|
|
Like this article? PLEASE +1 it! |
|
Writing and Publishing eBooks Made Easy #03 Desinging Your eBook
|
| Guest post by: Gary Baker |
Article Overview: The good news is that, with a few clicks of your mouse, you can convert your manuscript directly into an eBook. The most common file format for an eBook is Adobe Acrobat PDF. You'll be doing the actual "design" of your book in your word-processing program. Since Word is the most commonly used word processing program (and the one in which most e-publishers will expect your document), this chapter will focus on formatting in Word.
![]() |
Free Download - Writing and Publishing eBooks Made Easy #14 - Your Sales Page and eBook Cover By Gary Baker |
Writing and Publishing eBooks Made Easy #03 Desinging Your eBook
The good news is that, with a few clicks of your
mouse, you can convert your manuscript directly into an eBook. The most common
file format for an eBook is Adobe Acrobat PDF.
You'll be doing the actual "design" of
your book in your word-processing program.
Since Word is the most commonly used word
processing program (and the one in which most e-publishers will expect your
document), this chapter will focus on formatting in Word.
You do not need to actually own Adobe Acrobat to convert your eBook into a PDF
file.
However, if you want to add more features to
your PDF document (such as hotlinked URLs, forms, or pages imported from other
programs), you will need to buy the program.
Designing Your eBook
A badly formatted eBook will alienate readers
more quickly than a badly designed print book. At best, it will look
amateurish; at worst, it will be difficult to read or "navigate."
Fortunately, you can create a professional
"look" with just a few simple Word commands. You'll need to consider
the following elements:
Page size - Most books aren't
formatted to an 8.5x11-inch page. eBooks are typically between 5x7 and 6x9
(with 5.5x8.5 being a typical format).
Your first step, therefore, is to set a custom
page size in Word's "Page Setup" menu.
Margins - Use Word's "Format:
Document" command to set margins to a minimum of three quarters of an inch
on all sides.
You may wish to set top and/or bottom margins
slightly larger if you plan to use a header and/or footer.
Since eBooks don't have "left" and
"right" pages, turn off the "mirror margins" option.
Headers and Footers - Place a
"running header" at the top of each page. The easiest approach is to
simply include the title of your book and the page number.
You can place this information flush left, flush
right, or centred or you can place the title flush left and the page number
flush right.
I recommend using a slightly smaller font size
for the header, and (if you like) using italic or bold. I also like to use the
"border" command to draw a line between the header and the text.
Another option is to put the title in your
header and the page number in your footer.
Make sure that your header doesn't appear on the first page of each chapter by
using the "Insert: Break: Section: Next Page" command (rather than a
page break) to separate chapters.
Then, make sure that you've checked
"different first page" in the "Format: Document: Layout"
menu.
You can also create a
new header for each chapter (e.g., using the chapter title rather than the book
title); to do this, turn off the "same as previous" option in the
header command.
|
About the Author: Gary Baker RSS for Gary's articles - Visit Gary's website I'm a happy husband of one and a sports mad dad of two who empowers individuals and businesses through personal development, online marketing and networking to Build Success without the BS!! I'm an Aerospace Engineering graduate with over 10 years experience who retrained as an Inbound Marketing Certified Professional and now owns and manages part-time an online marketing business that specialises in building websites, SEO, PPC and Facebook fan pages, viral applications and contests. So if you'd like a FREE, no obligation consultation, quotation or review please feel to contact me HERE. I'm also on the Executive Board of a global brand that gives away free products and services and shares great daily deals. So if you'd like to join our team as a Social Affiliate Marketer or advertise your products, services or daily deals to our millions of members around the world for FREE please don't hesitate to get in touch HERE. Click here to visit Gary's website 10 Secret Steps to Wealth and 1 Easy Way To Become an Expert |
Related Forum Posts
Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.
Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.
Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!
Reverse Mentoring
Effective Leadership
Marketing & Sales tools – going back to basics
Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.


