How to Format Your Ebook the Simple Way: A Word-to-Ebook Cheat Sheet

by Corina Koch MacLeod
@CKmacleodwriter
Updated March 23, 2014

The easiest way to format an ebook is to begin with Microsoft Word. 

I know, I know. HTML & CSS enthusiasts and InDesign evangelists everywhere have just engaged in a collective shudder. 

But hear me out. Not all self-pubs have access to expensive design software or the time or interest for the required learning curve. Many of them do have access to Microsoft Word, though. Why not begin where they're at? That's what Joel Friedlander and Aaron Shepard have done. You're welcome to take it up with them. <wink>

So, having gotten that out of the way, if your manuscript is in Microsoft Word, there are several things you can do to ensure a smoother transition from Word to ebook. Your first step is to clean up your book in Word. Here's what you need to do:

• Remove headers, footers and page numbers. Ebooks don’t have pages, so you don't need to include these elements. In the past, headers, footers and page numbers could cause problems for the ebook conversion process. Aaron Shepard, author of From Word to Kindle states that if you forget to take out this these elements, it's not the end of the world. Amazon's Kindle conversion software will ignore them, and so will Lulu's. Phew!

• Remove underlining in headings. Instead, use Word Styles to make headings and subheadings stand out. If you don't know where to start, consider using Joel Friedlander's inexpensive Word templates to set up ebook-appropriate styles. As a bonus, your distributor's ebook conversion tool will use your styled headings to create a searchable table of contents (TOC) for your readers.

Use the Word Styles menu to apply formatting

• Remove footnotes from the bottom of your "pages." You can place them at the end of the chapter and hyperlink them using Word's bookmark feature. Just be sure that the footnotes at the end of the chapter link back to the text. I won't lie to you: linking footnotes is a time-consuming process, so think about whether it's absolutely necessary to include them in your ebook. Do you really need them? Could you handle footnotes in another way? (Aaron Shepard thinks you can.). Don't be afraid to get creative.

• Remove two spaces after end punctuation. Use only one space after a sentence instead of two. Use Pilcrow to find extra spaces at the end of sentences, between words, and to find extra returns after paragraphs.

Turn on Pilcrow in Word 

• Remove manual tabs and spaces. Did you use the tab key for paragraph indents? The space bar? Add paragraph indents with paragraph styles instead. In fact, use Word Styles whenever possible, instead of applying any styles directly from the formatting toolbar in Word.

• Remove text boxes. They don’t convert well to ebook formats. If you have a lot of instances of text that need to be set apart in some way from your running text, check out Joel Friedlander's nonfiction templates. They handle offset text in rather creative ways!

• Remove tables formatted in Word. Complex tables don't work well in reflowable ebooks. Create your table in a separate Word document, take a screen capture and then insert the resulting image inline. If tables are a critical component of your book, and you're up for a learning curve, Scrivener and Jutoh can handle simple tables.

A table captured as an image

• Avoid the list buttons on the ribbon. In his book From Word to Kindle, Aaron Shepard recommends creating bulleted and numbered lists by hand instead of using the list buttons on Word's ribbon. You can use the bullet symbol for this purpose (Insert tab, Symbol). This trick works especially well with list items that are shorter than a line of text. If your list items spill over onto the next line, the Kindle converter causes the spacing in your list to go off kilter. If lists are important to your book and your book contains lots them, consider using Jutoh to convert your book —Jutoh plays nicely with Word, and can even create nested lists (bullets with sub-bullets).

• Choose photos over clip art. Photos look more professional. Choose photos that add information to your text or clarify a concept. Resist using using photos for decoration. To prevent any copyright issues, use stock photos for any images you want to include in your book and remember to credit the photographer.

• Decide if you need an index (gasp!). I don't see a lot of indexes in ebooks because they can be time-consuming to create. If you're up for a learning curve, programs like Jutoh and InDesign have features that can make the process a little less onerous. Decide if it's worth your time.

• Use italics to emphasize words—but sparingly. Trust your readers to decide what's important. Save italics mostly for book titles and Latin terms.

It is possible to format an ebook in Word. Your readers won't care how you've created your ebook, as long it's simply formatted and behaves as readers expect.

Recommended Reading

From Word to Kindle, by Aaron Shepard
Book Construction Blueprint, by Joel Friedlander
The Smashwords Style Guide , by Mark Coker
Building Your Book for Kindle, by Kindle Direct Publishing

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