Before I began editing and formatting books, I was unaware of some really cool features in Microsoft Word. If you are thinking about formatting a simple book yourself and plan to publish it through KDP (Amazon), you can use Microsoft Word. I would also consider DIY software like Atticus and Vellum, however if you already have Microsoft Word on your computer and you’re somewhat familiar with it, it might be the most cost-effective option.

Of course, if you’d rather hire a formatter, I’m happy to help. I’m here for you either way.

I subscribe to Microsoft 365 and use the Word desktop app to edit and (sometimes) format. I also use Adobe InDesign to format, which is compatible with Adobe Acrobat for PDF/X creation (a file type that IngramSpark requires). If you plan to publish through IngramSpark, I do not recommend using Word to format your book.

Disclaimers aside, I want to share some helpful tips for designing documents in Microsoft Word. All of these apply to book formatting (a.k.a. typesetting), and many of them also apply to making things like brochures or flyers.

1. Start with a template. Word has templates for documents like a newsletter, brochure, or flyer (File < New from Template). If you’re looking for Word or InDesign book templates, I recommend Book Design Templates. Instructions are on their website, but they do not provide immediate customer support. Using a book template will save you time on Page Setup (under File). You want to make sure the page size, margins, and gutter are right from the beginning. Headers and footers with chapter titles and page numbers are essential for readers.

2. Ensure you have all the front matter you want to include like a title page, copyright page, dedication, table of contents, epigraph, and introduction. Word will automatically create a table of contents for you if you apply Styles to the text. You will generate the table of contents after you have finished formatting (when the page count is final). That leads me to the next tip.

3. Apply Styles. A book template will come with styles for each type of text like the title of the book on the title page, chapter titles, first paragraph of a chapter (not indented), remaining body text (indented), subheadings, and image captions. You can modify the template styles or create your own. Styles make your book or document uniform and are a must for automatically generating a table of contents (use “Chapter Title” or “Heading 1” for chapter titles). I prefer to keep the Styles Pane open when I’m working in Word (Home > Styles Pane).

4. If you’re formatting a book, insert a section break at the end of each section/chapter (Layout > Breaks). Your cursor will automatically jump to the next page. Do not hit Return/Enter multiple times to get to the next page. If you want to move your cursor to the next page but remain in the same section/chapter, simply insert a page break. If you want each section/chapter to begin on a right-hand page, insert an Odd Page section break after the last paragraph of the prior section/chapter. To see spacing and breaks in your document, go to Home > ¶ (Show/Hide).

5. View > Sidebar > Navigation. After you apply the “Chapter Title” or “Heading 1” style to each chapter title, you can use the Navigation Pane/Document Map to go directly to a particular chapter. I keep this pane open when formatting a book.

6. To place a photo or graphic in the document, go to Insert and select Pictures, Shapes, Icons, Text Box, etc. To move the image, right click on it > Wrap Text > Behind Text or In Front of Text. Wrap Text is also under Picture Format. If you have several objects on one page (especially if text or objects overlap), the Selection Pane makes it easier to select the object you want to work with (Format > Selection Pane).