Rule # 1 with publishing software....it is not always your fault!

I specifically bought a more expensive lap top with loads of storage and a decent CPU so that when I bought Affinity Publisher and Affinity Photo they would work without and headaches...well
after doing the murder mystery I am working on for the fourth time, I have learned a few things- the most important is- IF IT ISN'T WORKING AND DOING WHAT YOU ASK OR GOING ASKEW, IT MAY NOT BE YOUR FAULT!

Here is what you may need if your Affinity Publishing program is giving you grief!

This worked for me and after doing a ton of things that JUST WERE NOT WORKING, I did this and it worked again.

I was one of the first who signed up for the prototype of Affinity Publisher n the beta stages and put in suggestions, and I have purchased both Affinity Publisher and Affinity Photo for both my Mac and PC. I LOVE AFFINITY Photo and I suppose, by the time I have put in equal hours as I have playing with Affinity Photo as I have Publisher, it will give me a lot less grief, however be clear THERE ARE STILL SOME BUGS so if you can get the latest version, by all means keep doing it however BE AWARE: If you want the convenience of flipping between Affinity Publisher and other platforms such as Affinity Photo then THEY MUST BE THE SAME NUMBERED UPDATE. If one updates and the other doesn't, the it will not work. Found this out the hard way!

As for that lovely expensive computer (PC) I bought, when I go to update the latest version of Affinity Publisher I am told my computer is NOT compatible and to look for another version. I expect this has more to do with Windows 10 then the PC itself and I shall look into it, however I have enough on my plate putting my murder mystery in Affinity Publisher after it had been in Adobe InDesign (glad to be rid of that monthly payment!).

I have learned a few things the hard way when it comes to the publishing aspect of doing a book or series of books.
#1. Write everything down! By this I mean EVERYTHING! If you are doing more than one book, DON'T RELY ON PRESETS...PUT IT ON PAPER SOMEWHERE! I created a form with the relevant info so I can always refer back to it.
In this I mean EVERYTHING! Assume you will remember NOTHING! So this includes: Size of your book and publishing company, type of paper used in previous proof and relevant info on colour, print ready and all those other lovely little boxes you have to remember to change or check!!!!

#2. If you have an older version of your book done as well as old PDFs GET RID OF them! Don't make the mistake of having too many confusing folders and files to deal with!

#3. Make sure you have all your images and things you intend later to embed in your book IN A FILE THAT IS EASY TO ACCESS AND FIND AND WHERE THINGS WILL NOT MOVE FROM IF EDITED. Remember, you have to keep the pathways clear as to finding things or you will be updating all the time if you change something. And once it is there, don't put it into another folder or you could loose it!

#4. Save Often when putting your chapters in. Don't wait until the end, if it crashes you could be screwed! It also means you have a safe quitting point in case you have to close everything and re-open it to get it working happily again.

#5. Fonts in your program are not always free. They may come with their own internal limitations. Some say, if it can be embedded in your PDF then it is free for commercial use, however I am not entirely sure this is correct! You can download free fonts from many sources that will suit your needs or in some cases, you may have to buy the font or the font family which is pricey. Personally, when it comes to legalities I always like to err on the side of caution.

#6. Just because it is online it is considered in the public domain and therefore free for commercial use AND some things can be free for PERSONAL use but NOT COMMERCIAL use including those photos in your book. You can buy photos from Istock and other Sources however if you google it, you will find there are many free sites where you can get images that ARE safe to use commercially. You can donate them a coffee and be done with it, or nothing at all. Up to you. Sometimes the search criteria is limited so use more than subject idea in the search bar. You will be amazed by what is out there free!

#7. If you can find yourself somewhere else to write from besides Word, you will save yourself a lot of grief. The style do not and there is often hidden crap that doesn't come up until you import it into Affinity Publisher. In other words, those glitches are not always the fault of Affinity Publisher!

#8. If you are an old school typist like me, learning to NOT put double spaces after punctuation is really hard. If you can break that habit, it is well worth it!

#9. On the other end of the modern way is to write paragraphs by putting spaces between paragraphs instead of indenting. Well, take it from me, just indent! Even when you create pre-set styles for Affinity Publisher, especially after word, you will find it doesn't always work. Just indent to begin with and save yourself future headaches!

#10. Since my computer really doesn't handle the load well when you upload all the files into Affinity Publisher, especially with text flow on, I have found it is better to edit chapters as I go and put in drop caps, etc before uploading the next chapter. The less I have to move ALL the chapters around, the happier my PC is.

#11. Lastly, TAKE LOADS OF BREAKS! Get up and go get a glass of water, go for a walk in nature or a swim, watch TV however give your mind and your eyes a rest. When you come back, you will find things look a lot better and if it doesn't then you are more likely to notice it. And remember, always leave on a positive. Even if you only made a tiny bit of headway, before you hit that glitch. then be satisfied.

In the end, creating a book is no easy feat. Be gentle with yourself. Rome wasn't built in a day and if you are an Indie publisher then you must believe in yourself and your computer skills to think you can do it, and chances are, YOU CAN!