Guides

Guides

How books are actually put together, written for authors doing it themselves. Each guide covers one decision or one convention, with the numbers on the page rather than linked to.

None of these require Alhora. Where it does a step for you we say so, and then explain the step anyway.

All guides

  • How to format a book for KDP

    A walkthrough of formatting a paperback and Kindle ebook for Amazon KDP — from manuscript clean-up to the files you upload.

  • How to format a novel

    The typographic conventions of a printed novel — type, leading, indents, scene breaks, chapter openings and running heads.

  • How to create an EPUB

    What an EPUB actually is, how it differs from a print PDF, and how to produce one that every retailer will accept.

  • Book trim sizes

    What the standard book trim sizes are, which genres use which, and how the choice changes your page count, spine and printing cost.

  • Book margins

    How to set book margins for print — what the gutter is, why it grows with page count, and the minimums KDP and IngramSpark require.

  • Widows and orphans

    What widows and orphans are, why they matter in a printed book, and the accepted ways to fix them without damaging the page.

  • Front matter

    The pages before chapter one — half title, title page, copyright, dedication, epigraph and contents — in order, with what each needs.

  • Book fonts

    How to choose a typeface for a book interior, which faces are used in publishing, and what embedding licences actually require.

Where to start

If you have a finished manuscript and no idea what happens next, read them in this order: trim sizes, then margins, then front matter. Those three decisions determine almost everything else, and all three are expensive to change once the interior is set.

If you are formatting for a specific place, go straight to the KDP guide or the EPUB guide — each is written as a procedure rather than an explanation.

Format your book with Alhora

Import your manuscript, typeset the interior, and see every page exactly as it will print. Formatting and previewing a whole book is free — a plan unlocks export.

Download Alhora free See pricing

macOS, Windows, Linux and ChromeOS. No card needed to format and preview.