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You’ve written your book, and perhaps you dream of holding a printed copy in your hands. The good news is that publishing it digitally online is a straightforward process. This article will help you with tricky parts.



Choose the paper size

Choose the best size that suits your book genre and content. Common industry sizes include:

 

Choose the paper size for Digital Book like PDF, ePub and Print-on-Demand

  • 5.5" x 8.5" : A portable size, excellent for fiction, memoirs, and general non-fiction.
  • 7" x 10" : Provides ample space for textbooks, art books, manuals, or illustrated works.
  • 6" x 9" : The most popular trade paperback size, ideal for non-fiction, business books, and longer fiction.
  • 5" x 8" : A compact, traditional size often used for literary fiction, short novels, or poetry.

 

Be careful :  Platforms like Google Docs, Microsoft Word, Amazon KDP, and Draft2Digital may update their recommended sizes. Check their current guidelines and choose a common size that meets both their specifications and your needs. 

 

Choose the paper margin for Digital Book like PDF, ePub and Print-on-Demand

 

Before you do anything else, set a paper size, and apply for whole document. We recommend these initial page settings: 

 

  • Top Margin: 0.75"
  • Bottom Margin: 0.75"
  • Left Margin: 0.75"
  • Right Margin: 0.75"


  • Orientation: Portrait
  • Gutter: 0.75"
  • Gutter Position: Mirror


Important Note on Gutters: Set the gutter to 0" for eBooks intended for online use only. For print-ready files, a gutter is essential to accommodate the book's spine. Here is a clear example of Margin and Gutter. The space between text and --------- is margin, and between the ---------- and vertical line is gutter. Gutter position must be mirror as printed books are published on both sides of paper. 

 

Difference between Margin and Gutter




Complete Your Manuscript

Final Steps Before Publishing is to finish writing and proofreading your entire book. You can fix grammar and spelling mistake in next version, but not the story or any information. So, be extremely careful. 



Insert Page Numbers

Now insert the page number. If your document is 200 pages, then page number will be from Page 1 to Page 200. When inserting page numbers, ensure they are positioned at a proper distance from the main body text to avoid overlapping. 


When inserting page numbers, ensure they are positioned at a proper distance from the main body text


But if you see page number starts from 1 again after every section, then fix it by Macro. 

 

 

What is Macro, and how to use it? 

An MS Word Macro is a recorded series of commands and actions (like formatting, inserting text) that automates repetitive tasks, saving you time by replaying them with a single click or shortcut. To use one, you enable the Developer tab. 


Enable Developer Tab for Macro in Microsoft Word

  1. Enable Developer Tab: Go to File > Word Options > Popular/Customize Ribbon, and check the "Developer" box.
  2. Start Recording: Click the Developer tab, then "Create Macro." Give it a name (no spaces).
  3. Type and Save: Type or Paste the Codes. 
  4. Run the Macro: Go to Developer > Macros, select it, and click "Run". 

 

Record Macro in Microsoft Word


Here are two Macros to fix Page numbering problems. 



First Macro:

Save this Macro as LinkAllHeadersFootersToPrevious


Sub LinkAllHeadersFootersToPrevious()

Dim sec As Section
Dim hf As HeaderFooter

For Each sec In ActiveDocument.Sections

For Each hf In sec.Headers
    If hf.Exists Then
        hf.LinkToPrevious = True
    End If
Next hf

For Each hf In sec.Footers
    If hf.Exists Then
        hf.LinkToPrevious = True
    End If
Next hf


Next sec

MsgBox "All headers and footers are now linked to previous sections."

End Sub



Second Macro:

Save this Macro as FixAllPageNumbering


Sub FixAllPageNumbering()

Dim sec As Section

For Each sec In ActiveDocument.Sections
With sec.Footers(wdHeaderFooterPrimary).PageNumbers
.RestartNumberingAtSection = False
.StartingNumber = 1
End With
Next sec

MsgBox "Page numbering fixed: Continuous numbering applied."

End Sub




Table of Contents

 


If you book has too may pages, you may consider adding Table of Contents as shown above. 


Table of Contents in Microsoft Word


To create Table of Contents (TOC) in Microsoft Word, first apply Heading Styles (Heading 1, Heading 2, etc.) to your chapter and section titles from the Home tab. Then, place your cursor where you want the Table of Contents, go to the References tab, click Table of Contents, and choose an automatic style to generate it. 


Add text in Table of Contents


If for any reason any heading does not appear in the Table of Contents, then you can fix it by placing your cursor inside text, then select Level 1 or Level 2 or Level 3. On the contrary, if you want to exclude something from Table of Contents, then select "Do Not Show in Table of Contents".  

 

In PDF or webpage format, all Table of Contents entries work as clickable hyperlinks that will take you directly to the specific article. In Microsoft Word, you can follow these links by holding Ctrl+Click on the entry. 

 

Tip : To quickly return to the Table of Contents in Word after clicking a link, use the Alt + Left Arrow shortcut to go back to your previous location. 



Convert to PDF or ePub

PDF and ePub are most used formats for eBooks. There are total 3 ways to convert any document to PDF. 

1. If you use Google Doc, they do have a default Save as PDF, and Save as ePub option. 

 

Microdoft Print to PDF
 

2. In Microsoft Word, they do have a default Save as PDF. If not press Ctrl+P, then choose "Microdoft-Print-to-PDF" option, and click on OK. 


3. Use any online converter. Go to Google and type Docx to PDF converter, or Docx to ePub converter. But be careful, if you file contains something super secret, you can't say for sure that any of these Online Converter websites will keep a copy of your valuable documents.  



Book Cover

If you plan to publish your book on platforms like Amazon, Draft2Digital, or Lulu, you will also need to upload a book cover. You can design one using tools such as Canva, Adobe Express, Illustrator, or Photoshop. Open-source alternatives like GIMP or Inkscape are also suitable. Some creators even use Microsoft PowerPoint. 


Book Cover sample with Front, Spine and Back


Your cover should include:

  • Front: The book title and author name.
  • Spine: Placed between the front and back, with the text oriented vertically.
  • Back: A brief description of the book's content, along with the price, barcode, publisher information, and logo.


Platforms like Amazon, Draft2Digital, or Lulu provide a demo cover template that includes guidelines for bleed, trim, and spine dimensions. You can re-upload updated cover files until you are satisfied with the final design. 



We are all waiting to read your first book. Make us happy!