How to format a book the free and easy way ebook formatting. Once your book is uploaded, amazon says upload and conversion successful. Ebook formatting tips print books formatting tips formatting services if you plan to publish your book electronically as well as in print, make sure you read the section on ebook formatting below as early as possible. Set your paragraph text style to add a 12pt space after. The sad truth is that if you set your first line indent to 0in in word, you will get indents in your final kindle book.
Each step is explained in detail, with examples and formatting tips found nowhere else. Book formatting for ebook and print books the creative penn. How to format a book for kindle using microsoft word geoff affleck. Any html tags inside a text file will be ignored and displayed as plain text, showing the actual html code. You can format a kindle book yourself and upload it to amazon for no. Remember these important tips below to ensure an excellent ebook presentation. A badly formatted book can draw a reader out of the story, which is definitely something you dont want to do. How do you format a kindle ebook how to write an ebook.
Any hard line breaks that you insert into a text file pressing enter will make your text display poorly. Jul 31, 2011 from word to kindle by aaron shepard is a short but reasonably comprehensive guide to selfpublishing on amazon. How to format an ebook for kindleamazon publishing in under. Book formatting on hugeorange is an affordable and fast way to get your book professionally formatted for print and kindle. Tips for formatting your book correctly in microsoft word. Its easy to turn your print book into an ebook with the. Word doesnt export epub files the most common ebook format, but most digital publishers will. How to format a paperback book formatting for kindle youtube. Its not that hard to format your word document for a kindle ebook if.
Use words insert function to insert images into your ebook. By putting in the time and effort, your book will look just as professional as those. Under indentation special, set first line indent to 0. Amazons kindle or kindle app supports not only ebooks, but also pdfs. It seems that when you set the indent to 0 in word, it doesnt actually set it to 0in, it set it to none. Highlight your book title on the list, go to the insert tab, and click hyperlink. Formatting your documents for the kindle in 8 steps the. When i first started learning ebook formatting, it was frustrating.
Click here to watch my tutorial on how to use vellum to format an ebook and a print book. Some helpful publishing and formatting tips publishing a book on kindle involves a number of steps not easily found or readily understood by new writers. Readers can choose to view kindle books in different font sizes, so page numbers, font sizes and margins dont apply. Electronic publishing has made it easier and more acceptable for authors to selfpublish. I hear this very often on kindle formatting forums. Formatting for kindle ebooks hints, tips and tricks php. A free stepbystep guide for formatting your paperback manuscript in microsoft. If you are a selfpublishing author who wants to know how to typeset a book, there are plenty of tools and resources available to you.
Still, this hasnt stopped it from becoming one of the most commonly used tools in selfpublishing and the reason why a lot of indie books look terrible. I still need to put it on a nook and read through it and possibly get it on my ipad and see if i can read it in ibooks, just to be sure the formatting is good, but a quick skim in adobe digital editions looked promising. This book serves as a guide to the process of formatting ebooks that look great on the kindle every time. The latter, azw3, is a file format, created to emulate whats called kf8, the moreadvanced kindle formatting by a piece of free library software called calibre. Word2kindle was a integral part in getting my 2nd book framer into publication as its formatting was pretty problematic. The bad news for authors is that it is time consuming and tedious, but it is worth taking the time before you publish to kindle or even to reformat a book you have online. Now, for me, i prefer to have my book start on the cover. Amazon can automatically convert pdfs into the kindle format, but you get two formatting choices.
Go to the amazon page of each of your books and copy the url of the page. While these are all fairly simple tips, attention to detail goes a long way when formatting books. From word to kindle by aaron shepard is a short but reasonably comprehensive guide to selfpublishing on amazon. It does involve jumping a few hurdles, though, and those hurdles are the reason that so many selfpublished authors dont have print versions of their books. And, even if you could, you cant upload that format at the kdp, the kindle digital publishing platform. Choose the type of book youre making and click choose file.
List all your books on this page using the normal style. You can find a lot more information on creating, formatting, and revising ebooks for our largest retail market directly from amazon. Using these tips will help you create a print book that can easily convert to a kindle ebook. Well in todays video were going to cover book formatting for kindle. In the page setup section of the layout tab, click size. If youre trying to publish your first book, it can seem daunting and overwhelming.
In this free detailed guide, im going to show you how to format a book for kindle for fiction and nonfiction yes, there is a difference when it comes to formatting. There are currently two main formats in use in the industry. To keep things organized, tap menu on the top right, select create new. Styles are simply preformatted settings for your chapter titles, subheadings, second level sub headings, bullet lists, numbered lists and quotes. My personal choice for ebook and some print formatting is vellum.
By putting in the time and effort, your book will look just as professional as those that are released from a bigname publishing house. But just specifying the cover isnt going to do that, so i had to add extra code to my html file. Jan 09, 2019 so youve written your manuscript but you have no clue how to format your book for amazon kindle. Book formatting tips going from print book to ebook. In order to sell your book as an ebook, you must first convert your document to a format that can be read by ereaders. Click the format list the dropdown at the bottom of the dialog box and choose paragraph. The complete guide to formatting books for the amazon kindle at. Many writers use ms word for ebook formatting but this shouldnt be your choice by default.
A badly formatted book can draw a reader out of the. They can focus on the words of your ebook instead of the formatting issues. Under spacing, set before and after to 0 pt, and line spacing to single. How to format your book for amazon kindle using microsoft word. Use two line breaks press enter twice to separate lines of paragraphs. The publishing industry has seen a large number of changes with the advancement of technology. The bottom line is, the files that amazon sells to its readers are, by and large, a single file. Css, ebook html, ebook tables, html, html tables, kindle formatting, kindle formatting solutions, tables. I like my cover, and i want everyone to see it when they start to read the book. Mobi format, which is the preferred kindle file format. So youve written your manuscript but you have no clue how to format your book for amazon kindle. They saved my book and can certainly do it for yours as well highly recommended. So, i figured it would be beneficial if i provided a list of exactly what didnt make the cut and what tools or services i still use today to take my kindle publishing to the next.
Some common formatting issues include wacky spacing, entire sections or chapters bolded and italicized, paragraphs split up, text flowing behind pictures and more. Word is a great tool to use because its extremely easy to format. Use microsoft words page break feature to create intentional page breaks for chapter endings and to separate sections as needed. Jun 02, 2015 formatting for kindle ebooks hints, tips and tricks euop posted on june 2, 2015 posted in blogs, your books there are a number of articles on formatting an ebook for kindle so i thought i would contribute my thoughts and ideas so far. Turn your completed manuscript into a formatted ebook with kindle create. How to format your book for kindle using microsoft word in 6 easy.
How to make an ebook kindle and epub conversion diy book. Jul 14, 2011 yesterday, i managed to get my book properly into epub format. If your kindle book has bullet points, graphics, tables, block quotes or. See our guides for formatting your manuscript and creating a cover.
If youre selfpublishing a novel or nonfiction book, even though its somewhat different from a word scramble book, it involves many of the same formatting features. Tips for formatting the most common mistake new digital publishers make is assuming formatted material will translate to kindle as what you see is what you get. I like making things simple, so i just think of the kindle book format in eight sections. How to format your book for amazon kindle using microsoft. Paperback manuscript templates amazon kindle direct. Its crucial that every part of the book appear in the right order with the right content. Mar 24, 2018 word to kindle formatting magic i will share some kindle formatting tips and also introduce my newest book, word to kindle formatting magic, which is available in both paperback and kindle editions. Enter your books trim size, including bleed, into the width and height fields.
Yesterday, i managed to get my book properly into epub format. However, the text formatting the kindle requires can be hard to decipher and even harder to implement. Well in todays video, im going to show you exactly how to format your kdp ebook. This is book is good one but i think reading this book in electronic devices is not seems me satisfied as i read the book on my hand. How to format a book for kindle using microsoft word. You should write your book in word or convert it to an existing source file into word. Prepare, publish, promote prepare your book format your manuscript ebook manuscript resources ebook file formatting tips microsoft word the initial formatting you chose in word may be slightly altered to conform to kindle device specifications. Apr, 2016 while these are all fairly simple tips, attention to detail goes a long way when formatting books. There are a number of articles on formatting an ebook for kindle so i thought i would contribute my thoughts and ideas so far. If youve written other books, you can include them on. These tips will help avoid common mistakes in the conversion process.
Kindle book formatting and publishing tips 1129 words. Nicole rodgers learning the tricks to formatting your documents for the kindle can help you push your writing career to the next level. Ensure you take the time to explore the different options available for formatting your manuscript because a clean design is a vital part of publishing success. Using microsoft word styles to format a book for kindle. How to format your kdp ebook selfpublishing tips youtube. Open kindle create and click new project from file. How to put free ebooks on your amazon kindle pcmag. It does involve jumping a few hurdles, though, and those hurdles are the reason that so many selfpublished. Word to kindle formatting magic i will share some kindle formatting tips and also introduce my newest book, word to kindle formatting magic, which is available in both paperback and kindle editions.
Shepard offers a plethora of handy tips for formatting your document in word, regardless of which version you have. If you want your kindle to display every page in the pdf as if it were a graphic, just email. Requirements for the kindle book cover image may 10, 2012 by suzanne parrott amazon updated their recommendation 42012 for a books cover file to be 1500 to 2400 pixels with a 1. Highlight the address, rightclick, and select copy.
How to format and ready your book for the kindle platform. I was trying to approach it like a print book, and insert images and special designs, and fixed fonts. Formatting for the kindle is really plain formatting just like typing on a typewriter, if youre old enough to remember those days. Get my free book for a limited time the self publishing blueprint. Formatting a print book for kdp can be learned quite quickly, and you can do everything in microsoft word, or indesign if you want to make it extra professional. Dont use your spacebar to add extra spaces or indents. By colin dunbar in todays self publishing world, its a good idea to have your book available in as many formats as you can. Be sure to try it on the different kindle types, and to scroll through every page. Apr 10, 20 using these tips will help you create a print book that can easily convert to a kindle ebook. But reading pdfs on a kindle requires a little help. These are great tips for anyone that is new or getting use to publishing on kindle.
The good news for authors is that if you have the original word document of your kindle book it is easy to fix the formatting. The former is the actual, final, encrypted kindle format that is dispensed from the amazon store, to your kindle as a purchased book. Formatting a puzzle book or a workbook for kindle poses several formatting challenges. The most common way to create a kindle ebook is to use microsoft word because itread more formatting for kindle ebooks hints, tips and tricks. Apr 14, 2015 the good news for authors is that if you have the original word document of your kindle book it is easy to fix the formatting. Tips and tricks for writers and authors february 23, 2015 author marketing experts, inc.
Here are several different ways to convert and read pdfs on a. In the busy life of an indie author, thats a good thing. Every book has standard parts, from the front matter and table of contents to the core matter and the back matter. How to format your book for kindle using microsoft word in. How to format your book for kindle using microsoft word in 6. If your kindle book has bullet points, graphics, tables, block quotes or any other special formatting issues, this tutorial may not work for you. We recommend the following to prepare your manuscript for conversion. When your book is uploaded, a step 6 magically appears in the kdp dashboard. Formatting for kindle ebooks hints, tips and tricks. Apr 28, 2015 formatting for kindle ebooks hints, tips and tricks posted on april 28, 2015 by paulv no comments v there are a number of articles on formatting an ebook for kindle so i thought i would contribute my thoughts and ideas so far. Our formatting service will make your book look great on any device or trim size, because our graphic designers speclize in book design. By implementing the seven tips above, youll develop an ebook that works like kindle owners want it to work. Just like too many apps can clutter your phones home screen, an abundance of books can do the same on your kindle.