The twelve steps I followed to format My Cheeky Angel for Kindle direct Publishing

Because it took me hours of ‘How-to’ video
watching, bombarding my friends who helped me get started with questions and
more questions, and then multiple times to finally get my work uploaded
cleanly, I decided to write these steps for myself in case I ever decide to
self-pub again. Then I wondered if they wouldn’t save others the frustration
and desk pounding that I suffered when I tried to do it without the proper
knowledge. Now, having said that, I have no idea if a professional would agree
with this guide as I’ve written it. Maybe there’s a better way to describe the
procedure or I might have missed something that didn’t affect my work, and if
so I apologize. But I wanted to write it in such a way that, if months go by
and my memory dims, (more than likely) these 12 steps will remind me clearly
and concisely.

 

1. Take a copy of your manuscript and clearly rename it so you know which copy you’re working on.

2. If you’ve gotten the word doc from your Editor, and there are red edits showing, once you have finished making all the changes, go to
‘Tools/Track Changes/Highlight Changes’ and unclick the box at the top that says ‘Track Changes While Editing’. This should clear your document of editing suggestions and changes.

 3. Check for spelling errors”¦even if you’ve done this before, it’s best to go over it one last time.

 4. Go to ‘View’ and click off the ‘Ruler’.

 5. Go to ‘Edit/Select all’ so that your document is highlighted, and then go to the toolbar above and make sure that you are using the
‘Normal/Times New Roman/ 12 Font’.

 6.  Now you will put on the ‘Show/Hide’ paragraph option that’s on your toolbar and looks like a  backwards-P. Once you do this, your spaces, new paragraphs, line breaks and all the inner workings of your document will be visible.

 7. In case you tab the 5 spaces in to begin a new paragraph, (as I do) these must all be cleared. Go to ‘Edit/Find/Replace’ and on the top
line that says ‘Find What’ hit the space bar five times (nothing will be visible). Then leave the “Replace With’ line empty and go to ‘Replace All’.
Then do the same thing again for 4 spaces, 3 spaces and 2 spaces. DO NOT do this for 1 space.

 8. Now clear any spaces before the paragraph mark by going to ‘Edit/Find/Replace/More/Special/Paragraph Mark’ and   then hit the space bar
once. Then click on the next line ‘Replace With’ and go to ‘Special/Paragraph Mark’. This will clear away the extra spaces once you click on ‘replace all’. I would do this same routine again in case there were two spaces.

If you tab in for new paragraphs, do this same manoeuvre for ‘tab characters’ and clear them.

And once again for ‘manual line breaks’ only clear each one of these manually instead of using the ‘replace all’ feature.

 9. Formatting paragraphs ““ you will go to the toolbar and click on  ‘Format/Paragraph/Alignment’ and click on left. Then on the same page go to ‘Special’ and click on First line, and then go to ‘By’ and set in 0.5” and last go to ‘Line spacing’ and click on Double.

 10. Now go to ‘Edit/Find’ and type in the word Chapter. Starting at the top of your document, make sure that each of the chapter
headings are either centered by clicking on the center function on your toolbar, or if you prefer the chapter headings to be on the left, reposition
them now so they are no longer indented.

At the same time check to be sure there is a page break before each new chapter. To do this position your cursor just before the ‘C’ of
the word Chapter and go to ‘Insert/Break/Page Break.

 11. Fix any scene breaks (***) by centering them.

 12.  Next, go to ‘File’ and then to ‘Properties/Summary’ where you should fill in the information – especially the line that asks for your key words for your manuscript such as Romance, Paranormal, etc.

 At this point add your cover and centre it, then the copywrite page, and if you want, a dedication page it can be put here at the beginning of your document. Make sure to keep the lines spaced so the writing will fit on one page. Put in page breaks where you wish to have a new page. Remember, if you leave too many empty lines (more than 5) Kindle will automatically leave an empty page.

Now it’s time to go to Kindle Direct Publishing and get started!

 

Excerpt:   My Cheeky Angel

Monday morning, getting ready for the daycare became a major battle
with a mocking, unseen presence. Every one of the outfits Annie normally wore
got vetoed. Her overly casual clothes, strewn in every direction, indicated how
few items in her closet would be appropriate for when she eventually became
employed in a sophisticated office. The baggy style she’d stuck to for years
concealed her body, and when a person strives to go unnoticed in the world, the
tomboy look does the job. It isn’t chic, but it is safe.

“Didn’t anyone ever explain to you that a body
such as yours warrants feminine attire?”

“A compliment? You must be in a good mood.” Annie
had given up talking to Celi out loud when it was simpler and a lot less weird
communicating with her mind.

“Don’t push it. I’m just sayin.”

“You must be the strangest angel in heaven. Just my luck to get a maverick.”

“Hey! I’m an Angel first class. Count yourself lucky.”

“Now I know you’re kidding. I watch “It’s a
Wonderful Life’ every Christmas, as I’m sure you’re aware of.”

Finally, settling on a pair of snug jeans she seldom wore, Annie
wrestled over the choice of her top. A new white blouse hung from one hand, and
the safer, often worn t-shirt fluttered from the other.  She faced the mirror and waffled.

“Why did I ever buy this silly ruffled thing?” she grumbled.

“Because it’s pretty and modern, so wear the darn thing already.” Celi popped to life in her
favorite yoga stance at the end of the unmade bed.

“Why don’t you have any wings? I’ve often wondered about that.”

“They’re at the drycleaners. Look, quit stalling and get dressed.”

“Why don’t you talk like other people? I
can hear your words in my mind, but your lips don’t move.”

“Why, why, why. You’re worse than a child.”

Annie stopped what she was doing, stuck her hand on her
hip, and glared at the diaphanous form.

“Fine. It takes enough energy to appear, why
waste more speaking when I don’t have to?”

“It’s very disconcerting.”

“Quit stalling and put the blouse on.”

“You’re a bully!”

“And you’re beautiful. Look!“ Magically, the garment
draped her form. The white emphasized her tanned skin, and she had to admit
that the new fashion suited her. She buttoned it and stepped back.

“It’s supposed to be worn with the top few buttons undone.”

She undid the first one.

“One more.”

“One button, okay! Two? That’s indecent.”

“Indecent? Give me a break. You look very
much the way any twenty-nine-year old city girl in this century looks.”

It would be easier just to follow directions, she supposed.
If she didn’t, the button would unexplainably fall open all day long anyway.

Back Page Blurb:

Annie Hynes is a tomboy. Naïve and love-starved, she’ll soon to be celebrating her big 3-0.
Something needs to be done! Celi, her “down-to-earth’ guardian angel appears to
help kick-start Annie’s big change””her looks, her job, her whole life. By
taking a managerial position with a sophisticated shoe manufacturer, Annie
becomes embroiled with her new associates and hooked on the power of big
business. Unfortunately, her exhaustion from overwork forces her to ignore old
friends, and her lapse places someone she cares about in terrible danger.

Social Worker, Tyler Jones, previously hurt in two relationships, signals disinterest in
women, and only wants Annie in his life as a good buddy. Oh yeah! And to help
with his mixed-up street kids. Perversely, once her life alters, he misses her
like hell.  In one sweet night of loving
everything changes. But, due to an overabundance of nightcaps, she doesn’t
remember the night he can’t forget.

My newest release “My Cheeky Angel’ is the first book
for my new series “Angels with Attitude” and for that reason, I decided to
place it in the 99 cent category as a gift to my readers.

Please know, I love to hear from you at any time so please
come and visit my blog or my website.

I’m an avid twitter-er @mimibarbour and I can always be found
on Goodreads and LinkedIn.

 

My Cheeky Angel is available at both Smashwords and Amazon