Practical Thoughts on Becoming an Author

Practical Thoughts on Becoming an Author

By Marilynn Dawson

Published by Songdove Books

© November 17, 2013

ISBN: 978-0-9916833-8-3

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.  To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900, Mountain View, California, 94041, USA.

Table of Contents

Things you will need: 

Obtaining the Tools: 

Using OpenOffice as an author: 

Paragraph styles: 

Page styles: 

Now it's time to write.   

Formatting even and odd headers: 

Formatting the footer: 

Formatting a book with multiple chapters: 

Editing: 

Compiling your book: 

Formatting opening pages of your book: 

Building a Table of Contents: 

The Cover: 

Submitting your formatted book: 

Distribution: 

More from this Author: 

Marilynn's books can be found. . .: 

Digital only:

Practical Thoughts on Becoming an Author

You've seen their names on the shelves of the local bookstore:  Francine Rivers, Beth Moore, Tom Clancy, Rick Warren, Tim LeHaye, etc.  You've seen biographies about D.L. Moody, Corrie Ten Boom, and the Hudson Twins.  Slowly but surely, a dream forms in your own mind;  A dream that becomes a quietly entertained heart-felt longing to see your own name on a book one day; to have your own story in print.  With advances in technology and drastic changes in the publishing landscape, it's now possible for anyone with such a dream to get themselves into print.

Things you will need:

1) An idea – Every book began as an idea in someone's mind.  Whether that idea is a how-to manual for a home renovation project, a family tree, a series of children's stories, or a personal memoir, every book begins as an idea.

Some aspiring authors choose to look at what's trending on bookstore shelves before they begin writing.  This is a trap that many veterans in the industry are now saying NOT to fall into.