10 Things to Consider When Formatting Your eBook

eBook are a great way to share your knowledge, ideas, or stories with a wide audience. But before you can start sharing your eBook with the world, you need to format it correctly. Your eBook format can make a big difference in how easy it is to read and how professional it looks.

But with so many different eBook formats to choose from, it can be tough to know where to start. Relax; eBook conversion services can help you format your eBook for other devices and platforms, but it's important to understand the basics of eBook formatting.

Here, we will explore ten things to consider when formatting your eBook to ensure that it looks its best and is easy for your readers to navigate.

Things to Know Before You Start Formatting Your eBook

1. E-Book Publishing Isn't the Same as Web Development

A Web developer understands how to create attractive Web sites that will display well in a browser. Likewise, an eBook developer creates eBooks that will display properly on e-reader software and hardware. Unfortunately, eBooks are far more volatile than the web, which means that certain technologies designed for the web might not function as expected in an eBook.

If you're planning to format your eBook, hiring an eBook conversion company specializing in eBook formatting can be a good investment. These companies know how to format eBooks, so they look their best on various devices.

Even if you're using specialized software, eBook conversion is a less-than-enjoyable process that might cause much pain and suffering. So if you don't want to go through the headache of trying to format your eBook on your own, consider paying someone to do it for you. They'll probably do a better job than you would have, saving you a lot of time and effort.

2. Most eBooks are Not Fixed Layout–and That's a Good Thing

A good example of a typical eBook has been reflowable since it's made to be read repeatedly. (For instance, a regular novel) eBooks in this category are known as "reflowable." The book resizes itself on the page with a reflowable eBook, and the typefaces can be changed. You can alter the size of fonts, and the page will carry on to the next item. You may be reading landscape or portrait, and the words and pictures will cover the page as you planned them to do in your eBook.

Another style, known as fixed layout, specifies each page individually. If you're using a design like this, you can't alter the font size, and the images stay exactly where they're supposed to be, next to the key text. Essentially, these books look terrible on anything other than the device they were designed for.

In practice, unless you're doing a highly specified design, most people believe that a fixed layout is preferable; however, reflowable is far superior because it works on all devices rather than just some.

3. There are Some Stylistic Features that You Can't Force

Drop Caps in eBooks

In eBooks, you can't entirely control things like dropcaps. You might hack around with the CSS to make them happen, but they won't look nice in every scenario.

Even if you make them work on one device, they'll probably look terrible on another. So it's essential to remember that some typographic features won't translate well to an eBook format.

Hanging indents in eBooks

You can't compel people to hang indents in an eBook since negative text indents or padding are required to make them function properly, and eBook readers don't like them. Unfortunately, there is no standard CSS to say "make this a hanging indent," It doesn't work in many browsers, so you're stuck.

Running headers and running footers in eBooks

Running headers or footers are not included in eBooks. The reason is that, in an eBook, there's no such thing as a fixed "page" unless you're creating a fixed-layout work—the book reflows depending on the device. So you can't apply a running header or footer from a stylistic standpoint. Some e-readers have guidelines for this, and you can't change them.

Body fonts in eBooks

There's a user option to choose their preferred body font if you use an e-reading platform like Kindle, iBooks, or any other type of e-reading software. At Pressbooks, we attempt to enforce chapter title and header typefaces, although the reader retains some control over their reading fonts and sizes.

eBook formatting service companies can help you overcome these challenges by optimizing your content for the eBook format.

4. The MOBI Format is Preferable To Word Files For Kindle

A MOBI file was once the only format Amazon would accept to submit to its Kindle eBook marketplace. You can now submit a Word document to the Kindle store, and things have gone surprisingly well.

The problem is that when Kindle automatically converts your file, it may not look well on the other side. You'd have to do a lot of work to your Word file if you want it to format correctly and look nice after the autoconversion process. In addition, if you submit your book to Amazon with Kindle's automatic conversion, you'll have to figure out how to get your EPUB to be available on the Apple Store. You'll have to design it again if you want to publish a print version of your book. So it's much easier, in the end, to design the book once using MOBI from the start.

5. Who Sets the Standards for eBooks?

The International Digital Publishing Forum is the keeper and creator of EPUB specifications for genuine EPUBs.

These platforms have unique requirements, which all create issues in various ways. These standards may be published openly, but there's also a bit of alchemy and chance.

Because they are reading systems, some reading software will choke when presented with specific issues. Because everyone has their software platform to show their eBooks, certain platforms may break with an EPUB that contains X or Y. Alternatively, they've decided that element is something they will not accept. For example, your book may be rejected if you have a small cover image. And that's because they need beautiful high-resolution pictures in their system to look good.

6. How to Test Your eBooks

The best way to test your eBook is to put it on all the devices you want to support and make sure that it looks nice and functions well. It's a good idea to test on as many devices as possible. eBook conversion services can be beneficial for this.

7. eBook Covers vs. Print Covers

In an eBook, your cover will be submitted as a separate file. It will also be included in your book. On the other hand, the interior and different cover files are sent to the printer in a print book. Learn more about the differences between eBook and print-on-demand covers, including how to create each.

8. eBooks with Video and Multimedia

The best approach to work is to take a screengrab of your video and link it to a video hosted on another website. If you like to embed a video or interactivity, note that external servers are not permitted in EPUB, and, for security reasons, neither is it at Pressbooks. For example, you can't embed a YouTube video via iframes. The film would need to be in the book to function as an EPUB, making for a huge book file.

9. You'll Need a Table of Contents for Your eBook

If you want your reader to be able to click from your table of contents and be taken to that section in the book, you'll need to use what's called "structural tagging." This bit of code tells the reading system where the table of contents is and how everything is laid out.

10. EPUB3 is the New EPUB

The EPUB3 format is the new version of EPUB. You won't notice a difference if you're not doing anything complex–you can use either EPUB2 or EPUB3.

The format of EPUB3 is backward compatible with EPUB2, so it should be readable by existing devices. So there's no need to change at all--in fact, many platforms don't support EPUB3 yet, including e-ink readers. Android is highly diverse; iBooks supports the most.

The incentive is for you to add more interactivity to your book. In the new files, the Pressbooks system exports more capabilities than EPUB2 does. It supports video, for example.

The Bottom Line

eBooks are an essential part of the modern reading experience. They offer convenience, flexibility, and portability that print books can't match. But creating an eBook can be daunting, especially if you're new to the format.

But with the help of eBook conversion services and a little know-how, you can create a beautiful, functional eBook that will reach a wide audience of readers.