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Formatting a Book Series Bundle

CREATING YOUR FIRST BOOK SERIES BUNDLE:

How exciting! I just recently put together my first book bundle for my Newport Vampire Series and decided to put together a how-to blog and video for anyone else who wants to learn how to do it. I've organized the process and I've posted it below and will have a video to accompany it. I hope it saves you several hours of research!

It turned out to be easy enough, but when I first set out to figure out how to do it, it was nerve wracking! I think I figured out an easy way to do it for next time, and I off that to you now with this blog post. Below I have organized how to put it together easily without the worry of ruining your original manuscripts.

HOW TO SET UP EACH OF THE BOOKS:

You will be stripping out front matters and back matters from all the middle books, but leaving the front matters, with a few changes, on the first book, and keeping the back matters on the last book. I'll go into a little more detail below.

The biggest tip I can give you is to make a "bundle-copy" of each of your final eBook manuscripts so that when you alter them, you are not ruining your original manuscript. This is a little bit of a tedious process and the more organized you are from the beginning, the smoother it will go.

THE FIRST BOOK:

Using the new bundle copy you have saved, go into the eBook and change the title of the book to the title of your series. For example: My book was called Darius - A Vampire Story so I changed it to Newport Vampire Stories Series, and listed all five books followed by my author name. I was happy with the way it looked in the final manuscript. If your books have subtitles, I would just put them under the title of the books.
If you want to have a Title, Subtitle, and then add language about the bundle, you will make this change on the two title pages.
Leave the copyright page and change any language about the book to the book series.
On the line above Chapter one, add in the Name of the book and give it a style -- from the style gallery -- of H1. (See graphic below)
Then change all of the Chapter names to H2s.
Strip out all of the back pages. The last page should be the last page of your first ebook.

THE MIDDLE BOOKS:

Strip out all front matters and back matters.
Add the name of the book above Chapter 1. Give the book name an H1 Style. See graphic below.
Go through the document and change all chapter headers from H1 to H2.
These books should begin with the Title of the book, Chapter 1 through the last chapter and end after the last word in the last chapter.

THE LAST BOOK:

Strip out all front matters but leave the back matter, the acknowledgement page, the thank you for reading my book page, the other books by page.
Add the Name of this last book right above Chapter 1 and give it the H1 style.
Then change all of the chapter headers from H1 to H2.

ASSEMBLING THE BOOK:

Open up Bundle Book 1 document. This will be the ultimate final manuscript, so save this now with the series name. For example: NVS-Bundle-Manuscript.
Add a page break after the last word in the last chapter.
Open the second book document and copy everything. Paste as the next book in the Bundle-Manuscript document.
Copy and past the next books in line, ending with the last book that has all of the final pages still in it.
Go back to the top of the document and check for any and all extra spaces or other errors.
Save as the Bundle Document.

RUN THE TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Run the table of contents and check it. Check and make sure all of the chapters are accounted for. If any of them are missing, it means you didn't add the H2 to the Chapter name.

If you find that not all of the chapters are underneath the Book Name, this means you didn't change a chapter name from H1 to H2.

SAVE AND PREVIEW IN KDP PREVIEW WINDOW:

Once it is finished, be sure to check the book page by page in the KDP Preview window.

VIDEO OF PROCESS BELOW:

I will post the video of this process below so you can see the Table of Contents being created. I have other videos on creating the Table of Contents, but I find it less nerve wracking when I can see the process done in real life.

I'm planning to do a video on how to create a 3-D version of the series for Amazon, so be sure to check out my blog and/or my YouTube Channel.

The video will be posted below when it is available!

Coloring Page – March Lion and lamb

Coloring Page – Easter

Coloring Page – St Patrick’s Day Fairy

Another Reason to Build an Author Website

Most of you will be familiar with Derek Murphy as a self-published author as well as an influencer within the self-publishing community. If you click on the graphic I made for his website above, you can visit one of his websites. He also organizes writing seminars all over the world, some of which are in old castles. So if any newbies are interested in that, he would be a great mentor to write with.

Derek has another website called CreativindieCovers.com for any of you who are struggling with book cover ideas. He has a lot of free resources and even templates.

When I was new, I watched hundreds of his videos and learned so much, not only as a writer, but also as a self-publishing marketer. He has great advice on early marketing techniques for new self-publishers and also other ideas about running Amazon ads and even using the free online book websites. Be sure to visit his websites and subscribe to his YouTube Channel.

I happened to catch a YouTube Short he posted today-- which I have posted below -- and it was great advice for those of us who have built up a reader list of about 3,000, and have created a website and are starting to get some reliable traffic. He has suggested a way to get book influencers to feature your books, and what he says is great advice. I will post his video and let you hear him state it himself.

As a quick review for the newbies: The first order of business in promoting your books is to build a reader list, also known as a newsletter. That should be the first step of any new self-published author. Put all of your energies there.

Once you have built the reader list up to a couple or few thousand, then you will be able to swap book features and mentions with other authors who belong to the same promotion websites and have a sizeable reader list as well.

The third level of marketing is about building an Author Website. With a website, you can brand yourself along with your books. In the video above, Derek is targeting those authors who are already a little further on from their first day as a self-publisher. But it's important information to keep in the back of your mind. It will give you a goal to shoot for.

It's important to know any author can build their book brand and author brand by following the steps that have worked for those who came before them. Derek has been a great leader in the entire self-publishing field. I hope you enjoy the video!

Coloring Page – Springtime Rabbit

Iron-On T-shirt Design – Free Download

How to Create a Hi-res Paperback Cover from a low-res eBook Cover

HOW TO CREATE A PAPERBACK COVER FROM AN EBOOK COVER

I just finished a how-to create a paperback book manuscript from an eBook manuscript so I thought I would make a sister video showing how to make a full high resolution paperback book cover from a low-resolution eBook cover.

The focus of the video is on the creation of the book cover, so I won't be going into too much detail on how Gimp works. However, I pepper the tutorial with some of the keyboard shortcuts or the names of the tools I am using. This should make it easy for Gimp beginners or others who like to work in Canva.

However, I do have a playlist on my YouTube channel teaching new writers ow to use Gimp, which is a free photo manipulation tool and you can use it to create book covers and other book marketing graphics.

BOOK COVERS AT FIVERR.COM

You can order a book cover at Fiverr anywhere from $5.00 o $200 and even higher. If you do get the cover through Fiverr, here is a suggested format to use to order your cover:

WHAT IF I ONLY HAVE A LOW-RESOLUTION?

If you only have a low resolution, you can upscale it for free at the this website: Upscale.media

This will make sure you have a high resolution image before you begin.

YOU WILL ALSO NEED A PROPERLY-SIZED TEMPLATE:

Each paperback cover will need it's own customized book cover template. The reason for this is because the number of pages of the book determines the spine width and that controls how wide the paperback cover needs to be.

KDP has a paperback calculator on it's website, and if you've never used it before, I do demonstrate it in the video on this subject below.

NEXT – YOU WILL NEED A PROPER PAGE COUNT:

Here is a picture of the last page of my Betrayal Paperback from my last video. It shows two different page counts. The top one is what will be printed on the last page of the book. However, this leaves out the front-pages that use roman numerals and it also includes all of the skipped pages in the document. This is not the correct page number for a book cover.

Below on the left hand side, you can see another page count that is shown at the bottom of the actual Microsoft Word manuscript. This is how many actual pages are in this document. This is the page count you will need to run the Paperback calculator and get a proper sized paperback template.

Write down the proper page number before you go to the KDP calculator and run the template. You will need to click through the questions and choose your answers, including the size of paperback you will use. I use a 5.06 x 7.81 and demonstrate this choice in the video below if you want to see it done. Otherwise, you can go straight to the KDP calculator here.

NEWBIE TIP ON BRANDING BOOKS IN GENERAL:

Above is a graphic panel showing you four back-cover examples that I pulled form Amazon this morning by searching for paperbacks in the vampire genre. I also pulled two other back covers just for comparison. You may want to think about what type and style of back cover you want to create before starting. You will follow the same procedure I've demonstrated in the video below, but you may choose another style for your book.

The book featured in my video is Betrayal and this is my 14^th published book and it's the 6^th book in my Newport Vampire Stories Series. So the branding for this series is already established. While I create my Paperback cover from the eBook cover, I will show you how to follow a style template as I work.

Once you choose a style for the back cover of your own, you can bring in that photograph and use it in the same way I use my series book template.

Because my style is already established, I have a list of everything that I will need from the cover, including the layout, all the color numbers, the font names and sizes, and even the size of the font I will use in the spine of the book.

QUICK SUJMMARY OF THE VIDEO:

If you are not a newbie and have no need to see it done, I will just summarize what I do in the video:

I bring in the series paperback template as a 'style template' and add guidelines to the downloaded KDP calculator paperback template.

I pull in and align the ebook cover between the guidelines.

I then pull in the back cover picture and align it accordingly.

Then one by one, I start at the top and create each text layer after another, using the series style template along with the customized margins from the paperback template.

Then using the text tool along with the rotate tool, I create the spine text and align in the center of the guidelines.

I save the finished paperback as an .xcf file so that it saves it as a gimp file with all of the layers in tact.

Then I export the same image as a .jpg file.

I then pull in that .jpg from the recent list and save the .jpg as a pdf. Gimp had a glitch at one time going from an .xcf file straight to a .pdf. So I just save the jpg first, which I will need anyway, and then I save the .pdf file.

That's everything in a nutshell. I'll post the video below for anyone who wants to watch the cover being created in real time.

Book Formatting – Turning an eBook into a Paperback

BLOG TO VIDEO – HOW TO MAKE A PAPERBACK FROM AN EBOOK:

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

This post is about creating a Paperback manuscript (5.6 x 7.81") from an eBook in Microsoft Word. Now, if you already know how to take Microsoft Word instructions and reinterpret them into Google docs, then I'm sure you will be able to learn how to use Google Docs to achieve the same ends.

FIRST IMPORTANT STEP:

Open the eBook and IMMEDIAELY SAVE as the Paperback Manuscript so you don't mar the finished eBook. It's important to note that Word has an automatic save that happens in the back, so you need to save it immediately so you don't ruing your final ebook manuscript.

You will only need your eBook in Microsoft Word, and any chapter graphic you choose to use. Now, if you already know how to take Microsoft Word instructions and reinterpret them into Google docs, then I'm sure you will be able to learn how to use Google Docs to achieve the same ends.

FIRST IMPORTANT STEP:

Open the eBook and IMMEDIAELY SAVE as the Paperback Manuscript so you don't mar the finished eBook.

FROM EBOOK TO PAPERBACK – THE OVERVIEW:

We will be adding or changing the following:

Margins
Page Breaks and Section Breaks
TOC will go from only hyperlinks to page numbers
We'll be altering some pictures
And lastly, I will end with setting up the sections for the Book Title, Page Numbering, and running the Table of Contents

❖❖❖❖ - Have your scene ending marks handy so you can copy and paste if needed.

NEXT – WE WILL SET THE MARGINS FOR THE ENTIRE DOCUMENT:

Fix the Margins:

Layout > Margins > Custom Margins
Margins:
0.75"
0.75"
0.13"
0.75"
0.5"
Gutter left grayed out
Portrait
Mirror Margins
Whole document

Paper:
Custom Size:
Width: 5.06"
Height: 7.81"
First page: Default Tray
Other Pages: Default Tray
Apply to: Whole Document

Layout:
Section Start: Odd Page
Headers & Footers
Checkmark by Different odd and even
Checkmark by Different first page
Header: 0.35"
Footer: 0.35"
Page: Vertical Alignment: Top
Whole Documents

NEXT – Let's talk for just a minute about the style gallery.

This video is targeting people who are creating a paperback from an ebook, but for anyone who is new and you don't have a finished eBook, I'll give you my quick lecture on using the style gallery. There is a new message on the KDP upload dashboard indicating after 03/18/25, they will no longer allow uploads of manuscripts other than those created in Kindle Create and/or an ePub, so you should use the Style Gallery for ALL STYLE and then you can write in Microsoft Word and convert the document yourself into an ePub.

You can try your hand with Kindle Create but I was never able to work in that environment. I'm sure they have ironed out a lot of the kinks by now, but I've already taught myself to make an ePub and knowing how to do it gives you the most control.

You can create an entire novel using about 10 to 12 styles. Once you go through creating the styles in a document, save it as a template to use over and over again.

Book Title
Heading 1
Heading 2 (If you have sub-titles)
Page Title (for pages you don't want to show up in your TOC)
Normal
Normal-no-indent
Center Text
Scene Ending marks
Quoted Sections

NEXT STEP – MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ALL THE PAGES YOU NEED:

Below is a list of all of my pages, whether they need to be on an even page or odd page, and where I want the book title, roman numerals, or cardinal numbers to begin.

LET'S TALK ABOUT CHAPTER TITLES

Chapter title graphics can be very tricky with the 'easy flow' settings and all the different eReaders that use the Kindle App. I've started using a simple Chapter underline and seem to have no problems with it.

But since the KDP upload is in pdf format, it's the equivalent of a photograph of each page of your book, so you can get a bit fancier. I'm going to demonstrate how I've been able to get chapter header graphics to work for me. It's probably not the only way, but it is the only way I was able to get them to work without any glitches.

SIMPLE CHAPTER HEADINGS & CHAPTER GRAPHICS:

In the Video below, I go over creating simple Chapter Headings followed by how to add chapter graphics. For a simple heading, you will modify the Heading 1 style by bolding the font, adding spaces above and/or below the chapter header. It's very easy.

For the chapter graphics, you will need to create a one-cell, two-row table. You will want to remove the borders, center the spacing and align it to the bottom. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to watch the video about this. I have time stamps below the video so you can find the exact section to watch.

The second half of the video I pick up with adding the section breaks between chapters, setting up the Book Title in the headers, and adding the page numbering. It's best to watch the video and follow along as I demonstrate.

HOW TO EMBED THE FONTS:

Click on File => Then Options => Then Saving => and scroll down until you see three boxes having to do with embedding fonts. Check the top box but leave the other two boxes unchecked. This is how the KDP help pages instruct us to do it. However, be aware that when you upload, you may still get a warning that you didn't embed the fonts correctly but 'they have done it for you'. But when I preview the finished manuscript in the KDP previewer and purchase an author copy, the books look perfect.

LEAVE THE PICTURES ALONE:

One other setting that is worth correcting is on the Advanced tab. It is the setting that tells Microsoft Word not to compress your pictures. You want your graphics and/or maps to remain as they are in the document. So be sure to check this setting on.

LET'S CREATE THE TOC NOW

Once you have all of your Chapter Title Pages formatted with Heading 1's, most of the TOC work has been done.

There are two important settings that control the TOC: One is Paragraph formatting (how much space will be between each line) and the Tabs formatting (which will tell Word how far away to put the page numbers from the Chapter Names). All the other programming has been done with the odd and even page breaks.

Once you set up the font size and style, the paragraph spacing, and the tab formatting, then you can run the table of contents. The tab settings for a 5.6 x 7.81 paperback is 3.25".

NEXT – NOTE DOWN THE REAL NUMBER OF PAGES:

Determine how many pages the book will have BUT make sure you have the real number of pages. The real number of pages is what you will use in the Paperback Cover Template Calculator.

NEXT – You will need the page number to run a Paperback Book Cover Template, so note the proper number of pages. If you need to go to the KDP cover template calculator, it's here: https://kdp.amazon.com/cover-calculator

SAVE YOUR DOCUMENT AS A DOCX AND AS A PDF.

Once you have converted this to a Paperback, it is easy peasy to save another copy and change the margines to 6" x 9" for the Hardcover.

★★ What this video will cover ★★

All Changes needed to turn an eBook manuscript into a 5.6 x 7.81 paperback

★ Margins, Page Breaks, Section Breaks ★
★ Book Header Titles, Page Numbers ★
★ How to add a two page map ★
★ How to add Chapter Header Graphics ★
★ Setup and Demonstration of Table of Contents ★
★ Time Stamps below ★

Time Stamps Below:

00:01 – What I will cover in the video
03:00 – Style Gallery and ePubs
06:00 – Adding a Map image and sizing it
11:00 – Page Breaks
20:00 – Adding Book Title to the Header
22:00 – Adding Page Numbers
29:00 – Simple Chapter Heading
32:00 – Adding Chapter Heading Graphics
39:30 – Embedding fonts/turning off compression of pictures
41:00 – Run as PDF to check for right page skips
42:00 – Set up and running of the Table of Contents
47:00 – Final alignment of two-page map
48:00 – What I'm planning next for a video

CREATING YOUR FIRST BOOK SERIES BUNDLE:

HOW TO SET UP EACH OF THE BOOKS:

THE FIRST BOOK:

THE MIDDLE BOOKS:

THE LAST BOOK:

ASSEMBLING THE BOOK:

RUN THE TABLE OF CONTENTS:

SAVE AND PREVIEW IN KDP PREVIEW WINDOW:

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Here is a little gift for my Readers or Web Visitors!

BOOK COVERS AT FIVERR.COM

WHAT IF I ONLY HAVE A LOW-RESOLUTION?

YOU WILL ALSO NEED A PROPERLY-SIZED TEMPLATE:

NEWBIE TIP ON BRANDING BOOKS IN GENERAL:

BLOG TO VIDEO – HOW TO MAKE A PAPERBACK FROM AN EBOOK:

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

FROM EBOOK TO PAPERBACK – THE OVERVIEW:

NEXT – Let's talk for just a minute about the style gallery.

NEXT STEP – MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ALL THE PAGES YOU NEED:

LET'S TALK ABOUT CHAPTER TITLES

SIMPLE CHAPTER HEADINGS & CHAPTER GRAPHICS:

HOW TO EMBED THE FONTS:

LEAVE THE PICTURES ALONE:

LET'S CREATE THE TOC NOW

Check out my Book Series!