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The Minimalist Guide to Formatting Your eBooks

For Smashwords and Amazon (Kindle)

By Made in DNAPublished 7 years ago 6 min read
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First and foremost, most, if not all, of this information can be found or gleaned from the Smashwords Style Guide by Mr. Mark Coker, and/or the Amazon guides in their authors' community forums at the following URLs respectively:

Note however, this is not just something I have cobbled together from various sources to put together an article, but in fact, the very process I go through in readying my own work for Smashwords/Amazon.

This guide is for beginners, those who prefer a minimalist look, or those looking for a reference guide.

What this guide isn't

This is not a stylebook. It is not going to lead you through the art of tweaking your ebook to perfection. For that you are going to have to dig deep into the assorted guides and forums out there. There is a plethora of excellent information.

What this guide is

It is a minimalist guide to getting your ebook formatted in the simplest way for both Amazon Kindle and Smashwords, so that it both looks good and is readable (by the machine and by human readers). All the information contained within is pre-upload guidance only (i.e. The work you need to do beforeuploading to either Smashwords or Kindle).

Let's get started.

FORMATTING FOR THE KINDLE:The very first thing you need to know about publishing with Amazon is that their ebook converter prefers .doc/docx (Word formats) and HTML (HyperText Markup Language), but accepts an assortment of files: .doc, .docx, HTML, MOBI, ePub, RTF (Rich Text Format), Plain Text, and KPF (Kindle Package Format).

There are many programs out there now for getting your manuscript into shape – Microsoft Word, Open Office and InDesign, to name just a few. I personally use Microsoft Word, and while the following document will reference Word functions, they are basic functions for the most part, and I believe most programs will have something similar.

The biggest problem that may arise during conversion of your hard work into a file that is ready for ebook conversion is the myriad of undesirable hidden formatting effects within the program itself. Thus it is extremely important to keep it simple.

No matter what program you use, pare everything down to its simplest form. Cut all the funky formatting and fonts, tables, and columns, because they might not be supported, or even if they are, they might not come out looking as you intend them to.

  • Start your document out in whatever "regular" template your writing program offers ('Normal' in Word).
  • Choose one font and stick with it. Consider using the most common fonts like Arial, New Times Roman, Verdana, Century, etc. Mixing fonts or using unusual or foreign language fonts may be asking for trouble.
  • Choose one font size and stick with it (though multiple font sizes are recognized) – I recommend 12.
  • Do not end a page or a chapter with multiple blank lines (carriage returns). Use the Page Break function (in Word) and its counterpart in whatever you are using to write with.
  • Do not use more than two returns (carriage returns) to separate any text, be it paragraph, title and author name, or any kind of information.
  • Bold, Underline, Italics, Left/Center/Right Alignments are allowed.
  • Strike-through is welcome.
  • Images are fine, but insert them using the Insert function and not Copy & Paste. You can edit images (resize and reworking its position) by double left-clicking on them and utilizing the dialog box that comes up.
  • Give your work a leaner look, by selecting the whole document, right-clicking and choosing Paragraph Format. In Indents and Spacing, 1) make sure Line Spacing is single, and 2) Uncheck the radio box concerning adding space between paragraphs. Once you click OK, you should see an immediate change. Quite frankly, I consider this one of the most important steps you can take making your manuscript come out leaner and cleaner in ebook readers. Some people ignore this and it makes their ebooks look "fat" as the spacing between lines creates a big gap.
  • The title page of your ebook should have (centered): title, author, and "Kindle edition". Note, it might not be accepted without "Kindle edition" so be sure to include.

That's it for Amazon. On to Smashwords.

FORMATTING FOR SMASHWORDS:Before you get started with Smashwords, note that there are a million things you can do and two million things you can't do when formatting for them. The guide itself is long and very detailed, so delve into it to get the most of out of your experience. That said, again, the best way to go is to keep it simple.

The very first thing you need to know about publishing with Smashwords is that their ebook converter (the Meatgrinder) prefers .doc (Word format). The end. (In reality, it does accept other formats, but they seem to be more trouble than they are worth. Dig into Mr. Coker's book linked above).

And again, no matter what program you use, pare everything down to its simplest form. Cut all the funky formatting and fonts, tables, and columns, because they might not be supported, or even if they are, they might not come out looking as you intend them to.

  • Start your document out in whatever "regular" template your writing program offers ('Normal' in Word).
  • Choose one font and stick with it. Consider using the most common fonts like Arial, New Times Roman, Verdana, Century, etc. Mixing fonts or using usual or foreign language fonts may be asking for trouble.
  • Choose one font size and stick with it (though multiple font sizes are recognized) – I recommend 12.
  • Do not end a page or a chapter with multiple blank lines (carriage returns). Use the Page Break function (in Word) and its counterpart in whatever you are using to write with.
  • Bold, Underline, Italics, Left/Center/Right Alignments are allowed.
  • Images, tables, footnote, and anything "exotic" are unwelcome. Avoid them.
  • Smashwords is extremely particular when it comes to the title page and copyright. The title, the name of the author(s), the copyright, and the words "Smashwords edition" must be clear on the title page.
  • They are extremely particular about including a "License Statement" (centered). Include the following on the title page or on the page directly after:
Smashwords License Statement: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 reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

YOU'RE DONE:

That's it. I wish you the best of luck. It takes a little time (and sometimes it's a pain), but it's very rewarding.

There are a ton of sites online, all with how-to information on formatting, so don't just stop with this document. Also, remember to experiment; that's the best way to get your book the way you want it to look.

Everything here is an expression of opinion based on my own experience of trial and error. Please note that with each passing day, both companies update their procedures, but with very little exception. This document has remained mostly unchanged since I first wrote it in 2012 – simplicity does not change.

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About the Creator

Made in DNA

The not-yet bestselling, non-award winning author of work you haven't read yet!

Work spans various genres -- scifi, weird, non-fiction, life in Japan.

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