Some indie authors who are techy use Sigi or Calibre softwares to format their manuscrips for publishing as an eBook which requires the knowledge of HTML and CSS. But many still prefer using Microsoft Word to format their manuscript for publishing as an eBook and then save it as a .doc document or .docx document. If you are the type that prefer this second option, then this Will surely interest you.
As an indie author, properly formatting and editing your manuscript should be your highest priority. To do this rightly, the following guides will be of great help to you in professionally formatting your manuscript to acceptable standard of major eBook publishing and distribution platforms like Amazon Kindle Direct, Smashwords and Google books.
eBook Formatting Tips
Once your book is well written and properly formatted, you will surely get good feedback from readers in the form of sales and positive reviews.
Save the manuscript in Microsoft word as a .doc document (Save As 1997-2003).
Properly edit and proof read, as well as removing all tab and spacebar spaces. To do this, ON the Show/Hide MS word feature to guide you.
Create and use custom styles to format the front and end matter of your book.
You can directly apply Bold, Italics, and Underline where necessary.
Create the working Table Of Content using the Bookmarking method which converts well in both Smashwords and Amazon KDP Direct unlike inserting table of content through Reference menu which is not acceptable in Smashwords.
Simulate the eBook with your smart phone device to have a feel of it. If you are convinced it is great, congrats.
Login to your platform account and follow through the procedures to publish it.
Spread the news of your book being live on your published platforms.
Start implementing your planned promotional strategies.
Good luck. You now know the basic tips to get your manuscript professionally formatted using Microsoft Word.
The next thing is to apply this eBook formatting knowledge in formatting your next book.
If you recently published à title, then it is time to start work on your next book too.
You can check out this my new book on how to hack through eBook publishing and marketing skills which is live on Amazon.
Amazon US
Amazon UK
You can also check out this my blog post here if you need any further clarifications on the Payoneer Bank account opening and entering the account details in your Amazon KDP account.
Microsoft Excel is one of the most powerful spreadsheet applications. It is a powerful program because of its uses like to manage data, perform mathematical operations, create charts, balance a checkbook, create an expense report, build formulas, and perform analysis of variance (ANOVA), correlation, regression, T-test and other statistical Analysis.
Getting Started with Microsoft Excel
The first step in learning Microsoft Excel like any other computer program is familiarizing yourself with its "User Interface and Tools". You will then need to most importantly, know, practice and use of its built-in functions.
What You can Do with Microsoft Excel
With a good know-how of this spreadsheet program, you can do the following effectively on your own.
Create, manage, and analyze data like the list of your employees, their age, sex, state/country, department, discipline, Salary, etc.
Create, manage and analyze your firm's financial status.
Perform Analysis of Variance (ANOVA).
Solve mathematical problems like equations and matrices.
Automate most of your tasks using Visual Basic for Application Excel (VBA).
MICROSOFT EXCEL USER INTERFACE
Microsoft Excel has now replaced its menu bar and toolbars with The Ribbon . This is the area above
the formula bar. I will discuss the most commonly used components of this Excel interface below:
The Home Menu
This contains all the most commonly used functions and tools in Excel. The AutoSum, copy and paste, text and number alignment, and find/replace tools are here but notice that they have their own groups: the Clipboard command group holds the clipboard tools, the Font group holds the font tools and like that.
The Ribbon
This is a key graphical interface feature of Excel. It is a toolbar that contains icons for the most common commands. Think of the Ribbon, which is new to Excel, as a Turbo Toolbar. It helps speed your workflow by enabling easy navigation to the tools you need. Unlike the old style menus, which you have to open each time you want to use a tool, the Ribbon's toolbars stay exploded open.
To see the Ribbon in action, create a small table of data in a worksheet, then select the Insert menu tab. The Ribbon changes completely, filling its width with an array of objects that you can
insert into a worksheet.
The clipboard viewer
This is a component ofthe usual copy and paste tools. Clipboard Viewer lets you paste any of 24 clipboard items
that you previously copied to the clipboard. You have to click on the Clipboard group's dialog launcher to open the Clipboard Viewer. If you leave open the Clipboard Viewer and copy several worksheet cells to the clipboard, the clipboard viewer dynamically updates with each copy, displaying
the source and content of the copied item.
The Insert Menu
This menu fills the width of the Excel Ribbon with icons whose tools and
functions insert objects into worksheets. For example, the command groups Tables, Illustrations, Charts, SmartArt, Links, and Text hold objects you can insert in worksheets. Using the Pivot Tables you can quickly arrange lists and tables.
The Formula Menu
Whem you click this menu, it loads onto the Ribbon the functions and components you need to do computations on your data. Here are the command groups for the Formula menu: the Function Library, with subcategories (like financial, logical, data and time) of functions you can use to run calculations on your data.
the Define Names group, which lets you
create, for example, a name to refer to a cell, table, or any other object. By using names, you won’t have to use range name like “c5:c37"
You also have Formula Auditing, which lets you track down and validate the inputs to your worksheet's functions and Calculation, which lets you specify when and how often worksheet functions get recalculated.
The Review Menu
This contains tool groups for spell-checking your workbook, adding comments to it, and locking it to prevent unauthorized changes to your data. The level of control you have here
is considerable. For example, using the "Allow Users" to Edit Ranges tool, you can specify exactly which users on your network may modify data in your workbook. You can create such permissions down to the level of a worksheet cell, or any range of cells.
Note that as an organization, you need to use this menu to great advantage.
The View Menu
Using this menu, you can work with tools for arranging windows, so you can see the data in your workbook clearly. Take note of the following tools from the View menu:
Workbook Views: With this, you can apply different views to your worksheets, e.g. a full screen view and print preview.
Show/Hide: With this, you can expose or hide gridlines and column and row headings.
Zoom: With this, you can zoom in or out on data.
Window: With this, you can open new windows to view two distant parts of the current worksheet at the same time.
Macros: With this, you can record scripts that automate Excel with your project procedures.
The Developer Menu
This menu contains tool groups that developers can use to extend and automate Excel's out-of-the-box functionality. Included here are tools to record macro scripts, in fact you can create scripts to automate any procedure you want in excel using Visual Basic for Excel and import XML files. With the Controls command group, you can also add buttons to your worksheet, to call up custom forms for data entry or a macro script.
You may like to check out my Microsoft Excel book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple or any other of your favorite eBook store.
Microsoft word is a word processor that allows the computer to function as a type writer by making it possible to manipulate texts.
With Microsoft Word, you can produce a soft copy of a document which you can then print into hard copy at will, distribute as a .doc document, convert it to PDF, or publish it to an eBook.
Getting Started With Microsoft Word
The first step in learning Microsoft Word like any other computer program is familiarizing yourself with its "User Interface and Tools". You will then need to most importantly, know, practice and use of its tools.
What You can Do with Microsoft Word
With a good know-how of this Word processor program, you can do the following effectively on your own.
Typeset your manuscript or document.
Properly edit your manuscript.
Proof read your manuscript.
Format your manuscript as an eBook or print book.
Typeset different form of files like letter, invoice, receipt, cover letter, curriculum vitae, business proposal, etc.
Insert image in your document.
Insert table in your document.
Export the file into other formats like PDF or HTML.
Prepare the proper reference style for your school project, seminar work, or book.
These are some of the things you can do with your knowledge of Microsoft Word.
MICROSOFT WORD USER INTERFACE
The user interface/environment of Microsoft Word is presented below in detail.
Work Space (Text Area)
The work space framed between the rulers and the scroll bars is a large area looking like a blank sheet of paper. This is the text area where you type the text of the document. You will see a blinking
vertical line in the top left corner. This is the Cursor. The typed characters appear at the location of the cursor. As a character appears at its location, the cursor moves to its immediate right.
Title Bar
This shows the name of the active document. When a new document is started, Word gives it a generic name as
‘Document 6’ and this is displayed on the title bar. When you save the document with a name,
that generic name on the title bar is replaced by the one you named the document.
Quick Access Toolbar
This contains some of the most frequently used commands such as Save, Undo, Redo. You can add more
commands to the Quick Access Toolbar as per your need by customizing it. This toolbar helps you to perform Word tasks speedily by providing one-click
access to most oftten used commands.
Window Controls
This contsins a set of three buttons in the top right corner of the program window.
The button on the right displaying an x, which functions as the Close button . On clicking, this button closes the current document but not the Word programme.
The left button is the Minimize button which minimizes the program window to the taskbar.
The middle button, sporting a rectangle, is the Maximize button, which, on clicking, maximizes the Word. Another click on it then restores the program window to its previous size.
Ribbon
Think of the Ribbon as a collection of
seven horizontal tabbed toolbars arranged on top of each other. These toolbars are accessed through their tabs. The toolbars have command
buttons, menus and input boxes arranged in groups. Some groups have dialog launchers (downward pointing arrow) which, when clicked, displays a dialog box related to that group.
Note that at any given time, only one tabbed toolbar is visible. When Word is launched, the Home tab is current and the toolbar attached to it is at the top, enabling you to invoke its commands by clicking them. When any other tab is clicked, its toolbar comes to the top and you can use the commands stored on it.
Office Button
When you click the 'Office' button, it reveals a drop-down menu showing commands for file operations. These commands are listed below:
New
Open
Save
Save As
Print
Send
Publish
Close
Word Options
Exit Word
Help Button
This is located below the Window Controls in the top right corner of Word window, and when clicked it brings up the Word Help window. In this window you can search for any topic and get clarification on it.
Rulers
The horizontal ruler here is used to set tabs and indent text. You use the vertical ruler to set vertical location of text in the document. If the rulers are not visible, click the View Ruler button immediately below the Ribbon on the
extreme right to make it visible.
The rulers show measurements in inches or centimetres, depending on the units of measure specified in Word Options.
Status Bar
This displays document information such as the current page number and total number of pages, word count, language, proofing error notification, and some other information. You can customize the information display by right clicking the status bar and and making selections out of the context menu that pops up.
View Buttons
The buttons here allow you to use five important document views options as described below:
Print Layout View : This view shows the document as it will look when it is printed. Always use it to preview your document before sending it for print.
Full Screen Reading View : This view shows the document on full screen to make reading your document more comfortable for proofing.
Web Layout View : This enables you to see your document as it would appear in a browser such as Chrome, Firefox or
Internet Explorer.
Outline View: This displays the document in outline form in which headings could be displayed without the text. When you move a heading, the accompanying text will move with it.
Draft View : This is most frequently used view option for editing a document.
Zoom Tools
This zoom slider lets you zoom out or zoom in the current document. The zoom range is from 10% to 500%. The current zoom level is displayed on the taskbar immediately left of the slider. Clicking the zoom level opens the Zoom dialog where you can specify the desired zoom level.
Vertical and Horizontal Scroll Bars
The vertical scroll bar is located at the extreme right of the Word window while the horizontal scroll bar is at the bottom of the window just above the status bar. Vertical scroll bar is always visible while the horizontal scroll bar appears only when the document width
exceeds the screen width.
The scroll bars let you scroll the document up and down vertically or left-right horizontally. To scroll, you need to click and drag the scroll box showing three vertical/horizontal lines.
You may like to check out my Microsoft Word book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple or any other of your favorite eBook store.
Microsoft PowerPoint is a Presentation software which is use to Create, Design, and Deliver slide Presentations.
With Micosoft PowerPoint, you can create productive and powerful presentations that you can use to Promote, Market, or Publicise a brand, product, or an organization.
Getting Started With Microsoft PowerPoint
The first step in learning Microsoft PowerPoint like any other computer program is familiarizing yourself with its "User Interface and Tools". You will then need to most importantly, know, practice and use of its tools.
What You can Do with Microsoft PowerPoint
With a good know-how of this presentation program, you can do the following effectively on your own.
Create a presentation.
Design and optimize the presentation you created.
Preview the presentation to have an idea of what it will look like when delivering it.
Create a powerful presentation to market your brand.
MICROSOFT POWERPOINT USER INTERFACE
Microsoft PowerPoint interface contains the following menu/tools as from version 2007 and later versions.
Work Area/space
This occupies the central part of the screen in the PowerPoint program. It is where your presentation is displayed as you design it.
Title Bar
This is found at the top of the program showing the title of the presentation that is currently active.
Standard buttons
This is found at the top of the title bar of Microsoft Powerpoint 2007, the buttons here are the save , undo and redo buttons.
Home Menu Toolbar
The Home toolbar menu compose of
command buttons, which are listed below:
Clipboard containing cut/ copy/paste.
Slides containing slide, reset, delete, layout.
Font containing font style,font size font color and formatting of text.
Drawing containing autoshapes, other format shapes, alignment and fill color.
Editing containing find, and select.
Insert Menu Toolbar
This toolbar menu consists of the following command buttons:
Tables where you can insert table.
Media where you can insert picture, clipart, photo album, shapes, and smart chart into your for your presentation.
Links where you can link using hyperlink within the document or to the internet.
Text where you can insert text box, header and footer, word art, time, slide number, and symbol.
Clips where you can insert movie and sound into your presentation.
Design Menu Toolbar
This toolbar menu consist of the following command buttons:
Page Setup where you can do Page Setup, and Orientation.
Themes where you can select a custom theme that will automatically apply once you hover mouse on it.
Background where you can apply background styles and hide background graphics of your presentation templates.
Animation Menu Toolbar
This toolbar menu consist of the following command buttons:
Preview where you can preview your slide.
Animations where you can apply motion and effect or animation.
Transitions are visual effects when moving from one slide to the next. If you click on the Transitions tab, on the top of the ribbon, you will see that there are many different transitions you can apply to one slide or to all slides at the same time. You can apply continues slide and time, sound, and speed for your slide presentation.
Slide Show Menu Toolbar Toolbar
This toolbar menu consist of the following command buttons:
Start slide where you can click to start your transition slide presentation.
Setup where you can setup slide show, or rehearse your presentation.
Monitors where you can increase and decrease resolution of your monitor screen, and also use presenter view.
Review Menu Toolbar
This toolbar menu consist of the following command buttons:
Proofing where you can check spelling, research, thesaurus, translate, and language.
Comments where you can do mark up, comment, delete, previous and next presentation slide.
View Menu Toolbar
This toolbar menu consist of the following command buttons:
Presentation where you can set normal, slide show pages, slide show, slide master, and notes master.
Show/Hide where you can apply ruler, grid lines,and guide you in editing. Zoom where you can increase and decreasesize of your slide without using the zoom in/zoom out.
Change Scale where you can apply or change background of graphics.
Macros where you can record or create macros for your presentation slide.
Format Menu Toolbar
This toolbar menu consist of the following command buttons:
Insert shape where you can select or format auto shapes.
Styles where you can format or change color, outline, effects, and fill color.
Word art styles where change the style of the font.
Arrange where you can arrange autoshapes and font.
Size where you can set up the size of the auto shapes and of the presentation slide.
File Menu Button
From the file menu toolbar, you have to save, new template, open, print and other tools.
Slide Sorter View
This lets you see two or more slides in a single view. It is most often used when creating transitions between slides and also for adding, deleting or moving slides.
Status Bar
This provides some useful messages regarding the presentation that you are currently working on.
You may like to check out my Microsoft PowerPoint book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple or any other of your favorite eBook store.
