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How to make an EPUB from your manuscript

An EPUB is the file behind almost every ebook: Kindle takes it, Apple Books takes it, Kobo takes it. It looks nothing like a print PDF, and the things that make a good one are different. Here is what is inside, what the stores want, and what to check.

What an EPUB is

An EPUB is a zip archive with a different extension. Inside are the chapters as small web pages (XHTML), a stylesheet, the images, the cover, a table of contents, and a manifest that lists it all in reading order. Because it is built from web pages, the text reflows: a Kindle Paperwhite, an iPad and a phone each show as many words per screen as fit at the reader's chosen type size. There are no pages, only positions.

That single fact explains most of what makes a print file and an ebook file different. Page numbers, running heads, widows and orphans, the chapter drop, the gutter: none of them exist in an EPUB. What matters instead is clean structure, so every reading app can do its own layout well.

What a good EPUB contains

• One file per chapter. Readers open faster and the table of contents works. A whole book in one file is the most common mistake from word-processor exports.
• Real headings. Chapter titles as heading elements, not as big bold paragraphs. Reading apps build their navigation from them.
• A navigation document. The table of contents in EPUB 3 form, with a fallback for older readers. Kindle shows it as "Go to".
• Styles that respect the reader. Paragraph indents, a little space before scene breaks, italics for emphasis. No fixed type sizes, no fixed line lengths, no fonts embedded unless there is a reason. The reader chooses the typeface; the file suggests.
• Scene breaks that survive. A blank line disappears at the top of a screen. An ornament (three asterisks, ⁂, a short rule) stays visible wherever the text breaks.
• Notes as links. Footnotes become links to the note, and back. Kindle and Apple Books show them as pop-ups.
• Images sized for screens. Large enough to be sharp on a tablet (around 1,600 pixels on the long side is plenty), compressed so the file stays small. KDP charges delivery costs by file size on its 70 percent royalty plan.
• Front matter, but less of it. A title page and a copyright page, then the story. Readers of a sample want to reach chapter one within a couple of taps. Dedications and "Also by" lists usually move to the back.
• The cover inside the file, and separately as a JPEG for the store listing.
• Metadata. Title, author, language and an identifier, in the manifest, matching what you enter in the store.

What the stores want

Kindle (KDP). Upload the EPUB; KDP converts it. It also accepts DOCX and its own KPF format from Kindle Create. Cover: 2,560 × 1,600 pixels recommended, JPEG or TIFF, ratio 1.6 to 1, minimum 1,000 pixels on the short side.

Apple Books. EPUB, validated with EPUBCheck. Cover at least 1,400 pixels on the short side. Apple is stricter about validation than Amazon, so a file that passes Apple passes everywhere.

Kobo, Google Play, Draft2Digital and the other distributors. EPUB. Same cover file. Draft2Digital and similar aggregators will also take a DOCX and build the EPUB for you, at the cost of control over the result.

Check it before you publish

1. Run EPUBCheck, the open-source validator the stores themselves use. Zero errors is the target; warnings are usually fine.
2. Open the file in Apple Books on a Mac and in Kindle Previewer, Amazon's free app. Switch the type size to the largest and the smallest setting. Switch to dark mode. Turn the device sideways.
3. Check the table of contents from inside the reader, not from your own list. Every chapter should be there, with the right name.
4. Tap a footnote. Tap the back link.
5. Look at the first screen a browser sees in the store sample: it should be the cover or the title page, not a copyright notice.