What Is the Best Way to Save a Document in Word to Upload to Kindle Books

One of the factors that decides whether your book will exist successful or a bomb on Amazon Kindle is the formatting.

While reading a book, have you ever seen the text all run together, paragraphs with weird characters, or chunks of text that just seems to become on forever?

How did you feel about it?

Y'all probably but concluded upwards putting that volume down.

You can have an phenomenal title, a spectacular cover design, and awe-inspiring content, but if you don't format your book correctly, information technology will impact your readers' overall feel.

Poor formatting makes information technology difficult to read your book. It also affects how your readers perceive the quality of your book. Readers have been unconsciously trained to read books designed in a item format—and to expect that format every time. They pick up on the layout and arrangement more than they remember. If the formatting of your book is not what they are used to, they may experience that it's been cheaply made or done by an amateur.

Does this mean you have to hire a professional person to format your volume?

No.

I've seen a lot of authors spend hundreds of dollars only to take someone format their book. They think they don't have the noesis or skill to exercise information technology themselves.

I've formatted my ebooks myself and I've mastered the techniques to do it quickly and efficiently. You don't demand to spend hundreds of dollars just to get your book looking professional and well-formatted. I can teach you how to format a Kindle volume in merely 30 minutes.

How to Format an Ebook for Kindle

In this gratis detailed guide, I'm going to bear witness you how to format a volume for Kindle for fiction and nonfiction (yes, there is a difference when it comes to formatting fiction and nonfiction, so yous need to make sure you follow the correct procedure for your genre).

All y'all need is to study the steps and implement them with the next volume yous publish.

Formatting Nonfiction Books for Amazon Kindle

Every book has standard parts, from the front matter and tabular array of contents to the cadre matter and the back matter. It's crucial that every function of the book appear in the correct club with the correct content.

I like making things elementary, so I just remember of the Kindle volume format in eight sections. These are:

• Title folio
• Why I wrote this book
• Why yous should read this book
• Table of contents
• Chapters
• Virtually the author
• Other books by author
• Ane final matter

What You Need to Beginning Kindle Formatting

You merely demand a few things to publish your ebook:

• Your book in digital format (.doc, docx, .txt, html, etc.)
• Microsoft Give-and-take
• 30 minutes of your time

You don't demand any special skills to format your book. If y'all know how to click buttons and highlight text, then yous're perfect for this job.

Ready? Great!

Steps Before Formatting Your Book

Before nosotros discuss each section of the book, we need to ensure that our manuscript is clean. That ways no prior formatting, no HTML codes, no assuming, no italics, and so on.

This is important because if there are jumbled fonts from all the dissimilar programs you've used, or from leftover formatting from bits and pieces of the manuscript that might take come from different places, it can really mess upwardly the formatting.

If you already accept your manuscript in MS Give-and-take, select all the texts by pressing CTRL+A, then motion your cursor over the headings section and click on Normal.

This pace removes all the stray formatting, and information technology'll stop up with your manuscript looking like this:

If you have copied and pasted your manuscript from a different place or a program other than MS Word, you might accept some weird fonts or characters in your manuscript. In this example, what you want to practise is to clear it past using a TEXT format.

If you're using a PC, you can employ Notepad and copy and paste your manuscript into the Notepad before transferring it to MS Discussion. If you lot are using a Mac or another operating system, then yous can become to http://www.editpad.org/ to remove all formatting. Only copy all the text.

After you're done clearing all the formatting, you can at present outset to lay out your manuscript for Amazon Kindle.

One point that I want to make is that the series of steps that I'one thousand going to show you offers a guide to formatting your manuscript. You can still cull to make changes to the basic template! Yous can change how large your title is going to be, customize the subtitle, alter chapter headings, and all that. Y'all tin can as well change the alignment to centered or justified.

Notwithstanding, there are some things that I call up you don't have to carp with.

An example is the font. If you have a special font that yous want to use, that's fine.

But truth is, the font doesn't really thing because 99% of readers choose their own fonts on their device. They tin can brand the font bigger, smaller, or fancier as they wish. To make this process quick, I merely employ the style assault MS Give-and-take and gear up information technology to "Simple."

"Style set up" basically tells MS Word what kind of fonts to use for your title, headings ,and paragraphs. I use "Simple" because it's the easiest and most straightforward mode.

To change the way set in your document, just click on Modify Styles, coil over to Manner Set, and select the option Elementary.

Formatting the Title Page

The kickoff page of your manuscript is the title page. The title page should only comprise the title, writer name and subtitle, copyright, and a call to action. Each element should be formatted appropriately.

i. Change the mode of the book title using the Title way.

Sometimes the Title manner doesn't announced on the first row of the styles list. If y'all can't encounter Title, click on the drop-down arrow push button to bear witness the all styles.

Alter the alignment of the championship to center. Select the title and click on the Center Text button.

2. Change the subtitle and author style to Subtitle and make them centered.

3. The adjacent section is our copyright section and the phone call to action. Now, this department will also be centered, but it will only be regular text. For the regular text, you select the Normal style.

four. Create a call to action. A phone call to action (or CTA) is essentially asking your readers to join your newsletter, check out your blog, become your costless preparation courses, or whatever offer you have to connect your readers to y'all online.

This is not intended to interrupt your readers, but it'southward placed in the beginning considering it's convenient. This is a not-traditional manner to build your platform inside your manuscript.

To create a telephone call-to-action link, yous must insert a hyperlink to your call-to-activeness text. Select the call-to-activeness text, click on the Insert tab and click Hyperlink.

Add together the address on the Address box and click OK.

Your call-to-activity text will appear in bluish. You can check to see if the link is working past hovering over the text, holding downward the CTRL button, and clicking on the text. If this link is working in MS Discussion, it volition also work in Amazon Kindle.

Note: Information technology's super important to test every hyperlink in your manuscript because if yous have a link that's not working, you'll lose on opportunity to engage with your reader and possibly tick them off. Make certain you include the "http://" part of the address to ensure that the link will work.

v. Stop this section by inserting a page break. What this will do is ensure that your readers won't see the next department or affiliate of your book until they click on the Next push button and scroll to the next page on their Kindle device. So, at the end of title page, every section, and every chapter, you're going to insert a page break to make it nice and neat.

Click on the Insert tab and click on Folio Break.

The page pause is not visible on your document within Word, and then yous'll need to make certain that the folio break is inserted properly on your manuscript. To exercise this, there's a tool in MS Word that I like to apply called the pilcrow. Let me show you how this works.

Go to the Habitation tab and click on the Bear witness/Hide Pilcrow button.

This will show a pilcrow at the end of each paragraph. The tool is going to testify you lot symbols like folio breaks, where you've hit "enter" to get to a new line, and if at that place are spaces (those will prove up similar dots). This technique helps yous see hidden characters that you don't see with your naked eye in the final document, simply which will ultimately bear upon how your manuscript will announced on the Kindle device.

Why I Wrote This Volume

This is the introduction or foreword function of your volume, and the first department where we'll use the chapter heading.

1. Highlight the heading of this page and click on Heading ane.

You lot tin change the alignment of your heading, add extra spacing, use a different font, or leave it every bit-is—it's really all upwards to you. What yous are trying to do at this point is tailor the Heading 1 settings as you lot are imagining the chapter heading will announced on every section of your volume.

Let's quickly go through the steps to adjust the spacing using the Paragraph options in MS Word, just in case you lot want that actress spacing.

Select the text that you want to change the spacing for, and so right-click and select Paragraph.

In the Paragraph settings, you'll find that there is an option to change the Spacing. You can add together more than space before and after the paragraph.

Subsequently yous've finished formatting the heading, highlight the text, right-click on Heading one, and select Update Heading ane to Friction match the Selection.

What yous just did is make a custom Heading 1 manner in MS Word. This ways that the formatting that y'all just set up in the heading of this section volition automatically interpret across the book by simply clicking on Heading 1 where yous want it to announced. You'll encounter more than of how this works as nosotros go on.

two. The text below the heading is just a regular text; this has to be gear up to Normal fashion.

In the epitome above, you'll see that there is a pilcrow just to a higher place the chapter heading. That means in that location is an extra paragraph on pinnacle of the page. Whether to keep or to remove this extra infinite is optional.

If this is an unwanted space, simply delete it. If you want to accept an extra space at the start of every section and every chapter, that'south okay, as long as yous make it uniform throughout the manuscript.

iii. Like you did with the title page, insert a Page Break at the end of this section.

Why You Should Read This Book

This section is almost telling readers why they should read your book. This section is optional.

1. Highlight the heading of this page and click on Heading 1.

As you'll find, you don't take to change anything on this heading to match the "why I wrote this book" heading. It's mimicking the properties and attributes of the first heading and will materialize on every text you lot fix to the Heading i style.

2. The text beneath the heading is just a regular text; set up this to Normal fashion.

3. Insert a Page Break at the cease of this department.

Chapters

The adjacent section of your book is really the table of contents. But because you lot cannot create a clickable table of contents without finishing your book first, we'll skip to formatting the chapters first.

Note: Make sure yous accept a table of contents folio before Chapter 1. Add a folio break at the end of it and work on your chapters.

Now, the chapters of a nonfiction book may contain a heading, a subheading, a sub-subheading, and so forth.

1. For the chapter title, you'll use Heading ane.

two. The text after the outset heading should be a regular paragraph. Select the Normal style.

3. The style of subheadings of the affiliate is set to Heading 2.

Since this is the first time that you lot'll be using Heading 2, customize the formatting of your subheading and update the attributes for Heading ii to take it interpret throughout the book.

You lot tin change the alignment to center, add spacing, alter font, and and then on. It's up to you.

After you've formatted the subheading, highlight the text, right-click on Heading 2, and select Update Heading two to Match Option.

3. The text under each subheading should be set in Normal style.

4. If your subheading contains a sub-subheading, then this will be set to Heading iii.

You're going to echo the same process that you did for Heading 2 for Heading 3. After you've formatted the sub-subheading, highlight the text, correct-click on Heading 3, and select Update Heading three to Match Pick.

five. The text under the sub-subheadings is too going to be set in Normal mode.

6. At the end of the chapter, insert a Page Pause.

7. For the second chapter, yous'll start with the Chapter 2 championship. Set it to Heading one.

8. The text after the first heading should be a regular paragraph. Select the Normal style.

9. The manner of subheadings of the chapter is set to Heading 2.

No demand to change the settings for Heading 2—all the settings that you have previously chosen and used to update Heading volition reflect on all the Heading 2 selections in your volume.

ten. The text under each subheadings should be set in Normal style.

11. If your subheading contains a sub-subheading, then this will be set up to Heading iii.

12. The text under the sub subheadings is likewise going to exist set in Normal style.

13. At the end of the chapter, insert a Page Break.

xiv. Echo steps 7–thirteen for the rest of the capacity.

Virtually the Author

Afterwards yous accept inserted the terminal page break after formatting all the chapters of your book, you're going to format the cease materials, starting with the "most the author" page.

i. Set the heading to Heading 1.

two. The text under the heading is a regular paragraph. Set the style to Normal.

If you want, you lot tin can add together your motion-picture show here. If yous want to do that, just click on Insert tab and the Motion-picture show icon.

3. Insert the hyperlinks on your author bio. You might want to add information here like your author website or your company'south page.

Make sure the address is correct earlier y'all click on OK.

4. At the cease of this section, insert a Page Break.

Other Books by the Writer

This section is only for authors who have published several books. You desire this section to go far very user-friendly for readers to buy your side by side book on Amazon.

1. Change the heading style to Heading 1.

2. Listing all your books on this folio using the Normal manner.

3. Go to the Amazon page of each of your books and copy the URL of the page. Highlight the address, correct-click, and select Copy.

4. Highlight your book title on the listing, go to the Insert tab, and click Hyperlink.

v. Paste the URL into the address box.

6. Repeat steps 3–5 for all your books on the list; at the cease of the department, insert a Folio Interruption.

1 Last Matter

This page is for y'all to brand any requests that you may have (like a call to action) or to include a uncomplicated alphabetic character to ask your readers to read your other books.

Recollect: if you are going to invite your readers to review your volume, you lot cannot offer gifts in render. That would be a violation of Amazon'due south terms of service. If Amazon finds out you're doing that, you tin actually lose the reviews of your books; they may remove the books or, in extreme cases, your unabridged account might exist banned.

1. Set the heading fashion for this department to Heading 2 to avoid being indexed in the table of contents. You lot'll notice out more than about it when you create your table of contents.

two. Set the text under the heading to Normal manner.

Note: You lot don't have to include a link directly to the "create a review" page considering Amazon at present automatically asks readers to review your volume when they click to the next page at the end of your book. But in this section, y'all tin can definitely write a personal note to your readers and inquire them to review it!

Formatting the Table of Contents

Now that your entire book is formatted for Kindle, the last thing you need to do is to create your tabular array of contents (TOC).

It's very important that you follow these steps to create a clickable table of contents that volition work on all eBook readers and devices.

i. Go back to your tabular array of contents page. Gear up the heading to Heading 2.

two. Erase all the text on the table of contents except for the page pause.

3. Add together a infinite betwixt the championship and the page intermission. Once you have that, come up to the References tab, click Table of Contents, and select Insert Tabular array of Contents…

4. On the Table of Contents screen, you'll need to select some very important settings.

The first thing you'll practice is to de-select page numbers. Click on Show page numbers to uncheck information technology.

Page numbers, technically, practise not be for Kindle books. They measure out lines instead, because settings for the book will vary from device to device. And so what we want is to select Utilize hyperlinks instead of page numbers.

5. Gear up the Formats to From template and the Show levels to 1.

If y'all compare the images from step 4 and step five, y'all'll run into the difference in the Web Preview section. From originally showing Headings 1–3, it's now only showing Heading ane. This is why I recommended that you select Heading 2 for the table of contents and "1 last thing" headings. Information technology'south because yous don't really want those sections to appear on the table of contents.

If you want all the headings for a technical menu, that's fine—just set up the Show levels dorsum to 3. Still, I find that it clutters the page; that's why I merely desire the major sections to appear on this list.

Test all the links by property down CTRL and clicking on the text. If it all works in Give-and-take, then information technology will work on Amazon Kindle.

Congratulations! Your nonfiction volume is now set up to publish on Kindle.

Formatting Fiction Books for Amazon Kindle

Merely what if you're a fiction author?

You'll still have to do everything we discussed when formatting nonfiction books. There are just a few extra steps that you need to do to make sure the layout is that of a fiction book.

i. The first thing that y'all demand to practice is to change the expect of your chapter text. Highlight a portion of your chapter text, and so right-click to select Paragraph.

ii. On the Paragraph screen, under Indentation > Special: select First Line, and indent it past 0.38"

iii. The spacing also has to be removed. The paragraph Spacing Earlier and After is fix to 0 to give it the general experience of a professional novel. Click OK.

4. This is how it would look like on the Kindle device.

Now, after making that alter, highlight the text, right-click on Normal, and click Update Normal to Match Option. This will alter all the Normal text in your book to match the settings that you simply updated.

5. The "normal" way type is the base of all the other heading types. What happened when I updated the Normal text is that it likewise updated Headings 1–3, the titles, and the subtitles.

Then if you highlight the title, right-click on it, and select Paragraph, you'll see that it's at present indented. This causes the headings, titles, and subtitles to be off-center.

Alter the paragraph settings for each of the styles by following two simple steps. Start with Championship style.

Highlight the championship, right-click on it, and select Paragraph. On the Paragraph screen, nether Indentation > Special: select None and click OK.

While the text is highlighted, correct-click on the Title and select Update Title to Match Selection. Once that's done, repeat these two steps for the Subtitle, Heading 1, Heading two, and Heading iii styles. Add spacing where you see fit.

6. Later on y'all're done updating all the mode settings on your book, you might desire to change the spacing and indentation for some sections. For example, the writer's bio and the other books section might look improve with a different manner.

I recommend removing the indentation on the outset line of the paragraph and calculation more spaces.

Phew!

All done. You've merely formatted both nonfiction and fiction books for Amazon Kindle.

At present I would similar to challenge you to really study this concept, primary it and implement it.

Kindle Formatting Made Like shooting fish in a barrel

Still feel like you demand a little more help?

Cheque out this video walk-through showing y'all how I format a book for Kindle right on my computer screen!

For this and more than amazing training videos, head on over to eBook Publishing School.

You can acquire about the 10 steps to publishing your own volume, the half dozen cardinal foundations of marketing, the all-time mode to launch your book, and more.

Accept you tried formatting your ain Kindle books? What's your biggest challenge? Tell us in the comments!

For more on publishing on Kindle, read on:

• What Is an eBook? And 8 Reasons You Should Read Them
• How to Publish an Ebook on Amazon Kindle in 10 Elementary Steps
• List of Sites To Promote Your Free Amazon Kindle Books

Kate Sullivan is an editor with feel in every aspect of the publishing industry, from editorial to marketing to cover and interior design.

In her career, Kate has edited millions of words and helped dozens of bestselling, award-winning authors grow their careers and do what they love!

haddencoing1948.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.tckpublishing.com/format-a-kindle-book-in-30-minutes/

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