How to Format a Paperback | Book Formatting for Kindle
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ส.ค. 2024
- Are you trying to figure out how to format a paperback book? Well in today’s video we’re going to cover book formatting for kindle. So, stick around.
Since it's one of the most widely used formats, I'm going to show you how to format a book in Microsoft Word. Now if you don't have access to ms word, you can use the free software of kingsoft office or google docs.
Also, since it's the most popular platform for paperback books, we're going to talk about how to format your print book for KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing), however, most print on demand platforms will accept this same formatted file.
In a previous video, I showed you how to format an ebook and I’ll drop a link to it below. Enough of this jabbering, let me show you how to format your book for amazon kindle.
1. Grab a blank template and download
2. Go into your document and hit Ctrl A and then Ctrl C to copy everything
3. Go into the template, highlight the default text and select paste - special values - unformatted text
4. Highlight everything and select justify to make the text more readable
5. Select the Font type and size
6. Format Chapter Headings (you can adjust headings appearance)
7. Add in page breaks - before each chapter insert page break (check with your competition) I've found non-fiction starts chapters on the right hand pages
8. Insert page numbers - Go to first chapter and double click the footer(bottom) part of the page
- If you want page numbers on your chapter pages then deselect the "different first page" box, otherwise, leave it checked
- Deselect the "link to previous" button do the same on the next page
- Click Page Number option and select where you want the page number to be located
- Select Page Number option again, but this time click the Format Page Numbers option, select the Start At option and keep the default to 1.
- Quickly scroll through your book and make sure the numbers are in order
9. Insert Headers - Again, remove the "Link to Previous"
- If you'd like your title and author name listed in your header(check your competition and see what is the norm) I've seen it differ Title - Left, Author - Right
- Scan through to make sure everything lines up
10. Create the TOC - Delete the current table of contents, if you have it and go to References Tab - Select Table of Contents and select the format you want. If you don't see the format you're looking for, click "Custom table of contents" and adjust the settings as you see fit
- Double check your page numbers
- If you make any changes, you'll need to update your TOC
Note: If you have images in your book, you'll want to make sure the images are 180-300 DPI to ensure they're crisp and not pixelated. Remember, the bigger the image the more memory it takes up. KDP only accepts files up to 400MB.
11. Export to PDF
Now that you've seen how easy book formatting is, specifically formatting a print book in word, feel free to share this book formatting tutorial with anyone else who you think would find it helpful.
Now, if you thought that was easy, formatting an ebook for kdp is even easier. Check out this video below and I’ll show you how easy it is to format your ebook.
I’ll catch you in that video. Until next time, remember to write right.
Let me know what you thought of the video in the comments below.
Links discussed in this video:
🔴 How to Format an eBook: • How to Format Your KDP...
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Where have you been all my life, Keith? Going to be 70 this year and you lay this all out so even I can understand it. Thanks so much. Looking forward to all your other videos.
That means the world to me! I believe everyone from 7 to 107 has a story to tell and I want to do everything I can, to help you publish that story.
I’m so honored that you found my channel!
I’m 70 this year also and I’ve found him too...happy pre birthday to us both
Having watched this video again, you ARE ABSOLUTELY CORRECT TO START WITH A BLANK TEMPLATE.
👍
Finally, a video done by someone who knows how to teach. Excellent! Thank you.
Aaaaw shucks! Thank you so much for the kind words! It means the world to me!
I’m glad you found the content helpful.
Thanks for watching and subscribing!
@@KeithWheelerBooks praying that you and your family is healthy and safe amidst this crisis.
Ishan Pandey oh wow, thank you so much.
Just spent most of the night with you, Keith. That is I was formatting my book and kept coming back to this video to help me figure out how to do it. I'm almost done!!!! Thanks for the video.
Thanks for the kind words. I read that first line to my wife and she literally laughed out loud! I’m so glad you found the content helpful.
Thanks for watching and subscribing!!!!
@@KeithWheelerBooks glad you 2 got a giggle out of that line. Hee hee
Mr. Wheeler you are the best. No stress from your instructions. New Sub. Thanks for sharing
I’m so glad you found the content helpful! Welcome to the family!!
Finally a video without the useless, unnecessary rambling. You have my sincere gratitude. Thank you sir!
My pleasure. Are you comparing this to my other videos or to other channels? Just curious. I’m so glad you found the content helpful.
@@KeithWheelerBooks Other channels😂. Your content is straight to the point which is what I like about your videos. 🙌
That’s great to hear. Thanks for the positive feedback. Thanks for watching and subscribing!
This video...I love love love. A simple video but YET so useful. You rock sir, you rock.
Thank you so much for the kind words. People tend to forget how important the basics are and making them as user-friendly as possible.
Thanks so much. I literally thought this was going to be a huge pain but finding this video has been a blessing.
Thank you so much for the kind words. I’m glad you found the content helpful!
@@KeithWheelerBooks Hi, I am now ready to publish my book. But i'm trying to test out AMS ads on an already published book and I'm getting the error: 'You cannot launch a campaign due to an issue with your payment method. You may only save a draft of your new campaign.' Have you ever come across this and how can I fix it?
I have not had this issue before, but it sounds like you need to set up your payment method in the Amazon Ads platform. This way they have a way to bill you.
Go into your Amazon Ads login. On the left hand side(if you have the new dashboard) there's an option called Billing and Payments. Click on that and then go to Payment Settings. Here is where you can setup your payment method.
I hope this helps.
@@KeithWheelerBooks Okay, thanks. I found someone who had this same issue. I have to contact them. It's a credit card i use for lots of things including purchasing on their site and FB ads. So i'm just waiting on a reply
Thanks for the update, keep me posted.
I was struggling with the formatting of the paperback. Odds pages and pages number are not a nightmare anymore. Thank you for your great contribution to the publishing business.
You’re very welcome. I’m glad you found the content helpful.
Thanks for watching and subscribing!
WOW! I'm lovin' your clear and concise videos. I started watching because I'm interested in producing a low content book. I have the content written but I had no idea how to set up lined journal pages, but thanks to your video, I'm going to try making them and quit using that excuse to not complete and publish this book! And WOW again on formatting e books and print! Valuable info for free! I keep thinking what's the catch? You aren't selling me anything at the end. !!!! LOL. I WILL look up your books and purchase something as a thank you. Thanks so much. I'm a fan!
Thank you so much for the kind words, they mean the world to me! It’s true, I’m not trying to sell you anything. I just like helping others achieve their dreams of being self published.
This is super helpful Keith just what I was looking for. I was so frustrated about this odd n even page numbers and some basic formatting guidelines. Your video answered them all so clearly. Thank you very much. God bless you.
My pleasure, Samdeepa. I’m glad you enjoyed the videos.
Copy and pasting on blank documents is so helpful. Thanks much
Steven Brooks, I’m so glad you found the content helpful. I try to make things as easy and understandable as possible. There’s no sense in reinventing the wheel.
Best of luck!
Thanks for watching and subscribing!
Thank you so much for posting these videos! I have them saved because they saved me today!
Thank you so much for the kind words. I’m so glad you found the content helpful!
Thank you Keith, you made it quite simple!
You’re very welcome. I’m glad you found it helpful!
Hello, Keith! Just wanted to let you know how much your videos have helped me! With your assistance, and binge watching your videos, I published my first children's book, "Where is Victoria?" It was a blast. I'll be publishing my second young reader's book in the next few weeks!
Oh how exciting! I love to hear stories like this. This is why I do what I do. Every time I think about stopping the videos, I’m reminded that my videos are actually helping people.
Are you tiffany j joiner? I just saw the book on amazon
@@RealYoGemStar I am. I have others as well on there!
So exciting to see people connecting and networking.
@@tiffanyjoiner6287 ok
WOW, easy to understand and addresses the key elements needed to use what they are calling a template - Very well laid out!
Not clear on why they just don't provide a DOTX file and give quick instructions on importing for those that don't know how to do that but now I can create my own with this info!!
Thanks for this wish I had found this 6 months ago before i started !!!
Thank you so much for the kind words. I’m glad you found the content helpful. Keep up the great work!
My pleasure, Keith. I began using Indesign as a replacement for QuarkXpress, which at the time was producing monumentally large pdfs. These days, as all Adobe software is acquired on a subscription basis, I bought into the whole range, because it was cheaper to acquire than simply selecting Indesign, Photoshop, Illustrator and Acrobat Pro.
That makes sense.
Great! Appreciate the simplicity of your presentation.
Ronald Donaghe I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Thank you so much. Your explanation made it so easy. Of all the instructional videos on TH-cam, yours explained it the best for me. I💫
Oh wow. Thank you so much for the kind words. I’m so glad that you found the content helpful.
Thanks for your help with this video and the ebook video. They're both clear and informative and I've used them both to publish my first novel today. Some videos on the topic are just posted to get viewing figures up on people's channels but these ones work. Thanks again for your help
Thank you so much for the kind words. I’m thrilled that you found the content helpful!
You are awesome, dude. Thank you for this video. You saved me hours of frustration.
Glad I could help!
Great great great! Thank you.
You are very welcome.
Thanks for watching and subscribing!
You have awesome tutorials. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much for the kind words.
I'm glad you finally found peace brother. Great content. As a small-time publisher of public domain material I am always looking for ways to balance quality with demand..
Awesome! Thank you so much for the kind words. I’m glad you found the content helpful.
What do you do to make your public domain content unique?
Super helpful video. Somewhere along the way my headers and footers are beyond messed up with gray lines on some pages, missing page numbers, blank pages, etc. Tried to clear all formatting, didn't work. I'll have to browse through your videos and see if I can find help for this. Don't want to start over since I spent an entire day making this paperback perfect (aside from the header/footer debacle). Need the paperbacks for a big signing at the end of March.
I’d suggest creating a copy of it and then trying to reformat the copy version. This way you still have a backup.
I know this video is a little old but it really helped me today fix my book for kdp so I didn't have to pay 40 to 50 to have someone else fix it
Yes, I made it a while back, but it is still quite relevant. I'm glad you found it helpful.
Another great video, thank you for sharing the information. I published a book without pages before so this video will be very helpful to add page numbers.
Thanks for watching. The great thing about self-Publishing is that you can update your manuscript with page numbers and then re-upload it.
Remember, page numbers should only be on the physical books not on the ebook version.
Thanks for the tip!
My pleasure!
Cute painting from your kids
Ishan Pandey thank you. I love featuring their work.
It worked!! Finally!! I just submitted my paperback for review!!
I’m glad it worked for you! Best of pick to you on your book.
Thanks for watching and subscribing!
@@KeithWheelerBooks Me too! Thank you for all of your help 🙏🏾
Cherah, you are very welcome!
Always didactic, keith! Keep up the good work.
Thank you so much. I’ve always had a thirst for knowledge and that’s carried over into a love for teaching others.
It was the best explanation I have found. Nor in Spanish, which is my language, have I found a better video. Only with the amazon template, there is no way that I can list the pages and put the name at the top correctly.
Thank you so much for the kind words. If you want to add in the name on the top of the page, double click on the header and you should be able to type in there. You can also adjust the font type and size used.
I hope this helps.
You must divide the book into sections setting different odd and even pages to do it properly in Amazon templates.
Agreed, because you want different content on the left page header than on the right page header.
To repeat myself, these are excellent tutorials. Keith, can I make one suggestion, please, that you add a bit into it about editing out widows and orphans? Taking them out just makes a book look that bit more professional
Thanks again for the kind words. That’s a great suggestion. I’ll definitely make a future video about that.
Thank you for this!!!
You’re very welcome!
I have looked your computer screen making sure that all marking are the same, AND every time I did another one, I started from scratch in the evet that once failure in pagination, the settings did not interfere with anoter attempt. I SEE WHAT YOU DO, DO IT MYSELF, AND CAN GET ONLY 50 CORRECT!!! That fisrt page on the new section is beyond me--even when I copy you 100%.
If you want the page numbering to continue from the previous section then be sure link to previous is selected. If you don’t want the numbers to continue from the previous, make sure the option is deselected. Whichever you decide needs to be done on both the even and odd pages for the new section.
If that still doesn’t work, a work around would be to deselect “link to previous” then go to add footer, page number and format the page number to start at whatever page number you want it to be.
I hope these help.
This is incredibly helpful. I'm going to try applying the margins from the template to my already existing document (since I have already stylized everything). If that doesn't keep my text from being cut-off in previewer, then I will just do this and re-style everything.
Thank you so much for the kind words! Best of luck to you!
Keith u are a God send. I published my book yesterday and my formatting was off so now I found your video. I can fix it and republish it. For a smaller book size 5.06 x 7.81 do I still do 12 size font?
Technically, you could probably get away with 10pt, but I wouldn’t go any smaller than that.
@@KeithWheelerBooks ok thank you so much. Keep dropping that knowledge 💯 us future authors are so thankful. God Bless!
Thank you so much. I will do my best to share as much as I can.
Okay, so there are missing pages too, for example at a Chapter change it goes from 35 to 37 skipping 36 and putting the Chapter beginning on the left rather than the right. I feel like I am so close but can't figure out these last few things. Rather than messing everything up by trying to solve it myself, I'm hoping when you get the time you can guide me through these last few things. Thank you so much!
I’m assuming you’re working in word. Your best bet would be to select the “show/hide paragraphs” icon. It’s under the Home tab and kind of looks like a music symbol. It’s usually about center of the toolbar.
When you select that it will show you all of your tabs, indents, spaces and MOST IMPORTANTLY, it’ll show you your page breaks. Then go to where your issues are at and see what kind of breaks you have inserted.
Thank you for your help! Your solution was great! Everything worked perfectly! Now on to the cover!
Good stuff. I let Kindle Create do all that jazz for me. It's made my life easier. I want to get Vellum, but I'm never going to own a Mac. I found out you can rent them online though, with Vellum preinstalled. You just need to buy the license.
I’m still getting familiar with Kindle Create. Once I have it figured out I’ll do a video on it too. I’ve heard nothing but great things about it.
Thanks for your constant support, buddy!!!
Is Vellum user friendly to upload to KDP? I have a Mac and would like to start of the easy way.
To be honest, I’ve never used Vellum.
hi what the best line spacing.... between lines in a paragraph
Honestly, it depends on the type of book, but I typically go with a double space between paragraphs.
Hi Keith, I love your videos and simple you make them to follow. I've written my first non-fiction but my book has images on each page. I've followed your steps but it only copied the text and left out all of my images. What can I do to include them?
You’ll need to go to insert and insert the images. P.S. thank you so much for the kind words!
Thank you sooooo much! I actually skipped over your video to watch other videos. None of those were the least bit helpful, so I had to come back to yours. So much wasted time on those other videos.
Thank you for the kind words. I’m glad you found the content helpful. Best of luck to you and your book!
Thanks for watching and subscribing!
I’m glad you found the content helpful. Your kind words mean the world to me!
Keith Wheeler, I am not sure if your aware of this or not when inserting Page Breaks in MS Office, Ctrl and Enter or Return at the same time. This will insert the Page Break without having to go to the Insert Tab each time for PC users. If memory services right for MAC it is Shift Enter or Return.
Awesome! Thanks for the tip!
Thanks so much ,ya saved me.
I'm so sorry for not responding sooner. YT didn't show me this comment on the mobile app which is where I usually reply from.
I'm so glad you found this video helpful.
I had been working with the KDP paperback template you suggested and had some success once I figured out what I had done up to this point. However, I saved the document and decided to reopen it which was a problem. I noticed that there was no way I could open up the file as it did not fit the file recovery when using Windows Explorer. I did however open it and realized at the top there were two separate programs which seemed okay. When I ried to oepn it this morning, I could not find the file extension or library site to reopen the file which was on the other program as mentioned above. And using the template file again would have produced the same result. I have decided to use the Word document and have had the same good results thus far.
A question, if I use the template again which is a KDP product, then submitting it to them would be relatively easy I presume. I am thinking of using the template with the inclusion of my formatting under the file pasting. If I do submit it with the Word influenced formatting, does your experience reflect rejection? I hope I have not confused you.
I have never had any issues uploading a manuscript that I have used the KDP template for.
oh wow thanks for the info! youre the best!
You're quite welcome. Thank you so much for the kind words.
I have a situation you do not directly mention. I want to have Roman numerials on my forward and introduction before Chapter 1 odd paging as you mention. I need to have section breaks after the Title Page and after the Introduction without the continuation, correct? How do I do the before chapter 1 pagination to cover those I have mentioned? To this point you have been helpful.
Create the section break before the forward and deselect the “link to previous” option. Then when you go to page numbers, instead of numbers, there’s a drop down where you can select Roman numerals.
until now i still get literal hell adding header and footer in ms
and the roman numerals for front matter
Glad I was able to make things easier for you!
Hi Keith love this video. I am trying to publish a quote book so i have both text and some illustrations. Why are my illustrations not coming up after i have moved my text over from Word?
I Word, you want to make sure you’re anchoring your images. Also, I’ve found that saving as a pdf works better as the images don’t shift when uploading them to the platform, like they do with a Word file.
Hi Keith. Excellent clear and well structured lesson. I have one question. My paperback and E Book will have colour photographs. It's a gardening book. Do you have a tutorial on where and how to insert photographs? Also, is formatting for an e-book different for a paperback? Thank you in advance for your help. Paul.
Thank you so much for the kind words. I do have a few children’s book tutorials where I show how to insert photographs. As for formatting, the main difference between ebook and paperback is that for print version you’ll want to add page numbers, blank pages between chapters to ensure the new chapter starts on an odd page. As for ebook, you’ll usually want to reduce the image size to about 6x5 to minimize cost and maximize royalties.
I hope this helps.
@@KeithWheelerBooks WOW. That's what I call a quick reply! I forgot to ask one more question. Is book size 6x9 sufficient for the book? Thanks again. I hope you're not up answering these in the middle of the night. It's 7.30am here in Ireland. Cheers agus slan agat!
Honestly, it depends on your niche, but 6x9 is a very common book size.
Best of luck & yes, it’s 1:40am here.
Awesome.
Thanks Brian. I’m glad you enjoyed the video.
“Thanks I really needed this information.”
Awesome! I’m glad you found the content helpful!
Thanks for watching and subscribing!
Keith Wheeler Books Your welcome! I’ll definitely keep watching your content .
mannie's Art And Fitness Channel I truly appreciate it!
@@KeithWheelerBooks no problem,!
👍
Very informative, thanks.
Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad you found the video helpful.
Hi! Good stuff! What dimensions would you recommend for a children's book? Thanks!
Great question. I just responded to one of your other comments. My suggestion for book dimensions is to find about 10 competitors on Amazon. Open up their books page, scroll down to Product Description and find out their books dimensions. Write down the dimensions for all 10 competitors. Now you can determine which size is the most common for them and use that as your book dimensions.
I hope this helps.
Thanks for watching and subscribing!
Hello Keith. Your video have really helped me but I am still struggling with headers and footers. Even when i deselect "link to previous" the numbers still go to the title page. Can you please make an updated video?
On the title page you want to select no page numbering.
The only lproblem is the pagination from front matter to chapter 1 page odd and even pagination. From another site, I only learned how the formatting is organized in detail which does help with understanding. It is best to section break before page breaks. I will try your method of pagination which becomes clearer now. Separate question, when I submit the file for publication with Kindle will they take my own ISBN # I want to have my own plus their own (since they are a publisher)? You/ve been good to me, thanks.
Thank you so much for the kind words. As for your question, you can either use your own isbn or take one of their free ones. But if you take the free one, you can only use that isbn on their platform. If you decide to publish on additional platforms you’ll have to assign a different isbn to those versions.
@@KeithWheelerBooks Different strokes (numbers) for different publishers--think I got it. With printers out their (such as Kindle uses and with my own 10 # ISBN, I should be okay?
You should be, yes.
The one drawback I see in doing the blank slate is I am still have to go through the whole text and italics many scriptures previously before following your plan. So this needs to be tressed to go through any work page by page to find any corrections from the previous file done b4 yours.
Excellent point!
Hi Keith, just to clarify, when adding in those page breaks, we're not concerned with the text starting at the top of the next page? I'm walking though this now and some of my pages have space on the top.
It depends on your book. For my fiction books, I like my chapters to start a little down the page. If you want yours to start at the top of the page, just remove the extra carriage return.
Hi Keith. Would you be able to do an updated version of formatting Paperback for KDP also one for D2D. I uploaded on D2D and it was rejected. Seem my meta data was wrong.
Great suggestions! I will add them to my to-do list.
Hi Keith, Thanks so much for this simple and super informative video. I was feeling overwhelmed by all there is to do in self-publishing and your videos have brought me such peace. So I'm about to publish my first non-fiction book and am wondering about margins and spacing. Are there standard margin widths? Should I be single-spacing all the text? Thanks!
Thank you so much for the kind words. I completely understand your frustration and how overwhelming the entire process can be. My suggestion for spacing and margins is to check out your competitors books and see what they’ve done. If you check out 10-20 books(you can just use the look inside feature) you’ll most likely notice a trend in spacing and margins that the readers are “use to”. This should help you greatly.
Best of luck and thanks for watching and subscribing!
Hi Keith, still loving your videos. Would you be able to do a new video, Word 2022, about how to stop the headers/footers in your front matter?
I will definitely look into doing this video.
I am following your video closely and in the paste, the options are keep source formatting, merge formating, and keep text only. I should choose the last one which I hope mirrors you own selection. I have an older version of 7 operating system. Did I choose correctly?
You sure did!
Great.Do you have a video that shows how to make the cover and upload the complete thing to KDP?
I sure do. I have a video on making covers in canva as well as a video on uploading to KDP.
@@KeithWheelerBooks I am looking to do a 7 X10 so would the process be the same?
Yes. The dimensions will obviously change, but the process is the same.
hi keith,can i write more than one word in the boxes of keywords?and between them ( , / - : ) or just one word in each box?
Absolutely! Not only can you, but it is highly recommended that you put more than 1 word in the keyword slots. That said, you do not need to put a comma or delimiter between the words. You should make the keywords more of a keyword phrase. So instead of "man woman children", it should be a phrase like "journals for men, women and children". Obviously, you don't need the quotes.
I hope this helps.
Hello Keith! I hope you’re not sick of me. I just went through the formatting for a Kindle Paperback but my page numbers started too soon on copyright and title page. Also since that happened my pages aren’t correct with the table of contents. Any suggestions on how to fix this without me starting over. I’m so close to finishing I hope you can help. As always I really really appreciate you, your tutorials and your willingness to help people!
Sure no problem and I’m not tired of you, lol. All you have to do is insert a new section before your real page one. Then on the header and footer deselect the “link to previous” options. This should correct the page numbering issues.
Keith, thank you for your easily understood instructions. I have everything working until I created the pdf. When the pdf opened the headings are showing on some pages and not on others. The numbers are showing on some pages and not on others. Is that normal?
The headings are showing on the right sides of the pages I chose --but not on all of them. The numbers are showing on the odd and even pages as formatted BUT not on all of them. All suggestions or information will be wonderfully accepted with cheers and confetti.
Blank pages and the first page of the chapters usually don’t show headers or footers.
@@KeithWheelerBooks The missing headers and page numbers are not all on blank pages. They are missing throughout the entire document --here and there.
That’s odd. You’re best bet is to check the header and footer settings on each section.
My page number starts from the title page for some reason. Can you let me know how to fix this?
I'm assuming you're working in MS Word. Go to your title page, go to Insert - Page Number - Remove Page Numbers.
Now, when you get to the first page you want your page numbers to start, you'll want to go to Layout and insert a section break. Then go to Insert - Page Number and select where you want the page number to go. Next, double-click on the footer and header and deselect the option that says "Link to previous".
I hope this helps.
Hey keith are page breaks necessary
Great question! As the author, you can create your book however you want. That said, if you want your book to compete with the majority of the books on the market, then yes, page breaks are a standard in books.
You want to use page breaks as oppose to carriage returns(hitting the enter key) in your manuscript, as not all systems recognize a carriage return the same way, but a page break will always be treated the same.
I hope this helps.
Thank you so much
You're very welcome.
Thanks for watching and subscribing!
Keith, sorry to bother you again, I can only work on my book when I have time off...I have formatted my book, but there are several blank pages throughout. The other issue is that the first part all of the pages and chapters line up. Midway through they are a few pages off. I'm thinking it has to do with the extra blank pages...what should I do? Also, do you have a tutorial for cover design? I have a great cover but am not sure how to get it to the correct size for KDP As always, thank you so much for your help. I seriously would be in a mess if you weren't on here sharing your knowledge and experience!
No bother at all. I love helping! Ok, if you have extra blank pages, it's probably due to having too many page breaks or the wrong page break. A normal page break will just jump everything after it to the next page. However, if you have a Page break(even page) or Page break(odd page), it will jump you to the next even or odd page(respectively). I've never found a use for the (even page) page break, but I use the (odd page) page break when I'm starting a new chapter. This way my chapters always start on the right side.
Now, I will say that when you use the even or odd page breaks, you won't SEE the blank page while your viewing it in Word, but if you look at the page number on the bottom left of your document you'll notice it skips a page when you go from one page to the other. So, basically, it'll print a blank page but it doesn't actually show it on screen, unless you switch to reading view. I only bring this up because I've had clients not "see" the blank page, so then they add in a blank page and the next thing they know, they have 2 blank pages instead of the 1 intended blank page.
As for covers, yes, I have a tutorial on how to create a book cover in canva. th-cam.com/video/ZHW4fgsO1os/w-d-xo.html
You had indicated that when doing the setting up the odd page (for chapter1) you do it for all chapters. Are you saying that you manually the odd page for chapter separately?
When you set up the section there’s an option for a different chapter page.
Hi Keith. I have found your videos quite easy to understand, however, I cannot find a tutorial about how to measure a kDP interior template for books with images (bleed). Somehow, I am not understanding it. Help?
I have a couple videos on book bleed:
How to Create a Children's Picture Book With Bleed in PowerPoint
th-cam.com/video/sZpsrRGKctY/w-d-xo.html
I Don't Understand Book Bleed | A Fun and Easy Explanation
th-cam.com/video/EMTqno78t-U/w-d-xo.html
@@KeithWheelerBooks Thanks you
You’re welcome!
Hey, how to make the capital letters small in table of contents? I mean to keep the first letter capital only
If you go to the table of contents menu and select customize, you can change that.
Thanks for this video.
I'm so sorry for not responding sooner. YT didn't show me this comment on the mobile app which is where I usually reply from.
You're very welcome and I hope you're finding other videos on the channel helpful as well. Best of luck to you and your self-publishing business.
So very helpful. One issue: can't unlink from previous section after double-clicking in the footer area. The tab is there but grayed out. What's am I doing wrong?
Pamela Nichols thank you so much for the kind words. That typically means that there is no previous section. Perhaps there were page breaks entered and not section breaks.
@@KeithWheelerBooks Genius, you are. Thank you!
Aw shucks, thanks!
Well, I am half way there to getting the pagination correct. The even page are correct and subsequent even pages are in line. But the first page section 2 shows up with the number visible and nothing on page 3 at all. I am looking at your screen to make sure that all my selections are correct and the cursor in the right place as well. I did the section odd break where the cursor should be. Still no success. This is the one thing to be corrected and then I have it all. Well?
Do you have it linked to the previous section?
Excellent tutorial! Thank you!
I have a book, but it's in GDocs, do you know if the Microsoft Online option gives you the features of adding everything outlined in this video? Thanks again! *clicks subscribe*
Thank I for the kind words! I don’t use google docs too often, but the steps should be similar.
Thanks for watching and subscribing!
so, the format I used on my ebook has to be different than the format I would use on a paperback print book?
Visually, the format can be the same, but the paperback version will have page numbers, possible blank pages (before new chapters, etc.) that the ebook won’t.
Thanks for this video. My problem is the chapter keep going on a different page from the paragraphs. What can I do?
Sounds like an issue with your page breaks
@@KeithWheelerBooks Thanks for replying Keith. Your video was so helpful, best I have watched.
You’re very welcome. I’m glad you enjoyed the video.
Hello thanks for the informative video.
I have a question. When copying the contents from original word Doc to the Amazon KDP format document, why should you not keep the original formatting? Since when you copy into new 6*9 size file, you would need to start formatting things again?
Why not copy past rather than copy un-formatted text for re-editting.
The templates you get from KDP already have a lot of formatting already in place. So, if you were to simply copy/paste your content, you’d overwrite their pre-formatting. (Ie. Header/footer format, etc.)
Now, if you already have all of that already formatted in your current document then you don’t “need” to use KDPs templates. They’re just there to make formatting your book for paperback easier.
@@KeithWheelerBooks Hello, Checked it. You're right. Thanks very much for the reply.
Glad I could help!
My version of Word is messing me up with regard to the pagination. I would be happy having pagination start at chaper 1 and no at the forward and introduction. The use of the page breaks I think may be messing me up.
When you do a page break, if you go from an odd page and then add a page break and then start your next chapter, Word adds a blank (even page) to your manuscript. However, that blank page isn’t displayed in normal edit mode. Only if you switch your view to Read mode, will you see the blank pages. So, if chapter 1 ends on page 13 and then chapter 2 starts on page 15, that’s due to the added even page that Word inserts.
I hope this helps.
extremely helpful!
I’m thrilled that you found the content helpful!
Keith, I produced my book using Word, with the hyphenation settings on. When I uploaded my file for the KDP print book, in the book preview, there is no hyphenation. Maybe this is why the page numbers no longer match the TOC. any thoughts? thank you.
That shouldn’t affect the page numbers, but anything is possible, I guess. If you set up your TOC with auto-updating, you should be able to right click on the TOC and select update page numbers and it should update the page numbers in the TOC.
@@KeithWheelerBooks Thanks, it's all good. Turns out the best way to upload a file to KDP for a print book is a PDF, not a Word doc. The KDP platform slightly alters the original file, which was the problem, but with a PDF, it's perfect.
So true. That’s why I usually upload PDFs, though for my YA novels I sometimes just upload the docx file.
When I copied the document over from word and did the special paste it took out all of my indents for my paragraphs. There’s a dot At the beginning of each paragraph how do I get those paragraph indent back?
When you do the paste special there’s an option to keep formatting.
Okay, so u can now upload the PDF file to all paperback platform including Amazon?
Yes the major paperback platforms allow for pdf upload.
Hi, I would really appreciate your help right now.
So I want to change the header of my chapter pages in my paperback book which is currently I'm formatting on word. So I know that adding a section break on inserting a new page in page layout would do that. So in doing so, will there be any extra pages present on my final paperback book? I tried the rest of them like clicking different first page, turning off the link to previous but none of them really worked.
& 1 last question, inserting a page break/ odd page/ blank page will also add a blank extra page to my final book right? So can I avoid that blank page by adding the new page as a section break?
Correct. Adding a section break will not add in additional pages. Adding in a Page break WILL create a new page.
Hey Keith. Do you know if there is an option to print a book in the landscape layout? I only see upright templates on Amazon for the standard letter sized template (8.5 x 11"). I created a learning picture book for kids in the landscape layout and haven't been able to upload it to Kindle eBook or Paperback because I haven't seen the landscape layout anywhere. Thanks for your videos, they have been really helpful! :)
To the best of my knowledge, KDP doesn’t provide landscaped options. I have heard of people taking their manuscript and cover and flipping it 180 degrees so it matches the portrait layout, but I have not tried that myself. Also, that would make the spine be at the top of your book, not ideal.
I do know that other platforms such as Lulu and Barnes and Noble do have landscape options.
Do we insert an odd page break for each chapter?
Yes.
In considering who and where the publisher should be listed, in other formatting videos a real publsher (Scribner) is listed one the Title Page (before the Copyight page). Now to my 2 questions-- if I use KDP (the 13 no.), should I list them in the same manner as Scribner? 2. If I have my own 10 # and still use KDP both can be listed, right? The reasoning is this--As long as I have my own ISBN no, it is transferable to different legit publishers, correct?
There are concerns which are just printers, and with my own ISBN # how would I display that fact (other than the number)? I would think that on the title page other than my author name it should be blank. What about the Copyright page-- I don't think I would put my name twice. With the 10 ISBN # and author name, that is the appropriate dispay, correct?
You do not have to list KDP or Amazon as your publisher. You are the publisher, they are just the platform. If you already have your own purchased isbn, then you don’t want to use theirs. Your purchased isbn can be used on other platforms as well to have a more professional, unified publication.
Every time I try to use the KDP template there is a black line at the bottom or top of the page and a black line under the page numbers.
мαriα кαy, 🤔 hmmm that’s odd. You may want to reach out to KDP support. It sounds like it’s an issue with the header/footer.
Ive only written 8300 words and was told I needed to submit to kindle first. What should I do...its not many pages for an amazon book especially if its both sides of page. That`ll give me 10 pages not even. Is it better to just publish this right with kindle and avoid physical publication altogether. Also what was the site I can just submit everything to to make sure it will look ok to do as a Kindle E book.
Great question! Yes, you can publish a 8300 word short story/book on KDP no problem. Uploading it as a docx or pdf file should work just fine.
I agree with the previous comments. This is an excellent tutorial, as are Keith's other videos. At the time of writing, it is still relevant to the version of Word in use; tutorials going out of date when apps are updated, as I find with Wordpress tutorials is a pain.
I do have one problem, which is that I'm getting breaks in the text that are not cause by any formatting I've done. I can't figure out why this is happening. I don't know if they will disappear when the book is printed, but there are two points about this. Because the book I am formatting has subheadings, I've got a few widows and orphans, which may or may not disappear if the random text breaks disappear after printing, but I don't want to format them out unless and until the glitch is fixed. Any ideas, anyone, please?
Thank you so much for the kind words. Sometimes a stray carriage return or tabs can cause the issues you’re seeing. That’s why I always start out with a fresh document when I start formatting my books. Also, going to the paragraphs option and making sure you aren’t allowing widows and orphans can help alleviate those issues.
In addition, if you click on the paragraph icon it’ll show all of the hidden formatting characters which can help you find any stray characters.
@@KeithWheelerBooks My pleasure, Keith. I got a reply from KDP's trouble shooting people, asking for the template, which I sent, along with the pdf. I'll let you know their reply.
Sounds good. Best of luck!
@@KeithWheelerBooks I got a reply from KDP about these weird paragraph gaps. This is a job I'm doing for an author friend, so Amazon would not deal directly with me, because they can only. communicate using an email address linked to the account of the author. Thus I had to get him to contact Amazon.
Amazon came back saying that this is not unknown. The solution is to highlight the areas concerned and from the Paragraph option (Format menu on a Mac or right click and select paragraph on a PC), select the line and page break tab. On this, uncheck the 'keep with next' and 'keep lines together' check boxes.
I tried it an it worked. I actually selected the entire document and it fixed EVERY gap. I did notice a widows and orphans check box, which might be something you would want to look at if you're going to deal with this topic in future.
The curious thing is that because I had to wait for my author friend to contact Amazon (he was away for a few days), I got on the Microsoft. Their agent had no idea how to solve it, but said she would contact Amazon to alert them to the problem.
Having said that, I do have Indesign, so I created a template of my own to format the content, which goes with the Indesign cover I made for the book. I find Indesign much more versatile.
Thank you so much for the update. I’ll be sure to pass this along to others.
I’m actually beginning to look into Affinity Publisher. It’s suppose to be comparable to InDesign.
Good day Keith,
If you created a lined journal in Canva with no graphics. What do you set the page size to be for KDP?. I noticed when its set to 6inX9in and the PDF is downloaded and uploaded to KDP and NO BLEED is chosen- it says error. When the page is set to 6.12inx9.25in and NO BLEED is chosen in KDP it says error. What does it need to for a no bleed lined interior without graphics for CANVA. Also do you have a tutorial on how to set this up for creating an interior in word. Thank you
Great question. Let me start by saying that if you upload your interiors and they get rejected, the previewer should show you where it’s getting rejected along with a brief(yet sometimes unclear) reason.
For a no bleed lines journal, I would round up and go with a .13 bleed. If you’re finding that the inside margin(gutter) is what is where it’s failing, then you may want to add in a gutter of .375.
I do have tutorials on creating lines journals, as well as other no content and low content interiors.
Thanks for watching and subscribing!
@@KeithWheelerBooks thank you very much for your detailed response. Kind Regards.
My pleasure. I’m glad I could help.
hello, I'm a first time author, fantasy. My novel is complete, but still in word. Raw. Should I worry about KDP format first, or something like grammarly first? Will It matter? I'd appreciate any feedback. Thank you!
I’d suggest sending it to an editor before completely formatting it, as after editing, you’ll most likely make changes would could affect the formatting. I always save formatting for the end of the process.
Your awesome, but you already knew that! thanks bro!
Aw shucks. Thank you so much for the kind words!
Keith I notice you kept the header on the chapter title page. I thought the rule was no header or footer on the chapter title page. The line is still there. Let me know if that's correct.
Good catch. Yes, I did go back and remove that.
@@KeithWheelerBooks ok kool. Thanks for responding.
My pleasure.
How would you do it for a children's book with illustrations?
I have a couple videos where I show you how to format a picture book.
I am trying to follow your great instructions but have a problem. When I get to blank template and choose the 6 x9 size, I don't get to immediately save it. I get the yellow strip with "Enable Editing", In trying to save it, it says unable in the protectied view. I click the Enable Editing and then it is a read only compatibility mode. Should I save it now--when I did the last time I could not find it in my library anywhere. I then thought the file is some how -- it was saved in this file structure C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Local\Temp\Temp6_English.zip This does not follow the normal finding and saving files I use in Word. I just want to know how to retrieve it since it appears to be a download file off of KDP.
If it’s in a zip file, the first thing you’ll need to do is select the zip file, right click and select Extract all. It will then extract it into a folder. It should then allow you to open it up, save, etc.
If that doesn’t help, I’d suggest reaching out directly to KDP.
I hope this helps.
I will try what you say, but what the heck is a zip file and how do I recognize it?
You said that the file is saved as a .zip file. A zip file is what people sometimes use when they’re sending multiple files, to minimize the download size.
Is it the same process for a children’s picture book?
Formatting a picture book is slightly different as you’re dealing with mostly pictures as oppose to text. I have a few videos where I show how to create a children’s picture book.
Childrens picture book for paperback, do you have a video on that? For amazon KDP
Absolutely! I have an entire series on how to create a picture book from scratch.
I have downloaded the templates for 8.5x8.5 children's picture book. Do I resize the jpgs to fit to the edge of the page?
If you want your book to have bleed, then yes, you’ll want the images to go all the way to the edges. But be careful because if you stretch the images too much it’ll affect the resolution.
@@KeithWheelerBooks Thank you!
You’re very welcome!
Hi Keith, how do we reconcile this process with formatting a low content book? I've watched your low content one but the margins etc. are all different from this vid. What order would you do it in or is it a separate process? Thanks RT!
and I've bombarded you with questions already on other vids so no worry about replying, love your work!
The margins should be the same regardless of the book type. The only exception is if you’re doing a book with bleed. Then you need to add an additional .125 all the way around the book.
I hope this helps.
No worries. I’m glad I can help. And thank you for the kind words.
Hi Kieth. I am having issues with my children ebook stretching from the top and bottom of my ebook. it shows a block look. is there a way I can show you what I mean so I can fix this issue? Also I would like to send you a copy of my books for your children if possible?
You can email me at keith@kwheelerbooks@gmail.com
I tried your keith@kwheelerbooks@gmail.com that you provided but it says it is a bad one is it because of the @ sign 2 x
Yes. It should be: keith@kwheelerbooks.com