From Edie: Learn how to format your self-published book for print and ebook. Explore tools like Vellum, Atticus, Kindle Create, and Word to create professional layouts.
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Self-Publishing Success: How to Format Your Book for Print and Ebook (Vellum, Atticus, Kindle Create & More)
by A.C. Williams @ACW_Author
When you open a paperback book with a beautiful cover, what do you expect to see inside? If the cover is gorgeous, surely the interior will be gorgeous too. But that’s not always the case.
So far in this series on self-publishing, we’ve talked about setting your goals, understanding your legal rights as a self-published author, ISBNs, distribution channels, market research, and book cover design, and the different types of editing. This month, we’re going to look at an element of self-publishing that not many people discuss: Formatting both for physical books and ebooks.
The interior layout and formatting process that goes into a self-published book is complicated, and it’s totally non-intuitive. Fortunately as the self-publishing industry has continued to grow, more and more formatting and layout programs have become available for indie authors to use.
Before we go further on this topic, however, let me give you a disclaimer: I am old school and self-taught. As a result, the way I have learned to operate in layout and formatting may not be the most efficient means of getting your book to readers. If you want a more detailed and extremely useful guide to book formatting, check out the in-depth resources Kindlepreneur has on book formatting.
Two Types of Formatting and Layout
As you start the process of formatting your manuscript for print or electronic distribution, first you must understand that the formatting for one doesn’t automatically translate to the other. Sure, there are some programs that say it does, and maybe they do. But I have no personal experience with those programs (if you have used KDP Create or Vellum or Atticus to format BOTH ebooks and paperbacks/hardbacks, please post in the comments).
In my experience, you must format the manuscripts separately. Because an ebook must be flexible and fluid to adjust for reader text size preferences, you can’t simply upload the same document you formatted for the physical version to your ebook distribution program.
In the old days, most larger publishers used Adobe InDesign for both print books and ebooks. Some folks may still use that program, but I have found it to be horrendously clunky and complicated for interior formatting. It’s no longer the best solution for either medium.
Ebook Formatting
When I first started self-publishing, the only reliable way to get your ebook online was through the use of a Microsoft Word Document. You were very limited in the types of formatting options you could use, and most of the time you had to know some element of coding in order to make it work well (for anyone who is comfortable with coding and XML, consider Sigil as it’s very flexible).
To this day, you can still use Microsoft Word as your primary ebook formatting program. Most ebook distributors (like Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, Smashwords, Draft2Digital, etc) are perfectly happy to accept DOCX file extensions. Some of these distributors now offer their own web-based formatting platforms.
For example, Draft2Digital allows you to upload a Word Document and gives you access to a web-based program that gives you some customization options for interior decorations and theme options.
But if you’d rather use a different formatting tool and upload a distribution-ready file, you have some choices. My preference for ebooks (right now) is Kindle Create. Fair warning, it’s glitchy and stubborn and not intuitive at all. It’s also incredibly limited in the kinds of graphic design options you can use. However, it is consistent, and if you plan to distribute primarily on Amazon, it’s the easiest option for your ebooks.
Scrivener is my favorite word processing program, but I don’t use it for formatting my ebooks. I use it more like a database to help me organize all the different projects I have happening at once. If you want to invest the time to learn how its compile feature works, more power to you, but from what I have seen it’s very difficult. That being said, it was still worth the price to me to be able to keep track of all my multiple projects in one place, especially because its backup protocols are second to none.
Personally, I compose my manuscript in Scrivener. Then, I export it first to Microsoft Word, which is what I use to format the print book file, making use of the templates Amazon KDP and IngramSpark make available. I also use that same Microsoft Word document in Kindle Create, which is what provides me with the file that I can upload automatically to Amazon KDP. It also allows me to export an EPUB, which I can upload to other distributors if I want.
Physical Book Layout
Now, in most instances, you can’t use the same file for your print book as you did for your ebook. Microsoft Word is the mainstay, to be honest. It’s flexible enough that you can do just about anything with it, and once you export your formatted manuscript as a PDF, you can upload it to nearly any print book distributor and be golden.
However, as the industry has grown, now there are more options for print book formatting that are easier and more powerful than Microsoft Word.
For Apple users, the program that has become the most popular for book formatting is Vellum. It’s quite expensive, although if you consider how many books you can publish with it, the cost is reasonable. However, Vellum is only available for Apple machines. And since I don’t use Apple computers, I can’t personally speak for this program’s usefulness. But the reviews are stellar.
For PC users (and Apple users too), the top choice is Atticus, a formatting tool that works for both ebooks AND physical books. It also has a one-time fee for a lifetime license (for both ebooks and physical books, which is different from Vellum). Atticus is on my list to try next year, but from what I can determine it’s very similar to Scrivener—just more intuitive.
Both Vellum and Atticus can export your manuscript file as EPUB, PDF, and DOCX (Vellum also exports to MOBI). Both can only import from DOCX format, though. Both Vellum and Atticus will format ebooks AND print books.
Formatting your manuscript for distribution is potentially the most complicated part of self-publishing, but now it’s possible to find the right tool and the right resources you need to streamline your process.
Have you used any of these programs before? Share your experience in the comments!
TWEETABLE
Don't Miss the Rest of the Posts in This Series on Self Publishing:
PART 1: WHY DO YOU WANT YOUR BOOK TO BE RE-PUBLISHED?PART 2: WHY CONTRACTS MATTER IF AN AUTHOR PLANS TO SELF PUBLISH
PART 3: DO I NEED AN ISBN IF I SELF-PUBLISH MY BOOK?
PART 4: HOW DO I DELIVER MY SELF-PUBLISHED BOOK TO A READER?
PART 5: HOW DOES A COMP TITLE HELP A SELF-PUBLISHED BOOK'S MARKETING PLAN?
PART 6: DO I REALLY NEED A PROFESSIONAL BOOK COVER FOR MY NOVEL?
PART 7: EDITING FOR SELF-PUBLISHED AUTHORS: TYPES OF EDITS AND HOW TO FIIND THE RIGHT EDITOR
PART 8: SELF-PUBLISHING SUCCESS: HOW TO FORMAT YOUR BOOK FOR PRINT AND EBOOK (VELLUM, ATTICUS, KINDLE CREATE & MORE)
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