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How to format an Amazon paperback with Word for Mac

by Dr. Andrew C S Koh

a photo showing an open book
opened book

In this article, I will walk you through the process of how to format a word document into an amazon paperback that is ready to be uploaded to the Amazon bookshelf for publication. If you follow these steps closely, you should be able to format the document. Here, I am using an apple mac book. If you are using windows the steps may be slightly different.

First, type out a clean Microsoft word document.

Highlight the whole document by pressing Command + A. On the Word menu table, click Home, and click Normal. This will clean up your whole document.

Create the following sections for your paperback manuscript

Title

Copyright

Foreword

Preface

Table of Content

Chapters

About the author

Other books by the author

Sections 1 to 5 are the Front matter, section 6 is the Core matter, and sections 7 to 8 are the Back matter.

Setting the trim size and Margins:

On the Apple Word menu, (the top most horizontal blue bar), click Format, select Document from the drop-down menu. Select Margins, enter the Margins in cm for Top, Bottom, Inside, Outside, based on your page count which can be found in the article http://www.amazon.com, “Build your Book, format a paperback manuscript” ( Word for Mac or window). In this article, I am using Word for Mac, using a MacBook, but it should be quite similar if you are using Windows. Follow the margins for no bleed, unless your book has bleed.

Gutter margin, enter 0 (zero)

Pages, Multiple Pages- select mirror margins.

Apply to: whole documents

select OK.

Select Page Setup, Format for, Any Printer.

Paper size: for the trim size of 6 x 9 inches, enter 152 mm x 229 mm. For any other trim sizes enter accordingly.

scale, 100%, Click OK

Apply to the whole document, click OK

Setting Normal style for book body:

On the Word menu, (top horizontal menu bar), click Home, right-click Normal, select Modify from the drop-down menu, set font size to 12, select Format, select Paragraph from the drop-down menu, set alignment to justify, Indentation, left and right to 0 cm, Special, First line By, 0.5 cm, Spacing, Before and After, to 0 pt, Line spacing, to single.

Click OK, twice.

Applying Normal Style to book body:

Place cursor before the first word on the text of the Copyright page, then hold down shift + page down to highlight everything below the cursor. Keep everything highlighted. On Word menu, click Home, Click Normal.

Setting Heading 1 Style:

Click Home, right-click Heading 1, select Modify from the drop-down menu, set Font size to 12, set colour to black, Select Format, select Paragraph from the drop-down menu, set alignment to justified, indentation, left and right, to 0 cm, Special, First line, By, 0.5 cm, Spacing, Before and After, to 0 pt, Line spacing, to Single, Click OK, Twice.

Applying Heading 1 Style:

Apply Heading 1 Style to the Headings of Copyright, Foreword, Preface, all the Chapters, About the author, and Other books by the author.

Highlight the heading of Copyright. Click Home, click Heading 1. Repeat the same steps for the heading of Foreword, Preface, Every Chapter, About the Author, and other books by the Author.

Adding section breaks:

Add a section break after every section.

Place the cursor at the end of the last word on the Title Page. On the Word main menu, click  Layout, click Break, select Next Page from the drop-down menu.

Repeat the same steps for Copyright, Foreword, Preface, Every Chapter, About the Author, and Other books by the Author.

Formatting the Title Page:

Type out the Title, Subtitle, and Author’s name on one page. This is the book’s first page.

Highlight Title. On Apple main menu (top horizontal blue menu bar) click Font, set Font Size to 28, set Font set Style to bold, select OK.

On the Apple menu, click Paragraph, set alignment to centre, indentation, left and right to 0 cm, Special, to none, Spacing before to 32 pt, and After to 16 pt. Click OK.

Highlight subtitle. On Apple main menu, click Font, set font size to 24, set style to italic.

On the Apple menu, click paragraph, set alignment to centre, indentation, left and right to 0 cm, Special, to none, Spacing before to 16 pt, After to 16 pt.

Highlight the author’s name. On Apple main menu, Click Font, set the font size to 20, set style to Normal.

On the Apple menu, Click Paragraph, set alignment to centre, indentation left and right, to 0 cm, Special, to none, Spacing before to 16 pt, After to 0 pt.

Formatting the Copyright page:

Highlight the text of the copyright page and set alignment to centre. Add a call to action below the last line of the text by adding your email link and website links.

On Word menu, click insert, click links, select link, select email address, enter your email address into the box, click OK.

Repeat the same steps, select link, select webpage, enter your blog URL address into the box, click Ok.

Repeat the same steps to add your URL address for Amazon author central page, the URL address of the Facebook page, Instagram page, Twitter page, etc. Test the link to make sure there is no error in the URL addresses! The URL address should start with https://www…….

Formatting Other Books by the Author:

On this page, you can add a call to action by adding the URL links to all your books. The link should start with https://www.amazon.com/dp/B………followed by 9 alphanumeric digits.

Make sure there is no error in the URL addresses!

Adding page numbers:

Place the cursor anywhere on the title page. On Word main menu, click insert, click page number, select page number from the drop-down menu, position to Bottom of the page, Alignment to Centre, select, show number on the first page.

Select Format, Number format, to 1,2,3. Page numbering, to start at 1. Click OK twice. Page numbers will be added to the bottom centre of the page.

Creating a formatted Table of Contents:

This is the final step of the book formatting.

First, create a blank page before Chapter 1. Place the cursor before the first word in the heading of chapter 1.

Click Layout, click Break, select the next page on the drop-down menu.

On the top of the blank page type, Table of Contents.

Highlight Table of Contents.

Click References, click the table of contents, select custom Table of Contents, select- show page number, select- align page number to right, deselect- Use links instead of page numbers. Show levels- select 1. Click OK.

Congratulations!

You have successfully formatted an Amazon paperback print book. Convert this into a pdf format and upload it to the bookshelf, book content when you are uploading your paperback print book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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How to format a nonfiction Amazon kindle e book on Word for Mac

By Dr. Andrew C S Koh

A photo of an opened book on a coffee table
Opened book on a coffee table

In this article, I will walk you through the process of how to format your word document into an Amazon kindle e-book that is ready to be uploaded to Amazon kindle book shelf for publication. For paperback, please go to our archive and look for the accompanying article for formatting a paperback. For this, you need to subscribe to office 365 so that you can access Microsoft Word.

Type out a clean manuscript

Use the default setting of Microsoft word to type out a clean manuscript. Highlight all the text by pressing CTRL+A. On the top horizontal menu bar of Word, click Home, click Normal and this will clean up your manuscript.

Sections

A nonfiction e-book consists of four sections, front matter, table of content, core matter, and back matter.

The front matter consists of the Title, Copyright, Foreword, Preface, Dedication, Acknowledgment, etc. The core matter consists of the book chapters. The back matter consists of the author’s biography, (about the author), and other books by the author.

Therefore, create the following sections:

Title

Copyright

Foreword: get someone who is prominent, famous, and well-known in your genre to endorse your book by writing a foreword.

Preface: explain why the reader must read your book and why you wrote this book

Table of Contents

Chapters

Biography (about the author)

Other books by the author

Format the front matter

Title Page

On the Title Page, type out your book Title, Subtitle, and author’s name on one page.

Highlight Title, select font size to 28, set alignment to centre, on the drop-down menu, select font style to bold.

Highlight the subtitle, select font size to 24, set alignment to centre, on the drop-down menu, select font style to italic.

Highlight author’s name, select font size to 20, set alignment to centre, on the drop-down menu, select font style to normal.

Setting Normal style

On the horizontal top menu bar of Word, Click Home. Right Click, Click Normal, on the drop-down menu, select modify, select font size to 12, select format, select paragraph, set alignment to justified, set indentation, left and right 0 cm. Special, select First line by 0.5 cm. Spacing before and after to 0 point, Line spacing, single. Select OK, twice.

Apply normal style to the text of copyright, foreword, preface, chapters, biography (about the author), and other books by the author. Do this by highlighting the text, click Home, and click Normal.

Copyright

Apply Copyright to normal style by highlighting the text on the Copyright page. On the top horizontal menu bar of Word, click Home, and click Normal. With the text still highlighted, set alignment to centre.

Below the last sentence in the copyright page, insert the link to your email address, website URL, Amazon author central page URL, Facebook URL, Instagram URL, Twitter URL, etc. This is your call to action. Mark sure that every word is correctly entered. Make sure your URL includes, https://www……make sure that it works by clicking on it!

On the horizontal top menu bar of Word, click Insert and click links. On the drop-down menu, select email address, type in your email address, and select ok. For the website address, select webpage, type in the URL address, and select OK.

Setting Heading 1 style

On the horizontal top menu bar of Word, click Home and right-click Heading 1. Select modify, select font size to 24, select format, on the drop-down menu, select paragraph, set alignment to centre, set indentation, left to 0 cm, right to 0 cm, special, none, spacing before, 60 points, after, 60 points, line spacing, single. Select OK twice.

Applying Heading 1 Style

Apply Heading 1 style to all the headings that you want to be included in the table of contents.

Highlight the Copyright heading. Click Home, click Heading 1. Do the same process for the headings on Foreword, Preface, Every chapter, Biography, and Bibliography.

Other books by the author

Under this, list out all the other books that you have written. As a call to action, insert the URL links to each of your books. Click insert, click links, select link, on the drop-down menu, select a web page, type in the book URL link, select OK. Repent the same process for each of your books. Mark sure that every word is correctly entered. Make sure your URL includes, https://www……make sure that it works by clicking on it!

In the last line of this section, you can also add a line to thank your readers for reading your book, remind them to leave a review, and add a reader magnet as a call to action. A reader magnet is a link where you give away a free e-book when a reader signs up for your mailing list.

Inserting a page break

Insert a page break after every section, viz. title, copyright, foreword, preface, chapter, biography (about the author), and other books by the author.

Place the cursor after the last word of the section. Click Home, click Layout, click Breaks, on the drop-down menu, select Next page.

Format a clickable Table of Content

First, create a blank page before Chapter 1. Place the cursor just before the first word of the chapter 1 heading. Click Layout, select Breaks, select the next page. This will create a blank page before chapter 1.

On the top of this blank page, type in Table of Contents. Highlight Table of Contents.

Click References, click Table of Content, select custom table of content, deselect show page number, deselect Align page numbers to the right, select use links instead of the page number. On Show levels, select 1, click OK. This will create a clickable formatted Table of Content.

Unlike a print book, an e-book format does not require page numbering, trim size, and margins.

Congratulations!

You have successfully formatted an e-book for Amazon Kindle on Word for Mac. Please note that the steps may be slightly different if you are using Word for Windows Upload this formatting e-book into your kindle bookshelf to publish your kindle e-book.

 

 

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The 70 weeks of Daniel

Dr. Andrew C S Koh

a photo showing clouds in the sky
clouds

Daniel 9:24-27

In the first year of King Darius’ reign, Daniel studied the prophecy of Jeremiah and came to the conclusion that the seventy years of exile were coming to an end. He prayed, interceded, and fasted in sackcloths and ashes, to seek the Lord’s will. 

While Daniel was still praying, angel Gabriel appeared to him in a vision, saying that the Lord had answered his prayer. In Daniel 9:24-27, angel Gabriel gave a profound end-time prophecy from the Lord.

In this article, I will walk you through the prophecy of the 70 weeks of Daniel. This interpretation is based on a pre-millennial, pre-tribulation rapture position. 

24 Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. V 25 Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench but in times of trouble. V 26 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. V 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple, he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him (Read the rest of Daniel 9 on your own).

Daniel 9: 24-27

Verse 24, seventy sevens

Seventy ‘sevens’ refer to seventy weeks of years i.e. 490 years. Your people refer to Daniel’s people i.e. the Jews. Your holy city refers to Daniel’s holy city i.e. Jerusalem. This prophecy is for the Jews and Jerusalem. The entire duration of the prophecy is 490 years. At the end of 490 years, there will be no more sin, transgression, and wickedness and there will be everlasting righteousness. The vision and prophecy will be sealed, and the Most Holy place of the temple will be anointed. 

Verses 25-26, Part 1

The prophecy has a starting point and an ending point. The starting point is from the time a decree was given to rebuild Jerusalem. The ending point will be the second coming of Christ as will be explained later.

The prophecy has two parts. Verses 25 to 26 spelled out Part 1. It started with the issuing of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem in 445 BC and ended with the first coming of Christ in 33 AD.

From the decree to rebuild Jerusalem to the first coming of Christ will be 7 X 7 plus 62 X 7 years i.e. 49 + 434 i.e. 483 years. The decree to rebuild Jerusalem was given by King Artaxerxes Longimanus to Nehemiah in Nehemiah 2:8-9 in 445 BC. The first coming of Christ as Messiah was on Palm Sunday in 33 AD. Zechariah prophesied this around 500 BC, Zechariah 9:9. 

 445 BC to 33 AD is 478 Gregorian/ Roman/ solar years, based on 365 days per year. However, the Jewish lunar calendar is based on 360 days per year. 478 Gregorian/ Roman/ solar years is equivalent to 483 Jewish/ lunar years. 

Jerusalem was rebuilt in times of trouble amidst opposition from the Samaritans. On Good Friday, 33 AD, Christ was killed (cut off). In 70 AD, Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed by the Romans. Wars and more wars had continued unabated ever since. 

Hence, the first 483 years of Part 1 as spelled out in verses 25 to 26 were fulfilled by the first coming of Christ. 

Verse 27, Part 2

Part 2 is prophesied in verse 27.  The last 7 years of world history remain unfulfilled. The ‘He’ of verse 27 is the antichrist. The starting point of Part 2 will be the signing of a peace treaty between the Jews and the Arabs, brokered by the antichrist. In the middle of this 7-year, the antichrist will set up the abomination of desolation in the future third temple. Part 2 will ends with the second coming of Christ at the culmination of world history. 

Between Part 1 and Part 2 is an interlude called the church age, and we are now living in this interlude for the past 2000 years.

God stopped the prophetic timer at the 483rd year. of the prophecy. The clock will start ticking again after the rapture, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. 

The antichrist will allow the Jews to rebuild the third temple and resume the temple sacrifice. In the middle of the 7 years, he will set up his image in the Most Holy Place and force the Jews to worship him. This image will be called the abomination of desolation, Mathew 24:15. The Jews’ refusal to worship the image will trigger off intense persecution by the antichrist in the last 3 1/2 years of world history. This is called the great tribulation. 

In 174 BC, Antiochus Epiphany IV erected a statue of Zeus in the Most Holy Place, splashed swine blood on the altar, and desecrated the second temple. The future antichrist will desecrate the third temple in the same way during the tribulation. Jesus Christ will come back from heaven on a white horse and defeat the antichrist in the battle of Armageddon., Revelation 9:11 and following. He will set up His millennial kingdom on earth and fulfill the seventy weeks prophecy of Daniel, Rev. 20:4 and following.

Please note that the rapture and the second coming of Christ are two separate events. 

“And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal park, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?” And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests”.

Nehemiah 2:8-9

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey

Zechariah 9:9

So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel, let the reader understand

Matthew 24:15

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

I saw the heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it is called Faithful and True. In righteousness, he judges and makes war.

Revelation 9:11

I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as didn’t worship the beast nor his image and didn’t receive the mark on their forehead and on their hand. They lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

Revelation 20:4

Application

The Bible has given us sufficient information on how the world will end. The future is not looking optimistic. More troubles will break out as we move closer and closer to the end of world history. The covid 19 pandemic had already taken a toll on every one of us. The dust of the pandemic has not even settled and war broke out in Ukraine! We are truly in uncharted territories. If this war gets out of control and nuclear war breaks out, millions of lives will be wiped out in a matter of seconds! Whether you believe in a pre, mid, or post-tribulation rapture, one thing is for sure. Christ’s second coming is not too far away. Are you ready for His return? Have you accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior? Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart. Come to Christ. With a simple prayer, confess your sin, accept Him as your Lord and Savior, and surrender your life to Him. You will be saved and even if anything happened, you will have eternal life.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your word to us today. We know that Your second coming is not that far away. We know that You are in control of world events. We pray that the war in Ukraine will not get out of control but will come to an end soon. We pray that You will protect the people of Ukraine. We pray for the soldiers, the civilians, the refugees, and all others. May Your mercy and grace be upon all the people of Ukraine. Help us to surrender our lives to You because our future is in Your hand, in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.