Formatting Your Ebook
By: C.E. Webb
Copyright C.E. Webb 2011
Smashwords Edition
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Companion book - "Marketing Your Ebook" is also available.
Introduction
You have spent months perhaps even years working on your book. It is now time to send it to distributors and major retailers. The process of uploading your manuscript and cover art is straight forward and in most cases very simple. Before the uploading process can begin however, you will need to make certain your manuscript is properly formatted. Some sites will reject your submission if it is incorrectly formatted while others will not consider it for their more prestigious listings. You also risk having your ebook look incorrect and being very hard for a reader to view it. All of these can cost you sales
Fortunately properly formatting your manuscript does not take any special training or skills. If you have never done this type of formatting before you can expect the process to take 3 to 5 hours. Once you get the hang of it, you should be able to complete most projects in under two hours.
The instructions listed below will show you the basic formatting methods which will allow you to upload your ebook to retailers such as Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and Diesel. They will also show you how to format your book for uploading to Google books and Smashwords.com as well.
Important Note: When formatting your ebook do not worry with attempting to set the page breaks at certain points. Each reading device will appear differently, and some offer the option for readers to adjust font sizes and display. Therefore you will not be able to set page breaks properly.
The purpose of formatting your manuscript is to make it properly display on the reader. Since readers vary in display and options, you should not try for any fancy text types or formatting. Your goal is a clean looking ebook which will display properly on almost any reading device. For some this may seem slightly bland, but your readers are more interested in the content of your story than formatting. As far as your reader is concerned, the formatting should be invisible and never given a thought.
Formatting
If you are not familiar with formatting or have never worked behind the scenes in Microsoft Word, formatting your ebook can be challenging but certainly not impossible. The first time can be a bit overwhelming, but take your time and you will get through it. For now, let's think positive and believe in a very short time you will have a properly formatted ebook ready for uploading and on its way to readers. Let's get started,,,
Important Note: Do not use the Tab key or space bar to indent for paragraphs. You should also not overuse the return key when placing spaces between lines of text. Never use more than four (4) 'returns' in a row to avoid formatting errors.
Optional Start: If you have a clean manuscript and are not worried about hidden problems, you can skip this step. If you want to be certain you are starting with a clean manuscript, this step can help. Go into your document and press both the Ctrl and A keys. This will highlight the entire text. Now copy the entire document and then paste it into WordPad. Wordpad does not support the formatting found in Word so this effectively eliminates all of the formatting, giving you a clean starting point. In WordPad press Ctrl A once again and copy the entire document. Then paste this document into a new Word worksheet. All old formatting is gone and you are ready to begin.
Step One: You will need to turn off the auto correct feature of Word. Click on the Word Options emblem in the upper left corner of the screen. From the drop down menu select 'Proofing'. On the next screen select the tab for 'Autoformat As You Type'. A screen similar to the one below will appear. The only box you want to have checked on this screen is the 'Straight quotes' with 'smart quotes' The Autocorrect option must be turned off or Word may reverse the changes you are going to make in later steps. You may not even notice the changes until they show up as errors when you are attempted to upload your ebook to a retailer or distributor.
Step Two: Turn on the 'Show/Hide' feature on. This will allow you to track your changes and see exactly what features have been used, such as tabs, space, and returns. The emblem should be located near the center of your Word tool bar.
Step Three: You will also need to remove all headers and footers, including page numbers. As mentioned, each reading device will display your text in a different way and the page numbers will only cause problems in uploading and confusion for your readers.
Important Note: Do not mix fonts types, and do not use a lot of different font sizes. As a general rule do not use a font size over 14. Your main text can be a font size of 11 or 12. Do proper spell and grammar checks. These types of errors will turn off readers and greatly take away from their enjoyment of your story.
Step Four: You will need to remove all Tab's and paragraph indents made by using the space bar. This is a very simple process. Since these will not format properly in the finished document, they must be removed. You will use the 'Find and Replace' option in Word. In the space for 'Search' enter ^t , and leave the 'Replace' space blank. Select 'Replace all' and press 'enter'. The program will run for a moment then tell you how many items it found and replaced. Your manuscript should now be free of Tab's.Repeat the process for all paragraph indents made with the space bar. In the 'Replace' space enter the same number of space bar entries you used to create the paragraph indent. Once again leave the 'Replace' space blank and hit 'enter'. You will once again be shown the number of indents removed from your manuscript.
Helpful Hint: For your protection, and sanity, frequently save the changes you are making to your manuscript, but not to the original file. Create a new file for the ebook edition of your manuscript.
Step Five: You will need to get all of your text to a single font type, preferably 'Times New Roman'. You can add different font styles to your headings and chapter titles later, for now it is better to have everything the same. Remember, you cannot be certain how an odd font will appear on certain reader devices. To change all the fonts in your manuscript press the 'CTRL' and 'A' keys. This will highlight the entire text of your manuscript. In the pull down menu for font style scroll down to 'Times New Roman' and select it. All of your text will be changed. (You may also use Garamond or Arial). While you have the entire text highlighted, go ahead and select the font size for your manuscript. We recommend you use either 11 or 12. This will make certain you do not have a variety of text sizes which can cause problems when being uploaded. You can go back and make changes to the font size on your chapter headings in a later step.
Step Six: In the upper left hand corner there is a pull down menu box. This menu allows you to modify or set the Paragraph style for your document. Once again press the CTRL and A keys to highlight your entire document. You will need to pull down the menu and select the 'normal/ option. This will make certain all of your paragraphs are formatted properly for the upload.
Step Seven: In this step you will modify the paragraph styles and fonts throughout your document. On the right side of your tool bar you will see a section marked 'styles'. To the right of this you will see two A's and the words 'Changes Styles'. Below this you will find a small box with an arrow in the lower right corner. Click on this box. A new drop down menu will appear. From this menu go to 'Normal' which will give you a new set of options. From this menu select the 'Modify' option. A new box labeled 'Modify Style' will be displayed. In the bottom let corner will be a box labeled 'Format'. Click on this box. A new menu will appear. From this select 'Paragraph'.You will now see a new set of options for 'Indents and Spacing'. You will need to make several changes to the options on this page. Under the 'General' area you want the alignment set to 'left' and the Outline level set to 'Body Text'. Under Indentation you want the left and right both set to '0' The Mirror indents should not be checked. Special will need to be set at 'First line' and the By set to '0.3'. Under Spacing, the Before option needs to be set at '0 pt' while the After option should be set to '6 pt'. Line Spacing should be 'single' and the "Don't add space between paragraph of the same style" should not be checked. Double check all settings, then close this menu.
Step Eight: You will want the option to center some sections of your document, such as Chapter Headings. The normal 'center' option in Word is often ignored when the document is converted into an ebook format, so do not use the 'center' option. For centering text you will need to use a different option. Under the 'Styles' options on the Word screen select the same small box you did in the previous step. When the drop down menu appears select the 'add' option.A new screen will appear labeled 'Create New Style from Formatting'. In the name section type in 'center'. Under the formatting options click on the center text option. You also need to check the box for 'Automatically update'. If you want all centered text to be a certain font size, you may change that at this time as well.When you exit back to the main screen you will see a new style option on the left side marked 'Center'. You can now use this to center your chapter headings, titles, or other special text areas.
Step Nine: Your ebook will need a title and copyright page. Place the title of your ebook near the top of the page, normally centered. Below this put your name. A line or two below this you will type the name of the book again. A line below this type your name followed by Copyright and the current year. Some companies will also want a disclaimer posted on this page, but more on that later.
Closing
Your basic ebook formatting is complete and ready to be uploaded. It is recommended you save this new version to a special disk for protection. The file you have just created is ready to upload to Amazon.com as well as Barnes and Noble. You may need to make certain fine tune adjustments for certain other sights and retailers, but the document you have now created is the basic unit you will need for all uploading tasks. Some of the special requirements will be covered below.
Formatting For Smashwords.com
The basic format above will be used to upload your ebook to Smashwords which will in turn distribute your book to a number of retailers. Smashwords requires you to put a licence note on the copyright page of your book. The text is shown below.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Smashwords.com also requires you to insert "Smashwords Edition" on the copyright page. There are other variables of this text, but this is the simplest.
Editors Note: This is required by Smashwords but sites such as Amazon.com allow books to be shared. This is often seen as theft, but how many of us have not lent someone a copy of a print book to read? It is also impossible for a person to find an ebook in a used bookstore. While there is some concern over illegal distribution of ebooks, sharing books is as old as the printed word and should not be a major concern.
ISNM's For Your Ebook
This is a unique number assigned to a book. It will be used by all retailers and distributors. You do not have to have an ISBN to work with Smashwords, Amazon.com, or Barnes and Noble. But some retails, such as Sony, will not handle your book without and ISBN. You must purchase an ISBN which can cost from $55 up to $125. If you plan to publish a number of books, you can buy a 'lot' of ISBN numbers at a price of approximately 10 for $250, which is a considerable savings. Should you purchase an ISBN for your ebook? If you want the widest possible distribution for your book then Yes, you will want to purchase an ISBM. If you want to wait and see how your book does in the other retail locations you can always add the ISBN number at a later time. Overall, it is a small investment which will help you sell more books.
Free ISBN for Your ebook - If you upload your ebook through Smashwords they offer a very helpful and unique feature. You can apply a free ISBN to your ebook. The official record will show Smashwords as the Publisher, but this does not affect your rights to the book. If you want to be shown as the publisher of the ebook, Smashwords also allows that, but there is a $9.95 charge per ISBN. They will even let you have a negative balance on your account to pay for these ISBN's and will deduct payment from future royalties. This is a great service since Sony and Apple will not accept books which do not have an ISBN. No reason to lock yourself out of these markets when such an affordable solution is available.
Formatting Your Book For Google Books
You will want to list your book with the Google Book Partner Program. This is very simple to do and requires no additional formatting. You will need to take the same formatted document you created above, without the Smashwords requirements, and save it as a PDF file. The file must also be properly named in order to be uploaded by Google. The body of your book must be names YourBookTitle_content.pdf . Your front and back cover will also need to be properly named and uploaded at the same time as the body of your book. These files should be named YourBookTitle_frontcover.jpg and YourBookTitle_backcover.jpg.
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If you found this book helpful, consider the companion book - "Marketing Your Ebook" to help you after you have finished the uploading process.
See other fine ebook titles at Steel Diamonds Publishing.