Tag: MS Word

Which Software Is Best for Authors – Part 1

author software questions keyboard-824309_640Newbies to the wonderful world of indie publishing can be forgiven their bewilderment at the range of software options out there for our use. The thing is, some programs work better than others for our purposes, and some don’t really have any use for us at all.

The minions sat around the gruel cauldron recently and discussed what’s out there – the good, the bad, and the ugly. We came up with so many options that I’m going to split this into two posts. Today, I’ll talk about project planning and writing software, including a couple of options for people who don’t have access to Microsoft Office. Continue reading “Which Software Is Best for Authors – Part 1”

Can We Talk?: Speak in Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word LogoOne of the self-editing tips you hear all the time is to read your work aloud. It can be a big help for catching errors in your work. But what if you don’t have a place to read aloud to yourself? What if your cranky roommate would object?

You can get Microsoft Word to read your work to you. Built into the more recent versions of Office is a text-to-speech utility called, appropriately, Speak. I didn’t know about it until Richard Bender tipped us off – mainly because Word doesn’t put it front-and-center on any of its menus. But you can put it there yourself. Here’s how. Continue reading “Can We Talk?: Speak in Microsoft Word”

Working with Your Editor’s Edits in MS Word

Jacqueline HopkinsGuest Post
by Jacqueline Hopkins

You’re an author and you typed your manuscript in Microsoft Word. You’ve sent your work out to an editor. You get it back and it has different color text mixed in with your black words and colored text boxes in the far right margin. It’s a mess you can’t make heads nor tails of. You ask yourself, “What on earth has the editor done to my masterpiece?”

If your editor uses the latest version of the software, they will have used the ‘New Comments’ features and ‘Track Changes’ under the REVIEW tab to edit your work. If you are into self-editing your work before you send it off to an editor, you can turn track changes on and use it yourself. Just go to the menu bar, click on REVIEW, then click ‘track changes’ to turn it on, and clicking it again turns it off. When it is on, if you type a change it will appear in a different color. It also strikes through words you want to delete using the delete key.

Now, here is how to accept the editor’s changes, reject them, and get rid of all those comments boxes. Continue reading “Working with Your Editor’s Edits in MS Word”