Kindle Formatting for Novels I
Microsoft Word is not a typewriter. My first installation in this series covers the things you can do as you’re typing your document in Word (or a Word substitute) that will make formatting a novel for the Kindle easier later. While none of this can’t be fixed in the eventual formatting, it will save time if you prevent problems.
(Most of this is probably obvious to lots of you. I promise to be more useful in the next installment. I only write this installment because I’ve seen these issues in real life, so they bear mentioning.)
This isn’t just for those who want to go indie. If you’re in the querying race, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to follow these guidelines as well. Several agents forward and read manuscripts on their Kindles. Following these guidelines will ensure that, after Kindle’s conversion, your document will look its best.
No, an agent, as far as I can tell, is not going to reject you because your paragraph indents are a little wonky. But it never hurts to pay a little attention to appearance.
Paragraph Indentations
When you start writing your novel, CTRL+A the entire thing, click “Paragraph Properties” (or the little downward arrow next to “Paragraph” under the “Home” tab of 2007), and set your format. If you do it this way, you can always make universal changes without manually going through your entire document.
Never use the tab key to start a paragraph.
Or multiple spaces.
New Chapters
When ending a chapter, hit CTRL+ENTER to start a new page. Then hit the ENTER key until you get where you want, type “Chapter X,” hit ENTER again, and then start your chapter.
If you like your Chapter Heading formatted in the middle, without the indentation, then highlight the chapter heading only and adjust the paragraph settings for that alone. (Highlighting and then pressing CTRL+E will center it, but it will be a little off if you’ve got your paragraphs set to indent the first line. So go into Paragraph settings, with the Chapter Heading highlighted, and set to no indent.)
I suggest doing this after you start the first paragraph, because it’s simplest if you’re not already handy at this sort of thing.
Never hit “Enter” a bunch of times to get to a new page, in order to start your next chapter.
Title Pages and Chapter Headings
The formatting for your title page and chapter headings should again be done via paragraph settings. I covered how to do the chapter headings in the paragraph above. The same method applies to your title page. Type the text only, then highlight and format it via the paragraph settings.
Again, never use the tab key or space key to indent.
Spacing
One space, not two, and that goes for NY Publishing, too. Just do a “Find and Replace” operation: Put two spaces in the “Find” line, and one space in the “Replace” line. Then hit “Replace all.”
If your novel is already written with these issues in it, don’t worry. I’ll show you how to fix it later. The only reason to fix it now is if you’re about to send it to an agent who you know or think will forward it to their Kindle.
If you’re sending it to an agent who you think might forward your novel to their Kindle, it wouldn’t hurt to CTRL+A your document, set the paragraph settings, and then see if some paragraphs are set oddly and some aren’t. If some have larger indentations, then you probably used the tab key or multiple spaces to start the paragraph. Highlight the tabbed space (or multiple spaces), CTRL+C the problematic space, and then open the “Find and Replace” dialogue. CTRL+V the problematic space in the “Find” line, and make sure the “Replace” line is completely empty. Then hit “Replace All.”
You might have to adjust your title page and chapter headings if you make a universal change to the paragraph settings. To avoid that, you can go through and just highlight the body of your text, one chapter at a time, and set the paragraph settings that way.
If you see a disaster after performing a Find and Replace operation, don’t panic. Just hit CTRL+Z, and it will undo. Then make sure you didn’t highlight and copy an extra space or ENTER keystroke.
Next Installment
The next installment will discuss why you should format your novel for the Kindle, and a brief overview of what goes into book design.
How do you use Word? How do you format your novel as you go along? Any tips I missed? Or is this way too basic for you? (Sorry!)
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Natasha Fondren is a writer traveling the U.S. in a camper with her four cats. She is currently enjoying the lizards and desert heat in Arizona.
Or is this way too basic for you?
This is great. Keep going.
Aye, aye, Captain!
Wow! This is great! Thanks for the tips. I’ll be using this.
One question. I was taught to use two spaces after a sentence was complete. Should I change that to one space?
YES, Edie! The two-space rule is a direct descendant of our old reliance on typewriters, as it allowed the distinction between sentences to be more clearly pronounced. Any decent word processor (Word, OpenOffice, Pages, NeoOffice, etc.) will automatically ensure that sentences are spaced properly (though these settings can be modified), and——though I’m not overly familiar with how it (re)formats——I would be shocked if the Kindle weren’t capable of handling this as well.
However…if you find that the habit is utterly ingrained and will not shake despite your best efforts, do not worry, as you, your word processor, and everyone else who reads your document will survive the experience with no permanent damage.
Oh neat, how do you modify these settings? Set up an automatic replacement?
That would probably be good. I’m not sure if Word would convert it to two spaces or one. You prolly know this, but just do the find and replace thing, two spaces in the find, and one space in the replace.
Oh wow, thank you so much. This is exactly the kind of thing I’ve been looking for but not finding.
I know. It took me quite a bit of reading and research to get to the bottom of a lot of it. I’ve been meaning to write this for awhile, but you and a couple other writing friends are starting to put stuff up, and so I thought I better get on it.
I don’t use Word and I can only seem to write if I do so in unformatted text single spaced. I guess I’m used to that from typewriter days and can’t seem to “see” what I’m writing otherwise. Having said that, I always have a dreadful time getting manuscripts formatted after I’ve finished, as you might imagine, and I suspect tthe same principles at least are appliccable to other word processors like Open Office so I’m looking to forward to seeing what tips you can offer.
I don’t write in Word, either, Eric. Have you tried Q10 or WriteMonkey? Write Monkey has a bit of a learning curve (and some useful tools), but Q10 is easy to use and quick to learn.
I only mention them because you can set them to make typewriter sounds as you type, which for some reason I’m addicted to.
Writing unformatted is great, because you can apply style universally after the fact quite easily. As long as you’re not hitting ENTER at the end of the line, and only at the end of paragraphs, you should be good. When you get to Word to format it, just CTRL+A your document, then open the Paragraph dialogue. Usually you’ll set your paragraphs to indent half an inch, and adjust the line spacing to the requirements.
Then go to the end of each chapter and hit CTRL+ENTER to insert a page break, and highlight the Chapter Title to apply its particular formatting.
I usually do all that while I’m editing, so I can check the formatting as I go along.
Keeper! This post is a keeper! Thanks for sharing – now only if I had an extra $260.00 for a Kindle.
P.S. Anyone want to buy my house?
Man, Kath! You almost had a sale awhile back! I really hope someone buys it soon!
Oh, wow. You’ve gone beyond helpful and into the realm of uber-helpful. I’m going to try to format Shrink Rap for the Kindle. What the heck?
Awesome, Robin! Why not? Let me know if you need help!
I’m bookmarking this page. Thanks!
Lots of really useful information, though it’s a little too late to do a few things for my current novel, but there is a lot to keep in mind for the second one.
Natasha,
I, too, have been looking for this information. I have a lot of books that are out-of-print and I am anxious to get them back in business. I will be looking for part 2.
Cheers,
Andrea
I have part 2 up, but I still need to add a few more parts. I’ll try to get it up soon! Good luck, Andrea!
This is great advice. Getting a Word manuscript as precisely formatted as possible saves a tremendous amount of heartache when it comes to getting the book onto the Kindle.
Natasha,
I have written an entire manuscript that is not formatted for the kindle. I have followed your steps and still manage to create an entire mess. I am realizing why I have always preferred a typewriter to a computer. Any suggestions?
Deb
Natasha, I’ve found your posts very useful and have recommended them to others. One suggestion. Now that the Kindle Formatting series starts well over a year back, how about making the NEXT INSTALLMENT title at the end of each post a hyperlink to the next article. It would save new readers of your blog a lot of searching around.
Thank you! You’re right. It’s on the list, I swear!
JIT for my submission. Thanks