It is all in your head: the plot, the characters, the locations, and even the scenes, but for some reason, staring at the blank page and blinking cursor makes you freeze. You like the idea of writing a book but cannot imagine actually completing it. If that feeling sounds familiar, then this might be the right article for you. Even if you have written a book and have it all ready to go, you may intend to self-publish it, start your own publishing company, send it to an editor, or just layout your book so you can see how it looks.
There is a long list of reasons why you might need to prepare an OpenOffice.org document in book form, and once you have learned how to do it, you will have a useful skill that you or people you know may need in the future. You can use this method for both print publications and e-books.
The first thing you will need to do is set the size of your book. In my personal experience, it helped me tremendously with writing to be able to see each page at a normal book size rather than the 8.5″x11″ college essay size. Suddenly, writing one hundred or two hundred pages will not take so long or seem so daunting.
Open OpenOffice. Click “Format” in the menu and then click “Page…” Enter your custom width and height.
The current format will be “Letter”. Many non-fiction paperbacks will be 6″x9″, while fiction paperbacks are often smaller sizes, such as 5.25″x7.5″. If you are doing this purely for effect, then it is entirely up to you. If you have to meet certain printing press specifications, follow them precisely.
There are lead pages that always proceed to the actual text of a book. If you are preparing a book for printing, they will be crucial. Bookstores rely on that information for stocking, and libraries rely on it for cataloging.
There is no particular format set in stone, but a title page should include at least the title of the book and statement of responsibility (author’s name). If available, it should also include the publisher and place of publication. This is the place to be creative. You can use whatever font style and size you want. Create a manual page break at the end of the title page.
This is the page directly on the other side of the title page and usually contains more detailed publication information, including copyright, ISBN, and CIP (cataloging in publication) data.
Click “Format” and “Paragraph”. Click on the “Alignment” tab, and change it to “Justified”. From this point on, you will want your text to be justified.
Insert another page break, and you can enter any number of optional pages such as a dedication.
This can include a half-title page with just the title or title and the author’s name on the second to last page before the text. The final page before the text will be blank, and the text should begin on the recto or right-hand side.
Most books will begin with a chapter number, chapter name, or both.
Basic page numbering is very easy in OpenOffice.org. Just click “Insert -> Footer”, and then click “Insert -> Fields -> Page Number”. You can then left, center, or right align it. This will give you a page number at the bottom of every page (or at the top if you choose “Header” instead of footer).
In most non-fiction books, however, the page numbers are right-aligned on the recto and left-aligned on the verso. The result is that page numbers are always on the farthest ends of the pages away from the spine. The second problem to tackle is that page numbers normally start with the text, whereas the default numbering will start with your title page. This is where OpenOffice.org’s sophistication comes in handy. While it is easy to add page numbers, the available variations are extensive.
As I mentioned above, this particular part of the layout is something that you must do after the book is completely finished, edited, reviewed, and ready for printing. Otherwise, you will most likely be wasting your time and will have to go back and make changes.
1. There are three-page layout buttons at the bottom of your window. The first shows you one page at a time. The second shows you pages side-by-side, and the third specifically shows you mirrored pages like that of a book. Click the third, and you should now have the title page by itself and then two pages mirrored throughout the rest of the document.
2. Count the pages preceding your first page of text. In my example, I have six. Insert a header or footer. All of your page-number work will be performed there.
3. Go to your first page of text before proceeding so that you can see the results. Then, click “Insert -> Fields -> Other”.
4. Under “Type”, select “Page”, leave it on “Page numbers”, and “As Page Style”.
This is the important part. Under “Offset” enter the number of pages you just counted with a negative sign in front of it. In my example, I entered “-6”.
5. Click “Insert”. If your first page of text now has the number 1, you are good to go. If not, undo and recount until you are satisfied.
When you are satisfied, click “Close”.
6. Click on “Format->””Page”. Choose the Header or Footer tab, and un-check “Same content left/right”.
7. Click “OK” and scroll down to pages 2 and 3.
Highlight the number “3” and right-align it. Page 2 should still be left aligned.
Now all of your pages should alternate their page numbers properly.
Another beautiful feature of OpenOffice.org is its extensive use of page and paragraph styles. You can even create styles for specific characters.
Click on the “Styles and Formatting” button or simply press F11, and you will see a sidebar with all of the currently available paragraph styles. You can create a style and format it however you see fit. To begin with a style that is already created, right-click on it and then click “New”. This will copy that style and allow you to build from it.
This is where you can control indentation, line spacing, alignment (which you will most likely want to justify), text flow (books usually hyphenate at the end of lines), fonts, and much more. It is completely up to you or whoever is setting publication guidelines for you.
Give your style a name and select the “Next Style” drop-down menu. This allows you to identify which style the next paragraph will use. You could conceivably have two alternating styles or just the same style automatically applied whenever you start a new paragraph.
To insert an image in OpenOffice Writer, simply click “Insert -> Picture -> From File”. Then, select the image that you want, and click OK.
By default, the text will wrap around your picture. If you do not want this or want a different type of wrapping, right-click on the picture and choose the appropriate wrap method from the wrap menu.
The next thing to consider is anchoring. By default, your image will be anchored to the paragraph. That means that if the text is inserted or deleted above or below your paragraph, that picture will stay with the paragraph as it moves, even to another page. If your image is page-specific, you should right-click, move your arrow to “Anchor” and click “To Page”. You can also do all of this from the Graphics toolbar, if you have it enabled.
For most books, you will want the same font and font size throughout the entire book. You will also want the same indentation, margins, and other formatting. To begin, do the following:
Once you have your style the way you want it, click OK. You will now have a style that you can apply to any text in your document. By default, each paragraph will start with the previous style that you were using. You can even tweak that setting in the Organizer tab.
Most professional printers will not accept Open Document Text (.odt) format. While that might change in the future, for now, you will have to rely on other formats. While some printers allow you to export to Microsoft Word document format, you should avoid this if you can. Chances are, your styles and formatting will be altered in the conversion. The safest bet is to export in PDF or PS format.
OpenOffice.org has built-in support for PDF exporting. Just follow these easy steps:
If you need to export a PostScript (PS) file, use this method:
With the skills you have learned here, you now have a basic understanding of book layout using OpenOffice.org. There are other typesetting features, such as frames, that you may want to consider. There are also typesetting applications like Scribus for more layout-intensive projects (such as magazines). Depending on what you want to accomplish, there are free software tools available for your needs. In the end you will have quality work at an affordable cost.
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Tavis J. Hampton is a freelance writer from Indianapolis. He is an avid user of free and open source software and strongly believes that software and knowledge should be free and accessible to all people. He enjoys reading, writing, teaching, spending time with his family, and playing with gadgets.
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