When I receive manuscripts from authors there is usually some strange formatting going on. I have noticed that the authors I work with the most, take the time to look at what I do when I format their eBooks and try and get the original manuscript over to me in a better state. I thought it might be useful for me to go over a few things I immediately change when I format eBooks, so if you want to format your own eBook, or even get someone else to do it for you, you will know what to avoid.

1. Jo Harrison
Virtual Assistant
www.ebook-formatting.co.uk

2. Edit and proofread your work
before formatting...
It’s far easier to format a manuscript for eBook
when it has been thoroughly edited and
proofread. To format the eBook and then have
to make changes is not especially difficult, but
if you have already converted the eBook to
ePub or some other version it creates more
work to go back and do it again.

3. Press enter at the end of
each line...
This isn’t necessary at all, when I receive
documents like this I wonder whether the
writer is still using a typewriter. In all word
processing software you can continue writing
and only need to press enter at the end of a
paragraph.

4. Use page breaks...
This is really important, if you want your
chapters to start on a new page on e-readers
then you need to add a page break at the end
of your chapters. Don’t use any other kind of
break in an eBook as these won’t convert well.

5. Use a lot of bullet points or
numbered lists...
Bullet points and numbered lists don’t convert
well into an eBook if you’re using Word to
format. I have found if you do use them then
keep the points short, sentences are justified
when converted and if they are too long the
bullet points or numbers just don’t line up
nicely.

6. Use styles...
Again this is important, if you want something
centered, bold, or italic, such as for chapter
headings and book titles, then create a style.
This is explained really well in the Smashwords
Style Guide.

7. Use different fonts...
By all means use different fonts for the titles
or chapter headings, but within the body of the
text you must use the same font and size
otherwise the end document will again just look
ugly after conversion.

8. Use a standard font such as
Times New Roman...
Standard fonts such as this convert nicely into
an eBook, if you use fancy fonts then they may
be unreadable or may not even convert at all. I
have just started using Garamond as an
alternative to TNR and it works really well, and
looks more professional in my opinion.

9. Use the spacebar or tabs to
create indents...
There is a correct way to create indents as you
type, and to save me explaining it here, check
out this blog post eBook Formatting: How to
Properly Indent Paragraphs (Book Baby). It
also explains how to remove all the tabs in your
document if you have used tabs. You can also
see how to remove these and spaces in my post
5 Little-Known Tips to Improve your eBook
Formatting.

10. Use curly quotes...
I guess this is just personal preference, but why
use straight quotes when the curly quotes
convert and look so much better. The same
goes for apostrophes.

11. Use paragraph returns to create
space between paragraphs...
You don’t need to use returns to create space
between paragraphs. When you open up the
paragraph dialog box, instead of creating an
indent, add space after returns (at the
bottom), I tend to use 12pt. Don’t use the line
spacing's: Multiple, Exactly or At Least – they
won’t convert well!

12. Keep it simple...
When you’re formatting for eBook you need to
keep things as simple as possible. Any flashy
formatting will not convert well to Kindle or
other formats. Above all, ensure you don’t
spend all your time making the eBook look
aesthetically pleasing on the screen and think
about how you want it to look on the Kindle or
other e-readers.

13. Use more than 3 paragraph
returns in succession...
According to the Smashwords Style Guide, 3
paragraph returns is the maximum you should
use in succession, this creates space, but should
not create blank pages and ugly white space.

14. It yourself?
Download the Smashwords Style Guide. Along
the way you will pick up tips and tricks to
improve on the formatting. It may take you
quite a long time to do the formatting yourself
the first time, do you have that time? If not,
then why not outsource the work to someone
who can do it for you. There are some great
eBook formatters out there, some format in
Word and some do it in html.

15. Visit my website:
www.ebook-formatting.co.uk
Check out my ‘Format your own eBook’ Template
www.ebook-formatting.co.uk/format-your-own-ebook
Sign-up to my free eBook Marketing Mini-eCourse
www.ebook-formatting.co.uk/ebook-marketing-mini-ecourse
Jo Harrison
Virtual Assistant
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