From the very beginning of self-publishing, formatting books has been one of my favorite things to do...like a hobby. I first learned the eBook process by writing the HTML and XML that encompass a book you can read on an eReader. After working in tech jobs for the early part of my career, it was a given that I'd delve deep into the guts of an eBook before learning any other method or tool to build a book. I had also published various types of manuals in the Air Force and a corporate environment, so paper books were a cinch to jump back into.
Some may tell you it's easy to use a word processor or other tools to format books, but it's not. I run into formatting issue after formatting issue in self-published books. I'm not quite sure how do-it-yourself authors don't see the extra spaces, strange characters, giant white spaces, inconsistencies, and more when they quality check their book before publishing. Or maybe they're not bothering to quality check their product. You can bet your reader notices, and a poorly formatted book is more than enough for someone to throw your book aside and reach for one of a million other books out there.
I still run into crazy strange things that happen while formatting books. I keep it all documented, every last freaky thing I run into. For example, I once found an issue where MS Word had put invisible ASCII characters into the manuscript that you could see in the eBook but not in Word. Until I opened the manuscript in a coding app like Notepad++ or Komodo Edit, I could not see or find the characters.
Consider that the average time frame for an author to write their first book is 10 years. MS Word alone does the weirdest things to your manuscript over that length of time. Sure, you could strip your manuscript down to a text file, but guess how long it will take you to build it back with all the formatting. Do you really want to re-highlight and re-italicize all the needed text again. Oh, and stripping the manuscript won't get rid of the ASCII character issue I had found.
Yes...there are ways around the mess, and I've made it my mission to figure out how to clean it up the most efficiently.That's why I'm open to helping you with any book formatting issues you encounter, no matter the method you choose. I've created a form for your questions under the Services menu. Just click on Book Formatting Questions, and I'll do my best to answer or provide instructions on how to fix your problem. I'm even looking forward to you challenging me with new issues.
Not everyone can afford to pay someone to format their book, which is why the process should be fun, not frustrating. But like a puzzle, all it takes is one piece missing to send you on a frantic and time consuming search for the piece. And each missing piece is a flaw in your book you can't afford readers to see.
I am the founder of ArmLin House, as well as the Chief Editor and Creative Director. For over thirty-five year, I’ve worked in technology, business development, marketing, writing, and publishing jobs. In the last 5 years I’ve returned to school and have become a graphic designer and social media video editor. In general, I have A LOT of experience in A LOT of industries and I love to help people, which is one of our main missions as a company. Learn more about me on my LinkedIn page.