Perhaps the first thing to understand is how the layout software, such as InDesign, “reads.” the text the writer has composed in word-processing software. To keep everything straight, the layout software uses styles. In fact, the word-processing software also uses styles, but many writers are unaware of this. If you begin a word-processing document in Microsoft Word, for example, and start typing away, your text will be assigned the Normal style. This is the default style in Microsoft Word. If you are writing something for your own use, you can simply stick with this style and manually add bold, italic, indentation, and line spacing. However, these manual overrides do not translate well into most layout software. Instead, for material that is will be laid out, use styles. Microsoft Word has many built-in styles that can be used, but the publisher may provide a template with specific styles. If the publisher instructs you to use specific styles, be sure to do so.
Before importing the proper stylized (or “tagged”) text document into the layout software, the layout artist will perform some setup. First, the styles used in the text document must be defined in the layout software. This is based on the names of the styles. Each style name is defined in terms of typeface, font, leading, color, indentation, and so on. Only the name used in the word-processing document is important, not whatever formatting was applied in the document.
There are many other things that must be set up before layout begins. The master page is used to define elements that appear on every page. Actually, there are two basic master pages—verso (left) and recto (right) —but there may be additional master pages for chapter openers, title page, copyright page, and any other page that is unique. The basic verso and recto master pages will contain the overall margins for the bulk of the book plus any additional items that will appear on each page, such as headers, footers, and page numbers. Page numbers are properly called folios. In some cases, there may be a decorative element that appears in the corner of each page. This would also be defined (inserted) on the master page.
Once all of the styles are defined and the master pages are set up, the layout artist can begin importing the text from the word-processing document. This process is often called “pouring the text,” and after it is done, the text is said to be “poured.” for a simple novel without headings and illustrations, the layout artist needs to go through each page and adjust line and page breaks. If the pages are all to baseline aligned, that is to be flush on the bottom margin, line spacing on each page must be adjusted to achieve this. Section breaks within chapters are usually marked with some sort of graphic. These typically must be manually inserted for each break. After all pages are composed, they are output and sent through proofreading, after which the layout artist must incorporate any corrections marked by proofreaders and editors.
Tin Whiskers Publisher is a member of the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA). IBPA’s mission is “to lead and serve the independent publishing community by providing advocacy, education, and tools for success.” IBPA is a not-for-profit membership organization serving and leading the independent publishing community. Founded in 1983, it is the largest publishing trade organization in the United States. IBPA members pledge to uphold the organization’s code of ethics.
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