Do-it-yourself publishing articles are filled with advice on what software to use. How is this article any different? These options are ones I’ve used to publish my works as well has helping others get published. This comparison is based on personal experience.
We’ll dismiss several options right off the bat before we get to our showdown.
The majority of self-published authors use Microsoft Word (Word), if I may make a bold claim with no facts to back it up. Anecdotally, all but one of my clients have sent me a Word file as their manuscript. That’s what I have to work with to help them publish their book.
I published my first book using only Word. It took me two weeks after I completed it to format it correctly. I think I used 25 section breaks to get the headers the way I wanted them.
I know some people who have used Word with book templates purchased online that format your manuscript for you, within Word. This is a great time-saver. However, when one of the authors in the compilation wanted to change the look of his story, he was out of luck. You couldn’t break the template.
