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Q&A How should I format a non fiction book with Scrivener?

I have written mainly novels in Scrivener, and am now thinking of writing a small non-fiction work (which I will self publish). When writing a novel, you just keep typing til you reach the end, bu...

1 answer  ·  posted 11y ago by Shantnu Tiwari‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T02:45:20Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/7363
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Shantnu Tiwari‭ · 2019-12-08T02:45:20Z (almost 5 years ago)
I have written mainly novels in Scrivener, and am now thinking of writing a small non-fiction work (which I will self publish).

When writing a novel, you just keep typing til you reach the end, but non-fiction books have sections. The traditional method is to have space when a new section starts:

> _end of section 1_
> 
> **Section 2**
> 
> blah blah blah

The problem is that in ebook formats, extra spaces (paragraph breaks) are not encouraged, as they might not display correctly. Smashwords will reject you, and so will Amazon if you go for KDP select. This is because these extra spaces don't always show up correctly on e-readers.

But if I don't use a spaces, the whole thing will look munched up, which doesn't matter in fiction, but may in non fiction.

So the question is, how do I get around this? I see two ways:

1. In Scrivener, each "page" starts with some space(with page I mean the page/folder you create in the manuscript). So for each section have a separate page. The problem with this is, some sections may only be a small paragraph, and I may end up with hundreds of pages.

2. Just go ahead and use space (by pressing enter). Avoid Smashwords and KDP select. This may not be that big a deal, as Amazon allows extra space if you don't choose KDP select, and other retailers like Apple/Kobo etc don't mind either. Of course, then I will miss out on some platforms.

Is there a better way to do this?

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2013-02-26T20:56:57Z (over 11 years ago)
Original score: 4