4 out of 4 stars
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Kerning, drop caps, styles, divider lines, and margins are just a few things that you will learn about in Mary Korte’s Formatting Your Fantastic Book. This instructional book is just what a person needs to self-publish his/her book and have a professional look to it. Korte gives her personal tips and helps to make your printed book look great. Have you ever wondered why some of the books you read had strange spacing problems or they just looked like a plain PDF or Word document?
Korte’s first point is that many of us need to unlearn some things and learn new habits when formatting our manuscripts for a book to be printed. One of the things I found hard to unlearn was that there should never be any double spacing used after a sentence! You will need to read the book to find out about the other things that we need to unlearn and learn!
The organization of the book’s contents from the front matter to the back matter was phenomenal, and one can know exactly where to find things easily. The author used her own formatting instructions as she wrote and formatted her book, so she could see and know exactly what to include as she followed her own instructions. I immediately thought that her margins were off-centered, but little did I know that was on purpose! She also knows how dry and monotonous a book like this could get, so she inserted “Phantom,” a little make-believe being that had conversations with her scattered throughout her book and between topics. This did break up the instructions and made it a bit fun, as intended by the author.
I least liked the beginning section on how to modify the style of paragraphs. It was difficult and time-consuming to get through it. The many examples in the book helped, but actual pictures of the computer or Word tabs would benefit the reader even more than just describing them. I tried my best to follow most of the instructions using my own examples of writing to see if I could understand and accomplish the desired results. A true test would be to actually format a book using the instructions.
However, I learned so much from this handy book. I especially liked learning about very useful things that are hidden when using Microsoft Word. I loved learning how to make a drop cap and how to type in the header or footer. I liked the sections on fonts, borders, and raising/lowering letters. I could hardly believe the things that are possible using Word! For example, I learned how to make the copyright symbol.
I rate Formatting Your Fantastic Book 4 out of 4 stars for the fantastic step-by-step guide and explanations of formatting a book to print. The book was edited well, as it was almost flawless with only two words missing a letter and an extra comma. If the tips and instructions are followed, books will look professionally formatted and attract more people to want to read and enjoy your book.
If you prefer learning things with videos, lots of pictures, and very few written words, then this may not be the best way for you to learn formatting. This book would appeal most to those who especially like written instructions, want to save money, and are willing to spend some time learning how to make their self-publishing book look professionally formatted. This book would also benefit anyone who just wants to know more about how to use Microsoft Word and its many secrets of making a document look great.
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Formatting Your Fantastic Book
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