I used them by mistake so had to take it down again. However, it was easy, but you do have the added problem of paying D2D an extra 10% royalty for something that's easy enough to do yourself, OR there are people on here who would do it for you for a small one-off fee.
Has anyone used D2D to create a paperback using Createspace?
G
I'd like to create paperback versions of my ebooks, but I'm tired of spending so much time away from writing dealing with formatting issues. I've been using D2D for some platforms and that has lessened my load. They have a Createspace option and I'm tempted to use it rather than having to do all of this myself.
Has anyone out there used D2D for this? I'm very interested in all of your opinions. You have no idea how helpful your answers have been in the past. Thanks.
Has anyone out there used D2D for this? I'm very interested in all of your opinions. You have no idea how helpful your answers have been in the past. Thanks.
1 - 4 of 4 Posts
Formatting for CreateSpace is really not as challenging as it at first turns out to be. There are also people who will do this for you for cheap if you wish.
I tried the D2D approach once, but the book format that resulted was too pedantic for me. I wanted more control. I have the same issue with sending them a DOC file - they just don't seem to do what I would do with the same content.
I would suggest you use their BASIC template and spend a little time understanding how templates work within Word. I use OpenOffice so there are a few different things I have to do, but I have four page templates. Front Matter, Back Matter, Chapter and Default. The Chapter template is the first page in a chapter and has no header or footer. The Default has header and footer, page number on all, Author and Title on alternating headers. The Front Matter has nothing - just links from one Front Matter page to another and does not increment the total page count. The Back Matter is really just Default without Page Numbers or Headers.
I have just a few paragraph styles.
Chapter Title - Sets the font, the distance from the top of the page and the opening paragraph. Uppercases the chapter name
First Paragraph - Drop Caps on the first character - default otherwise
First Paragraph Dialog - Drop Caps on the first 2 characters to catch the opening " - default otherwise
Letter - indented, left justified, no first line indent, italic, font for embedded letters in the book
Default - All the rest of the text
Scene Break - I use a glyph here, so it's a background graphic used on a blank line
I individually format each Front Matter and Back Matter page - takes very little time.
I can take my 600 page Novel and completely format it using this template in just over an hour.
I export to PDF and give this to CreateSpace. No surprises in my formatting this way.
It's really not that hard, but you do have to spend a little time understanding the basics of how to use Styles in Word or your choice of editing programs.
Starting with the BASIC template in your trim size that you can download from CreateSpace is a great way to start.
I tried the D2D approach once, but the book format that resulted was too pedantic for me. I wanted more control. I have the same issue with sending them a DOC file - they just don't seem to do what I would do with the same content.
I would suggest you use their BASIC template and spend a little time understanding how templates work within Word. I use OpenOffice so there are a few different things I have to do, but I have four page templates. Front Matter, Back Matter, Chapter and Default. The Chapter template is the first page in a chapter and has no header or footer. The Default has header and footer, page number on all, Author and Title on alternating headers. The Front Matter has nothing - just links from one Front Matter page to another and does not increment the total page count. The Back Matter is really just Default without Page Numbers or Headers.
I have just a few paragraph styles.
Chapter Title - Sets the font, the distance from the top of the page and the opening paragraph. Uppercases the chapter name
First Paragraph - Drop Caps on the first character - default otherwise
First Paragraph Dialog - Drop Caps on the first 2 characters to catch the opening " - default otherwise
Letter - indented, left justified, no first line indent, italic, font for embedded letters in the book
Default - All the rest of the text
Scene Break - I use a glyph here, so it's a background graphic used on a blank line
I individually format each Front Matter and Back Matter page - takes very little time.
I can take my 600 page Novel and completely format it using this template in just over an hour.
I export to PDF and give this to CreateSpace. No surprises in my formatting this way.
It's really not that hard, but you do have to spend a little time understanding the basics of how to use Styles in Word or your choice of editing programs.
Starting with the BASIC template in your trim size that you can download from CreateSpace is a great way to start.
1 - 4 of 4 Posts
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