Ebook

CREATION GUIDE
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We know you are excited about publishing and selling
your ebooks to readers around the world. This document
walks you through the steps to comply with industry
best practices and guidelines so you can be sure
your work is ready for publication in ebook format.
It is important to read this document in its entirety. By paying
close attention and following all steps as described, you
will avoid repetitive rounds of revisions and are more likely
to successfully create an ebook eligible for distribution.
 Contents
Lulu and Ebooks.............................................................................. 4

SupportedSource Files.................................................................... 6

Format is as Important as Grammar............................................ 8

Before Converting Your Manuscript to an Ebook................... 10

Configure MS Word Settings....................................................... 15

Format Your Manuscript for Conversion................................... 17

Upload Your Manuscript for Conversion..................................26

Troubleshoot Conversion Errors................................................ 27

Preview Your Converted EPUB...................................................29

Before Converting Your Manuscript to an Ebook...................30

 Lulu and Ebooks
Who is Lulu?
Lulu is a company committed to helping you sell more books and reach
more readers. Whether you are out to make your fortune, or simply share an
idea, Lulu empowers authors, publishers, educators, and businesses to bring
knowledge and expertise to readers more easily than ever before. You can
do-it-yourself at no cost using our publishing Wizard or choose from a wide
range of Lulu services for help. Through our Internet retail site, retail partners,
and global print network Lulu has created a one-stop shop for the ultimate in
publishing freedom. You pick the price, market, and medium. As a Lulu author,
you have complete control over your price and content. You earn 80% of the
profit or more when your work sells.

You are the new face of publishing and you are in control.

What are Ebooks?

Ebooks are electronic, downloadable books that can be accessed on an
ever-growing number of eReader and hand held devices, like the iPad, iPhone,
Barnes & Noble’s NOOK, Android tablets, and your home computer. Millions
of readers purchase ebooks each day. By publishing an ebook, you can more
easily share your remarkable knowledge and ideas with readers all over
the world.

Once you have read and followed these guidelines for preparing your manu-
script, the Lulu EPUB Converter can be used to create an ebook in EPUB file
format. These guidelines do not guarantee success on your first conversion
attempt, but by following these instructions, your chances of success are
greatly improved.

EBOOK CREATION GUIDE LULU AND EBOOKS 4

 How Do I Sell My Ebook on
Sites Other than Lulu.com?
As a Lulu author, your ebooks (EPUB and PDF) can be published and offered
for sale in the Lulu Marketplace at no cost to you.

Authors with bigger ambitions can assign an International Standard Book

Number (ISBN) to their ebook (EPUB) making it eligible for distribution to
Amazon, Kobo, the iBookstore and the Barnes & Noble Nook store in addition
to the Lulu Marketplace. This option is available to authors using a free Lulu
ISBN as well as authors who choose to bring their own ISBN or purchase an
ISBN directly from Lulu.

All ebooks in EPUB format that include an ISBN are automatically submit-
ted for technical review prior to distribution to retail partners. LULU DOES
NOT PROOFREAD OR REVIEW YOUR CONTENT; however, we must ensure
your work meets the technical quality controls required by our distribution
partners. This review focuses on compliance with distribution guidelines as
well as the technical aspects of your work, such as the file size, title, descrip-
tion, categorization, image quality, and table of contents functionality. For
more information about ebook distribution requirements, see ebook Retail
Distribution Guidelines.

If there are any problems detected during the technical review, you will receive
an email listing the areas that require updating. Once you have addressed
these issues, you may resubmit your work for a follow up review. If your work
meets all guidelines and there are no technical issues, your work will be
passed along to our retail partners who will conduct a final technical review
before placing your work on their sites.

EBOOK CREATION GUIDE LULU AND EBOOKS 5

 Supported
Source Files
Before we can convert your manuscript to an ebook in EPUB file format, it
must be saved as a properly formatted DOC, DOCX, RTF, or ODT file.

Microsoft Word
Lulu supports conversion of Microsoft (MS) Word DOC and DOCX files to EPUB
file format. As one of the most widely used word processing applications, MS
Word is referenced throughout this guide. All instructions within this guide are
specific to the Microsoft Office Suite 2016 or later. For earlier versions of MS
Word, please reference the Help files specific to the version within which you
created your manuscript.

Rich Text Format (RTF)

Most popular word processing programs support saving your file in Rich Text
Format (RTF). You can upload an RTF file to our converter and we will convert it
into an EPUB file.

Since there are many programs that support saving documents in RTF format,
we cannot provide comprehensive instructions for each editor. However, most
programs include MS Word-like menus and features, similar to those discussed
within this guide. As long as your editor supports applying style based format-
ting, you can adapt the MS Word formatting instructions discussed in the
following chapters to prepare your RTF file for conversion to EPUB. Our
converter will catch many common mistakes and fix them for you or provide
warnings so you can make adjustments to the RTF file to ensure it will look
great as an ebook.

EBOOK CREATION GUIDE SUPPORTED SOURCE FILES 6

 What Other Word Processing
Programs Can I Use?
You can use any program, editor, or online tool capable of saving your work in
Rich Text Format (RTF), as long as it supports applying RTF style sheets. This
includes Google Docs, OpenOffice, and many others.

Beware Simple Text Editors

Bare-bones text editors like Notepad (PC) and TextEdit (Mac) do not produce
RTFs with style-based formatting and are therefore not suitable programs for
use when preparing your file for conversion to EPUB on Lulu.

EBOOK CREATION GUIDE SUPPORTED SOURCE FILES 7

 Format is as
Important as
Grammar
When creating your remarkable work, you spent endless hours writing and
rewriting, ensuring your spelling was correct, your subjects and verbs agreed,
and that your work had a consistent voice. Now, you should spend a little time
making sure it is consistently formatted.

In general, word processing programs provide two methods for formatting text
and paragraphs:

Direct (or Inline) Formatting:

Creating a chapter title by manually changing the font type and size of the
first line in a paragraph that otherwise uses the Normal style is an exam-
ple of Direct Formatting. While the Lulu EPUB Converter maintains this type
of formatting, it cannot identify it as a new chapter. Other examples of direct
formatting include creating indents using tabs or the space bar, or insert-
ing additional spaces between paragraphs using the Enter key. Our converter
will automatically strip direct formatting of extra spaces (manual indents and
manually entered paragraph spacing) from your document during conversion.

Direct formatting can be used for bolding or italicizing certain words in a para-
graph. If the whole paragraph needs to be formatted uniquely, you should
apply style-based formatting to the entire paragraph as discussed below.

Style-Based Formatting:
Selecting a text and applying a defined style from a menu, such as Heading 1,
is an example of Style-Based Formatting. If your editor does not have a Styles
menu, it will not support applying an RTF style sheet to your file.

EBOOK CREATION GUIDE FORMAT IS AS IMPORTANT AS GRAMMAR 8

 Tip: Apply a style to some text in your manuscript. Does the Styles menu
display the style you applied? If yes, then your editor supports applying a
style sheet to your file.

The Lulu EPUB Converter easily recognizes styles. It uses Heading styles to
automatically create page/section breaks and to auto-generate the EPUB
Table of Contents (TOC) in your ebook. For more information on how the TOC
is generated see EPUB Table of Contents.

Do I Have to Use Styles?

We know many of you are groaning right now at the thought of using the
Styles menu to format every paragraph in your book. We hear you, and have
provided tips for quickly applying styles in subsequent chapters. The good
news is, you only need to use a few styles and most are available out-of-
the-box in popular word processing programs. The most important thing to
remember is that every chapter or section needs to use a Heading style, so we
can ensure it shows up in the EPUB TOC.

EBOOK CREATION GUIDE FORMAT IS AS IMPORTANT AS GRAMMAR 9

 Before Converting
Your Manuscript to
an Ebook
It is important to note that ebooks are different from their print counterparts,
particularly when it comes to formatting. ebook technology continues to
evolve and each device and platform displays ebooks differently. Therefore
the first rule to follow when preparing your book for conversion to an ebook is
keep formatting simple.

The best practices for creating an ebook are summarized below. Later sections
provide additional details.

Important Note: In all instances you should consult the Help files included
with your word processing software for details on how to set, modify, and
apply styles to your manuscript. A little bit of homework before you attempt
to convert your manuscript to an ebook will save you a lot of rework as you
move through the process.

Formatting Styles
When it comes to ebooks, the simpler your formatting the better your ebook
will look on an eReader device. As part of your preparation for converting your
manuscript to EPUB format, you should familiarize yourself with the use of
Styles. In Microsoft Word 2007 and later, the styles panel is displayed in
the toolbar.

A well-formatted ebook only requires the use of the following styles, plus they
are the only ones recognized by our converter:

• Heading 1 (Title, Main Sections)

• Heading 2 (Chapters or Sections)
• Heading 3 (Subsections)

EBOOK CREATION GUIDE BEFORE CONVERTING YOUR MANUSCRIPT TO AN EBOOK 10

 • Normal (Paragraph or text style)
• Direct (Inline) Formatting such as bold, italics, first level bullets, and first
level numbered lists.

Important Note: A generic error message displays during conversion if

your manuscript includes second level (nested) bullets or numbered lists.

Important Note: If you are uploading multiple files for conversion to EPUB
format, such as a separate file for each section or chapter, EACH file must
include Heading 1 style on the first line (Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter
2, etc.), otherwise you will receive an error message during conversion.
Additionally, heading styles in EACH file must progress sequentially from
Heading 1 > 2 > 3.

Fonts and Special Characters

To ensure your content displays on all eReader devices, use one of the follow-
ing fonts: Times New Roman, Arial, or Garamond. If your file contains other
fonts, your ebook’s text will automatically be converted to Times New Roman
during the conversion process.

Special characters should be avoided. Generally, if a character is not on your

keyboard, it may not convert properly. If your text includes special charac-
ters, please confirm they display correctly on an eReader device following
conversion.

Page Formatting
Unlike their print counterparts, ebooks do not use page-based formatting, but
rather are composed of reflowable text that automatically adjusts based on
the selected font and eReader screen size. Page numbers, page breaks, head-
ers, and footers do not exist in ebooks. If you leave them in your document,
the Lulu EPUB Converter will remove them.

Tip: Although page breaks are automatically removed during the conversion
to EPUB file format, a page break is inserted before each use of the Heading
1 and Heading 2 styles to indicate the start of a new chapter or section. On
an e-reader, this will make the new chapter start at the top of the screen.
This also creates a new entry in the EPUB Table of Contents that will link to
the chapter or section.

EBOOK CREATION GUIDE BEFORE CONVERTING YOUR MANUSCRIPT TO AN EBOOK 11

 Text Alignment (Justification)
Typically, Align Text Left converts the best. Do not Justify Text as it does not
convert well.

Spaces and Hard Returns

The Lulu EPUB Converter removes extra spaces and hard returns during
file conversion.

Paragraph Separation
Proper paragraph breaks are essential for an ebook, otherwise paragraphs will
bump into each other and your readers will not clearly see where one para-
graph ends and another begins. Be sure to set your paragraph style to either
block or first line indent format with additional spacing between paragraphs.
For more information on how to modify paragraph settings, see
Paragraph Formats.

Headers and Footers

Headers and footers are not supported in EPUBs and will be removed by the
Lulu EPUB Converter. If you have important content in your headers and foot-
ers, please incorporate it into the body of your document or as a footnote
or endnote.

Title and Copyright Page

A huge amount of time went into creating your remarkable work and you
want people to know you wrote it. Well, so do our retail distribution partners.
As a best practice, include a title and copyright page – the more professional
it looks, the better. For more information, see Front Matter (Title, Copyright,
Table of Contents, etc.).

Indexes
The eReader’s Search function has replaced indexes in EPUBs. For example, if
your reader wants to find all occurrences of the word “Lulu”, rather than look-
ing up page numbers in an index, they simply type “Lulu” in the search field,
and use the search results to jump directly to the relevant page.

If your manuscript contains an index, we recommend you remove it as index

markers can cause conversion errors.

EBOOK CREATION GUIDE BEFORE CONVERTING YOUR MANUSCRIPT TO AN EBOOK 12

 High-Quality Images & Cover Art
All images must be in three color RGB (red, green, blue) format. Four-color
CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, key black) images are NOT accepted.

During file conversion, all images will be reformatted to display in line with text
above and below the image. Each individual image cannot exceed 250 KB and
image dimensions cannot exceed 2 million pixels. During conversion, images
exceeding 2 million pixels will be resized to meet this requirement, including
your marketing image. For best results, we recommend you verify all images
and resize them as necessary, using your favorite image editing software, prior
to uploading your file for conversion to EPUB format.

Tip: The number of pixels contained within an image is calculated by

multiplying the pixel width and height dimensions. For example an 8.5
x 11 inch image has the following dimensions in pixels: 612 x 792. When
multiplied together, this image contains 484,704 pixels.

Text Boxes and Mathematical Formulas

E-Reader devices often cannot accurately display complex content such as:

1. Charts
2. Text boxes
3. Scientific or mathematic formulas
4. Embedded objects such as HTML, Smart Art, etc.

If you must include any of the above, we recommend replacing the text with a
high quality JPEG image.

Columns
Multiple columns are best left for the Greeks and Romans or your local news-
paper. During conversion, multiple columns within your uploaded files will be
converted to a single column of reflowable text.

Multimedia Files
The Lulu EPUB Converter does not support converting audio and video files
embedded in your document. You must remove these before uploading
your file.

EBOOK CREATION GUIDE BEFORE CONVERTING YOUR MANUSCRIPT TO AN EBOOK 13

 Other Roadblocks to Ebook Success
After all the work you put into creating your ebook, we assume you will want
to share it with as many people as possible. If your intent is to publish your
ebook on multiple retail sites to maximize your potential income, you must
also comply with retail distribution requirements. To smooth the way into the
marketplace, please review your manuscript and remove the following:

1. Advertising: Do not include advertisements in your ebook or its

description.
2. Price: Do no include the retail price of your ebook on the cover, in the
description, or in the ebook itself.
3. URLs: Remove URLs from the cover, title, description, copyright, meta-
data – basically, anyplace that would not be considered part of your
book’s text must be free of URLs.
4. Extras: Unfortunately, eReaders that can deliver extras like a poster, CD,
or little stuffed bear have yet to be invented. If you mention extras that
come with the print version of your book, remember to remove those
references from your ebook.
5. Paper: Your ebook is not intended to be printed so there is no need to
mention where the book is printed or on what paper. Likewise, if your
book is intended for use as a workbook, you may wish to remove the
portions intended for interactivity before converting it to EPUB format.
6. Language: Though we hope to be able to accept additional languages in
the future, we now only accept content for retail distribution in English.

For more information about retail distribution, see Ebook Retail Distribution
Guidelines and Top 10 Reasons Why Your Ebook Was Rejected.

EBOOK CREATION GUIDE BEFORE CONVERTING YOUR MANUSCRIPT TO AN EBOOK 14

 Configure MS
Word Settings
Follow these steps to properly configure your MS Word settings.

Note: The steps described below are specific to MS Word 2007 or later
versions. If you are using an earlier version or different word processing
program, refer to your software’s Help files to complete these steps.

Save a Copy of Your File

Open your document and click File > Save As. Give your document a new
name, such as The Greatest Book Ever Backup Copy and save. Of course you
will use your own book’s title, but you get the picture.

View Formatting Marks

Click the Paragraph (or Pilcrow) button to display all non-printing characters.
When this option is selected, you can more easily locate and correct Direct
Formatting issues such as extra tabs, spaces, and incorrect paragraph spacing.

Turn off Track Changes

Go to Review > Track Changes and set to Off. If previous changes or comments
are displayed in your document, accept the edits and switch from Markup
mode to Final.

Do Not Let Word “Fix It For You”

AutoCorrect and AutoFormat features make changes to your document based
on changes you make to selected text. Deactivate these features so that they
do not undo assigned formatting styles.

EBOOK CREATION GUIDE CONFIGURE MS WORD SETTINGS 15

 To Deactivate AutoCorrect (PC):
1. Click the Microsoft Office button or File in the toolbar and select Options.
2. In the Word Options box, select Proofing and click the AutoCorrect
Options button:
3. Select the AutoFormat tab and deselect the four options under Apply.
4. Click the AutoFormat As You Type tab and deselect all options except
Replace as you type > “Straight quotes” with “smart quotes.” Smart, or
curly quotes, give your print and ebooks a more professional look.

To Deactivate AutoCorrect (Mac):

1. On the Tools menu, select AutoCorrect.
2. Deselect the Automatically correct spelling and formatting as you type
check box.

EBOOK CREATION GUIDE CONFIGURE MS WORD SETTINGS 16

 Format Your
Manuscript for
Conversion
EPUB Table of Contents
If you’ve been ‘speed reading’, slow down. This chapter is critical if you want to
distribute your ebook beyond Lulu.com.

We have attempted to keep the technical details of converting your manu-

script to an EPUB to a minimum, but sometimes details can’t be avoided and in
this case details will result in a better EPUB conversion. Throughout this guide,
we reference the “EPUB Table of Contents.” In technical terms, this refers to a
component in the EPUB called the NCX file.

Video Tutorial: How to Publish an Ebook with the Best Table of Contents

What is an NCX?
E-Reading devices utilize the navigation functions built into an EPUB file to
move around the ebook. This navigation is specified in the Navigation Control
file for XML (NCX). An NCX with multiple chapters is required to distribute your
ebook to our retail distribution partners. Lulu’s EPUB Converter will create the
NCX for you, but we need to know where each chapter begins. Our converter
does this by looking for Heading styles in your document.

Now that you know about the technology, we will simply refer to the NCX file
as the EPUB Table of Contents (TOC) from this point forward.

How is the EPUB Table of Contents Generated?

Our converter scans your document for Heading 1, Heading 2, and Heading
3 styles and creates an entry in the EPUB Table of Contents (TOC) each time
one of these styles is used. Since an electronic TOC will be generated for your
ebook, you should remove any TOC pages from your manuscript prior to
uploading it to the EPUB converter.

EBOOK CREATION GUIDE FORMAT YOUR MANUSCRIPT FOR CONVERSION 17

 Note: If your manuscript includes a TOC with hyperlinks to chapters, the
hyperlinks will not function following conversion; therefore if you plan to
keep the TOC pages, we suggest you remove the hyperlinks as well as page
numbers – since ebooks do not have pages in the traditional sense.

Prepare your Manuscript to Create a

Perfect EPUB Table of Contents
Our retail distribution partners require you to provide a way for readers to
navigate to every major section of your ebook via the EPUB TOC. This means
each chapter and section must have a corresponding entry in the TOC.

For Example, let’s assume your book has a few main sections (Title Page,
Copyright, Preface, Body, Epilogue) and a number of chapters, some of which
contain sub chapters or subsections. Your EPUB TOC will therefore consist of
three levels:

1. Apply Heading 1 style to the Title and to each line containing a Section
name (copyright, prologue, etc.) or section (Part 1, Section II, etc.).
Heading 1 style will always appear at the top of the next page.
2. Apply Heading 2 style to each line containing a Chapter name
or number
3. Apply Heading 3 style to each line containing a sub chapter or
subsection.

Important Note: Lulu supports a maximum of three levels in the EPUB

Table of Contents (TOC). Do not use additional Heading styles (Heading 4,
Heading 5) to denote chapter or section breaks, as these will not generate
TOC entries. Readers will not be able to navigate to these chapters and our
retail distribution partners will reject your ebook.

To prevent errors during conversion, Headings must be applied sequentially

(Heading 1 > Heading 2 > Heading 3). You may use multiples of the same
headings such as this sequence 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 2, 3, 3: however you cannot
skip from 1 to 3.

Tip: If you are uploading multiple files for conversion to EPUB format,
such as a separate file for each section or chapter, EACH file must include
Heading 1 style on the first line (Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2,
etc.), otherwise you will receive an error message during conversion.
Additionally, heading styles in EACH file must progress sequentially from
Heading 1 > 2 > 3.

EBOOK CREATION GUIDE FORMAT YOUR MANUSCRIPT FOR CONVERSION 18

 One of the top 10 reasons ebooks are rejected for distribution is an incom-
plete table of contents. Following the conversion of your manuscript to EPUB
format, your ebook table of contents will be displayed. Please confirm all
sections and chapters are listed. If you are missing entries, edit and reupload
your manuscript file(s) before progressing to the next step in the publishing
process.

Front Matter (Title, Copyright,

Table of Contents, etc.)
The first pages of a book set the professional tone for your readers and will
make or break your ability to achieve distribution through our retail distribu-
tion partners.

Title Page
The very first thing you want your reader to see is your title – not blank spaces
before your title. Therefore, your title must be on the very first line of the
manuscript and be formatted as Heading 1 style. This allows the Lulu EPUB
converter to correctly identify and display your book’s title in the ebook TOC.

If your title is not on the first line (i.e. hard returns precede it), the name you
entered in the manuscript’s properties file will display in the TOC. If the proper-
ties filename is blank, the converter will display the title as “untitled” in the TOC.
Both of these situations will result in your ebook being rejected for distribution.

Copyright
On the Copyright page, you should include the year the work was created
followed by your book’s ISBN (International Standardized Book Number). If
your book does not have an ISBN, Lulu can assign one for you in the Wizard.
You will need to copy the ISBN we assign, and update your manuscript by
adding this ISBN to your copyright page before proceeding to the Upload step
in the Wizard. You will also want to reference the copyright license, which lets
readers know what they can and cannot do with your work.

Example copyright text is included below. You can adapt this text for your
own use or use the format from any published book on your bookshelf as a
template. Just be sure to replace the pertinent information with information
specific to your work:

EBOOK CREATION GUIDE FORMAT YOUR MANUSCRIPT FOR CONVERSION 19

 Copyright
Copyright © <Year of Publication> by <Your Name>

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced
or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of
the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or schol-
arly journal.

First Printing: <Year of first printing>

ISBN <Enter your ISBN>

<Your Publishing Company Name>

<Your Street Address or Post Office Box>
<Your City>, <Your State> <Your Zip Code>

www.<Your Internet Address>.com

Traditional Table of Contents

EBooks use chapter links to navigate to specific sections or chapters; there-
fore, it is not necessary to include a traditional Table of Contents (TOC) in your
ebook. For more information, see EPUB Table of Contents. If for aesthetic
purposes you choose to include a TOC, you should remove the page numbers
since ebooks do not have pages and the numbers will be misleading to
your readers.

Paragraph Formats
To make your book an enjoyable reading experience, you should choose a
single method for visually separating paragraphs. There are two common
paragraph formats: first line indent or block paragraphs. Most works of fiction
use first line indent while most non-fiction works use block paragraph style.
Of course, there are exceptions, so you must choose what works best for
your book.

Whatever style you choose, do not mix the two and do not use the Return key
to add extra spaces between paragraphs. The EPUB converter will remove
extra spaces, resulting in your ebook’s paragraphs having no separation.

EBOOK CREATION GUIDE FORMAT YOUR MANUSCRIPT FOR CONVERSION 20

 Example: First Line Indent Paragraph Style
“Mr. Heathcliff?” I said.

A nod was the answer.

“Mr. Lockwood, your new tenant, sir. I do myself the honor of calling as soon
as possible after my arrival, to express hope that I have not inconvenienced
you by my perseverance in soliciting the occupation of Thrushcross Grange:
I heard yesterday you had some thoughts—“

The ‘walk in’ was uttered with closed teeth, and expressed the sentiment, ‘Go
to the Deuce:’ even the gate over which he leaned manifested no sympathiz-
ing movement to the words; and I think that circumstance determined me to
accept the invitation: I felt interested in a man who seemed more exaggerat-
edly reserved than myself.

Example: Block Paragraph Style

Lulu’s forums help build a strong community of creators by fostering discus-
sion and sharing information. Messages posted by Lulu community members
are solely the opinion and responsibility of the person posting the message.
All users posting to the Lulu forums must read this Forum Posting Policy.

Posting to the forums constitutes your agreement to the terms outlined in our
Forum Posting Policy. For more information on Lulu’s terms of service, please
also see our Member Agreement.

Please treat all Community members with respect. As volunteers who are
helping other users in the Lulu forums, all members and moderators deserve
your courtesy as much as we feel you deserve theirs. While we’re the first to
admit we’re not perfect, we strive to be impartial and conduct ourselves in the
fairest manner as possible for all.

Set Your Paragraph Style

Once you decide how you want your paragraphs to look, modify the Normal
text style to automatically apply these settings to your paragraphs.

To modify a style:
1. In the Styles menu, right-click on Normal.
2. Select Modify from the resulting list.
3. Click the Modify button (bottom left corner of the Modify Style window)
and choose Paragraph from the resulting list.

For Block Paragraphs

1. Under Indentation, select 0 inches for both Left and Right margins

EBOOK CREATION GUIDE FORMAT YOUR MANUSCRIPT FOR CONVERSION 21

 2. Select None from the Special drop down list.
3. Under Spacing enter 0pt in the Above field and your choice for spac-
ing in the Below field. Try to keep your paragraph spacing between 4
and 10 pts.
4. The Preview panel displays sample text as it will appear in your file.
5. Click OK to accept your modifications.

For First Line Indent Paragraphs

1. Under Indentation, select First Line from the Special drop down list.
2. Enter the amount of indentation you prefer in the By field. You should
keep your indent between .25 and .3 inches.
3. Under Spacing, enter 0pt in the Before and After fields.
4. The Preview panel displays sample text as it will appear in your file.
5. Click OK to accept your modifications.

Fonts, Images, Hyperlinks,

and Footnotes
Fonts
There are times when you want to add a little “flair” to your work, so now is
your chance. The Lulu EPUB Converter will convert most formatting like bold,
italic, and strikethrough. However, symbols do not always convert properly
and may display as other characters, so you will want to double-check them
after conversion.

Always use Times New Roman, Arial, or Garamond fonts when creating your
document. Any other fonts detected during conversion will be converted
to Times New Roman. When applying styles to your document, be sure to
change the default font to a supported font. You must do this for each style
used in your document.

Tip: If you try selecting all text and applying one of the supported fonts,
you may inadvertently leave unsupported fonts in your file. The Lulu EPUB
Converter will change these to a supported font for you, but if you want to
apply them yourself, see the next section.

Problem:
When you select all of your text and apply Arial, all paragraphs using the
Heading 1 style ignore the selection and remain as the default font
(i.e. “Cambria”).

EBOOK CREATION GUIDE FORMAT YOUR MANUSCRIPT FOR CONVERSION 22

 Solution:
There may be paragraphs in your file that use a hard-coded default Style such
as Cambria or another unsupported font. Ensure all Styles used in your docu-
ment are set to a supported font.

To modify font styles:

1. Right-click on the Style in the styles menu and select Modify.
2. Under Formatting, select a supported font (Arial, Times New Roman, or
Garamond).
3. Check Automatically update to update all instances of this style in your
manuscript to the new setting.
4. Click OK.
5. Repeat for all other styles in your manuscript (i.e. Normal, Heading 2,
Heading 3, etc.).

Images
Blurry images are one of the most common rejection reasons from our retail
distribution partners. If your document contains images, you may need to
make a few adjustments in order for them to convert properly. We accept the
most commonly used image formats: JPG, GIF, PNG. Images require a deli-
cate balancing act since your image must have a resolution high enough to be
clear and crisp, but not so high that it is too large. Try to keep the resolution on
your images between 96 - 150 DPI. You will also want to keep your image size
around 500 x 500 pixels or less. You can adjust image resolution and DPI in
any image-editing program.

Note: Some retail distribution outlets do not accept images above 2 million
pixels. To prevent rejection, we suggest you make adjustments to images
prior to conversion to EPUB format.

To add an image to your manuscript:

1. Place your cursor in the location at which you would like your image
to appear.
2. From the toolbar, click Insert > Picture. Be sure you are inserting the
image, not linking to it.
3. The selected image displays in the cursor location.
4. Click on the image and select Format Image.
5. Choose the In line with text option.
6. Click Save.
7. Click on the image and click Center in the toolbar.

EBOOK CREATION GUIDE FORMAT YOUR MANUSCRIPT FOR CONVERSION 23

 Note: The Lulu EPUB Converter automatically formats images in line with
text regardless of the settings you apply prior to conversion.

Create New Styles

We recommend using the default styles. Editing or creating unique styles
can cause problems. However, once you become accustomed to using styles,
creating a new style may be easier than repeatedly applying direct (inline)
formatting.

To create a new style:

1. From the Styles box click on the Manage Styles icon (at the lower right of
the Style menu).
2. Select the New button.
3. Enter a descriptive name such as Copyright Text, Hanging Indent, Note
Format, Figure Title, etc.
4. If your new style is similar to an existing style, choose the Style Type,
Based on, and Style for following paragraph settings from the drop
down boxes.
5. Choose the Default Justification (left, centered, right, justified) for the new
style. For EPUB conversion, Lulu recommends using Left-aligned text for
paragraph styles.
6. Add or remove paragraph spacing as necessary. Figure 7: Create a New
Style Window
7. The Preview panel displays an example of how the style will appear when
applied to text.
8. Click OK.
9. As always, look over your converted EPUB to ensure it looks the way you
want. Make adjustments as necessary.

Hyperlinks
A hyperlink can be a nice addition to an ebook when read on a device like the
iPad or Nook Tablet. It can also be a bit annoying if a reader accidentally clicks
a hyperlink and suddenly finds they have unintentionally navigated to an unex-
pected webpage. Keep in mind that on most eReader devices, when a reader
clicks a hyperlink, the eReader application closes and a browser window
opens. Your reader may get distracted by the Internet and never come back to
your book! Therefore, you should be judicious in your use of hyperlinks.

To add a hyperlink:
1. Highlight the text to which you want to add a hyperlink.
2. Right click on the text and select Hyperlink.

EBOOK CREATION GUIDE FORMAT YOUR MANUSCRIPT FOR CONVERSION 24

 3. In the Address field, enter the URL for the website (for example http://
www.lulu.com). Be sure to include the http:// otherwise the link will
not work.
4. If you want an internal link to another chapter or section within the EPUB,
select the Place in this Document option from the Link to panel and link
to a previously created bookmark or heading.

TIP: Be careful with internal links. Many eReaders do not include a

back button.

There are some restrictions on the URL addresses and sites that can be hyper-
linked from your EPUB. Links cannot be to advertisements. You cannot link to
sites selling books. You can, however, link to your Blog or personal website(s).

Footnotes and Endnotes

Not to be confused with headers and footers, EPUBs do support footnotes
and endnotes.

To add endnotes or footnotes:

1. From the toolbar, click Insert > Footnote.
2. In the popup window choose Footnote or Endnote and select the
formatting options.
3. Click OK.

Creating an EPUB with Calibre

Calibre is a file conversion program that specializes in book file management
and is an ideal tool for modifying EPUB files.

Before you are ready to create your EPUB, you’ll need to upload and convert
the interior file for your book. Calibre offers a wide range of conversion options,
including all the popular formats like DOCX and PDF.

Our Calibre EPUB Conversion Guide has the steps and information you need to
make your EPUB using Calibre.

EBOOK CREATION GUIDE FORMAT YOUR MANUSCRIPT FOR CONVERSION 25

 Upload Your
Manuscript for
Conversion
Creating an EPUB from a Word document can sometimes be a process of trial
and error. If you get an error message, take a deep breath and read this section,
we’ll help get you through it. Taking the time to get this right now will mean a
better result later.

How Does the EPUB Conversion Process Work?

When you upload your manuscript in DOC, DOCX, RTF, or ODT file format to the
ebook Wizard, the Lulu EPUB Converter will attempt to convert it into EPUB
format. As part of the process, we automatically find and fix many common
formatting errors. Sometimes, however, we find errors that require you to
make changes to the original file and re-upload it. The EPUB Converter will
display a message listing what you need to do next. There are three (3) poten-
tial outcomes:

Success, no issues found!

A publish-ready EPUB was created, no formatting issues were found. You obvi-
ously know what you are doing, or you are very good at following instructions!
Download and review your EPUB to ensure you are happy with the result.
Proceed to the next step in the ebook Wizard.

Success, but we fixed some issues for you.

We were able to create an EPUB, but you should download and review the
results to ensure you are comfortable with the changes we had to make. Take
note of the messages detailing what was fixed before navigating away from
this screen.

Failure, we could not convert your file.

We found some problems in your source file that we could not
automatically correct.

EBOOK CREATION GUIDE UPLOAD YOUR MANUSCRIPT FOR CONVERSION 26

 Troubleshoot
Conversion Errors
Things We Could Not Fix During Conversion
There are some formatting issues we cannot automatically fix during conver-
sion that result in errors. You will need to fix them in your manuscript file, and
upload again. See below for a list of common error messages and possible
solutions.

Error: Text boxes were found in the document and must be removed.

Fix: Each text box must be removed from your document. Important text
should be removed from the text box and added to the relevant section of the
manuscript.

Note: You can also use specialized styles or create images to achieve a
similar look. This error message may also display if your manuscript included
headers or footers with page numbers since MS Word uses text boxes to
display page numbers. So, when you remove your headers and footers, be
sure to also remove page numbers.

Error: Hmmm, we tried to convert your file to an EPUB for you as you
requested, but we experienced some issues.
Fix: 99.99% of the time this error message is generated when Heading styles
are not applied sequentially. For example, your title is Heading 1, but your
Copyright page is set to Heading 3. Confirm your headings are applied prop-
erly and re-upload your file.

Tip A simple way to view your Headings in MS Word is to use the Document
Map pane. This pane displays all the Heading styles within your document.
Things We Fixed During Conversion

EBOOK CREATION GUIDE TROUBLESHOOT CONVERSION ERRORS 27

 We automatically find and fix many common formatting issues. If the Lulu
EPUB Converter returns any of the messages below, it means we successfully
generated an EPUB for you. Please download and review your EPUB to ensure
you are satisfied with the changes we made. If not, you can reformat your orig-
inal manuscript file and re-upload it until you are satisfied with the result.

Warning: We found an unusually low number of chapters, suggesting you

may have improper chapter divisions in your document. Please ensure your
chapter divisions are correct.

What we did: The Lulu EPUB Converter uses headings to populate the EPUB
Table of Contents (TOC). Our retail distribution partners require that the EPUB
TOC include an entry for each chapter and section in your ebook. Review the
EPUB TOC and make sure we correctly identified the chapters. If not, inspect
your use of Heading styles, make adjustments as necessary, and re-upload
for conversion.

Important: Failure to address this warning may result in your ebook being
rejected by our retail distribution partners.

EBOOK CREATION GUIDE TROUBLESHOOT CONVERSION ERRORS 28

 Preview Your
Converted EPUB
Following the conversion of your manuscript to EPUB format, your ebook
table of contents will be displayed. Please confirm all sections and chapters
are listed. If you are missing entries, edit and re-upload your manuscript file(s)
before progressing to the next step in the
publishing process.

You may also see a page listing errors encountered or a list of changes made
to your manuscript during conversion. From here, you can download your
EPUB file:

Note: Downloading your file at this step may show an incorrect title. Don’t
worry! Once you publish your file, we will use the title you provided in the
first step of the ebook Wizard.

Ways of Looking at an EPUB

Every device and EPUB reader will display your ebook slightly differently since
readers can tailor their reading experience by changing font types, font sizes,
and even the page background color or theme.

The look and feel of your file will vary depending on which EPUB reader is used.
Don’t get hung up on this; the important thing here is to ensure there are no
major issues in the CONTENT of the file (missing sections, blacked out images,
missing entries in the EPUB Table of Contents).

To open and review the file, you may need to install an EPUB reader or plug-in.
If you don’t have one, there are many free tools available to help.

• From Adobe: Adobe Digital Editions

• For Firefox users: download this plugin to preview directly in
your browser

EBOOK CREATION GUIDE PREVIEW YOUR CONVERTED EPUB 29

 Before Converting
Your Manuscript to
an Ebook
Before you release your remarkable new work to your eager fans, take one last
look to make sure you have done all of the following:

• You have all the necessary components to publish and distribute your
ebook – a properly formatted EPUB, an ISBN, cover art, and complete and
accurate metadata.
• You have tested your EPUB to make sure it opens, every link works, and
the images are top quality.
• If you plan to sell your ebook through our retail distribution partners,
please review our ebook retail distribution requirements and ensure your
content meets all requirements.
• Once we receive your ebook, our Quality Assurance team will confirm
your work meets all distribution requirements. If it does, your title will be
passed along to our retail partners, who will reconfirm your work meets
their standards. When your work passes this final inspection, it will be
queued for release on the retailer’s site. Be prepared for this step by
reviewing the list of Top 10 Reasons your ebook was Rejected.

Now take a deep breath, and pat yourself on the back. You’ve taken a big step
towards selling more books and reaching more readers than ever before! We
look forward to your continued success on Lulu.com and our network of
retail channels.

EBOOK CREATION GUIDE BEFORE CONVERTING YOUR MANUSCRIPT TO AN EBOOK 30

 Tip: To see your file exactly as readers will see it, you must load your EPUB
onto an e-reader device.

I have an ePub Editor. Can I edit

and re-upload the ePub file?
Do NOT attempt to fix and re-upload the EPUB file we generated for you. Many
EPUB editors introduce “helpful” elements that will cause errors in the ebook
Wizard. We strongly encourage you to fix your source file, re-upload, and let
Lulu handle the conversion. This will produce the cleanest EPUB.

EBOOK CREATION GUIDE BEFORE CONVERTING YOUR MANUSCRIPT TO AN EBOOK 31