What side of the page does the book start on?

[nik222]

Hi, this probably is very obvious, but I want to double check.

Is the first page of the book the left? Therefore, if I am trying to make a cover page with the name of the book as the first page, I should do cover page (left), blank page (following page, right side), then begin the book (right side). Is that correct?

Thanks. 

[kemay10]

This is not a difinitive answer, but I think it is usually the right.

I just bought the Chicago Manual of Style and looked at their format.  Every chapter starts on the right-hand page, with the blank being the facing page.

[Ken Anderson]

The first page of a book is always on the right.

The cover is a separate item.

With Lulu you must provide one set of files for the body content of the book and during the Publishing Wizard process provide another file for the cover.

[BGuadiz]

Hi Ken,

Thanks for answering this question, I was meaning to ask the same one a few days ago. Since you've mentioned providing one set of files for the body content of the book, does this mean that the author should provide like 1st file for the first portion of the book like copyright, preface, table of contents, then 2nd file for Chapter 1, 3rd file for Chapter 2, etc.

You see, I am trying to write my book using MS Word 2007 and when I tried adding the headlines and the page numbers, I can't seem to make the headlines for two chapters to look different. Like if I put in Chapter 1 on an even number page, all even numbered pages will have Chapter 1 as their headline.

I was planning to make a separate file for Chapter 1, the another for Chapter 2. Is it possible to upload several files in the Lulu wizard? I would have to put page numbers to make them orderly, of course. I haven't reached the portion where I have to upload the files that's why I'm asking.

Thank you so much for enlightening new writers like me.

Regards,

Bernadette

[Ken Anderson]

You an create either a single file for the whole book or files for each part or chapter.
You upload individual files, then order them and Lulu will "stitch" them together.

Your problem of page numbers, headers & rooters can be solved by using Section Breaks.

I have prepared a tutorial on the subject that you can find by clicking on my Spotlight link below.

[BGuadiz]

Thank you so much! I will check out your tutorial. This Word 2007 is just so complicated to work with. Argh!

[kevinlomas]

One would think that people do not ever open a book ... :-)

[unclephil]

Did my original manuscript in MS Word. Fun started when I tried making the print ready version. Uploading a doc to Lulu was very slow and the conversion to PDF had format errors. Using the "publish as PDF" mode on word gave all sorts of problems with embedded fonts, even if the PDF/A mode was clicked. Had similar problems with on-line PDF converters, including Adobe's. Some files would look OK but just one or two pages would go wrong when converted to the Lulu version.

What did work is to use Open Office "Export to PDF" mode set up as described on the Lulu pages. This is reasonably fast and uploads to Lulu with lno modification that I can see, so the PDF you load is the one used to make the book.

While Open Office does have its querks (Like Word) I find it seems to handle images and cross references better. Write your project in OO from the start and you will avoid having to screen the thing for format problems when converting from Word to OO.

[susansloane]

I am wondering, has anyone has successfully formatted a book without purchasing the formatting services offered here?

I used the book template download for Word, uploaded it and all the page settings were off. Deleted and re-uploaded, still off. Sent email to lulu staff, and recieved a reply that I emailed wrong department. I emailed correct department six days ago and still have not recieved a response.My book would have been submitted for public sale over a week ago without these issues.

I found in the forum that I need to use page breaks for proper page alignment. I went back and did this on every page of my book and tightened up some of the text as well. Re-uploaded, and STILL the pages are off! Plus, the PDF has 50 extra pages! Argh! 

I will try your suggestion of using open office and convert it to a PDF myself before uploading = more hours of work.

Question: Can I upload the word document which is already written in the lulu template into OO? Please advise, fellow authors, as I am at my wits end. Als, where can I find OO?

This site and service appears to be a gift from the publishing gods for starving artists, but am wondering if it's too good to be true after reading the issues on this forum, and my own frustrations. I would love to hear from those happy with this service who did it free!

[Ken Anderson]

Susan,
Thousands of Lulu'ers publish books without ever using any of Lulu's Publishing Services and many of those don't even know such services exist.

I personally don't recommend anyone to use and don't even recommend anyone to use a template

All that is need is to take a look at a book on you bookshelf and see how it is formatted. Then make sure that you have a good understanding of how to use Word.

I produced a couple of Tutorial in creating your book with MS Word and understand page headers and footers and hundreds of people have successfully created their books from those.

If you would like to send me your Word .doc I'll check it out for you and ensure you can produce a perfect book from it.

I'll place my email address in a PM (Private Message) to you.