Setting up a Book Template Part 1

When you begin setting up a long template (more than a few pages is considered long), the easiest way that I've found to do it is to start at the beginning and work my way through to the end. After I have all of the sections in place, I can go back and begin to fill the template with my personal text.

Be sure to notice that this post has Part 1 in the title. I'm not sure how many posts are going to be involved. However, once I record the steps here, you should be able to come back to the posts and repeat the steps in sequence to create as many book templates as you need.

To start, we're going to complete the page setup.

1. Open a new Word document...yes templates start with one empty page...the Normal template.
2. Open the Page Setup dialog.

Word 2003
Select File, and then Page Setup. The Page Setup dialog appears.

Word 2007 or 2010
Select the Page Layout tab and locate the Page Setup group. Click the small arrow in the lower right of the group. The Page Setup dialog appears. 

Margins Tab

Top, Bottom, Inside, and Outside margins = one inch

Gutter (binding edge) = one half inch

Orientation = Portrait

Pages = Mirror margins (See the post on Mirrored Margins)

Apply to = Whole document 

The advantage of having one page is that it is the whole document and the selections you make in the Page Setup dialog apply throughout your document. 

Paper Tab

Accept the default of 8.5 x 11 for a standard page size. Other sizes are available if you are going to a publishing on demand house like Lulu.com. However, we are going to create a template and book that you can put on a CD or Flash Drive and take to your local print shop for production.

Layout Tab

Section start = New Page. 

Headers and Footers: 

Different odd and even = Click it to add a check mark.

Different first page = Click it to add a check mark.

Selecting the header and foot options allow you to have one header and footer for even pages, another header and footer for odd pages, and a different page for the first page of chapter. You start a new chapter each time to enter a New Page section break. 

Click OK to save your selection. 

Click File, Save As and save your document under the name Genealogy Book. 

Not much to see yet huh? But there's lots more to come.

One thing I do want you to be aware of is a hidden code. Display the codes (Hidden Word Codes). All of the instructions that you just entered in the Page Setup dialog reside in the lone paragraph mark that you see. You cannot delete this paragraph mark. This paragraph mark will always be the final item in your document, affecting everything--say 300 pages of a book--that appears before it. You don't necessarily need to do anything with the paragraph mark. However, if you are to understand how Word works, you need to understand that it's there and what affect it has on your document.

More in my next post. If you have a moment, find a piece of art (clip art from the Web is fine) to use for cover art...the page you just created is the front cover of your book.