Be aware from Jane: This post has been updated to reflect modifications in tools obtainable on the market. So your ebook is sitting in Microsoft Phrase, and you’d like to get that material transformed into an book format you may sell by means of book retailers comparable to Amazon. If you’re affected person and prepared to format your Phrase doc carefully, you can use the automated conversion processes of Amazon Kindle, Smashwords, Draft2Digital, or comparable e-book retailer and distribution services. They wish to make it straightforward so that you can get revealed, so they’ll convert your Word document into an e book file instantly, as soon as you upload it. But the outcomes could look subpar if you happen to don’t prepare your document first. I’m grateful to Dave Chesson at Kindlepreneur for sharing the following data on how you can prep your Microsoft Word file to transform cleanly into an e-book file. Although it won’t have all the bells and whistles you’d get with skilled e book formatting software (e.g., Vellum or InDesign), it's value-efficient and utilized by many novelists.
Side be aware: It’s possible you’ve also heard of MOBI information. These was the preferred e-book file format for Amazon. Nonetheless, in 2021, Amazon announced that they would cease accepting MOBI information and desire EPUB. Before you begin, be sure you embody all of the totally different components of a book. For instance, most books have front matter and back matter. The entrance matter consists of things like a Title Web page, Copyright Page, and Dedication Web page. The back matter could embrace an Writer Biography, Acknowledgments, a Note from the Writer, and sometimes a CTA (name-to-action). To your font, begin with a black, 12-level standard font like Instances New Roman. After the font is ready and you’re prepared, change the indentation within the Paragraph settings. When writing a book in Word that you just intend to export as an e book, it is advisable to refrain from using the Tab key and implementing onerous indentations for each paragraph because this ends in an indentation that is much too large for a ebook.
Instead, click on into the Paragraph settings and alter the indentation to First Line, then 0.2" or 0.3." You can try a few totally different indentation sizes and see which one seems better. The road spacing ought to be changed to Single and the alignment needs to be set to Left for the body textual content. The margins should be modified to 0.5". Since ebooks are learn on numerous kinds of tablets and digital units and have reflowable textual content, the web page measurement doesn’t matter and you'll go away it on the default, which is 8.5" x 11" letter in the US. It’s best to maintain all the Chapter Headings the same throughout the e book. To ensure Chapter Headings are uniform for all chapters, choose the Chapter Heading in the document, then navigate to the Styles tab. There are several choices provided by Microsoft Phrase, such as Heading 1, Heading 2, Title, and so forth. You may modify the font type and dimension if you'll prefer it to be totally different from the ones offered by Microsoft Word.
Then, choose the Chapter Heading you’re modifying and apply the Chapter Heading type you created to each chapter in your ebook (uneditedmeat.com). Customizing the headings permits you to easily change all Chapter Headings or different sorts of headings in your guide without having to vary them manually. After the chapter headings have been standardized, you possibly can go to the View tab and test the field by Navigation Pane. It will permit the Navigation Pane to pop up on the side of the doc. It shows all the chapter headings, making it simple to click to the start of each chapter without scrolling by way of the doc. So you’ve efficiently formatted your e-book in Word. Now what? Can you just add it to Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) or another e book service as is? Or do you need to do more? Technically, you don’t have to do any conversions. However, pay particular attention when previewing your file. Th is art ic le was cre ated wi th t he help of G SA Content Gener ator Demoversi on!
Complex formats similar to tables, photographs, and so forth might not convert properly. Confirm all the pieces appears good before publishing. You may additionally want to use one of the instruments mentioned beneath to transform your Word file into EPUB exterior of KDP and make direct modifications to the EPUB file (which you can then add to KDP). There are more advanced elements of e book formatting, such as adding drop caps to the beginning of each chapter, creating fancier chapter headings, and so on. As you turn into more comfortable with guide formatting, you possibly can experiment with more superior style decisions. If you would like further details about guide formatting try Dave Chesson’s full guide on all issues book formatting. Listed here are workable choices that don’t involve buying software program, with one exception. Again, these methods will solely be acceptable in case your e book is predominantly textual content, with few images and particular formatting necessities. Calibre is a free software that may convert your Word file into any e-book format.
