How Long Does it Take You to Format Your Book?

[Marie Silk]

Hello everyone :) I figure I should probably do my own formatting eventually...and I wondered approx how long it takes you to do yours (hours, days, week, month?).

The files I get back from the formatters are mobi, epub, and print-ready PDF. I use all of these formats when I approach reviewers, and of course for publishing.

Do you format to all 3 files? And if so, about how long does it take you? Thank you so much!

[Nik]

Hi Marie,

I work with doc and leave it as such. Sometimes I convert to PDF. Kindle converts to Mobi when you upload a source file (doc in my case) they accept. A year ago I needed to convert doc to HTML, because there were troubles, but recently I haven't noticed anything major directly from .doc.
After the book is on kdp, you can download a mobi copy for yourself.
If you use Creatspace for PoD, you end up with PDF from their site.

Naturally, first time takes longer, let's say - a few hours, but afterwards - maybe a couple. Also depends what level of formatting you want, basic or advanced. My friend and co-author on the first book really invested in internal design, while I alone went with the most basic formatting...
In general - formatting is not quantum physics, so I believe it's not that hard to master -:)
I also changed at least a few times the source, so if I involved someone outsourced each time, it wouldnt've been possible.

[Tara Woods Turner]

Took my husband about an hour to forat Amazon and Create Space apiece. His brow was furrowed and there may have been an F-bomb or two but no major headaches

[Graeme]

I go from Scrivner to MS-Word where I do most of my formatting work. I end up with two files.

[A] MS Word for Createspace Print on Demand or save as a PDF.

[B] MS Word -> Saved as Filtered HTML

I put [B] through Calibre to produce the eBook Formats, ePub, etc.

I use the ePub as imput to Kindle.

The process from start to finish would be less than a day.

I have not written it down - so there is always a bit of re-learning but I plan to simply cut & paste and "save as" to a MS Word template from my first novel to save 'reworking' everything.

[K.P.]

I use page plus to format my novels in PDF. For kindle & smashwords, I export page plus to rtf in open office fix the formatting and save as a filtered html file which I load in sigil and do final formatting and clean up code. Then I load in calibre to fix remaining formatting (add cover & meta tags) then export the various eBook versions I need (namely epub & kindle - mobi by request). That takes about 3-5 hours depending on how many chapters I deal with (I can format 10 in an hour).

[Annie]

@Miss Marie: It really shouldn't take you any time at all if...

You set it up from the beginning, which I didn't do haha!

I use Word doc (with the chapter headings, no spaces, etc.) then convert to epub with Calibre, then convert from epub to mobi and pdf. I actually upload my epub onto KDP. This is NOT recommended. I just found that it worked best for me after many "Oops. Oh, crap. Darn it" moments *smirks*

I reckon it would take me an hour, maybe two? for 80K novel...

Hugs,
Ann

[Marie Silk]

Wow, thank you so much everyone for your detailed responses!

I have read some ebooks where the text is not justified and sometimes the Chapters run together (no page break) and other issues like this that look like formatting to me. Is this what happens when Amazon converts a doc straight to Kindle?

I just learned a week ago that I could upload a doc for pre-order draft. I did not realize you could do that for the publishing file too.

[Annie]

@Miss Marie: Well...

You should know that I have ZERO clue what I'm doing and have NEVER read the instructions on KDP *grins sheepishly* so it's all been trial and error. I don't always know why the formatting goes wonky, I just change stuff till it's fixed LMAO!! But, yes, when I tried uploading docx (as recommended) to Kindle, my formatting went haywire. Heh.

And you sure can! I've reuploaded my source file at least a dozen times. Probably two dozen, if we're being honest haha!

Hugs,
Ann

[Marie Silk]

Thanks Ann!

Ever since I heard about the table of contents debacle, I've been too paranoid to try :D

[Nik]

ToC is sort of quantum physics, so no table for me -:( I'm considering waiving chapters and replace them with ***, so no toc would be required -:)

[Annie]

Marie wrote: "the table of contents debacle"

What's up with TOC's? I use them in my ebooks. Are we not supposed to? I think I missed something. As usual haha!

[Quantum]

the free sample is 10% of the file size, right?

wouldn't it be nice if it ended on a cliffhanger?

you could futz around w/the cover and ToC to get to the right place.

[Marie Silk]

I read something about authors having their books removed from kdp for not having their TOC in the right place. I tried to read the TOC page on the KDP instructions, and ultimately I got scared, haha. It was way over my head. I think that this particular debacle was over putting the TOC in the back of the book instead of the front, or not having a TOC at all.

[Graeme]

I like chapters.

I use them as narrative boundaries for changes of value for the main character.

For example

Chapter 1 - end -ve (MC is in the crap)

Chapter 2 - end +ve (MC is out of the crap)

Chapter 3 - end -ve (MC is back in the crap)

And so on and so forth.

I typically average about 11-13 scenes per chapter.

By Kindle book standards, my chapters are fat, but I'm going to stick with them as they are.

[Nik]

Marie wrote: "I read something about authors having their books removed from kdp for not having their TOC in the right place...."

I don't have ToC in two of my books and so far Zon exercises remarkable leniency. I did have problem with Smash though not distributing the book to some vendors, but then they offer this option to have it automatically formed...