Writing tips: formatting
One of the great things about indie publishing is that you can do things yourself. But please know that just because you can, doesn't mean you should! Things like editing and cover design MUST be done by professionals. But the cool thing is that formatting is fairly accessible to the average person, but you'll be swapping out spending money for spending time.
So here are some basic formatting tips:
Learn industry and genre standards
Every new paragraph except for the first in the chapter and scene must be indented
Use drop caps, lead in small caps or both for the first sentence of each chapter
Chapter should start at least a third of the way down the page. But usually about half
Page numbers typically go in the footer
In the header have your name on one page and your book title on the other (alternate the whole way through). These do not go in the front matter or on the first page of each chapter
Make sure your formatting is consistent the whole way through!
Front matter is everything before the first chapter, back matter is everything after the actual book (acknowledgments etc)
Justify text to both sides (so it's even). You can use hyphens to help with this
Check what the minimal requirements for margins are with your publisher (Ingram, kdp etc)
Use a normal, easy to read font. Times New Roman is the standard.
Use hyperlinks in your ebooks! Link directly to your other books, author socials and website. List them in your print copies
I'm using Atticus to format my debut and it's been fantastic so far.
