CreateSpace page


Some tips from a user on how the process can be handled after you've gone through the add title sequence on your dashboard, I see the following in the order I reckon anyone should approach the task from:-

1. Carefully consider the book dimensions, the most common being 6 x 9 ( that's inches ), here's a link to the info -  https://www.createspace.com/Special/Pop/book_trimsizes-pagecount.html

How many words in your manuscript ? What type of book is it ?

If a simple non-fiction ' how-to ' then 6 x 9 is your best bet. Think cost to the end-user. They have to pay for each page, or you will pay if printing them off to stock yourself. 6 x 9 offers the lowest cost while remaining portable, it means fewer pages in the finished product.

Fiction comes down to word count. My book is 50,000 words, so I went for 5 x 8 ( the smallest ). This offers a portable book with the thickness any reader would expect. If more words, say 60,00 and up,  then look to go bigger 5.5 x 8.5 and 6 x 9.

Note I'm only mentioning those sizes that are supported by downloadable cover templates.

2. The free online cover creator tool is excellent ( see cover below ). But work on this for some time, I was too quick and ended up with an unsatisfactory first attempt which is now live on Amazon  See Here  How long it will take to change the one on Amazon is anyone's guess - probably weeks.

The template finally chosen offers advantages:-

(a) The photo used from their stock items covers the whole book in the background;
(b) The option exists to add separate quote, publisher logo and author photo to the back. I chose not to, but the option is there. 
(c) The frame can be see-through if you choose the right colour.

I don't remember what the template is called - I think it is Maple - but it is in there down the back, not up front. Take time to look for the best option for yourself. I didn't do that and paid the price.

3. Upload your word file, and it will likely be rejected, but they provide a link on the page with their reformatted copy of what you provided. Download this, it's what you'll use to upload again.

Have a look at it, your text will be reformatted, look for areas where the last line of a para is justified when it shouldn't be, that sort of thing. How many pages does it show? It's likely more because a common Word file is wider than your average book. You may like to go back and change your book size to either expand the width or shrink it down. Do this before you publish.

4. Page numbering - CreateSpace don't do this for you - BIG HEADS UP. 

Most books don't put a page number at the foot of the front matter pages. My book starts at 5, 1-4 are not numbered. This is not like Kindle where page numbers don't matter, they do.

You need to number your pages. I use Open Office. Working from the Create Space copy they provided....

Press f11
Second from right click Page Styles
Right click default, choose Modify
Page tab, write down all your current page dimensions, then go back,
Right click default, click New
Name your new style Chapters. 
Page from this tab set the exact same dimensions as your default that you wrote down above, make sure you have clicked Footer On, Click Mirrored in Page Layout, Format 1,2,3 or whatever Click OK,
Go back, right click default, Modify, Footer,
unclick Footer on.
The whole document now does not have footers,
go to end of page four,
Insert > Manual Break > Page Break
From drop down menu Style choose Chapters - this should appear if you created and saved above,
In the numbers field put 5, the number the next page will start from,
Click OK.

Now numbering should start at the foot of each page with nothing from page 1 to 4. What this process does is set the whole document to default without numbers, then inserts a page break with numbers ( footers ) after page 4, as this is set to include numbers; the document is default 1-4 ( no footers ) and Chapters ( 5 onward ). Whenever you want to change numbering further, insert page break, maybe going back to default for pages you don't want counted, and so on.

5. Review proof, looking for obvious errors, the final proof may be a bit different, page breaks are good if you want to ensure that Chapters always start on an uneven page, or to ensure your Chapters start on a fresh page, in that case just start each chapter with a page break with page style None, you can insert blank pages too, just remember it all adds to page count and the reader is paying for it.

Any questions ? Please contact me if it doesn't seem clear enough. CreateSpace provide a blank formatted template and this includes headers with numbering at the top left and right, with alternating author, title/chapter, but here I'm just keeping it simple, numbering with a footer and no info or numbers at the top.

You can buy my book, it's a good read:

Basketball Obsession 

in paperback:https://www.createspace.com/5453240



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