Scrivener Archives - Suns Golden Ray Publishing

Posted on January 29, 2018June 5, 2018 by Whitney Evans

Common Book Formatting Issues

Having formatted a number of books (and published a number more), we’ve seen a lot of book formatting issues along the way. Sometimes, it’s a simple derp error on our part, other times it’s a bit more complex. Many times, we forgot to check a button. But our derp is your gain. Here, we’ve listed some of the most common errors we get while formatting:

Kindle Look Inside Feature

This one is a sneaky one, and one that trips up a lot of authors if they aren’t paying attention. If you visit Amazon’s Look Inside feature, you might find your book formatting is completely different than expected. This is due to the Look Inside feature using a different software than the Kindle. In layman’s terms, Look Inside strips out a lot of the coding that makes a Kindle look pretty. This is most often the case when a user is using Scrivener 2.0 to format their books.

The best and most easy fix to this is to upload an ePub file to KDP. Or, if you have updated to Scrivener 3.0, they have fixed this issue with .Mobi files. If you’re using Vellum, they’ve also resolved this issue as well. The best course of action is always to check your file after it goes live to make sure you’re putting your best foot forward.

Smashwords Autovetter Errors

Smashwords is notorious for throwing all kinds of errors at people. From images to text to Tables of Contents, you can find reams of complaints about people fighting with it. Happily, there’s a real easy solution to this problem: If you direct upload an ePub file (vice a Word document), you won’t have to submit to the Meatgrinder.

Keep in mind that per Smashword’s own data, Kindle is the most-often downloaded format, and if you only upload an ePub file, you won’t get that .Mobi file for users of the Smashwords store. We wrote a whole blog on Smashwords, if you think you want to upload a Word doc instead.

CreateSpace and Ingram Errors

If you’re using CreateSpace and IngramSpark to publish your book, generally if one accepts your book format, the other will as well. The normal errors we get from IngramSpark relate to the color schema (as Scrivener exports PDFs in a different schema) and, on occasion, if we save the cover under the wrong Photoshop setting. Both of these issues are “non-blocking,” that is, Ingram will fix them for you. With CreateSpace, our most common error is the autovetter stalling when we upload the interior. CreateSpace will review the document and allow you to view the online version to check for any issues.

Any Other Errors

Do you have any errors popping up when you format? Something just not working? Sound off in the comments!

[insert page=’services-addon’ display=’content’]

Posted on January 22, 2018January 3, 2018 by Whitney Evans

Formatting with Scrivener 3.0

Murphy’s Law says that when we went live with our Scrivener blog series, the folks over at Literature and Latte would release 3.0. And they did! But we’re ga-ga over the changes, so we’re not complaining too much. Today we’d like to share a few changes that we’ve noticed (and we’re sure we’ll find more) formatting with Scrivener 3.0. As with most things, change is change, but we think it’s for the better (mostly).

Back Matter joins Front Matter

We loved that we could change front matter in Scrivener 2.0 with a dropdown menu, but didn’t like that we had to select and unselect back matter. Happily, Scrivener has fixed that problem for us.

As you’ll see at the bottom of the right-most pane, you can add front matter from a drop-down menu, and also add back matter. Since we usually have multiple books in a single Scrivener file, we name the folders with the book name and format, just to make sure we’re using the right one. (Note: Our Kindle files and Smashwords files use two different front matters, but the same back matter).

Section Types Make Life Easier

One of the biggest complaints about Scrivener 2.0 was the lack of customization on scenes at the same level. So if you had two scenes with two different fonts, you had to manually adjust them. This was particularly bothersome in front and back matter. But now, Scrivener allows users to create project formats and specify different scene types per project. One thing to note is you have to create Section Types before you can assign them layouts (see our tutorial below).

To add a new section type, navigate to Project -> Project Settings, then add new section types. Please note, these are simply labels; you’ll have to set the layouts via the tutorial below.

Assigning Section Layouts to Section Types

As we said above, Section Types are merely labels. You’ve got to assign the layouts to the types, and it’s a little confusing the first few times you do it. So we’ve put together a tutorial to walk you through the process:

1		On the Compile screen, find the gear on the lower left, and select “Edit format” (or add a new format by clicking the + button)
2		Here is where you’ll find most of the formatting options that previously were under the main compile screen. Within the Section Layouts pane, you’ll have Folders and Text, but you can add your own layouts here. We suggest having a chapter (folder) setting, a setting for back matter (eBook and print), one for as-is, one for front matter, and one for your actual book text. Depending on the type of book you have, you may add additional layouts.
3		In the Formatting pane of the Section Layout, you can see how your text will look in the book. Here you can set the font for the title and/or text.
4		To add an image above or below the folder title (or to add Chapter and autonumber), click on the Title Options pane.
5		To set the number of lines above the title page, click on the New Pages pane (still in Section Layout). You can also set your chapter to begin on a recto (right) or a verso (left) page.
6		You can also select different formats within the project pre-set, such as .Mobi, .ePub, .doc, and .PDF. Changing a style on a different format will not change on others. (Which is a good thing). Find this menu on the left side of the screen, at the top above Section Layouts.
7		Once you’ve created your styles, you then need to assign them to the specific Section Types. Click on the button called “Assign Section Types” in the central pane.
8		Here’s where it gets a little confusing. You have to create section types (the categorization of the scenes themselves) AND section layouts (how a scene is formatted). Then you have to assign the layout to the type. In other words, you have to assign your Folders formatting to your Folders type. Select the Section Type on the left pane, then locate the correct formatting on the right pane.
9		Make sure your scenes have the right section type assigned, then press compile! Also, if you aren’t ready to compile, but want to save your settings, hold down the Option key to save settings. One other neat new feature: Scrivener now opens your compiled file after it’s created.

Continue reading Formatting with Scrivener 3.0

Posted on December 18, 2017October 11, 2017 by Whitney Evans

Managing Front and Back Matter in Scrivener

Scrivener is a wonderful program many writers use to set up and manage their books, screenplays, and research projects. Nearly every aspect of the program can be customizable, from the drafting settings to the export format. But with so many options, many authors find themselves overwhelmed. To that end, we’re posting a blog series on our favorite features of Scrivener. Today, we’re going to cover setting up front and back matter in Scrivener, including some tips and tricks to set you up for success.

Note: The screenshots are for Scrivener 2.0. for Mac. We hear from our friends at Literature and Latte that version 3.0 is coming soon, and when we get access to it, we’ll update this post.

Front Matter Tips

Every book format will have a different ISBN, and occasionally, different front matter, so we separate all of them out into their own folders. For our series, we have a main folder for each book, then separate them down into formats. When it’s time to compile, we select the applicable format (and applicable compile preset) and we’re good to go.

Speaking of front matter, there’s a brand new checklist from the Independent Book Publishers Association that contains the basics of what every self-pub and indie-pub book should have (at a minimum). We use the <$Blank_page> shortcode to keep pages a verso or a recto (that is, on the left or right side).

Back Matter Tips

As with the front matter, we separate out eBook and physical copy back matter. At the end of your eBook content, you should have a “call-to-action,” or something a reader can do to stay connected. Many authors opt to have a link to a newsletter sign up or Instafreebie. Whichever you chose, aim for the long-term. Otherwise, you’ll be updating your back matter every few weeks.

For the print back matter, we have to fudge a few things. We usually add the section header into the text itself (“Acknowledgements” and “About the Author”) then use Preserve Formatting to retain the chapter heading formatting. Or we’ll mark the entire scene “Compile As-Is.”

[insert page=’services-addon’ display=’content’]

Posted on December 11, 2017December 5, 2017 by Whitney Evans

Using Compile Presets in Scrivener

Scrivener is a wonderful program many writers use to set up and manage their books, screenplays, and research projects. Nearly every aspect of the program can be customizable, from the drafting settings to the export format. But with so many options, many authors find themselves overwhelmed. To that end, we’re posting a blog series on our favorite features of Scrivener. Today, we’re going to cover how to use compile presets in Scrivener, including some tips and tricks to set you up for success.

Note: The screenshots are for Scrivener 2.0. for Mac. We hear from our friends at Literature and Latte that version 3.0 is coming soon, and when we get access to it, we’ll update this post.

What is a Compile Preset?

A Compile Preset is exactly what it sounds like – a pre-selected group of compile settings that you can use and reuse. In other words, you can have a setting for paperback to keep your margins and font size the same, one for hardcovers, one for Kindle, etc. There are two kinds: Project Presets and Global Presets.

Project Presets are saved settings only available in a single file. We like to keep our series books in a single file, then create project presets for each format. The settings for Razia aren’t available in the Madion Trilogy, for example.

Global presets, on the other hand, are available across all Scrivener projects. This is a good way to keep your general settings for paperbacks and hardcovers consistent. You can create a new project preset starting from the global preset, or keep your oft-used presets, like exporting a clean .docx to your editor.

Project Preset Tips

Once upon a time, we did a print run of one of our books. All was well until we opened up the first page and saw our headers showed the wrong book title.

Truly. There were thirty books in that print run.

Ever since then, we’ve made it a habit to create separate print settings for every book. That way, we’re absolutely sure we’re printing the right book. Also, our hardcover formatting differs (usually) from the paperback formatting, so having those separate presets is convenient. For example: when you have updates to back matter, you don’t have to spend time trying to guess what the margins were. Your books will be consistent every time.

Just make sure you double check those headers.

[insert page=’services-addon’ display=’content’]

Posted on December 4, 2017October 11, 2017 by Whitney Evans

Top Formatting Hacks Scrivener: Our Most-Used Tricks

Scrivener is a wonderful program many writers use to set up and manage their books, screenplays, and research projects. Nearly every aspect of the program can be customizable, from the drafting settings to the export format. But with so many options, many authors find themselves overwhelmed. To that end, we’re posting a blog series on our favorite features. While we could post fifteen blogs on the formatting features, today, we’ll just cover our top formatting hacks in Scrivener.

Note: The screenshots are for Scrivener 2.0. for Mac. We hear from our friends at Literature and Latte that version 3.0 is coming soon, and when we get access to it, we’ll update this post.

Hack #1: Scene Labels and Images

For our Madion War Trilogy series, we had the challenge of multiple POVs. We wanted to label each POV with the character’s name and a unique icon. To accomplish this, we added a Custom Metadata field to our project and called it POV. Then, in the Compile settings, we added the following to the Section Layout under Prefix:

<$img:<$custom:POV>;h=50>
<$custom:POV>

In the Compile setting, you’ll see that the POV is listed there under Level 2+ (we’ll go into levels a bit later).

When we compile the draft, we get the POV name along with the image.

Hack #2: Preserve Formatting

Sometimes within the text, we want to preserve formatting. That is, the rest of the book is Garamond 12, single-spaced, left aligned, and maybe this one section is a letter, and we want it centered and Times New Roman 13. In this case, we have two options: We can create a separate scene and select “Compile As-Is,” or, the better option, we can highlight the text and use the “Preserve Formatting option.” You can find it under the Format menu, under the Formatting sub-menu.

Here you can also find the Copy and Paste Formatting options, which allow you to take the formatting settings from one scene to another. Generally, though, you shouldn’t do too much in-line formatting in your final manuscript. And make sure if you’re using Preserve Formatting that you’ve got your formatting exactly as you want it.

Hack #3: Compile a Section

If you’ve taken our advice and kept all the books in a series in one Scrivener file, then you’ll need to know how to Compile just a section. Luckily, this is pretty easy:

In the Contents section of Compile, use the drop-down menu to select the grouping you’d like to export. Under Compile Group Options, you can select to either include the container (generally you don’t want to do this), and treat selected group as entire draft (generally you do want this).

You can also use a Filter based on a particular label. So, for example, if you were compiling a preview of an ebook, you could tag specific chapters with “Preview” and compile only those.

Hack #4: Compile Levels

A lot of folks are confused by the idea of Compile Levels. We’re happy to announce that in Scrivener 3.0, they’ve changed Compile Levels to a much more user-friendly version. As it stands now in 2.0, your Compile levels work like this:

Part (Folder) -> Level 1
- Chapter (Folder) -> Level 2
  - Scene -> Level 3
    - Subscene -> Level 4

Each level can have its own formatting. So your Part would be different from your Chapter, and so on. In Scrivener 3.0, they’ve gone back to the drawing board. Instead of assigning formatting by level, you can now assign formatting by type. So if you’d like your Part and Chapter to share formatting, you can. And if you have a certain set of scenes with particular formatting (like a dream sequence, for example), you can set individual scenes.

As formatters, we’re looking forward to this new feature!

Hack #5: Getting a Clean Manuscript

Our last hack has to do with getting so-called “clean” manuscripts from Scrivener to editable formats like Word. If you’ve drafted your book in Scrivener, then you’re probably already mostly there. In the Compile Format feature, you can add additional so-called “presets,” or settings that you can re-use. This is especially helpful when you’ve got several books in a single manuscript, or if you need to export to hardcover, paperback, Kindle, and more. For exporting a “clean” manuscript, create a project preset using the formatting standards your editor requires. Usually, that’s 12pt, double-spaced letter-sized pages.

[insert page=’services-addon’ display=’content’]

Posted on November 27, 2017October 11, 2017 by Whitney Evans

Editing in Scrivener: Our Best Tips

Note: The screenshots are for Scrivener 2.0. for Mac. We hear from our friends at Literature and Latte that version 3.0 is coming soon, and when we get access to it, we’ll update this post.

The Downside: Tracked Changes

We’ll say it up front: Scrivener’s editing integrations aren’t the best. Most of the rest of the world uses Microsoft Word or Google Docs, where it’s easy to accept changes in your manuscript. Scrivener doesn’t allow you to do that, so for some, the editing process has to take place somewhere else.

A not-Scrivener work around is to use Microsoft Word to combine documents. First, export your new draft from Scrivener. Then, take the original document from your editor and use Microsoft Word’s Combine Editions. Your edits will appear in the combined document as Tracked Changes. It’s not the prettiest workaround, but it does work. Check out more on the blog today.

When you’re on the other side of it–getting edits that need incorporation, we usually do a side-by-side screen, with our edit comments on the right and Scrivener on the left. Then we go line by line and get it all in.

Comments, Labels, Colors

There are a few different features we use most often when editing. When we edit a book, we like to export the draft to an eReader and add comments there. Then we take the comments back to the manuscript and triage them. With Scrivener’s comment color options, we can set a system. Blue comments, for example are small edits like word choice. Red comments are scenes which require a lot of heavy lifting. We can then look across the manuscript and knock out edits in a systematic way.

Scrivener also allows you to attach custom labels to scenes, and color code those labels. Under the View menu, you can set the label color in the binder and outliner rows. By selecting “Binder,” you can color code each of your scenes or chapters. We like to use this more in the drafting process, where, again, we can triage. Red scenes need work, yellow scenes need some review, green ones are ready. It then becomes a game to change everything to green.

[insert page=’services-addon’ display=’content’]

Posted on November 13, 2017October 11, 2017 by Whitney Evans

How to Set Up a Project in Scrivener

Scrivener is a wonderful program many writers use to set up and manage their books, screenplays, and research projects. Nearly every aspect of the program can be customizable, from the drafting settings to the export format. But with so many options, many authors find themselves overwhelmed. To that end, we’re posting a blog series on our favorite features of Scrivener. Today, we’re going to cover how to set up a project in Scrivener, including some tips and tricks to set you up for success.

Note: The screenshots are for Scrivener 2.0. for Mac. We hear from our friends at Literature and Latte that version 3.0 is coming soon, and when we get access to it, we’ll update this post.

Creating a Project

When you first open Scrivener, it will ask you if you’d like to use a template or start from a blank project:

Again, don’t let the options daunt you–and don’t feel that the templates will lock in you into a specific feature set. Everything is customizable. The templates simply pre-select some features, like adding placeholders for places, scenes, and characters. If you don’t need any of that, feel free to use the blank template.

No matter which template you use, when it comes to the act of writing your book, you’ll just need to focus on the box in yellow. That is your manuscript, a template chapter, and a template scene. From here, it’s a matter of organizing your book to meet your needs.

Organizing Your Project

Our authorly alter-ego writes multi-book series, and so our Scrivener project folders contain all the information for all the books. In that case, we structure our books thusly:

Level 1: Series Name

Level 2: Book Name

Level 3: Part (if applicable) / Chapter (usually)

Level 4: Chapter (if applicable)

Then scenes in the lowest folder. We’ll go into how each of these levels get formatted in a later blog post.

Having everything in a single Scrivener file does a couple of things for us. First, it’s super easy to recall back to a previous book for a question. Second, export features are consistent across the board (although be careful about book headers here). Finally, when we’re compiling an eBook box set, there’s still a single master file to compile from.

Because of the modular nature of Scrivener (that is, everything is in pieces), you can reorganize as your story unfolds. It’s easy to drag a scene from Chapter 5 to Chapter 10, or to send the entire Chapter 2 to the Trashbin. Even better: if you decide Chapter Two is salvageable after all, all you have to do is drag it back to the main project.

Backing Up Your Project

Before you write a single word, you should make sure your backup is in place. Every author has horror stories about computer crashes, coffee spills and the like. Therefore, it’s imperative that you set up a system that is both efficient, but also doesn’t require you to do more than set it up.

Scrivener offers two options for this. First, you can opt to save your file in a Cloud Storage Solution. Therefore, instead of your desktop, your Scrivener file will be saved in Dropbox or iCloud. To do that, simply Save As to your cloud storage solution. (Need help setting that up? Check the bottom of this blog post for links to tutorials).

The second feature Scrivener offers is the ability to save a backup of your file. For those of us paranoid about system failures, we opt to save the backup of our file in a different storage solution.

[insert page=’services-addon’ display=’content’]

Posted on November 6, 2017October 9, 2017 by Whitney Evans — 3 Comments

Scrivener: Our Favorite Writerly Tool

Welcome to our newest blog series, all about the wonderful tool known as Scrivener. At SGR-Pub, we use Scrivener from the very beginning of the writing process all the way through formatting. It’s the best $50 we’ve ever invested, but it’s taken us a while to figure out all the features. To that end, we’ll be sharing some of our best tips for using Scrivener over the next eight weeks, culminating in a Q&A post. So if you’ve got questions, let us know in the comments!

Please note: Our tips and tricks are primarily for Scrivener 2.0. We’ve heard from Literature and Latte that 3.0 is coming at the end of 2018, so we’ll be holding our breath until then.

What is Scrivener?

Scrivener is, at its heart, program writers use to draft manuscripts, screenplays, research papers–you name it. Over the years, more features have been added to help with exporting your manuscript to different formats. For most writers, having an all-in-one solution helps pare down on the messiness that arises in the drafting process. Here are just some of the features Scrivener has.

With so many features, it’s easy to quickly become overwhelmed. So the first thing you should ask yourself is not what is Scrivener, but how can it help improve your writing experience.

Plotters and Pantsers, Rejoice

No matter how you choose to write, Scrivener has a method for you. If you’re a writer who loves to know where they’re going before they set out, you can use folders and scenes to outline your book. If you’re a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of writer, Scrivener offers a full screen mode, and the ability to reorganize and adjust as you go.

All writers, however, can benefit from the structure of Scrivener. It’s designed to be flexible, which can be daunting. Let’s begin by defining each of the levels.
When creating a new project from the Fiction preset, you’ll get something like this. There’s a tutorial, some items called Places, Front Matter, Research, Template Sheets, and more. At the outset, it’s best to leave most of these alone and focus on the boxes in yellow.

This is where you’ll be focusing all your energy. Scrivener will automatically create a Manuscript bucket for you, adding a template Chapter and Scene. As with the above, if you’re not yet ready to divide the writing into chapters, you can delete the chapter folder.

Then just write! Add scenes, add chapters. Write everything in one scene and divvy it up later, or break them up as you go.

If you’ve got research to do, you can drag and drop images, PDFs, and more into the Research bucket. Under Template Sheets, you can create basic character profiles, if that’s how you write. You can keep photos and descriptions of scenes under the Places tab.

Editing and Formatting in Scrivener

We’ll have a more in-depth look at editing in Scrivener in the coming weeks, but for now, we’ll touch on some of the basics. With all your scenes and chapters in Scrivenings and folders, reordering is a cinch through drag-and-drop. Select two or three scenes at once and view a subsection of your manuscript. Add comments and notes to keep track of things you’ll need to fix later. Use the Project Replace to change character names. The possibilities are endless!

One of the downsides of Scrivener is tracked changes aren’t as easy to manage as in, say Word. You can use the Snapshot feature to keep track of what changed and when, but it’s not as collaborative as Word or Google Docs.

But the big upside to Scrivener is the relatively easy way to export your manuscript into a variety of different formats. From ePub to Kindle, PDFs formatted for print to .docs for your editors, you can keep one master file. Anyone who’s ever wondered “which version is this?” can appreciate the benefit of not having to edit a period in fifteen different documents. And when you’re on to Books 2 and beyond, having the same formatting presets can save you time and frustration.

Suffice to say: We love Scrivener, and we wouldn’t think of writing a book without it.

[insert page=’services-addon’ display=’content’]