Some common questions
Formatting is the preparation of a pdf file, to ensure that it meets the publisher’s requirements and is an enjoyable reading experience.
We format for amazon kdp print and ingramspark. The single pdf file we provide is guaranteed for both of these platforms. We format books for other platforms too.
What is print book formatting?
Formatting is the preparation of a pdf file, to ensure that it meets the publisher’s requirements and is an enjoyable reading experience.
Who do we format books for?
We format for amazon kdp print and ingramspark. The single pdf file we provide is guaranteed for both of these platforms. We format books for other platforms too.
When can i expect my formatted file?
We have some of the fastest turnaround times in the business. Within 6 days of payment. ( 2-3 days for rush jobs).
We format for these major publishing sites
Guide to print book formatting prices
| Number of words | PDF (fiction) prices USD |
Print PDF (non-fiction) |
|---|---|---|
| Upto 50k | $154-158 + extras* (see below) | Request a Quote |
| 50 – 100k | $159-178 + extras* (see below) | Request a Quote |
| 100 -150k | $179-198 + extras* (see below) | Request a Quote |
| 150 – 200k | $199-218 + extras* (see below) | Request a Quote |
| 200k+ | Request a Quote | Request a Quote |
| Number of words |
Print PDF (fiction) prices USD |
Print PDF (non- fiction) |
|---|---|---|
| Upto 50k |
$154-158 + extras* (see below) |
Request a Quote |
| 50 to 100k |
$159-178 + extras* (see below) |
Request a Quote |
| 100 to 150k |
$179-198 + extras* (see below) |
Request a Quote |
| 150 to 200k |
$199-218 + extras* (see below) |
Request a Quote |
| 200k+ | Request a Quote |
Request a Quote |
We accept the following methods of payment
all prices in USD
Our print book formatting includes
Print ready PDF file guaranteed to be approved by KDP Print and IngramSpark.
Appropriate front matter (e.g. title and copyright page)
A table of contents with page numbers upon request
Prompt, direct communication with our professional formatters.
Footnotes or end notes as required.
Thorough post-formatting file review and check.
Turnaround time within 7 days (2-3 days for rush jobs).
For a complete list of what our print service includes, click here
Print ready PDF file guaranteed to be approved by KDP Print and IngramSpark.
Appropriate front matter (e.g. title and copyright page)
A table of contents with page numbers upon request
Prompt, direct communication with our professional formatters.
Footnotes or end notes as required.
Thorough post-formatting file review and check.
Turnaround time within 7 days (2-3 days for rush jobs).
For a complete list of what our print service includes, click here
Our print book formatting process
The Kdpcover Guarantee
We stand behind our services with our 100 satisfaction guarantee. We genuinely want you to be happy with our work. If for any reason you don’t like something, we’ll work with you to make it right or we will refund your money. It’s that simple.
For formatting, Kdpcover requires a Word document (doc/docx) or equivalent (ie. Open Office document (.odt), Pages document (.pages), etc).
Important note: We cannot use a PDF or a file created by converting a PDF.
Simply put, a file created with a converter is not the same as the original file that was used to create the PDF. For example, we’ve found that non-printing characters are inserted to maintain the text’s appearance across platforms (and therefore appear in the converted file). Clean-up of converted files can be a inconsistent and time consuming process.
If you would like to get a quote for book formatting, please submit your file through our form here: http://kdpcover.com/book-formatting-form/
Blank pages in your print book PDF file may be due to a couple of reasons. However, it is first important to understand what one is seeing when viewing this PDF file. Each page is either a right/odd/front or a left/even/back page. The ‘right’ page is the ‘front’, and the following ‘left’ page is the ‘back’ side of the previous ‘right’ page.
Keeping this in mind, the following are some reasons your book may have blank pages:
- Your front matter ends on a right/odd/front page. The first ‘chapter’ of the book will start on a right/odd/front page, therefore the previous left page will be blank.
- Your book has a Part I, Part II, etc. (or something similar). These are divider pages, which start on the right/odd/front pages. The chapter immediately following this page starts on a right/odd/front page, so the previous left/even/back page is blank.
- The text of your book ends on a right/odd/front page. This means that the last page of your book will be blank since each page has two sides and a book will always have an even number of pages.
Please refer to the following outline to determine if you need to send us your cover file:
Smashwords
- We do not need your cover file if you ordered a Word doc file. When you publish with a Word doc file, you will upload your cover file separately and the Smashwords meatgrinder/converter will automatically insert your cover image into EPUB and MOBI files.
- If you are publishing on Smashwords with an EPUB file, then please send us your cover and we will insert it as per the requirements.
Amazon KDP
We do not require your cover if you are publishing on Amazon KDP. You will upload your cover file along with your book file, and it will be inserted into your ebook when you publish.
IngramSpark EPUB
Yes, IngramSpark requires that you cover is inserted into the EPUB file. Please email us your cover file if you ordered an EPUB file for Google Books.
IngramSpark Print
No, we do not require your cover if you are publishing with IngramSpark print. You will upload your cover file along with your book file.
Amazon KDP Print
No, we do not require your cover if you are publishing with Amazon KDP Print. You will upload your cover file along with your book file.
Yes, if you prefer a different font to be used for print or ebook formatting services, please let us know.
Please choose a font that is free for commercial use from Font Squirrel.
Ebook launch will send you a print-ready PDF file that you can upload to Amazon KDP Print and/or IngramSpark.
The terms conversion, book design, and formatting are sometimes used interchangeably, which can lead to confusion… Here’s how Kdpcover sees it (also see diagram below):
Conversion implies using a converter to change your file from one format to another. For example, converting a PDF file to a .doc file. This is strictly technical and takes a matter of seconds. A lot of conversions are not perfect and can be frustrating to deal with. The Smashwords Meatgrinder is a good example of a converter, which is why they have very specific formatting requirements.
Book design refers to the layout and aesthetic appearance of a book. This includes the artistic element like flourishes, insets, etc. A book designer generally would also format the file appropriately (eg. get it print-ready) – so in that sense, they are the full package (and usually the most expensive).
Formatting is a combination of both, leaning towards the technical side of things. Kdpcover considers both the aesthetic and technical requirements during formatting (including best practices). We take a manuscript and ensure it meets the requirements of a retailer or distributor while ensuring it looks great on all devices.
Here is an explanation of Kdpcover’s terminology with regard to books, print books, and ebooks:
Most print books and ebooks use similar conventions, such as a cover page, title page, copyright page, table of contents, chapters, and paragraphs. However, there are some notable differences between print books and ebooks – especially when considering ebook formatting and print book formatting:
- Layout: Print books have a fixed layout that you can control, and does not change after printing. Ebooks have a reflowable layout that appears different depending on the device, application, or user settings used to view the ebook. Reflowable formatting refers to the text’s ability to “flow” or automatically wrap words in a document to the next line as the settings change. This flexibility of ebooks allows each reader to enjoy the ebook according to their own preferences, on their own device or application. Because there are not pages per se in an ebook, one cannot ‘center’ the text vertically.
- Page numbers: Since ebook text “flows” to adjust to the size of the screen and user settings, an ebook does not have set pages or page numbers, as in a print book. Therefore, the reader cannot use page numbers as a means of navigating and referencing locations within the ebook through the table of contents or index. Instead, ebooks have a table of contents that is hyperlinked to the individual chapters and/or sections of the book. And instead of the index, users use the device or application’s search function to locate specific words or phrases within the text.
- Headers and footers: As there are no set pages or page numbers in ebooks, they do not have headers or footers. Any headers and/or footers you see in an ebook are put there by the ereader app or device using the ebook’s metadata.
- Endnotes: Again, as there are no set pages in ebooks, footnotes found in a print book, become endnotes within the ebook.
- Images: To ensure predictability of placement, images are in line with the text and centered. As most ereader apps and devices do not accept charts, tables, and columns at this time, these are converted into images and formatted accordingly. If there are captions associated with the image, because of reflowable text, there is no guarantee the caption will be on the same screen/page as the image.
In an ebook, depending on the ereader app or device, the reader can set the following preferences:
- font type
- font size
- page width
- hyphenation
- text alignment
- color mode
The following are some examples of preference setting for the Kindle for Mac/PC (these also demonstrate reflowable text and the dynamic nature of ebooks):
The Preference selection can be accessed by click on the “Aa” button:
Font Type
Font Size Set Small in the eReader Preferences
Font Size Set Medium in the eReader Preferences
Font Size Set Large in the eReader Preferences
Page Width Set Narrow in the eReader Preferences
Page Width Set Medium in the eReader Preferences
Page Width Set Wide in the eReader Preferences
Readers also have the use of the ereader’s Search function to navigate the book:
The following is a quote from the Smashwords Style Guide:
How Ebook Formatting is Different from Print Formatting
Ebooks are different from print books, so do not attempt to make your ebook look like an exact facsimile of a print book, otherwise, you’ll only frustrate yourself by creating a poorly formatted, unreadable ebook.
With print, you control the layout. The words appear on the printed page exactly where you want them to appear.
With ebooks, there is no “page.” By giving up the control of the printed page, you and your readers gain much more in return.
Page numbers are irrelevant. Your book will look different on every e-reading device. Your text will shapeshift and reflow. Most e-reading devices and e-reading applications allow your reader to customize the fonts, font sizes, and line spacing. Your customers will modify how your book looks on-screen to suit their personal reading preference and environment. By transforming your books into digital form, you open up exciting possibilities for how readers can enjoy them.
At Smashwords, our motto is “your book, your way,” and this means a reader should be able to consume your book, however, works best for them, even if that means they like to read 18 points Helvetica with blue fonts, lime background color, and triple spaced lines. Many e-reading devices and e-reading apps support some or all of these strange, different tastes.
For us to prepare your words to be stirred up and reconstituted in this digital soup, it’s important your Smashwords source file is formatted to liberate the words in digital form.
The book’s formatting will be and must be different from its paper-based formatting and layout (for some works like poetry, the formatting is integral to the reading experience, and we can work with that too).
Most readers want your words, not your fancy page layout or exotic typestyles. This is especially important for your ebook customers because you want your work to display well on as many digital reading devices as possible so the reader can have their book their way. Some of your buyers may want to read on the Amazon Kindle; others may prefer to read on the iPhone or Sony Reader, or even read on multiple devices. Others may want to just read it on screen using one of the several e-reading applications, such as Adobe Digital Editions or FBReader.
Kdpcover guarantees ebook formatting for the following publishers and distibutors:
No, this is not a problem. You can have different back matter for the print book and for the ebook version of your book.
If your file exceeds the file size limits of our form, you can use a file transfer service to send it to us.
Here are a few options:
Some of our forms do require a file to be attached, in this case, please attach a blank file as a placeholder.
Ebooks do not have set pages, therefore they do not have page numbers. Any page numbers that you see when reading an ebook are placed there by the device or software used by the reader, not during formatting.
We provide EPUB files so that authors may publish directly with publishing sites such as Kobo, Apple (Apple Books), Barnes & Noble (Nook), IngramSpark, etc. Authors who plan on publishing on Smashwords do not require an EPUB, since Smashwords will distribute to most of these publishers.
No, we do not accept PDF files (or files converted from a PDF) for formatting.
The PDF, by its very nature, is not meant to be edited. It was created as a way of viewing a document on different platforms without losing the layout. It is as close to a print document as you can get and about as difficult to edit.
While converting a PDF to a Word document is straightforward with Adobe’s PDF to Word conversion service, many issues arise during this process. During conversion, the layout of the PDF is preserved as much as possible in the Word document, which results in the addition of many extraneous, hidden non-print characters. These need to be removed and cleaned up during the formatting process, which we have found to be a very inconsistent and time consuming process.
Every book is unique and the time spent formatting it is affected by a variety of factors.
We want you to have a clear understanding of costs going into a project so we use a quote based system (vs charging hourly). With this in mind, we require the manuscript to review in order to issue an accurate quote.
The prices may vary for books that include images, tables, etc.
Generally, Kdpcover only formats books written in English. During the formatting process, we occasionally need to be able to read parts of your book to ensure that everything is in the correct place, and thus require it to be written in English.
Having said that, we may format books not written in English on a case-by-case basis. Feel free to submit your book through our quote form here, so that we can determine whether your book is appropriate for us to format.
Cover design and formatting can be done simultaneously.
It’s important to note that to finalize a cover for print, the page count of the interior would be needed to calculate the spine width.
To open and view an epub file, one can use Adobe Digital Editions.
The following are the expected turnaround times for our ebook and print formatting services:
- Standard option: within 5-6 calendar days of payment
- Rush job option*: within 2-3 calendar days of payment
All of the files for the order will be sent out at the same time.
If you do not receive your files within the expected time frame, please check your junk/spam folder as they can sometimes get sorted there. If they are not found there, please don’t hesitate to contact us here.
These dates are for the first set of formatted files. If changes to the formatting are requested after this, then the times will increase depending on the changes required.
The following is the formatting process:
- Submit your book file to request a formatting quote through our Request for Formatting Quote form.
- The file does not need to be the final file but it should be as close to finished a possible. If there are any major changes, please advise us.
- We will review your file and email you a quote.
- If you accept the quote, we will email you an invoice payable via credit card (or PayPal upon request)
- You can request changes to the quote if required.
- Once you pay the invoice, you are giving us permission to begin formatting immediately, so no further updates can be accepted.
- If you need to send an updated file, please do so before paying the invoice. You can email us the update file or send it through our contact form.
Your edited final manuscript file (doc, .docx, .rtf, .odt). And Paper size for the print book version.
Yes, We do. Please contact us for pricing and more details.
Kdpcover is not a publishing company in that we do not publish your books for you.
Our services are to assist the self-publisher in their publishing journey.
If you have written a book and want to upload it to a publishing company but need assistance with cover design or formatting your book to the publisher’s requirements, then Kdpcover can help.
Click on the links below to check out our services:
Kdpcover does not print books. We format books for printing by Amazon KDP Print, and IngramSpark.
Yes, All of our prices are in US dollars (USD).
