Many authors make the mistake of clicking “Publish” on a standard Word document, only to find their eBook has strange gaps or overlapping text. Follow these five steps to prepare your file for a flawless upload.
1. The “Clean Slate” Rule
Before you begin formatting, you need to see what is actually happening “under the hood” of your document.
- Show/Hide Paragraph Marks: Click the ¶ icon in the Home tab. This reveals hidden spaces, tab characters, and page breaks.
- The Golden Rule: Never use the “Enter” key repeatedly to move to a new page or the “Tab” key to indent. KDP’s conversion software often interprets these as random blank space.
2. Mastering “Styles” for Navigation
Amazon uses your Word “Styles” to build the clickable Table of Contents (TOC) for eBooks.
- Chapter Titles: Highlight each chapter title and apply the Heading 1 style from the top menu. You can right-click “Heading 1” to modify the font and alignment to your liking.
- Body Text: Select your entire story and apply the Normal style.
- Indents: Right-click the “Normal” style > Modify > Format > Paragraph. Under “Special,” select First Line and set it to 0.2″ or 0.3″.
- Note: Do not indent the very first paragraph of a chapter; it’s a standard publishing convention to keep the first paragraph flush left.
3. Inserting Proper Breaks
If you want a chapter to always start on a new page, you must use a formal break.
- Place your cursor at the end of a chapter.
- Go to Layout > Breaks > Page (for eBooks) or Section Break (Next Page) (for Print).
- This ensures that no matter what screen size a reader uses, your chapters will never “bleed” into one another.
4. Special Considerations for Print (Paperback/Hardcover)
If you are formatting for a physical book, you have three extra steps:
- Trim Size: Go to Layout > Size. Change it from “Letter” to your desired book size (usually 6″ x 9″ or 5.5″ x 8.5″).
- Mirrored Margins: Go to Layout > Margins > Custom Margins. Select Mirror Margins. This ensures the “Gutter” (the space near the spine) is wide enough so text doesn’t disappear into the middle of the book.
- Page Numbers: Go to Insert > Page Number. Ensure you don’t have page numbers on your front cover or copyright pages.
5. The Final Check: Kindle Create
The most reliable way to finish your eBook formatting is to download the free Amazon Kindle Create tool.
- Import your “cleaned” Word document.
- The software will automatically detect your “Heading 1” tags and build your Table of Contents.
- Preview how it looks on a phone, tablet, and E-reader before exporting the final .kpf file for upload.
Pro-Tip: Always save your document as a standard .docx file. Avoid saving as a PDF for eBooks, as PDFs do not “reflow” (resize) on Kindle screens, leading to a poor reading experience. For print books, however, saving as a PDF is the best way to lock your layout in place.