLu stepped in. You see, I was doing a lot of research last week and the week before regarding e-publishing (hence a couple blog posts wherein I mentioned it). If you publish an ebook through LuLu, you have to use a very specific format. Or, rather, you Style instead of Format.

Most of us look at the Style menu in Word and have no idea what to do with it. We write using the Format menus, sometimes just out of habit.  Even if you don’t plan to use LuLu, your editor will still be much happier if you use Styles. Doing so can save you time, but it also will increase consistency throughout a document and prep it for conversion into other document formats like Adobe InDesign or ePub. In fact, if you use LuLu, you have to use Styles, because that’s what triggers page breaks for chapters and creates your table of contents.

Some people hate the way the Styles look, or object to the fonts and spacing used. That’s okay! With a little practice, you can create your own Style and apply it throughout your Word document. Want to learn how to do this? Here are some links that can help you:
http://floridawriters.wordpress.com/2011/12/30/tool-time-using-styles-in-word-to-help-with-your-formatting/
http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2010/04/authors-keep-formatting-when-they-should-be-styling/
http://daiya.mvps.org/bookwordframes.htm

I doubt I’ll go the LuLu route, but I owe the company a debt of gratitude. My reStyled document looks beautiful and is perfectly consistent and organized. Now if only I can finish my rewrite…

 

Inspiration?

beccakinla editing, reviews, revision, writing groups, writing process Leave a comment

So, I finally finished revising my novel on paper (complete with red ink) at some point early last week. However, I was having trouble actually typing the changes into the document. I’m not sure if I was nervous, bored with the project, or what. I kept finding excuses and wasting time, even with friends and relatives asking if I was finished.

And then the incredible happened…
On Friday morning (while my challah dough was rising), I figured that I should price the cost of making copies through both chain print shops and locally-owned ones. I was about to go to a locally-owned one that I’d heard was reliable and competitively priced when I found an online coupon for Staples Print & Copy services. The coupon was good for 30% off of a job that cost at least $30 AND IT WAS GOING TO EXPIRE ON SATURDAY!
Very motivating.
I had the project done by 1:30 and sent it off to the printer electronically before 2 o’clock.
Wow.
I’m very excited, but more than a little freaked out. I already have my new baby in the capable hands of one reader, with a cover sheet for feedback attached (and a stack of post-its). My writing group will, G-d willing, meet later this week. I’ll fork out a couple more copies at that point.
It’s funny how my mind works.

Wanna be a punctuation vigilante? I’ll bring the Sharpies!

beccakinla Eats Shoots and Leaves, editing, Lynne Truss, punctuation, Uncategorized Leave a comment

ES&L.png

You know how there’s always a book that you mean to read, but you never seem to get around to it? Or you always forget the title when you’re actually at the library and in a position to borrow it? Well, several years ago, I heard Lynne Truss on NPR’s Fresh Air discussing her then-new book, Eats, Shoots and Leaves. Ever since then, I’ve intended to read the book, but somehow never did until last week.
If there ever was a perfect candidate to read this book, it’s me. I am what Ms. Truss calls, “a stickler.” When I find a typo in a book, I take a pencil to it. (Oh, how delightful it is when I discover in a library book that a fellow stickler has already repaired the error ahead of me!) If I pass a shop with an error in its sign, it takes all my self-discipline not to run home for a Sharpie and start to copyedit in permanent ink. And don’t even ask about menus. (Though I usually cut the restaurant slack if it’s run by non-native speakers of English. I’m sure they punctuate English better than I can punctuate Farsi or Chinese.)
I’ve gotten slightly better in recent years, probably because I no longer have the energy after chasing toddlers all day and cooking three dinners for six people (don’t ask). As soon as I get all my kids off to school and out of diapers (hopefully, not in that order), I’ll probably get that itchy stickler finger again.
When I explained the topic of the book to my darling husband, he smiled knowingly. “Yes, that’s the perfect book for you.”
What’s amazing about Eats, Shoots and Leaves is that it’s fun to read. Even non-sticklers will appreciate Truss’s explanation of the vagaries of English punctuation and the pleasures in getting it just so. Some of the best moments are when Truss laughs at her own stickler tendencies, which is good, because otherwise, the stickler is in damage of going off the deep end entirely.
I also felt a surge of pleasure in being American, as Americans punctuate a little more consistently than the English.
I highly recommend this book for all writers, teachers, and sticklers. Well, unless you got around to reading the book before me.