MS Cover Page Issues - Technical Question

[bronwyn1]

Every time I try to create a cover page for my MS, it automatically makes the first page after the cover page page 2 (the page numbering system on Word does). I've tried to many times to make it begin with 1 on the first page after the cover page, but it never does and it's really agitating.

Any advice?

[FK7]

There is a way that I know of, but it's so complicated and requires manual reset every time. What I do is much simpler...

I add a rectangular shape, fill it with white and remove the outline (border) so that it becomes invisible. This way the header appears everywhere as it should, but not on the cover page. This works well for Office 2000, 2003 and 2007. You can always keep your cover page in another Word document, but it's less of a hassle if you keep it all together.

Here's how my MS looks like cover and the 2nd page. I selected the rectangle when I took the screenshot so you could see.




Hope this helps!

[bronwyn1]

Thanks for this! It is quite helpful. But do you have page numbers on every page of your MS? How do you change the auto-numbering so that it starts with 1 on the true first page of the MS instead of with 2 (like it always does with me...grr)

Also, this might be a dumb question, but are cover sheets even necessary for e-partial/full MS requests?

[FK7]

If by coversheets you mean the first page with info top left, word count top right, then TITLE BY NAME centered both horizontally and vertically, then yes. Usually it's been suggested you not only add cover sheet, but also a cover letter (and sometimes cover letter, along the lines of "Hey you requested this full on DATE") AND the original query. Depends who the agent is.

As for starting at the REAL page number: don't bother. Like I said, there's a way, by keeping cover letter and MS separate, then either manually or using a macro join both in PDF... frankly, if the "real" first page of your MS starts with 2, or 5, they don't care. Since agents want to receive MS unbound and single sided, the page number is only there if the stack ever falls to the floor and the page order is loss. They don't care how many actual pages it has, they look for the word count for the length.

Don't waste your time on formatting the correct page number or that it starts at the real place. Just make sure it's there, in the top right corner, with your Name / Title in top left.

For e-partials or full, I'd send the same thing but as a PDF. If you really want to have the correct page number start at the real first page, keep the cover letter, original query, cover sheet of the MS and the MS in separate word documents. Make PDF out of them, then merge them all in the order you want. This way, the PDF would have:

-Cover letter (no page number)
-Original Query (no page number)
-Coversheet of MS (no page number)
-MS (page 1)

Some agents read e-partials or fulls on their Kindle, but some agents like to Xerox sometimes, and page numbering is gonna help for reasons mentioned above.

That's what I've read so far, maybe Nathan or someone else with more experience in dealing with such things can help :)

[bronwyn1]

Okay, that helps A LOT! Thank you so much (again)! :D

[FK7]

You're very welcome, good luck with the query process :)

[charlotte49ers]

You can pick what number you want the page numbering to start with, so pick 0 and then click 'don't show number on first page' or however its worded. :)

[Holly]

Every time I try to create a cover page for my MS, it automatically makes the first page after the cover page page 2 (the page numbering system on Word does). I've tried to many times to make it begin with 1 on the first page after the cover page, but it never does and it's really agitating.

Any advice?

Here are two ways you can make the cover page appear without a number:

(1) Make the cover page a separate document from your manuscript. This works for snail mail, but not for email. Question: is the cover page necessary? I've read that some agents don't want them. You can put your contact info (left side), title, genre, and word count (right side) at the top of the first page of the manuscript and eliminate the cover page.

(2) If you want to keep the cover page and the manuscript in the same document, choose insert Header/Footer from the toolbar. Then choose insert Page Numbers. Click Different First Page. Don't insert page numbers on the first page, but do insert them on the rest of the document. And remember to click close Header/Footer.

Hope this helps!

[gonzo2802]

Charlotte's suggestion seems like the easiest fix for your problem.

Just tell word to start numbering with "0" and go from there.

[FK7]

In Word 2007 if you want to set a different header for the first page...





There are a few ways to do it.