To Justify or not to justify, that is the question

Without a doubt, interior book designs done by professionals look amazing. One tip I learned is that books' interior text is justified and many self published authors don't copy this into their own formatting. This has been a problem for me. I've been  working on editing my book and when I copy and past it into the template, the words are sometimes stretched to fit the justified format. It doesn't look professional  at all. Does anyone know a quick way to fix this?

How to Format MS Word Page Numbers

One thing that drove me insane was the page numbers that came with my Createspace Template. They weren't exactly appropriate for my story. Go pick up a book, the closest one to me was Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Flip through it and look at how the page numbers flow with the theme of the book. Harry Potter is the exact same way. Period Romance will likely have cursive numbers. Books are works of art and these little details are great for enhancing the story.


So, how do you fix the ugly Myraid Pro numbers at the bottom of your template? If you're working with Microsoft Word 2010, then click on the bottom page until the footer section is selected.
Then on your keyboard, press, ctrl+shift+s. This brings up the Apply Styles box.
Under Style Name, select Page Number
Then click the Modify Box.
For Styles Based on, I wasn't exactly sure, so I just selected 'underlying properties'.
From this new box, you should be able to pick the font, size, italics, bold, underline and the the usual.


If you don't have MS Word 2010, here's a link to how its done on the older versions of Word. Hope it helps!
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/styles/modifyastyle.html

Fonts for your book

Never underestimate the power of typography. If done correctly, fonts are an easy way to enhance the feel of your book. Don't write an entire 80K word novel about an Egyptian adventure in Papyrus. It's great for the header and footer, but not the text itself. That's too much on the readers' eyes. Go for the serifs. They are considered easier for the eyes to follow, therefore quicker to read.
Five Interior Book Fonts and where to get them- http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2009/08/5-favorite-fonts/
Garamond
Jansen
Bembo
Carson
Electra

If you're looking for display fonts, a great website that hosts a ton of them is
www.fontspace.com

Angelfall Paperback Giveaway!

Susan Ee, the awesome author of Angelfall is having a giveaway for her equally awesome book! Sign up for notifications and enter yourself!
http://www.susanee.com/blog/2012/03/angelfall-paperback-giveaway.html

Things that I notice (and don't like) about YA books.

One thing that I keep see trending in YA is the one person to save the world kinda thing. It's not a bad premise but the way its executed its turning into the cliche. One girl/boy hits 13/16/18 inherits awesome powers and suddenly is the only thing keeping the world from total destruction. Adults are rendered incompetent. It reminds me of the new batch of superhero shows that's running on t.v. now. The problem with this is that most teenagers are the worst superheroes ever. Especially if written by a young adult, the characters are usually too cocky for my liking and irresponsible. Yes, they're supposed to be all kick-butt but I rarely see that in a way that makes me root for them. I like humble heroes and teenagers is rarely that.

The things I've learned...

As my Kickstarter project comes to a close, I realize a few things. Having friends is very helpful. Also, as stated before Absolute Write Forum is golden, go there for any and all advice. I'll work on my stories and do the best I can to take criticism. Also remember, those who criticize, unless they're heartless trolls, are usually doing it to help.