It is a truth universally acknowledged that self-published authors tend to cut corners—and formatting is one of the areas that commonly suffers the most.

But this doesn’t have to be you!

If you’ve been around for some time, you know that I advocate for intentional and professional self-publishing. I believe that every aspect of self-publishing is vitally important to the success of your book: book cover, description, back cover blurb, marketing, and yes, formatting—and that’s all besides the content of the book itself! 

All of that is pretty overwhelming, especially because you’re all on your own when it comes to self-publishing. But part of the whole process is learning to be strategic. You have to know when it becomes worth it to pay someone else to do something for you rather than spend tons of time doing it yourself—you can read all about it here!

When it comes to formatting, though, I think it’s best to invest a little money to help you format your books yourself, which will save you a whole lot of time and money down the road—especially if you’re planning on self-publishing multiple books. So here’s how to professionally format your book from start to finish without wasting time or breaking the bank:

1. Understand the importance of formatting

Look, when it comes down to it, formatting isn’t the most exciting part of publishing a book. I get that. You might not even think it’s all that important—I know I didn’t! But the truth? It matters. It really does. As silly as it may seem, at first glance, we judge the visual quality of a book more than the content quality. You can write the most incredible story in the world, but if the text is difficult to read or the indentation is all over the place, some readers will put the book down without even giving it a chance.

Personally, badly formatted books automatically give me the impression of a sloppy, novice author. It’s even worse if the formatting actually makes the book difficult to read. Remember, you want to do everything you can to entice your reader to keep turning the page; any single mistake can make a reader decide not to buy your book or put it down for good. So the goal is to eliminate as many of those mistakes as possible to make reading the book as easy and inviting to read as you can! Formatting is easy to get right; it just takes some effort.

2. Don’t use Kindle Create

Take it from someone who’s used it and helped many others use it. Kindle Create (KC) may be quick, easy, and free, but it’s so, so limited and antiquated. Books formatted using KC are immediately recognisable because only a few different style options are available, and they’re pretty bad. KC can make books look neat, sure, but if you want professional, updated, and comfortable formatting, stay away from KC and try something else. Trust me.

3. Search for a good formatting program

Any good formatting software worth its salt will cost some money. You could go all in for a pro Adobe program, but that’s not the best idea here, especially if you’re not acquainted with the software already. From my research, I’ve determined that Vellum and Atticus are the best to choose from. I like Atticus because it has pretty much all the capabilities of Vellum but has a cheaper price tag (and is offered for Windows as well as Mac). These programs are writer-friendly (meaning easy to use even if you have no design experience) and produce a beautiful, professional product.

I’ve mentioned this link before and I’ll mention it again, but this article has a really great comparison of different formatting programs!

4. Know your parameters

Before you begin using your formatting software of choice, you should first know the formatting specifications for whatever platform you’re publishing on. Every site will have a detailed guide somewhere, and make sure that you’re looking at the right one; ebook and print book specifications will be totally different!

5. Do your research and format away!

Put in some time to learn about your program as you’re using it. YouTube, Reddit, and the software’s website are some great resources to use when you’re trying to figure out how things work! It may take a bit of time to get used to, but the great part is that once you have the software and know how to use it, you’ve now streamlined the formatting process and can do it time and time again like a design pro!

Following these steps are a great way to save some time and money when self-publishing your book, not to mention you’ll learn some new skills along the way! Formatting doesn’t have to be that huge, strange monster lurking somewhere in the shadowy distance. With great software and a little bit of effort, you can produce an amazing, professional book that readers will love!

So, how have you formatted your books in the past? Do you have a question about self-publishing? Let me know in the comments or contact me!

Happy writing!
—E.J.

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Photo by Annelies Geneyn on Unsplash