How to Format a Word Document for Publication on Amazon

 

I’m going to go through the steps I use to ready my MS Word books for publication on Amazon. These are things I’ve learned through trial and error. You may tweak them as you see fit and for what works for you.

I work in individual chapters when I’m writing, saving each chapter as a separate file and then merging them together at the end. It’s easier for me to find things that way while I’m working instead of digging through a long document. I also take notes on what’s in each chapter (I have a document with a brief synopsis of each chapter) so I know what I’ve covered already or if I have to go back and change a scene. As I said, it’s what works for me. Everyone is different.

 Setting up Your Word Document for Draft Writing

Whether you work in chapters or throw the whole book in one file, you should work with a draft writing template set up as follows, with your Normal text and Heading 2 (for chapter headings) already formatted. Those are the only things you should have to worry about while writing your draft manuscript.

To set up a draft writing template, on the Home tab, right click the Normal style, select Modify. Set your font and font size (usually 10 or 12 pt). At the bottom click the Format tab and select Paragraph. Under Indentation, Special, select First Line, and put in 2 if using a 10 point font or 3 if using a 12 point font. Spacing before and after should be 0. On the Line and Page Breaks tab, select Widow and Orphan Control and Keep With Next.

For your chapter headings, right click on the Heading 2 style and select Modify. Select your font and font size and where you want it to appear (centered, left, etc.). At the bottom, under Format, select Paragraph and make sure Indentation, Special is set to none. Set spacing Before to 60 and After to 12. On the Line and Page Breaks tab, select Widow and Orphan, Keep With Next, and Keep Lines Together. I don’t know why you do this, but Word sometimes gets quirky and decides to put your chapter heading on a separate page if you don’t.

NOTE: A word on why we use Heading 2 instead of Heading 1. For some reason, Kindle doesn’t always recognize Heading 1, so I just use Heading 2 all the time. Saves me more work later.

When you start a new chapter, it should always be on a new page. You can ensure that by going to the end of your chapter then clicking on the Page Layout tab at the top of Word, then select Breaks, Page. You can also format it in your heading by right clicking Heading 2, Modify, Format (at the bottom), Paragraph, Line and Page Breaks, Break Before. I don’t use that function because it isn’t read when you’re converting the book for Kindle in Kindle Create. I just use standard page breaks, saves me work later.

Setting up Your Document for Print

Once you’ve finished your book and you’re ready to go to print, you need a whole new set of styles. Your final trim size will determine a lot of this. I personally use a trim size of 5.25 inches by 8 inches, which is a standard mass market paperback size. If you want another size, you’ll have to modify the paper size and margins accordingly. For now I’m going to use the 5.25 x 8 for discussion’s sake. If you want to change it, refer to KDP’s downloadable Build Your Book pdf for margin and trim size info, or refer to the KDP dashboard for instructions on trim and margin sizes.

On the Page Layout tab of Word, click on Size, then More Page Sizes at the bottom of the pull down menu. Paper size Letter should be selected, then put in your width and height. Make sure Whole Document is selected under Apply To.

Then click on the Margins tab and use the following settings:

Top   .5

Inside   .72

Gutter   0

Bottom   .5

Outside   .45

Under Multiple Pages, select Mirror Margins, and be sure Whole Document is selected under Apply To.

On the Layout tab, select Different Odd and Even for Headers and make sure Apply To is set for Whole Document.

That sets up your pages. If you used a draft writing template, your text is already formatted, but we’ll still set your styles in this document.

As before, on the Home tab, right click the Normal style, select Modify. Set your font and font size to match the draft document, and set justification to Justify (the only difference between the draft chapter and this document). Format your paragraphs styles the same as the draft document (see above).

Format your chapter headings the same as your draft document (see above).

Before you drop your draft document into this print template, you should set up your front matter. Remember, this is going to be a two-sided document so you need to insert a blank page between each element of your front matter. Insert one by going to the Page Layout tab and under Breaks, select Page.

First up, Title Page. It should include your Title, Author Name, and Publisher. If you don’t have a publisher, use your own name. Insert a blank page.

 Next is your copyright page. Below is sample text for a copyright page:

 Copyright©, [Your Name], 202X

All rights reserved

Published by [Your publisher or you can use your own name. If none, delete this line]

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission of the author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

I also include a link to my website here.

After it, insert a blank page.

Next is your dedication, if you have one. Also your epigraph, if you have one, and any other information you want in your front matter (author’s books, forward, etc.). Make sure to insert a blank page between each.

When you’re finished with your front matter, insert a section break AFTER another page break by going to the Page Layout tab, Breaks, Section Breaks, Next Page. This is important for your headers and pagination.

Once all the front matter is in, you can select all of your book document and copy and paste it into the template after the front matter.

Now, comes the tricky, hair-pulling part. Headers and Footers. No matter how well I format my document, this always gives me headaches because Word is temperamental when it comes to headers and footers. One thing in your favor; if, when you were setting up your layout, you selected Different Odd and Even for Headers, you should have an easier time getting your headers and footers set up.

Most books go with an odd, even set up on headers; for instance, odd pages with the book title, even pages with the author name. Go to the first page of text (not front matter) in your book and under the Insert tab, select Header and then in the drop down menu select the format you want to use for your Odd header (Odd is usually justified right, Even justified left, unless you want them both centered).

The header bar will come up at the top of the page. Type in your text and hit Enter to insert a line between your header and the text of your book. Make sure Link to Previous is deselected. Close Header.

Go to your first even page (usually page 2) and insert your Even header in the same way.

Now, go back and check to make sure it didn’t insert headers in your front matter. If it did, click in them and delete them (and hope it doesn’t completely remove them from your book). This is a trial and error thing that can sometimes take some time.

Pagination. Whether you want it on the bottom or the top, select the Page Number tab under Insert, click where you want the page numbers (top, bottom, etc.) then select Format Page Numbers. Make sure you’re on the first odd page of text and deselect Continue from Previous, under Start At enter 1. Close then do the same for the first even page, select Start At at 2. Go back and make sure it didn’t enter page numbers in your front matter (delete them if it did).

Hopefully you got it all right the first time. If not, don’t feel bad. I’ve been doing this for years and I still need more than one try to get it right.

Now, go through the whole document and make sure your headers and pagination are correct. Also make sure all your chapters start on a new page (insert a page break at the end of the previous chapter if they don’t) and check for any widows or orphans Word missed. When everything looks good, you’re ready to save it as a pdf for print.

When you go to File, Save As, don’t select the option Save as Adobe PDF. Instead, go to Save As and under the Save As drop down menu, select pdf there.

Pay attention to how many total pages there are in the book because that affects your cover size. If you’re having your cover done by an artist, give them the trim size and number of pages (this is important for the spine).

If you’re doing the cover yourself, you can download a template from KDP, just put in your trim size and number of pages and whether or not it is bleed (most are not) or not and it will generate a template for you to download. Pay attention to the cut lines on the template; anything outside them will not show up on your cover.

And there you have it, a completed print book ready for publication.

Setting up Your Document for Kindle

The following instructions are for using Kindle Create. If you use a different formatter, your process may be different.

First, download and install the latest version of Kindle Create. Then open the program and start a new project.

If you used a draft chapter template to set up your document and inserted a page break between each chapter, you should be ready to upload that into Kindle Create. No additional page or document formatting is needed. Kindle Create will format your manuscript for use in Kindle devices. Make sure your front matter IS NOT in the document. All you need is your book text.

Import your draft book file into Kindle Create. It takes a few minutes, then your book will populate with each chapter a separate entry (providing you used those all important page breaks after each chapter). You can go through the chapters to make sure everything looks good, then scroll up in the left sidebar to get to the front matter. Click on Title Page and fill in the blanks as requested.

Select the Copyright page, and copy and paste your copyright text from the page you used in your print copy.

Do the same for all your front matter, copying and pasting the text into the allotted page. If there isn’t a tab corresponding to one of your front matter pages, use the generic one at the bottom of the section. You can also insert images on the page in this section.

You can also format the book using one of Kindle Create’s preset templates (see in the right sidebar of Kindle Create). I’ve checked them all out and usually stick with what I formatted myself, but you can try them on for size.

Once everything is entered, it’s time to generate your copy. Make sure you select a name and folder that will be easy to find. If you choose to create both an epub and a kpf file, Kindle Create will create two folders (EPUB and KPF), as well as a separate .kpf file. The kpf file is what you will upload to Amazon. The epub file is for other outlets you may wish to use.

A word about covers. If you are doing your cover or a cover artist is, the file size for a Kindle cover is 2560 high by 1600 wide.

Upload your cover when you upload your kpf file. Amazon will insert your cover into the file for your Kindle ebook.

NOTE: If you would like a pdf copy of this post, send me a message in the comments section with your email address and I will forward that to you, along with Amazon's KDP Build Your Book pdf (it's kind of hard to find online).