Welcome to Book Synthesis!

In November 2008, we posted a list of “book boo boos” that we commonly see in self-published books.  To this day, we still see a number of mistakes and formatting problems in previews of books and proofs we are considering for review.  Authors who are new to this are still not seeking out assistance or doing research when it comes to putting their best book forward. That’s why I decided to start a monthly post which I’m calling “Book Synthesis.”

Synthesis is defined as “the combining of the constituent elements of separate material or abstract entities into a single or unified entity.”  In book terms, those elements are your title page, copyright page, table of contents, dedication page, body of text, etc. which all together make up your single book.

My plan is to dissect a book page by page to help authors, who are considering self-publishing, with steps to how to properly format their book.  Along the way, I’ll use actual self-published books as examples, we’ll have interviews and guest posts from other authors, and hopefully we’ll have some Q&A time as well.

So, if you plan to follow this post each month and you come up with questions or ideas that you’d like us to discuss, let us know.  Feel free to post comments to the Book Synthesis posts here on the blog, or email us directly at llbookreview@gmail.com.

But for now, let’s get started…

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To “Blank” or Not to “Blank.”

I’m referring to the very first page of your book.  Once you open the front book cover of any book, you often find a single blank page.  It is usually blank on the front and back.  Most self-published authors with at least one book under their belt will choose to opt out of including this blank page in their book.  The reason is because  self-publishing companies include the page count in their manufacturing costs, which increases the list price of your book in the end.  Just visit Lulu.com’s Help Page and click on the Book Cost Calculator for a good example.  So, finding proper ways of cutting your book’s cost by cutting out certain pages is completely acceptable, and cutting out this blank page is a good start especially if your manuscript is over 200 pages (6″ x 9″).

But for those who wish to include the page, you should first properly format your manuscript to leave this page blank, front and back, without affecting the rest of your formatting.  For those who are using Microsoft Word (I use 2003 which is pretty basic and is what I’ll be using for the sake of these posts.), open your manuscript and set your cursor at the top of the first page. Then, click on Insert in your task bar, then click on Break. Then, click on Page Break.  This should now create a single blank page at the beginning of your manuscript.  Set your cursor at the top of this new blank page and immediately repeat these steps again. You will now have two blank pages at the beginning of your manuscript.  This is the front and the back of that first blank page in your book.  You should NOT just continuously hit the space bar again and again until you have two blank pages; this will create problems later with spacing and with page numbering.  It can also cause formatting problems when turning your manuscript into an Ebook. We’ll discuss that more later.

Looking back at the two books I reviewed this month, Cheryl Gardner’s Antiquity includes this blank page.  LK Gardner-Griffie’s Nowhere Feels Like Home does not. Cheryl used this page to write a nice inscription and to sign the book for me. Cheryl’s book is also only 134 pages, so this blank page probably didn’t hurt her overall page count when it came to pricing. LK’s book is just over 200 pages, so cutting this extra page might have helped her keep the price down a bit. LK used the first page in the book as her title page, which brings us to our next topic.

A good title is the title of a successful book.  - Raymond Chandler

Title pages  obviously should contain the title of the book and the authors name, right?  Generally, they are centered and spaced apart to some degree.  It’s also okay to have a small graphic on your title page if you choose.  I’ve seen several variations and they are all acceptable.  Cheryl’s book only contains the title of the book and it’s centered directly in the middle of the page.  This is often referred to as a soft title page, half-title or fly title page.  I’ve also seen it called the bastard title page. Like Cheryl, I used this version in my own book, Stealing Wishes.  If you use this soft title page with just the title of the book, then your full title page with book title and author name often comes next or even after the copyright and dedication page (more about these in the next post).  My full title page followed my soft title page, whereas Cheryl’s full title page comes after her copyright and dedication page.  Again, either is acceptable.  LK also skipped the soft title page and the first page in her book is a full title page containing both the title of the book and her name.

Left, right, left…

Confused yet?  That’s completely understandable.  To help, we’re going to start referring to pages based on their location in the book.  Are they on the left side or the right?  If on the right, you are looking at the front of the page.  When you turn that page, the back side is on the left now and a new page is now on your right.  Right?  This is very important (and can get very confusing) when you are formatting your manuscript. So, when you open the book, the first page (on the right) is either that blank page we first mentioned or your soft or full title page.  Let’s quickly review the three books I’ve used as examples so far, just to give you some good options for the line up of these first few pages.

The Splendor of Antiquity by Cheryl Anne Gardner

Opening the cover, we see the first page is completely blank (front and back).

Turning this blank page, we see a soft title page on the right containing only the title of the book centered directly in the middle of the page.

Turning this soft title page, we see the copyright page on the back of it (on the left) and a dedication on the right (new page).  More about copyright and dedications next month!

Turning the dedication page, we see it is blank on the back (left) and Cheryl’s full title page with book and author name appear on the right.

Nowhere Feels Like Home by LK Gardner-Griffie

Opening the cover, we see the first page is a full title page containing both the title of the book and the author’s name.

Turn this page and we discover that LK chose to save more room by putting her dedication and copyright on the same page on the back of the full title page.  Again, this is fully acceptable.  I’ve seen it done in many traditionally published books, and as long as this information is formatted properly, it’s perfectly fine to do this.

LK’s next page (on the right) is a Table of Contents.  Again, we’ll be saving Table of Contents for a later post.

Stealing Wishes by Yours Truly

Opening the cover, we the first page is completely blank (front and back).

Turning this blank page, we see a soft title page on the right containing only the title of the book which is centered near the top of the page.

Turning this page, you’ll discover something new on the back (left side) of the soft title page.  Here, I included a list of my books, even though there are only two of them.  The page says: BOOKS BY SHANNON YARBROUGH with the title of my two books underneath.  These three lines are all bold and centered.  I chose to include this after seeing it in several other traditionally published books.  Look for it in any bestseller from an author who has multiple books out there.

My full title page can be seen on the right now, with title and author name centered.  Here, I also included a simple graphic: a black and white photo of a cup of coffee which is centered between the title and my name.  At the bottom of the title page in a much smaller font, I put the publisher’s name and the name of the city. Again, a feature you see on lots of title pages of traditionally published books.  Everything on my full title page is centered.

My copyright page is on the back of my full title page.

Still confused?

If the whole left, right, left thing is confusing to you, just go get a book off your shelf and turn through the first few pages as an example.  However, when you are formatting your manuscript it often helps to also adjust it so that you are looking at two pages at a time.  I even like to write using this feature. Here’s how you can set up your page in MS Word 2003 so that you can view two pages at a time.  First, open a new blank document.  Then, under File, click on Page Set Up. Click on the Paper tab and adjust the width to 6″ and adjust the height to 9″ (or adjust to whatever size you plan to publish your book in).

Now, go back and do the first step I went through to create your first page that is blank on the front and back.  You should now be viewing two pages on your computer screen side by side.  If not, click on View in the Toolbar and adjust the Zoom to 100%.  This should help.

Now, here’s where the left, right, left can get confusing.  Think about it.  If you decide to put your title page on the first page, then technically it’s on the left side of your screen even though we know that’s going to be the first page in your book and in your book, it will be on the right side.  So, if you are going to view your manuscript like this – two pages at a time – think of it like this: the left is now the front of the page, and the right is the back.  Front, back, front, back…  Got it?

You might ask, “Is this important?”  It will be later when we get to page numbering so stick with me!  This graphic might help put it into perspective though.  It shows the first two pages of your book – front and back – with the first page being a blank page.

Last Minute Tips

I know we’ve only covered about the first three pages of the front matter of your book, but as you can see, their lay out and placement can be very different and is just as important.  So, here are some last minute tip to review concerning these pages:

• A single blank page in the front of your book is optional but perfectly acceptable, but does add to your overall page count which can affect pricing.
• A soft title page, containing only the title of the book, is also acceptable but should be followed by a full title page next or at least a few pages later.  A soft title page is also optional.
• It is acceptable to make the first page of your book a full title page containing your book’s title and your name.
• You can put your copyright page on the back of the title page to also save on page count.
• A graphic on the title page adds a nice touch.  Keep it simple.
• Consider putting the name of your publisher and the city at the bottom of your title page.
• If you have published more than one book, consider listing them on the back of your soft title page.
• None of the page numbers in your front matter should be numbered!
• If you have an auto-tab set in Word, be sure to turn it off when centering your title and name on your title page.

So, that’s it for this month and my first Book Synthesis Post. In February, we’ll be covering Table of Contents, Copyright Pages, and Dedication Pages. And again, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to email us or post them on this page.