Hello Everyone
I’m completely new to Scrivener and desperately need help regarding setting up my document with correct formatting. I want to publish my short story and chose short story template. I began typing and using manual indents and block paragraphs but the Smashwords style Guide told me this was wrong and I also shouldn’t be using page breaks because ereaders don’t use “pages” So I’m just wondering if I should set Scrivener to blank document set it to add indents and double spacing and just start typing can you tell me if this is correct and also:
*When I choose compile, if I select ‘as is’ will Scrivener set the document out as it should look on an ereader, if not what setting do I use.
Does Scrivener save work in .doc format as I have learnt that Smashwords convert these to epub docs once uploaded.
*Should I save all my writing as .doc format and does KDP automatically convert these documents to mobi file or do I need to create a copy of my work in mobi file for upload in Kindle?
I love Scrivener but I’m finding all the information about formatting is only written for MS Word and I’m feeling totally confused.
All your help and advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you Scrivener users
A couple of suggestions: have you been through the Interactive Tutorial (to be found in Scrivener under the Help menu)? Also, spending a few minutes with some of the videos on this page may also help you to understand how to do what you want to do. You’ll discover - if you haven’t done so already - that decisions on some of your document formatting and on your final file format (e.g. .doc or not) can wait till the compilation stage (unlike, of course, the case with traditional word processors such as MS Word).
(Incidentally, you say in the right-hand panel that you’re using the Windows version of Scrivener, but you’ve posted in the Mac section of the forum. Of course, people here will try to help you irrespective of the platform you use, but in future you may receive help that’s more specific to the Windows platform if you post in that section.)
Thank you for your reply Hugh,
I did study the user manual and guide meticulously when I first bought Scrivener but there was so much to take in. I’ve also checked some of the tutorials on You Tube, unfortunately I have a brain injury which affects my short term memory so I can’t retain a lot of information for long which is why I’m very much a hands on user.
I’ve contacted D2D and they’ve told me not to worry about formatting for them as they strip everything back and redo it for e readers so as long as I save as .doc in Scrivener I will be fine. I just have to learn formatting for Kindle, I already know that they use MOBI but I’m not quite clear on whether I have to save my document or a copy in mobi and upload.
My apologies for posting in Mac, Ididn’t see that when I posted.
You’re welcome (and no need to apologise for posting in the Mac section of the forum - I wrote what I did simply to help ensure that you receive the most appropriate advice in future).
I’m not an expert in compiling for the Kindle or D2D - someone else will need to advise you on that. All I’d say is that in Scrivener you need not format for the Kindle as you write, if that is what you mean: at the end of your writing process you’ll compile for it, and my understanding is that - partly because the Kindle is quite a simple device, partly because Kindle readers are able to do some of their own formatting, and partly because in the compiling process Scrivener will help you - what you call formatting won’t be very complicated.
