Member-only story
Print and ebook formatting templates
Format your book before you publish
This is the preface to my revised book marketing guide, you can find the whole series on Medium or download the free PDF.
Book formatting is the bane of my existence. It’s tedious, and time-consuming, and there are always typos and mistakes, but it’s also a crucial part of the publishing process. That said, it’s possible to do a decent job yourself, if you learn how, and there are even some online tools that make it all a bit easier.
Book formatting is rarely part of the sales event, but it may have an effect on reader enjoyment or satisfaction. Ebooks are generally very simple, less is definitely more: ebook text is flowable and readers are allowed to change the font or text size, so you won’t be able to control something things like spacing between words or where lines or chapters end up. With print formatting, I would make an effort to keep it clean and professional, and add all the common, standard book publishing elements and practices even if you don’t understand what they’re all for.
A poorly formatted book or ebook can lead to bad reviews that will sabotage all your marketing efforts, so set aside some time to grapple with the learning curve, buy a tool, or…
