Google Docs isn’t as easy to use as Microsoft Word, but it is doable. Here are some tips I’ve learned formatting book manuscripts with Google Docs.

The first thing you should do when formatting a manuscript with Google Docs is pick your trim size. You’ll do this by clicking on File/Page Setup. Find your trim size under Paper Size (I like 5.5″ x 8.5″ or 6″ x 9″) and make sure you’ve chosen Apply to ‘Whole Document’ before you click the Apply button at the bottom.

In this same window (File/Page Setup) you are also going to choose your margins. I like .75 for the top margin, .5 for the bottom margin and .75 for the inner margin and .5 for the outer margin. This is one place it gets tricky.

In Microsoft Word you would simply choose Mirror Margins, but Google Docs doesn’t have any option like that. For the first page I set .75 for the left margin and .5 for the right margin. As I move to the next page I insert a Break/Section Break (next page) and then flip the margins so that .5 is on the left and .75 is on the right. It is necessary to do this on every page of your manuscript. Odd numbered pages should have the wider margin to the left and even number pages should have the wider margin to the right.

You’ll likely have some blank pages in the beginning as these would be the back side of the dedication page and Table of Contents. Go ahead and insert a Page Break. Since there is nothing on these pages you don’t need to worry about the margins.

When you get to the page where you want to start adding page numbers, click Format/Page Numbers/Other Options. I like my page numbers at the bottom centered in the middle. If placed to the right or left it will stay that way even when the margins switch. You can choose a different first page if you don’t want the number to show on the first page. Choose the page number you wish to start with. After all the introductory pages it is usually 7 or 9. Then choose. Make sure Continue from Previous Section is not clicked and that you’ve chosen From This Point Forward or This Section so that you do not apply it to the Whole Document.

When converting my manuscript to an ebook format, I discovered that if I don’t format the indent the same every time, it will not look the same each time in the ebook. If you set a tab then tab over each indent, don’t use the space bar. The last thing you want to do is go back and reformat every indent because you did it wrong.

When proofreading my formatting I like to click View/Show non printing characters so I can double check the indents, line spacing and section breaks. Every mistake you miss shows up in your paperback and especially in your ebook.

Hope these tips were helpful!