This is also the same question I have when I was just starting with self-publishing. But now that I have already done a lot of books, let me tell you what is the correct format for Kindle books and the perfect tool that you can use to do it easily.
Today's question has three answers and the third answer is a secret you are going to want to stick around for. Because you are going to learn how to get the formatting correct. Every single time when doing your Kindle books.
So let's get into it. Today's question that was sent in is what is the correct format for Kindle books? This is a very common question.
When you are first getting started, you understand that the absolute easiest way to start on self-publishing is by putting your books into Kindle format.
It's easier than paperback ePub or even if you wish to go into audiobooks. This is by far the easiest format with the least amount of problems.
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Going back and forth with Amazon or other sites in terms of getting your books approved. So the other thing that is as beautiful as that as what we've discussed previously, it is that you don't need to have your own ISBN numbers.
They will give them to you, so the cost is nearly virtually free. That's an important point also to keep in mind. Grab a copy of my free Self-Publishing Secrets Checklist.
When I first started my journey, I had followed along with books on 'how to publish Kindle books?'. I was reading Kindle books and I was looking at free books every day that were coming out on Kindle. Then, I started noticing patterns.
I begin to realize, this is something I could do. Some of the books that I was getting for free or nearly free were going as far as to tell me that I could actually do it myself. One of the books that I have read was Steve Scott's Self-Publishing in 21 Days.
The Format For Kindle
I realize this is definitely something I could do. I had some ideas I want to share with the world. But then which format do the books need to be put into to maximize sales?
And make sure that they get accepted onto Amazon. The other thing is the quality must be high enough. Even if they got accepted, it doesn't make the quality high enough.
And that when they are out there, people are going to be happy with it. So they don't leave negative reviews. And then we're also going to want to make changes to it over time.
So those are the number of challenges that come over trying to figure out the correct format for Kindle books. Well, the answer is Mobi is the correct format for Kindle books. So, that is the format that's going to go.
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You can upload your books as just Word documents but then the formatting will have all sorts of issues. They will be left at trying to figure out which format they need to put your books into. If we are going to want to make sure that people can easily read them.
Also, the Table of Contents must work and that some of the other aspects like bullet points. It is the one that doesn't translate correctly, ends up looking poorly. You really don't want to do that.
You want to make sure it's going to be in a clean Mobi format. However, you also keep in mind that other sites like Smashwords will want you to do it in ePub. Wherein you are going to distribute your books in that particular route if you decide not to go with KDP Select on Amazon.
But the correct format for Kindle books, that would be Mobi. Here is the secret answer for today for how exactly you are going to be able to save time and money on this? It is using a program called Jutoh.
It's a very inexpensive program and it tells you exactly how to go about putting the files into the Mobi format. It also then with a single click, you can do it into an ePub format and into a PDF that will be used for your paperback books.
Highly Recommended Program
So that is a single program where you put the files in there. I like to actually start with Word and do some checking there. Then I move it over to Open Libre Office/Libre Writer.
From there, I move it over into Jutoh and divided it up into the chapters. Because I can do spelling and grammar and checking other things. And these other tools are a little bit easier before I move it in.
Then it will strip off all of the unnecessary things that Word tends to add a whole series of extra text in there. And then when you just say, put it into Mobi, it will just automatically create a Mobi file.
You upload the file and everything works great. The support is also excellent. I've gone back and forth with the creator of this program who has helped me over the years.
But I don't have any problems anymore. All of my files got accepted immediately since I use a template that solves any issues there. This is the correct format and that will also save you a lot of time and money.
It's not worth the hustle of going with lower-quality programs. I did try using Scribner but I found a problem with that program. It wasn't giving me my Table of Contents correctly.
And also in terms of generally moving stuff around, it was a little bit of a challenge. So the learning curve was steeper. Then I found it before Jutoh and I think you had to pay more as well.
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So that's just my recommendation on the software front. On which programs you should be using. What have you found? Which formats have you attempted to upload files?
Have you found that maybe Word did work for you? Or maybe you did like Scribner as opposed to Jutoh?
Go ahead and let me know below in the comments and check out my other blogs and videos to see other answers to questions you have about self-publishing.