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Kindle formatting question.
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Belle
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Jul 13, 2016 08:38AM
My book does not do a new page for each chapter, just a few spaces between chapters. Each chapter has a number and underneath that a quote from the chapter. Then there is a space and the text begins. I have a few pages where at the bottom it has the chapter number, quote, space and then one line of text before going to the next page. Is it acceptable to leave that or should I page break before it?
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I would page break at the end of every chapter, starting your new chapter on a fresh page. It makes the entire book look more professional and well done. That's just my opinion.
I agree with K.R. A break makes it easier for readers. However, if you already published and are not too sure about how to do the chapter breaks (and you are afraid of messing things up), just leave it like that. I mean, sure it's better with chapter breaks but I have seen trad. pub. books with chapters starting just like you say yours do.
Thanks. I was leaning toward that anyway. It won't be out until August 19. I am just tinkering with the last little bits. Thanks for your input.
@Miss Belle: Personally, I'm with KR and GG on this one. I just like how it looks better. But I know authors who prefer the opposite. Sooo, I reckon there's no wrong answer as long as you're consistent (duh, Ann!!)Hugs,
Ann
Page breaks between chapters are the right thing to do.
One other question - What about a single line at the top of a page? Is just one line okay and if so, does it need to be a whole line?
Just my two cents, but I agree about the page break. If you have images, however, it can get a little dicey/frustrating/maddening during the Kindle conversion process.
Not clear what you are asking in your last post, Belle, can you restate?
I would go with page break as well.@Belle: Do you mean the title of the chapter or the running header? Running header for kindle book is automatically added by kindle based on your title. If you use software like Vellum, you can see how the running header looks like in preview mode.
If you have the option to page break then you should do it. I'm with everyone else here. It makes it easier for your readers and takes a little stress and work off you, it may not seem like it but it's one less thing for you to deal with.
One more comment: Kindle displays pages differently depending on device size and font settings by user (words per line and lines per page will vary). So what you see in your document is not how it will be displayed on Kindle. Starting every chapter with a page break, however, does ensure that every chapter starts at the top of a new page in Kindle. Otherwise you have no control over where it will be displayed.
James, I was recently practicing downloading my book to my ereader with the Amazon Kindle app. A blank page kept appearing between each chapter. I tried a few different things I learned from another thread in another group. I saved my Word file as an HTML file. Instead of inserting a page break at the end of each chapter, I put it at the beginning of the next chapter. I place my cursor before the "C" in Chapter and inserted the page break there. That took away my extra page. Good luck with your book.
Thanks for the suggestion, Sue (Dog Mom). I am going to self publish my latest book, I think. It's a different genre from my others and I thought I'd use a pseudonym and self-publish so it's different from the others. Your tip will be useful I suspect.
Oh, that reads badly! Sorry. Not the sort of thing one expects from someone calling herself an author. :-(
