Who’s responsible for cleaning up a messy manuscript—the author, editor, or designer? After working on two poorly formatted books, I share what went wrong, what worked, and why using Word styles can save hours in the design process.

Ready to publish your first book? There are more options than you might think—from printing copies just for family to getting listed on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Here's what every first-time author needs to know about print-on-demand publishing, ISBNs, and the steps most people don't see coming.