Chapter 3: Formatting

“One of the strangest things is the act of creation. You are faced with a blank slate—a page, a canvas, a block of stone or wood, a silent musical instrument. You then look inside yourself.

You pull and tug and squeeze and fish around for slippery raw shapeless things that swim like fish made of cloud vapor and fill you with living clamor.

You latch onto something. And as it comes out, it takes shape and tangible form. It drips on the canvas, and slides through your pen, it springs forth and resonates into the musical strings, and slips along the edge of the sculptor’s tool onto the surface of the wood or marble.

You have given it cohesion. You have brought forth something ordered and beautiful out of nothing.”

Vera Nazarian

At best it appears boring, at its worst, daunting, but formatting doesn’t have to be either.

It’s one of my favourite parts of the process, because you finally get to see your words change from a document on your desktop to an actual book. Yay!

Formatting is important because it affects the readability of your book. If you want to have an edge over traditionally published books, yours should look its best in every way. While the cover design is all-important to captivate the reader in the first place, good typesetting will stay with them for all the hours it will take to read the book.

The myth that ebook formatting is too technical for the average writer is bollocks. Yes, many authors outsource this part of the process, but it’s simply not necessary. We already have to pay for editing, cover design and marketing, so here’s an opportunity to save.

That said, if you really want to pay someone else to do it, go ahead! As an author coach I’m often asked to format a manuscript and because the software makes it so quick and easy, I never say no. However, when the author wants to make changes, which they always do, it’s a pain for them to keep coming back. Formatting your own work will save you time, money and frustration.

So have no fear. Let’s do this thing. Here is everything you need to know about formatting your manuscript before you upload to various retailers.