13. Now that your file is clean you are ready to format it with CJsEasyAsPie Template and Styles

This is No. 13 in a series of Tutorials for CJ's Easy As Pie "The Pie" Kindle and eBook Self-Publishing Package, which starts here:


Now that your file is clean you are ready to format it with CJsEasyAsPie Template and Styles.

We need a plain text file so we can see what the different Styles do.

I'm using Edgar Allan Poe's The Bells, downloaded from Gutenberg.org.

You might download a copy for yourself, and follow along... or, a better idea, use a COPY of your own    file.

The Bells Ready for Styles to be Applied

My first step is to decide what I want as a default font.

Normal font is the default font as originally designed by Microsoft, and it is the "parent" of all other Styles.

Body Text is a copy of Normal, but modified as needed if you need another body text.

If you are heavily involved in manuscript preparation, especially for print, you may have such a need, but for now, we will use Normal for our default... our body text.

We select the entire file with CTRL-A, then double-click on the Style we have decided we will use for our default text.

With my entire file highlighted, I go to the Styles Pane and double-click on Normal.

To quickly find Normal, click your cursor inside the Styles Pane, and type "n" as many times as necessary to find the Normal entry.

This is one of the "most rewarding" changes that can be made to most manuscripts.

Where the manuscript may have been just a hodgepodge, the text will suddenly look smooth and clean.

I am now ready to apply some Styles to dress up my eBook.

First, I look for a Title Style for my title... "The Bells".

I highlight the words "The Bells", then go to the Styles Pane.

I click my cursor inside the styles pane, then type the letter "T" until I find the style named "Title".

Then, I double-click on the Style "Title" to apply it to the highlighted Title (The Bells) in my manuscript.

Next I highlight the author's name, "Edgar Allan Poe, then go to the Styles Pane, and type the letter A until I find the style name "Author Name".

Now, I select the sub-title, "Example of Assonance".

Then, I go to the Styles Pane and type "S" as many times as necessary to find the Style named "Sub-Title", and double-click it.

Next I search through my manuscript for all chapter headings and apply the correct Heading Style.

(This is a poem, not a book, and it has verses, not chapters, but I needed something short for this demonstration... so humor me and pretend this is a book and the verses are chapters.)

Next, we go through and find our main headings... usually Chapter Headings... and apply the Heading Styles we want for each.

The Bells is a poem; it does not have chapters, but it does have verses.

To quickly find Headings, click your cursor inside the Styles Pane, and type "H" as many times as necessary to find Heading Styles.

I find each Heading, highlight it to select it, then double-click on the Heading I want in the Styles Pane.

Here is what The Bells looks like now... with only a few minutes spent on formatting.

Next, I will create a Table of Contents.

I've already tagged my Chapter Headings, so I have only one more step:

I go to the top of my file and place my cursor where I want to place the TOC.

From the Menu strip at the top of the page of Main Menu, choose the Insert tab.

From the Insert drop down menu, choose:

Table of Contents

My Table of Contents appears at the position I chose.

The Bells, Formatted with Styles and TOC

Now you are ready to Create your final file... the one you will upload to Amazon KDP.

You will do that at: 14. Create an ePub

For more in this series, go here:

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