Thank You!

Yesterday at Sweet Home High School was a wonderful day, and I thank everyone who came out to make it so! Thank you to everyone who went home with a copy of Relic or Eye of the Peacock. I hope you enjoy them.

While people shopped and helped to support the Dollars for Scholars fund, I was able to talk with so many great folks, including one young man, who was interested in writing and publishing. I hope he visits this blog to take advantage of the tips here. That goes for anyone, of course. And if you ever have a question or are confused, please add it to the comments and I will make sure it gets addressed!

I also was given the possible future opportunity to speak with a book group, and I hope that comes to fruition. I love talking about the writing process and my characters.

And a special thank you to friends who came out and offered their support. Tina and Giselle (with a special companion) from the Ken-Ton Writer's project -- what would I do without your input into my writing and your smiles that make the day full of sunshine -- even when it is pouring outside!

A thank you as well to the friendly vendors around me. It truly was a great way to spend a Saturday!

Next Sale and Signing!

Excited to let you know I will be at the Sweet Home Schools Dollars for Scholars
Spring Craft Show Saturday March 25 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. signing and selling copies of Relic and Eye of the Peacock. The school is located at 1901 Sweet Home Road, Amherst, NY.

Admission to the event is $2 per person, and all proceeds, including the vender's table fees, go to the scholarship fund. I can't think of a better reason to shop spring crafts than to benefit kids going to college!

The show will be throughout the gym and the cafeteria. Lunch and snack items will be for sale in the refreshment area. There will also be a spring basket raffle hosted by the PTSA.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Publishing Series: #15 A Closer Look at the Page

Let's take a closer look at preparing the pages for print.

Hopefully, you've been working in Word, since that is the most flexible program when it comes to formatting pages for a book. You've probably been typing in 8.5x11, but if you look under "layout" in the top toolbar, you will see the icon for changing the size of the page. Depending on the publishing program you are using, find out the size options for your published page. These are usually about 5x7, but they vary slightly. It is important that you know the exact size the published page will be.

At the bottom of Word's layout dropdown menu, you will see "more paper sizes." This will allow you to type in the exact size of the page you need. When you apply to the entire document, you will magically see your book in real book size! This is a very exciting part of the process!

Start to visualize your pages as you would a book, with a left page and a right page. The next thing you will want to do is to adjust the margins for the entire document. You have probably been using Word's default margins, which is one inch all around. Book margins are not that big. Start using a well published book from your bookshelf as a model. Bring a few samples to your workstation as references. The outside margins -- the one on the far left and the one on the far right of the double page -- should each be about a half inch, maybe even smaller depending on your preference. The two margins that meet in the middle of the double page -- the gutter, however, should be larger because space is needed for the bend of the pages as the reader opens the book. If this inside margin is too small, the words will flow into the crease formed by the meeting of the pages and your reader will struggle to read the story.

Once the margins are applied to the entire manuscript, it will really start looking like a book! These measurements are not set in stone. They can be adjusted during the process, so experiment until you are satisfied with the appear
ance.

Next Time: A Closer Look at the Front Matter