How to Make Books Using Microsoft Word
by Filonia LeChat, Demand Media
Whether you’re writing a product user guide, a personal memoir, steamy novel or a kids’ story, free yourself from book template setup hassles by using Microsoft Word. Making books in Word won’t limit your creative process; instead, it frees you up to concentrate on the written word. One of the benefits of using Microsoft Word to make books is that Word’s pages are, by default, set up for auto flow. You don’t have to connect pages or text boxes - just let your writing flow from your brain to the keyboard and onto the Word book pages.
Step 1
Start Microsoft Word. Double-click the “Books” file folder on the “Available Templates” screen. Double-click the “Other books” file folder.
Step 2
Scroll through the templates. Although Word probably won’t have your bestseller-to-be template theme, choose a template that best suits your book requirements. Everything in a template is completely customizable. For example, double-click “Book manuscript” and within a few moments, a new Word window opens with the template.
Step 3
Highlight the placeholder information on the first/cover page of the template. Type your own details such as the book’s title and the author’s name. To delete text from the template, highlight it and press the “Delete” key on the keyboard.
Step 4
Add an image to use as your book cover by clicking the “Insert” tab. Click “Picture.” Browse to the cover photo or picture and double-click it. This is also the process for adding an author photo, which you may want to use for the back page of the book.
Step 5
Scroll through the included pages of the template, which will vary per template. To start a new page, press the “Ctrl” and “Enter” keys together, forcing a page break.
Step 6
Type the beginning of the book or “Chapter One.” To emphasize a chapter header, highlight the text, click the “Home” tab and click the “B” icon on the ribbon. You can also enlarge the header with the “Font size” menu.
Step 7
Continue typing. As you come near the bottom of a page, Word automatically inserts a new one into the book. To force additional page breaks, such as to break the book up into chapters, continue the “Ctrl” and “Enter” process.
Step 8
Give your pages numbers by clicking the “Insert” tab. Click the “Page Number” button’s drop-down menu and choose the location for the pages. This will add the numbers to all of the pages; you don’t have to be on page 1 to do so or repeat the process on each page of the book.
Step 9
Click the “File” tab. Click “Save As.” Enter a name for the book and click the “Save” button.
Tips
Resources
Whether you’re writing a product user guide, a personal memoir, steamy novel or a kids’ story, free yourself from book template setup hassles by using Microsoft Word. Making books in Word won’t limit your creative process; instead, it frees you up to concentrate on the written word. One of the benefits of using Microsoft Word to make books is that Word’s pages are, by default, set up for auto flow. You don’t have to connect pages or text boxes - just let your writing flow from your brain to the keyboard and onto the Word book pages.
Step 1
Start Microsoft Word. Double-click the “Books” file folder on the “Available Templates” screen. Double-click the “Other books” file folder.
Step 2
Scroll through the templates. Although Word probably won’t have your bestseller-to-be template theme, choose a template that best suits your book requirements. Everything in a template is completely customizable. For example, double-click “Book manuscript” and within a few moments, a new Word window opens with the template.
Step 3
Highlight the placeholder information on the first/cover page of the template. Type your own details such as the book’s title and the author’s name. To delete text from the template, highlight it and press the “Delete” key on the keyboard.
Step 4
Add an image to use as your book cover by clicking the “Insert” tab. Click “Picture.” Browse to the cover photo or picture and double-click it. This is also the process for adding an author photo, which you may want to use for the back page of the book.
Step 5
Scroll through the included pages of the template, which will vary per template. To start a new page, press the “Ctrl” and “Enter” keys together, forcing a page break.
Step 6
Type the beginning of the book or “Chapter One.” To emphasize a chapter header, highlight the text, click the “Home” tab and click the “B” icon on the ribbon. You can also enlarge the header with the “Font size” menu.
Step 7
Continue typing. As you come near the bottom of a page, Word automatically inserts a new one into the book. To force additional page breaks, such as to break the book up into chapters, continue the “Ctrl” and “Enter” process.
Step 8
Give your pages numbers by clicking the “Insert” tab. Click the “Page Number” button’s drop-down menu and choose the location for the pages. This will add the numbers to all of the pages; you don’t have to be on page 1 to do so or repeat the process on each page of the book.
Step 9
Click the “File” tab. Click “Save As.” Enter a name for the book and click the “Save” button.
Tips
- Although the instructions here show how to use a template to make a program-sized or smaller book - often referred to as a mass market paperback - you don’t have to actually use a Word template at all to make a book. Upon launching Word, simply start typing. You’ll be creating a book out of 8.5 inch by 11 inch pages, the size often used for galleys or scripts. The process for adding title information and images is the same, you’ll just have fewer pages in a book of this size since the pages are bigger and can hold more text.
Resources