eBooks have a special formatting — the pages that we are used to reading (page numbers, page breaks, etc), don’t exist on most eBooks.
Top Ten eBook Formatting Mistakes to Avoid
Many of the staff here at NovelHelp have formatted numerous eBooks and have made nearly every mistake…some even more than once! We don’t want you to have to suffer the same fate so we have developed a list of common mistakes to avoid. Also on this page are checklists to help you keep track of eBook formatting and uploading. And, we aren’t proud and know that we can never stop learning. We look forward to sharing information with you as the technology quickly changes!
- Improper Use of Indents – Learn how to use the Word for Windows “indent” feature. Do not use tabs, don’t space across, no cheating! If you upload your book not properly indented it will be rejected.
- Too Many Paragraph Returns – Again, no cheating, some like to just hit that “return” (enter) key until the next page starts. No can do! eBook publishers have rules about using too many paragraph returns. If you use no more than 4, consider yourself safe. Too many returns can create a blank page inside your eBook.
- Large or Fancy Fonts – Don’t use fancy fonts, your paperback publisher doesn’t want Times New Roman, but your eBook does. Font sizes should NEVER be over 14pt.
- Styles – Do you know what “styles” are? Styles are predetermined formatting for the Word for Windows document. For example, you may see the style “Heading 1″ (with just one click that may give you bold, large font, change of font, underline all at the same time). Styles are next to that little window in Word for Windows on the toolbar, to the left of the font choice. The only style you should USE is NORMAL, and by that we mean normal, normal — not web normal. Just normal.
- Incorrect Paragraph Separation – the preferred presentation is to indent the paragraph and then one return in between each paragraph. If you do not use the indent feature at all, then you may use two returns to separate the paragraph.
- Page Numbers – No page numbers, they don’t exist in the eBook world, no headers to footers! eBooks have their own way of keep track of where you are in your reader.
- Tables – eBooks don’t like tables. If you want to use tables in an eBook, the must first be converted into an image file and then re-inserted.
- Page Breaks – Use them wisely. Only use a “hard or forced” page break in between chapters. Ignore all the other “soft” page breaks floating around in your book. They don’t matter.
- Making it look like the printed copy – Your eBook is not a print book. It will be unreadable. We still recommend a separate format file for submitting to eBook publishers (hosts) than paperback. The presentation of your book will be much more enjoyable.
- Complicated Formatting – Just remember the “KISS” principle (keep it simple “sweetie” – I know people use a different word). Well there you have them. Follow these basic rules and your eBook formatting will go much easier.
