The Telemachus Press Blog

07

Bad formatting, especially in an eBook where page endings and special formatting do not exist dramatically affects the experience for the reader.  And unfortunately, can reflect very badly upon the author.  The reader becomes so distracted by the formatting that the story is forgotten, no matter how well written. And, as some authors know, can bring bad book reviews.

At Telemachus Press, we quality test your book on our in-house eReaders before the files are uploaded.  We care about the presentation of your book.

Our eBook Services include (but not limited to):

  • Front Cover
  • Interior Formatting
  • ISBN Number
  • Book Upload to Amazon Digital Text Publishing
  • Book Upload to Smashwords who distributes to:
    • Barnes & Noble
    • Sony
    • Apple (iPad)
    • Kobo Covers
    • in the following formats (Epub, .mobi, PDF, LRF, PDF)


An Example of a Poorly Formatted eBook

Below is an example of what an eBook looks like when it is not formatted correctly. Many publishers, especially “vanity” publishers for example, just upload the PDF file that they used to have the book printed. Note some of the problems highlighted below:

  • No paragraph brakes or indents
  • Page number ends up in the middle of the page
  • The “center” feature is lost.
  • “Italics” is lost (red highlight).

This is not how the author intended to present his book, but this is the impression of the reader.

Bad Formatting Example

Same Page – Formatted Correctly

This book has been reformatted according to the recommendations of one of the eBook distributors. Notice the difference. The page is clean and the reader can focus on the story and not be distracted by the formatting.

Good formatting example