Hello Everyone... new guy here.

[mg]

I am a first time self-publisher and author and need some assistance with editing.  I read the entire Style Guide and followed it to a "T".  It looks wonderful and am very happy with the results.  In fact, I must have done something right because it was accepted into the Premium Catalog the first time.  So, I'm pleased about that.  
Anyway... I noticed something I wanted to change and have been attempting to do so with no such luck.  I'm using Word 2011 for Mac so I realize that some of my functions may be in different places and this could be the issue.  

I would like my first paragraph of each chapter to only have a "0.01" indent (following Mark's suggestion).  This didn't seem too hard.  I followed the style guide again and created a new style based on "normal" and changed the indent from "0.3" to "0.01".  I went through my document and changed only the first paragraphs to this style. Well, after re-uploading the document to Smashwords... now all of my first paragraphs look great except the font size is way too small.  According to the style I created, it should be a 14 along with the rest of the document, however it looks to be about a 9 or 10 in the finished epub.  

I have been messing with this for literally two days and cannot figure out why this is happening.  All of the font sizes in the new style that was created are correct.  This is a total mystery.  Now, I just thought of something.  Maybe the font sizes are correct, but maybe the rest of the document (normal) is now appearing larger for some reason. Who knows, didn't consider that one, but it could be possible.  If that's the case, then I need to know how to correct that.  Grrr...

Thanks, 
Matt

[Ria Stone]

Matt, I do understand your situation but I am not sure I can help. I had a different issue. My files went through fine but after I had made a few minor changes, my paragraphs became indented when originally they were block paragraphs. Nothing I did helped convert it back to its original formatting.

I do know that during my formatting process with my cookbook, I found some hidden issues in submenus in formatting. I guess I would suggest opening your Word doc and looking carefully at every style and its coding but also pull down some of the formatting menus to see if they offer options that may be affecting the look of your work.

Good luck, Ria

Also, once you are ready, add your blog or website or a link to your book in you SWforums' signature.

[Ted]

MG, ereader devices like things simple because all of them can display content differently. What may look fine on your Mac desktop may look weird on Samsung smartphone or a Nook.

Rule of thumb; don't fix what isn't broken.

Trying to have a special indent at the beginning of a chapter - and not continue that formatting style throughout the work - probably requires digging into the code of the ePub file and specifying the attributes you want for each first paragraph of a chapter. I'm just guessing, as I've never attempted such a style.

If you enjoy coding and fiddling around inside the guts of an epub file then you may have success. Otherwise, you might want to consider sticking with your original style.

[mg]

Sorry it's such a late reply, just got in from work.  Thanks so much to each of you for your advice and thoughts.  I do agree that I should probably just leave it alone, for me it's just the principle.  I just wish I knew what was causing the problem.  But, you're right that I should probably just leave it be.  I will definitely keep you up to date whether or not I figure it out.  

Thanks again, 
Matt

[jaydax]

MS Word is quirky at the best when it comes to converting it's files to HTML which e-book files are based upon. The Mac version has a reputation of being doubly so. I've been using the 0.01 indent for first lines of chapters and sections for some time now and believe you'll find the answer in the unnecessary styles Word insists on adding to it's files. Use the style editor to find and delete all unneeded styles from your document. Check that your 'no indent' style does not have a font size set - it should be exactly the same as your 'normal' style but with that crucial 0.01 first line indent. You can also do this now in the Calibre e-book management program which now features an editor for fixing epub documents. One of it's tools is for removing Word's unneeded styles and another fixes Word's attempts at HTML. I detailed the process in a blog post authorbookpromotion.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/ready-to-create-ebook-check-again.html