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Formatting your Book for Kindle
Kindle Check List Simplified Formatting
Guide
This is a simplified
guide to building Kindle Books using Microsoft Word, an application from the
Microsoft Office Suite. You won't find confusing tech jargon or convoluted
instructions in this guide, just the basics.
Building Your
book
Word is a
great tool to use because it's extremely easy to format. We suggest writing
your book in Word or OpenOffice in converting an existing source file into
Word (.doc) format before continuing. Remember these important tips below to
ensure an excellent eBook presentation.
File Format: Save your content in DOC (or .doc) format, not RTF
(.rtf) or DOCX (.docx) as the latter do not translate well to Kindle. Save
your work periodically as you make changes to ensure all changes are
recorded.
Layout: Use formatting indentations, bold characters, italics and
headings, as they will translate into your Kindle book. However, bullet
points, special fonts, headers, and footers and tabs will not be
transferred, so be sure to avoid those.
Page Breaks: Enter a page break at the end of every chapter to
prevent the text from running together. To insert a page break in MS Word,
click "Insert" at the top menu bar and select "Page Break."
Image Placement: Images should be inserted in JPEG (or .jpeg) format
with center alignment (don't copy and paste from another source). Select
"Insert" > "Picture" > then locate and select the file. If your book has a
lot of images, it can be viewed in color by readers using our free Kindle
apps for PC, MAC, iPad, iPhone, and Android. Otherwise, remember that images
on Kindle are displayed in 16 shades of gray for great contrast and clarity.
Spellcheck and Grammar: This tool is always your friend to ensure a
professional presentation free of typos. Use this tool, but also manually
proofread your file to ensure no errors are missed by the automated checker.
Creating Front
Matter
Front matter is the beginning
pages of a book, which may include a Title Page, Copyright Page, Dedication,
Preface, and Prologue. For a stylish and professional presentation, you
should add a Title Page at a minimum.
Title Page: The title page should be centered with the title on top
and Author Name underneath, like in the example below. Insert a page break.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
By Mark Twain
-Insert Page Break Here-
To insert a page break in Word, click "Insert" at the top menu bar and
select "Page Break."
Copyright Page: This page normally follows the Title Page. Insert a
page break after the Copyright details.
Dedication: If you have a customized Dedication, it should follow the
Copyright page. Be sure to Insert a page break.
Preface: If you have a Preface, it should follow the Dedication. Be
sure to Insert a page break.
Prologue: If your book includes a Prologue, it should follow the
Preface. Be sure to Insert a page break.
Formatting Text
Once your front
matter is complete, you're ready to format the remainder of your text. The
indentations, text spacing, and separate paragraphs should have been
included when you built your book in Word.
The remaining step is to insert a page break after the last sentence of each
chapter in the book to prevent chapters from running together. Depending on
the number of chapters you have, this may be a time-consuming process but
the effort is worth the improved reading experience.
Paragraphs
Paragraph text
displays with justified alignment by default. The first line of each
paragraph is automatically indented.
To manually indent paragraphs in your content, don’t use tab-spacing. This
will not convert for the Kindle. Instead, use the Word-default Paragraph
Formatting to indent paragraphs. There are two ways in which you can indent
paragraphs:
1. Click on “Page Layout”, and specify the amount of indentation in the
“Indent” option.
2. Use the ruler at the top of the page to change the indentation. If you
don’t see a ruler in your Word document, click on “View” and check the Ruler
option.
You can also follow the guide here:
http://www.ehow.com/how_4714418_indent-paragraphs-word-documents.html
Creating an
Active Table of Contents
For digital
books, page numbers don’t really apply. This is due to the fact that Kindle
content is resizable, and the number of pages within the book changes as the
text scales. It is highly recommended that your book has an active Table of
Contents for easy navigation.
You can use Microsoft Word’s in-built Table of Contents creator to create an
active TOC for your book. More information can be found here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/285059
Guide Items
Kindle has the
option to "Go To” the cover image, beginning and the Table of
Contents of your book, anywhere from the content. These are defined by what
is known as "Guide Items." To define the Guide Items, follow the below
steps:
For the Cover Image:
Click on the cover image, then click on “Insert > Bookmark.” In the
‘Bookmark name:" field, type “cover” (without the quotes) and click "Add."
For the Beginning:
Place the cursor where you want the book to start, click on “Insert >
Bookmark.” In the "Bookmark name:" field, type “Start” (without the quotes)
and click "Add."
For the Table of Contents:
Place the cursor at the beginning of the first entry in the Table of
Contents. Click on “Insert > Bookmark.” In the "Bookmark name:" field, type
“TOC” (without the quotes) and click "Add."
Creating Back
Matter
Back matter
consists of the last pages in your book which provides additional
information the reader should know about, such as Bibliographies,
Appendices, Notes or Glossaries.
There isn't a specific order which back matter should be presented in, so
use your judgment and be sure to insert page breaks after each section.
Indexes are not recommended at this time.
Saving as
Filtered HTML
Once you have
inserted your page breaks and are confident with the layout of your book,
save your Word file to your Documents folder or Desktop in Web Page,
Filtered (*HTM & *HTML) format. This format is required to build a
successful eBook.
When saving the Word file as HTML, all the images (if any) in the Word file
will be extracted, and will be stored in a separate folder. This folder will
be saved in the same location where the HTML file is saved.
Once this is done, you're ready to Send Your Files to Blue Feather Web and
Publishing to have them converted once more to be readable and published to
the Kindle Store for Sale!
Send your HTML folder files to
BluFthr@aol.com and we will get started
on them right away for you.
We have to do a technical "Re-Build." If you have Kindle
Viewer on Your computer
which you
can download, we will send you the final rebuild of your book to review.
At this time we will also need your "Sales Pitch Blurb" which will be the
description of the book. What buyers will see on Amazon to make them buy
your book. When you OK your book and your synopsis, we will then
publish it to Kindle and in a short time your book will be selling on
KINDLE!
Using the Kindle
Previewer to Read Your eBook
Kindle
Previewer is a tool which emulates how a book displays on the Kindle device
and other Kindle enabled devices such as the iPad or iPod. Use it to view
how your text will appear and to identify areas which may require further
modification.
Kindle
Previewer can be downloaded here. Once installed, open the application,
click "File" and then "Open Book" to browse and select your eBook.
If you determine further changes to your book are required, write us with
your changes and we will get right on it, there is not need to send us the
file back. We will then make the edits to your specs, rebuild your
book and send it back to you.
Uploading Your
eBook For Sale on Amazon
Once
you're satisfied with the quality and presentation of your book, we will
upload your book to Kindle. Your book will appear for sale on the
Kindle Store approximately 24 hours after we have uploaded it and Published
it. Within 48 to 72 hours, all of your other book features should be
available on the detail page on Amazon, such as the product description and
links to related physical editions.
Let us GET YOUR BOOK ON AMAZON KINDLE
FOR YOU!
