The video at the bottom of this post is about using the style gallery inside Microsoft Word to format your eBooks. Using the style gallery and the proper page breaks will eliminate 99% of all formatting issues.
Below I have a list of suggested eBook styles and why you may want to use them: If you want to print out a copy of the styles, click here to download from Google Drive.
Heading 1 - for Chapter numbers and/or names. The Heading styles work with the Table of Contents feature so all Chapter names or number will need to be marked as “Heading 1”. These are built in styles, so you will need to right click on Heading 1 and modify it.
Heading 2 – If you will have a sub-heading and want it to appear in the Table of Contents, set up and use a Heading 2.
Normal – This is built into the Microsoft Word system. This style is for your main font. Professional size for novels if 11 or 12 pt. For this style, you will need to modify it.
Normal-no-indent - if you want to leave the first paragraph in a chapter unindented, you will need to create a style for this. This one will need to be created by you.
Page Title – I always create this one in case I have pages that I want to look consistent with my chapter pages, but I don’t want them to appear in the Table of Contents. This is for any page that you will have where you don't want it to appear in the Table of Contents.
Italics & Bold – These are also built into Word. Use the style gallery for italics and Bond.
List Spacing – I always create a List spacing style for my “Other Books by R Shannon” page. This creates a single spaced indented format so I can fit all of my books on the same page.
Chapter ending symbol – This is a style that centers any scene or chapter ending symbol you may use.
Texting font – I write contemporary stories and when I refer to text messages, I use a different font than my normal so that it is clear to the reader that it is a text message.
~ Meanwhile ~ - If you need to indicate that a new scene is happening at the same time as the last scene, you may also want to create a bold style for the top of the scene entitled “Meanwhile”.
Scene Date & Time – If your story needs to emphasize certain dates and times, you may want to create a title style entitled Scene Date and Time.
