Help, I would like to make the text in my handout booklets (1/2 sheet) only have 1 column but it appears to default to 2 column text with no way of changing this.
There are significant limits to what can be done with handouts currently. This is one of them.
The good news is that handouts are slated for something of a rewrite in the future. The bad news is that it doesn't help you now.