Formatting an ebook

This page helps to explain how to format your text to create an ebook to be hosted via 'Smashwords', who will then host it in multiple formats. If you want to produce a book directly yourself, there are details on how to do so in my book 'Creating ebooks', although it can be quite a faff to do it that way.

How you proceed will depend on if you are starting from scratch, or already have a printed book that you now want to set up as an ebook.

Convert a printed book

If you don't have an original manuscript, ask about to find the best deal to get your book scanned and converted into a text file. If you have a PDF, then convert it into a text file (there is free software available, I use 'Calibre'). If you have a Word .doc file then great (save later .docx files into this earlier format), but you still need to take the next step.

Having done quite a few books now, I'm convinced that there are no short cuts. try and save time now, and you may well have to go back to basics later on. The problem is that all documents pick up random coding along the way, even though this isn't apparent at the start.

The best thing you can do at this stage is to drop your document into something like 'Notepad' (see under windows accessories). This is a really basic word processor, so it will discard most, if not all of the 'wobbly' bits of formatting instructions. Then save as a Word .doc file and move on to the next section.

Starting from scratch

The trick is to keep things as simple as possible. It took me quite a few books before I developed my own 'house style' which seems to work quite well now. Keep working away and your own style will come. Do take the time to download and read the 'Smashwords Style Guide', there's enough there to get you started.

Or, if you want me to publish your book for you, get in touch. As part of the service, I'll provide a template set up with styles you'll need, together with a guide.

Do remember that these are not printed books, so things like page breaks and page numbers are to be avoided. Don't get too specific about line length either, remember that it will be the reader who will decide font size based on their personal preference and choice of reader. The moment the font size changes, all the layout you had in mind will go out of the window. And do you really want to format books for every screen size from mobile to PC?